So just recently, me and my Japanese classroom had the opportunity to do two things; do homework or watch Grave of The Fireflies. Of course, we did both, but most of us decided to watch Grave of the Fireflies. When given the chance to watch Grave of the Fireflies, I’ve already watched this film dozens of times as a kid (around 4-9 years old), and most of the time frightened to death from all of the dead corpses and bloody bandages from the civilians of the story.
As my years as a high school student, and learning about the history of our past wars, Grave of the Fireflies was based on World War II(2), where America attacks Japan, as America were victorious with the bombing of Japan. But after Japan dealt a terrific bombing, it caused many kids to become orphans, as many adults were dead as the result of becoming a part of the army and also because of dying from the nuclear bombing. And also because of the bombing, there was a huge famine, (Spoiler) and this is also the reasoning of the death of Seita and Setsuko; a famine (End of spoiler). As it shows the horrors that the Japanese went through as they face through a bombing and a war, and the movie is basically saying, not everyone wants war.
(Grave of the Fireflies trailer)
Unfortunately, our class did not finish the whole movie yet, and when we stopped watching the movie go home, I noticed a few classmates crying, and a few in disgust. I knew that a few of my classmates were also Anime watchers, and most of them already seen the movie, so I’d assume they already knew what happened. And just like them, I was close to shedding tears, as I also knew what happens to the main characters later on.
Now besides watching Grave of The Fireflies, I decided to watch another studio ghibli movie myself, and it was Howls Moving Castle! And much like Grave of the Fireflies, I’ve watched this movie pretty young, but it didn’t frighten me too much, and I didn’t understand the plot (also I didn’t finish the movie Howls Moving Castle, so there’s that convenience).
(Howls Moving Castle Trailer: Does Anyone Else Hate The Cliche Voice That Explains A Movie In Every Movie Trailer Ever?)
And as usual, Haiyo Miyazaki tends to create masterpiece movies, and Howls Moving Castle is definitely one of them. Despite Howls Moving Castle being a bit slow in the beginning of the movie, I came to enjoy the story overall (so far).
Some things that I also tend to realize is, Haiyo Miyazaki creates his movies based on books (no wonder they’re a masterpiece). Like, When Marnie Was There, created by Joan G. Robinson, and of course, the movies I’ve mentioned before were also based on books (Howls Moving Castle, created by Diana Wynne Jones, and Grave of the Fireflies, Akiyuki Nosaka).
After watching some of the movies that I’ve never really understood during my childhood, I really just came to appreciate and understand what the complex stories have to tell us. And with all of the Studio Ghibli films that I’ve currently watched, I enjoyed every single one of them. Each movie always has a story that’s never been told before, and I just adore that; not cliche. Not only are they unique and diverse in culture, they’re always interesting in their own ways, and that’s why I entirely enjoy Studio Ghibli movies, and hopefully you guys enjoy some of Haiyo Miyazaki’s films as well!
Well, that ends off my blog post! I would just like to thank my Japanese teacher for showing us the movie Grave of the Fireflies, and I had a good time watching the movie! So thanks once again! So then, see you guys in my next post, peace.
(Listen To Some Music From Studio Ghibli)
(Howl’s Moving Castle Main Theme)
(Princess Mononoke/ Mononoke Hime)
(Spirited Away)
Day In The Life Of Mark 
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