History YMMV / Graveofthefireflies

** ''Grave of the Fireflies'' "enjoys" a reputation as one of the saddest animated films ever made and one of the saddest ''films'' ever made, ''period'' – and there's no shortage of people who refuse to watch it for that very reason. A common quip is that it's a film that everyone should see... ''once''.

* {{Glurge}}: WebVideo/BennettTheSage and some other critics have accused the film of being this, claiming that it exploits the tragedies of World War II in order to guilt [[TheEighties 1980s]] youth into falling in line and being more like their parents’ generation

* {{Glurge}}: WebVideo/BennettTheSage and some other critics have accused the film of being this, claiming that it exploits the tragedies of World War II in order to guilt [[TheEighties 1980s]] youth into falling in line and being more like their parents’ generation, [[CriticalResearchFailure despite]] [[AccidentalAesop the fact that]] [[https://web.archive.org/web/20150818054904/http://www.kanaloco.jp/article/72742 Takahata himself said that wasn't what he was going for at all]].

* HypeBacklash: Ironically enough, its reputation of being one of the saddest animated films ever made (if not ''the'' saddest) can provoke this kind of reaction on several viewers who don't share the same impression.

** Creator/VeronicaTaylor voices Mrs. Yokokawa. It’s worth noting the Central Park Media English dub was released only one week before the first English episode of ''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Pokémon]]''.

* RelationshipWritingFumble: Seita and Setsuko's relationship has some IncestSubtext to it at times.[[note]]Due to the nature of the story, some fans are offended by the mere suggestion of this idea.[[/note]] WordOfGod has even acknowledged it in the original short story, claiming that in some ways Setsuko becomes Seita's lover, as she functions as his MoralityPet.

* DeathOfTheAuthor: Even if it was not intentional, there's a reason why so many people see ''Grave of the Fireflies'' as an [[WarIsHell anti-war film]]. The film shows UsefulNotes/WorldWarII exclusively from the perspective of children, and yet they suffer all the same in a war they neither started, fought in, or even understand all that well. There is [[WarIsGlorious no glory to be found]] in what happened to them, only pain, suffering, and loss. The fact that the story is based on what [[BasedOnATrueStory Akiyuki Nosaka]] actually went through as a child only drives the WarIsHell vibe home that much more.

* CommonKnowledge: Outside of Japan, people often attribute this (and ''Anime/PomPoko'') to Hayao Miyazaki. He had little to do with this movie - even though thanks to Creator/StudioGhibli it does resemble some of his works.

* AnimationAgeGhetto: There had been many offers to make a live action adaptation, but Ayuki Nosaka felt it would be impossible to properly recreate the way Japan was at the time and that contemporary child actors would struggle in the role. He was surprised when an animated offer was made but, once he saw the storyboards, realised the story could [[SubvertedTrope only be told in animation]]. Its universal critical acclaim saw further aversion.

** The ending is meant to be at least somewhat uplifting, as the spirits of Seita and Setsuko are happily reunited and look down on the modern, rebuilt city of Kobe. The only problem is, this is the Kobe that existed before the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hanshin_earthquake Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995.]] The movie itself is tragic, but if you happen to have lived in the area when the earthquake happened (or lost a relative/loved one, which was not uncommon considering the number of deaths), that’s an extra, albeit unintentional, punch to the gut.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The message Takahata wanted to convey is that we need to be able to empathize with people even during the most trying times. Failure to do so destroys lives.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: Its reputation as "the saddest anime film ever" certainly didn't help, but it had the additional misfortune of being a Creator/StudioGhibli film released at the same time as the ''much'' LighterAndSofter ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'', leading cinemas to show it as a double feature with ''Totoro'' and shown first just to get audiences to see it.

* ItWasHisSled: Seita and Setsuko end up starving to death is the most well known thing about this film. The former mentions his death is the film's ''opening line''.

