One of the greatest and saddest movies i have ever seen and my favourite animation movie

This is truly masterpiece of Hayo miyazaki's work's, this movie perfectly shown how much war is horrondeus.

A testament to the power of stories and animation artistry to move us about the horror and contagion of war and human indifference, and - just as strongly - the value of life.Incendiary bombs rain down on a Japanese city in a later stage of World War II, obliterating the home and town, and killing the mother, of young Seita and his little sister Setsuko. With their father in the navy and faraway, the pair travels with a few scavenged possessions to an aunt's house in the country. The aunt is mean, selfish and manipulative, so Seita and Setsuko - tired of the constant shaming - take their chances alone on the outskirts of town. There with the forest, ocean, meager savings, vegies pilfered from surrounding farmland, a can of fruit drops and the fireflies, they hope to stay positive and survive. The film is poignantly narrated by the ghost of Seita, who is lying in a train station near death at the beginning of the story. We follow the ghost to understand how he reached this point and see what happened to Setsuko. The narration does not spare details about wartime terrors; black rain in the aftermath of widespread incendiary burning, charred bodies and human indifference to suffering. Mercifully uplifting moments are likewise detailed; the strong bond between brother and sister, refuges of happiness and beauty amid the devastation, swimming in the sunlight dappled ocean and a sky full of fireflies. North American animation usually does not delve into such serious subjects, so it is especially hard-hitting. The film is based on a short story by Akiyuki Nosaka, but also the writer/director's own life experience. As a boy Takahata was almost killed during an air raid and fled from home with his sister. Takahata, co-founder of Studio Ghibli, died on April 5. Besides its dark aspects, the film inspires us to treasure moments with those we love, appreciate the beautiful things around us, and care for the less fortunate.

Beautiful, but very sad story about consequences that war has on common people. I like the idea and essence of the story touched me deeply, but realization of the movie left me quite indifferent. When it comes to sad movies, I'm unbelievable cry-baby, but this one just made me yawn. It's not that boring that I had to force myself to finish it, but if something interrupted me in watching it, I would probably never get back to it to see it through. Excellent story, but overall impression of the movie is barely6/10