Occasionally, perhaps every ten years, you see a movie so powerful, so moving that it permanently etches images into your memory. Not since I saw Isabelle Adjani's haunted face at the end of Camille Claudelle have I seen a movie, live or animated, that so stirred my imagination. This is not your typical three hanky, Old Yeller type movie. This film is of the three ton variety. I first had a chance to screen Hotaru No Haka in its original Japanese form some three/four years ago with my girlfriend. My girlfriend, who does not understand a word of Japanese, left the room in tears before the show was even half over. This is easily the most emotionally draining, most thought-provoking, most complete movie I have ever watched. The struggle to survive by Seita and his younger sister Setsuko pulls no punches about the horrors of wars, nor does it forget to show the importance of human compassion. Not a single frame is wasted; not a single word redundant. Even the opening scenes when we segué from a littered train station to an open field with Seita and Setsuko is visual poetry. In an industry where clichés like "tour-de-force" and "masterpiece" are overused, we finally have a work that embodies those very terms, and more. If you ever come across a person (such as one of my previous art instructors) who tells you that animation is not a medium for conveying fine art, show them this movie. And be prepared to not see them for a long time after that.
- AN

Grave of the Fireflies is one of those movies that permanently etches itself into your memory. One of the most difficult movies in any genre to watch, it is also one of the best written. Based in part by the director's own life during WWII, this movie neither glorifies nor softens the pictures of war.

The movie itself reminded me of the images and the displays at the A-Bomb museum in Hiroshima and the images' effects when I first saw them, even though the atomic-bombings were but a minor part of the story. I was reminded of the feel of the museum, rather than its content. While the vividness of the images fade over time, the impact they made will not be forgotten. Grave of the Fireflies is a movie that you don't want to watch when you're in the mood for anything light or frivolous. Likewise, it's not a movie that you would want to show at an animé fest unless you want to clear the room with everyone in tears. However, it is an excellent movie and is well worth seeing, but at the same time it is not a movie that you will want to watch often.
- JYN