Grave of the Fireflies has a reputation as one of the most depressing animated movies of all time, and its ending explains the cost of war on the people of Japan, particularly Seita and Setsuko. Grave of the Fireflies is a 1988 animated movie from Studio Ghibli, the second film produced by the Japanese studio following Castle in the Sky in 1986. Grave of the Fireflies is written and directed by Isao Takahata, one of the few filmmakers to produce multiple Studio Ghibli other than Hayao Miyazaki.

After their hometown, Kobe, Japan is bombed and burned to the ground and their mother dies, Seito and his younger sister Setsuko move in with an aunt. The aunt slowly becomes less tolerant of sharing the family's food, so the siblings leave and begin living in an abandoned bomb shelter. Seito had enough money left over from his mother to buy food for Setsuko, but war rationing and limited supplies made it harder to get food. Setsuko dies of malnutrition, and Seito shares a similar fate as the siblings' spirits reunite in the afterlife.

Is Grave Of The Fireflies a True Story?

The Movie Is Actually Based On A Short Story

Grave of the Fireflies is based on a short story by Japanese author Akiyuki Nosaka. The story is fictional, but influenced by his experience growing up during and after WWII in Japan. There was a lot of interest in making Grave of the Fireflies in live-action, but Nosaka didn't think it could be done convincingly until he saw the storyboards for Takahata's animated version. Nosaka's sister died of malnutrition following the bombing of Kobe, and he always felt responsible. The story was his way of apologizing for failing to take better care of her.

In real life, Akuyiki Nosaka had two sisters, one of which died in the bombing of Kobe, while the other, Keiko, was an infant who died of malnutrition. Setsuko is inspired by Keiko.

While most Studio Ghibli movies are inspired by fictional stories with far more fantastical elements, Grave of the Fireflies is one of the most grounded and brutal in its story. While it's framed through the lens of the spirits of Seita and Setsuko observing their own life, it's otherwise brutally realistic in its story and themes. While it's not a literal retelling of any particular story, it's generally an accurate depiction of life in a Japanese village like Kobe and how average citizens were impacted by regular air strikes, food shortages, and government rationing of resources.

How Did Seita And Setsuko Die?

Seita & Setsuko Were Both Malnourished

The opening scene of Grave of the Fireflies shows Seita and several other boys around his age dying at the train station where they were begging for food. Given the circumstances, it's pretty clear they died of starvation and malnutrition. The situation is far more explicit with Setsuko, as her condition slowly deteriorates, and the doctor explicitly tells Seita she's malnourished and needs food.

She's delirious, eating marbles and hallucinating that rocks are actually rice.

Seita goes to the city to buy food for her and even feeds her a little bit of watermelon, but when he gets back, it's already too late. She's delirious, eating marbles and hallucinating that rocks are actually rice.

Why Didn't Seita And Setsuko Go Back To Their Aunt's House?

The Two Kids Didn't Have To Die

While Seita and Setsuko's aunt is initially accommodating, she very quickly grows impatient with the children, particularly Seita, because he doesn't do any work around the house or participate in helping the town or the war effort in any way. Their aunt regularly praises their uncle and cousin for the ways that they chip in and gives them extra portions at mealtime, but Seita focuses his energy on taking care of Setsuko instead.

When they eventually leave their aunt's house, they're only a short distance away and could go back, so why does Seita keep Setsuko at the bomb shelter until she dies of malnutrition instead of returning and apologizing to his aunt? Seita was resourceful, but it's important to he was still just a kid. Initially, he was trying to shelter Setsuko from the news of their mother's death, but later he was waiting for the return of their father.

He thought he simply needed to take care of Setsuko until the war ended and their father returned, but by the time he discovered the war was over, and their father was probably dead, it was too late. News of their father's death may have been the thing that could have finally convinced Seita to return to their aunt, but by that point, it was too late, since Setsuko died that same day.

Grave Of The Fireflies Ending And True Meaning Explained

The Film Shows How Bombings Destroyed Lives

Since Japan was a member of the Axis in WWII and allied with Nazi , not many stories about the war shed light on what it was like for the Japanese people. Supply shortages and government rations were common in other countries, too, as nations diverted basic resources to fund the war effort, but in far more industrialized societies like the United States, the average citizen struggled far less. In addition, Grave of the Fireflies shows how regular attacks from American bombers caused devastation to Japanese citizens, even if they weren't directly involved in the war effort.

Throughout Grave of the Fireflies, Seita does his best to preserve Setsuko's innocence by sheltering her from the news of their mother's death. While it looks sweet at first, it's ultimately what kills them both, when facing reality and working as a part of the village would have served them better in the long run. The tin of Sakuma Drops candy are an illustration of this throughout the movie.

The movie's title is explicitly referenced when the fireflies die and Setsuko makes them a grave outside the bomb shelter.

Seita gives Setsuko drops when she gets upset, and even has her eat one in place of food at one point, but the sugary candy doesn't actually provide any nourishment, and when it runs out they have nothing left. The theme of fireflies is established early on as they accompany the spirits of Setsuko and Seita. The movie's title is explicitly referenced when the fireflies die and Setsuko makes them a grave outside the bomb shelter.

Stream Grave of the Fireflies on Netflix.

While she buries the fireflies, she reveals she knows their mother died as Seita has a flashback to the bodies from their village, and he allows himself to cry for the first time. In his effort to protect Setsuko's innocence, she'd known anyway, and even something as simple as the death of the fireflies that lit their shelter for a night reminded them of the terrible human cost of a war that had nothing to do with them.

How The Grave Of The Firelines Ending Was Received

The Film Has A 100% Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score

Grave of the Fireflies has a rare perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics praised the film overwhelmingly, with a 100% Certified Fresh Tomatometer score, and the audience score is just as great, sitting at a very high 95% with over 50,000 ratings. The ending is devastating, but that is something that viewers mostly praise. One fan wrote, "The slow burn was done so well. Despite knowing the outcome, I could not stop crying even after the movie ended. Truly a masterpiece."

Critics loved it even more, with not one negative review from the Tomatometer critics. Roger Ebert reviewed the film and had a lot of good things to say about the story and its hard ending. He quotes critic Dennis H. Fukushima Jr. in his review:

"Having been the sole survivor, he felt guilty for the death of his sister. While scrounging for food, he had often fed himself first, and his sister second. Her undeniable cause of death was hunger, and it was a sad fact that would haunt Nosaka for years. It prompted him to write about the experience, in hopes of purging the demons tormenting him."

Glenn Kenny of The New York Times agreed with the words of praise in his review of the animated classic. "Separated from their mother after an American bombing raid on Kobe, the pair spend their last days fending for themselves in a wasteland where no adult help is forthcoming. As much as they struggle, they remain beautifully and sometimes humorously childlike." Most critics and fans agreed that the movie was a hard one to watch, but Grave of the Fireflies is worth it in the end: a touching story with a heartwrenching and poignant ending.