Seferian-Grave of the Fireflies

This week in class we watched Grave of the Fireflies, a film about two orphaned children who are trying to survive in japan in the last year of WWII. The plot follows the struggles of 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko who is only 4 years of age. This film is very powerfully and hart retching to say the least. It seems that Seita and Setsuko’s situation goes from bad to worst. This film is not just emotionally moving, but powerful and brings up a lot of important points. In class we discussed how when regarding to WWII Japan views it self as being victimized because they were the only country in witch an atomic bomb was dropped. We also discussed how in Japanese culture and the Shinto faith, they emphasize how life isn’t always fair. Grave of the Fireflies brings up both these points. In the film it is easy for the viewer to feel that the Japanese people are the victims of cruel relentless bombing during the later part of the war. It is also very clear that despite the tragic events that befall Seita and his sister Setsuko, that it is all in vane because in the beginning of the film we see that the have already passed on. This makes the movie even more powerful and sad because we know that the story doesn’t end well. This was a really great film. Personally I loved it even though it made me feel tremendously depressed. The animation was great, the music was great, and the story was moving. It is not surprising that Grave of the Fireflies was a book before it was a film.  Such deep characters and themes are an important part of literature. I feel  that its adaption to a animation just made it more powerful.