✅ One of the most beautiful and best-produced anime of all time.
✅ Its theme—also present in Koreeda’s 誰も知らない aka Nobody Knows—becomes more visible with cultural knowledge.
✅ While I usually keep it with Lynch (“the film is the thing”), it was good that Takahata cleared up some misunderstandings.
I was never in tears (which I easily are), thus I was kind of relieved when I read how Takahata went out of his way to “make it not a tragedy or make people cry.”
Grave of the Fireflies by Takahata Isao, 1988.
Watched at the Bambi theater on July 8, 2026, in its original language with subtitles.