War affects people from all walks of life, but the suffering and death of children is the most tragic. World War 2 saw untold devastation wreaked upon the people of Japan, with the death toll from the dropping of two nuclear bombs a fraction of all those who died during the intense fire bombing raids which occurred over the previous years. When people hear the name Studio Ghibli it brings to mind the work of Hayao Miyazaki, the grandfather of Japanese animation and creator of a host of hugely entertaining and memorable family-friendly movies. Ghibli's co-founder (along with Miyazaki) Isao Takahata's 1988 animated adaptation of Akiyuki Nosaka's novel Grave of the Fireflies replaces the wild fantasy for the harsh realities of a society on the edge after the end of World War 2, following siblings Seita and Setsuko as they fight against starvation. Few live action films are as harrowing, moving and ultimately humanistic as Grave of the Fireflies. And while Takahata denies that his intention was to make an anti-war movie, the effects and responses the film elicits suggest that, whatever his intentions, a powerful message about the dreadful consequences of war on civilians is what lingers after the credits have rolled.
