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Good concept, poorly executed.

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

This movie is heart-wrenching and beautiful. There are moments when it makes you laugh and smile and others that make you sob uncontrollably. It's such a hard film to watch but it's eye opening and I believe everyone should see it. Truly beautiful movie.

"English is not my native language so apologies for any mistakes"As the title say, this is the saddest movie I have ever seen. I was crying for days after I watch this, by just seeing a picture of setsuko on my phone. This movie was a life changer for me, it made me see things much different in the world...The movie is a masterpiece. The characters, Seita and Setsuko are so well made that at the end you feel like are your own children! This movie should be taught as a lesson to schools, to create an anti-war character to children.I read many reviews and youtube videos and all people feel the same... they all cried a lot. Our cries are for the millions of Seita and setsuko in the world :(. Lets all do what we can, so there will be less and less children suffering from stupid wars!

This is much more than a story about civilian life in the war ravaged japan of 1944. This is a rough, emotional, gut wrenching tear jerking movie about pride, innocence, nationalism, and the nature of mankind. You will see a realistic depiction of what life was like in japan in the climax of WW2, but more importantly, you will see something in this movie that you never get in your standard war movies, a genre of cinema usually full of action packed films with stories of glorious heroism, good prevailing against evil etc.. In this movie you get to see what war time is really like, not from the eyes of soldiers who bravely fight and die to defend their homelands and their ideals, but from the viewpoint of helpless civilians, specifically two innocent children, caught in the middle of one of the worst situations of human history, in a cruel, cold, hopeless reality where countless innocent, defenseless women and children are left to fend for themselves, brutally massacred by Napalm bombardments (by the good guys mind you) in a world where nobody cares about them and nobody ever comes to their aid. And this is why this movie is so important- because it depicts war as what it truly is - a true hell, in all its tragic horror and twisted pointlessness. You will be overwhelmed by the unbelievably sad story line, you WILL cry your eyes out like a child, you will never want to see this movie ever again afterwards, but you will take to heart an extremely important lesson about war that you will never ever forget for as long as you live. If somehow every person on the planet saw this film our world would have been a much better place to live in. Honest 10 stars.

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.