** The opening scene is of Seita's death and his reunion with Setsuko in the afterlife. It's a {{Tearjerker}} to begin with, but once you've actually seen the rest of the film and realize what they've been through, it hits much, much harder.
** The closing scene is of Seita and Setsuko looking over what was, at the time of the film's creation, modern-day Kobe. A few years after the film was released, Kobe got hit by Japan's worst earthquake since the 1920s, killing over 6,000 people and causing over 10 trillion yen in damage. Among the landmarks of “modern” Kobe is the Hankyu Sannomiya Station building, with its trademark arch spanning the railway tracks. The structure was damaged beyond repair in the earthquake and subsequently torn down, although it was rebuilt (without the arch) in 2020.

* HarsherInHindsight: The ending is meant to be at least somewhat uplifting, as the spirits of Seita and Setsuko are happily reunited and look down on the modern, rebuilt city of Kobe. The only problem is, this is the Kobe that existed before the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hanshin_earthquake Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995.]] The movie itself is tragic, but if you happen to have lived in the area when the earthquake happened (or lost a relative/loved one, which was not uncommon considering the number of deaths), that’s an extra, albeit unintentional, punch to the gut.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Seita. WordOfGod is that the audience isn't supposed to sympathize with him. Given everything he goes through, however, fans did the opposite. The fact that he's based on the creator, who ostensibly felt his best wasn't good enough, was also a factor.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Creator/VeronicaTaylor voices Mrs. Yokokawa. It’s worth noting the Central Park Media English dub was released only 1 week before the first English episode of Anime/{{Pokemon}}.
** Creator/DanGreen also does an incidental voice in the Central Park Media dub years before he broke out into mainstream anime like Anime/{{YuGiOh}}.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Creator/VeronicaTaylor voices Mrs. Yokokawa. It’s worth noting the English dub was released only 1 week before the first English episode of Anime/{{Pokemon}}.
** Creator/DanGreen also does an incidental voice in the Central Park Media dub years before he broke out into mainstream anime like Anime/Yugioh.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Creator/VeronicaTaylor voices Mrs. Yokokawa. It’s worth noting the English dub was released only 1 week before the first English episode of Anime/Pokemon.

** [[https://i.pinimg.com/564x/47/cc/23/47cc23a15f9dd8d7315c77c2ddc46d06.jpg This poster]] for the film contains a particularly chilling (and easy-to-miss) detail. Right above Seita and Setsuko, you can see the ominous shadow of a B-29 bomber looming in the sky. The "fireflies" above Setsuko's head aren't fireflies, they're '''bombs'''.

* ValuesDissonance:
** In an early scene, the mother of the two main characters goes off to a shelter to seek safety without her children, leaving her son to carry his younger sister around while the town is under attack from the air raid bombs. While Westerners would consider this to be reckless endangerment, the original intention was that Seita was the man of the house since his father was away serving in the Navy. Since he was old enough, his mother trusted him to finish securing the house and watch over his little sister. According to the bonus material, this behavior was also explained by the fact that previous American bombings had been relatively light and aimed at industrial sites only, so nobody was worrying too much until the bombs starting attacking residential areas.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: An odd and possibly [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zagged]] example.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: More or less intentional on the director's part. The beginning of the movie makes it very clear that our two protagonists, Seita and Setsuko, both die from starvation, which makes it difficult to get invested in the story, especially since throughout the movie, ''nothing'' ever goes right for either of them.

* NightmareFuel: Seeing your mother (or anyone close to you for that matter) horrifically burned and bandaged like a mummy. Along those lines, there's the face of Setsuko in her last moments. Both are this in a horribly heart-twisting way.

* AccidentalAesop: Most people who see ''Grave of the Fireflies'' take an anti-war message away from it. According to Creator/IsaoTakahata, the director of the film, [[http://www.kanaloco.jp/article/72742 that wasn't what he was going for at all]].

* {{Glurge}}: WebVideo/BennettTheSage and some other critics have accused the film of being this, claiming that it exploits the tragedies of World War II in order to guilt [[TheEighties 1980s]] youth into falling in line and being more like their parents’ generation, [[CriticalResearchFailure despite]] [[AccidentalAesop the fact that]] [[http://www.kanaloco.jp/article/72742 Takahata himself said that wasn't what he was going for at all]].