This does sound like a great film. I am a sucker for weepy movies. One of the greatest of all of them is still Ronald Colman in ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ (1936). I just have to hear the opening bars of the music to that one and I start tearing up.
Yet, I sat through ‘Moulin Rouge’ snorting with laughter every time Nicole Kidman applied the hankie to her lips and gave a little canary chirrup before eventually falling over dead.
A more graphic yet ultimately uplifting anime version of this tale is Barefoot Gen. It’s the story of a boy and his little brother in Hiroshima who survive the nuclear attack and deal with the aftermath. Very big on the horrors of war but the ending is about life going on.
I watched Graveyard of the Fireflies ten years ago and got the same reaction as when I saw Schindler’s List.
In other words, I was moved to tears. Both films are the types where I can only watch once in my life, because it would be utterly painful to re-watch them.
On the other hand, Whisper of the Heart is an utter delight. I used to watch that at least once a year. I highly recommend this title to pepole who think anime is only about sword fights, giant robots, or tentacles. It’s like watching a French movie in animated form. You have stunning backgrounds, characters who mature and experience emotions of every kind, and a touch of surrealism that gives a dreamlike quality to the whole thing.
By the way, one Unboxed Spoiler: Whisper of the Heart has a happy ending. You won’t get any soap opera events either. (No one dies in a car crash, ends up in a hospital, or jumps off a bridge.)
Is Umi ga Kikoeru (I Can Hear the Sea) available on DVD? It’s a made-for-TV movie that is also from Studio Ghibli (I think). More of a teen-angst coming-of-age thing, but also very far from what you’ll find on the Cartoon Network/Adult Swim. The most violent scenes include two slaps.
I’ve seen Grave of the Fireflies, and I’m too big a coward to ever face it again.
No BS.
I have it, but after my reaction to Schindlers List I’m afraid to watch it.
Like I said, I love depressing movies. I don’t have my DVDs with me, but if I did, I’d happily watch it right now. Well…maybe that was a bad choice of words. But then, I’d watch Dancer in the Dark again. :o 
Damn! That was supposed to be the shocked smiley, not the fellatio smiley!
I can also never re-watch it. It affected me very deeply and broke my heart, too. But I agree it’s worth watching at least once.
I think I take most films said to be particularly heartbreaking as a personal challange. I thought Schindler’s List was very well-done, but it didn’t really affect me. I thought Requiem for a Dream was pretty damn flawed.
But this film… Damn. Just, damn, man.
The first and only time I saw it was at an anime club showing at the University of Waterloo when I was an undergrad. The anime club at that time was huge; they usually booked (and filled) one of the largest lecture halls on campus for their shows. And one night, they showed Grave of the Fireflies as their last show of the evening. So after a full night of anime, most of it the usual goofy stuff or action fare, at about eleven at night the lights go back up to reveal the entire audience sitting there stunned, with more than half of them in tears. Two hundred people, give or take, with the emotional equivalent of whiplash. I almost immediately ordered it on VHS because it was so good…and then I never had the guts to watch it again. Yeah, it’s a powerful film.
I’ve owned this film for 'bout ten years now, on VHS.
Never have had the courage to pop it into the VCR.
Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but I just saw this, alone, and I feel like I’ve just emerged from a blender. I needed to see other reactions. I’m not a parent, but that feeling of complete responsibility, of having your support system crumble before your eyes, of clinging to a uniquely special bond, and that cold horror of realizing you’re completely fucking it up… they managed to convey it all perfectly, in such a delicately beautiful way, and it’s overwhelming.
I don’t think any other film has quite moved me in this way.
One thing that hasn’t been mentioned in this thread is that it’s based on the real-life experience of the original of Seita – Akiyuki Nosaka – who wrote the book that the movie is based on. The difference, of course, is that Nosaka survived the war after the death of his younger sister, so that he could write the book, but of course he blamed himself for her death.
And, like others here, having seen the movie once, I’m not sure that I could face it again, even though I have it on DVD.
That was sad, but I held it together until Seita prepares for her funeral.
Well, that and when he finally manages to scrape up some food and it’s too late - she can’t even eat the bit of melon he tries to feed her.
Honestly, GotF left me feeling more angry at the main character then sad. By running away from the relatives house after his mother dies, and not trying to get the money out of his parents bank accounts till the little girl has one foot in the grave, he effectively kills his little sister.
Of course, the kid is like twelve or something, so it’s sort of understandable that he doesn’t follow the best course of action, but it was hard for me to emphasize with him
Before this zombie gets put down, I will say I agree it’s a film I own on DVD, and never expect to see again. Usually I can win the “There’s no anime worth my time” argument with something more cheerful. (Whisper of the Heart being a particular favorite for that.)
The scene that I found the most chilling was when the boy went to the authorities for his load of firewood for his sister’s pyre. He told them what he needed the supplies for, and their response was a sort of overwhelmed “damn” and got him the firewood. How many times do you have to see a pre-teen coming in requesting firewood to burn his younger sister’s body before that gets boring?
I understand that reviving old threads is allowed in Cafe Society.
AIUI the mods here are kinder to zombies than they are elsewhere. I just haven’t noticed any zombies crop up lately that haven’t been put down.
If I’m wrong, I shan’t complain. And I’m not running out to report this one. 
Zombie or not, I have to add to this thread. In undergrad I took a WWII in public memory course. We mainly watched films from the U.S. and Japan dealing with the war. In consecutive weeks we watched Grave of the Fireflies, Fire on the Plains (Nobi), The Burmese Harp, and some other movie who’s name escapes me about survivors of Hiroshima that die of cancer. Talk about depressing. Every week I would walk out of the class wanting to kill myself.
That was my reaction too, exactly. I was furious that he let his sister die when he could have done something about it. I don’t care if he’s 12. There are a lot of 12-year-olds I’ve known who would have made much more mature choices. From what I understand, though, this is based on reality, and the author of the book (Nosaka Akiyuki) it’s based on didn’t sugar coat anything to assuage his guilt - like an anti-Atonement.
I think the movie is also overhyped about how depressing it is too. The opening scene of the movie robs the ending of a lot of its potential power - it’s harder to get worked up about their deaths knowing from the beginning that they’re not going to make it.