Grave of the Fireflies

I wrote this for a class, which explains why it's a bit more analytical/spoiler-filled.

In some ways, Fireflies was similar to Barefoot Gen, but in other ways it was very different. The art style has a similar philosophy, it looks a little different but it's still pretty iconic and incongruous with the subject matter. There is some masking, as the backgrounds look more detailed than the characters. While Gen was uplifting in the end, Fireflies was pretty steadily downward the whole time. There are some cute scenes with Setsuko, but we know from the beginning they're doomed, so it's just waiting until it happens. I wasn't quite as saddened by it as I thought I would be, though.

Seita's an intriguing character. On the surface he seems more mature that Gen, but he's really a stubborn kid, and that ends up costing him and his sister. I'm not saying all kids his age should have been working, but if his aunt was that strongly opinionated about it, he should have done it. He put his family at unnecessary risk just because the head of the house he was in was a little unreasonable.

Theme-wise, we again see anti-war sentiments, although Fireflies does not seem to share Gen's opinion that things can still turn out all right. It takes a more depressing view of humanity in general, as problems with the system and unsympathetic people make life even harder for the two siblings. They can't get food rations living away from their Aunt, and people refuse to give them their own extra supplies. They don't blame the US either, showing war as a terrible consequence of the earth. Overall, I thought it was a better film than Gen.