Grave of the Fireflies
Why do fireflies have to die so soon?
In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan.After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter.With no surviving relatives and their emergency rations depleted, Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive.
- Director
- Isao Takahata
- Signature
- Craft · Drama · Wonder
- Worldwide
- $842,132
Who's in it
Cast
The billed ensemble, with character names. Open any performer for their Nutevio filmography.
13 billed performers
The Nutevio profile
Movie DNA
How Grave of the Fireflies actually feels to watch, measured on the twelve traits our editors track across every Nutevio title.
Perfect if you enjoyed
Story overview
What It's About
Spoiler-free. Read the analysis below for the full argument.
In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan. After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. With no surviving relatives and their emergency rations depleted, Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive.
Where to watch
Streaming
Availability verified against regional listings.
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Why We Recommend It
Why It's Ranked
Grave of the Fireflies appears in 3 Nutevio collections. Here is the argument behind each placement.
- Best Family Movies Ranked #18
Placed at #18 by the Nutevio ranking model. An editor's written case is on the way.
- Animation Movies Ranked #18
Placed at #18 by the Nutevio ranking model. An editor's written case is on the way.
- Top 250 Movies of All Time Ranked #96
Placed at #96 by the Nutevio ranking model. An editor's written case is on the way.
The numbers
Box Office & Release
Grave of the Fireflies returned 0.2× its budget worldwide.
- Budget
- $4M
- Opening weekend
- —
- Domestic gross
- —
- International gross
- —
- Worldwide gross
- $842,132
- Release date
- Apr 16, 1988
- Runtime
- 1h 29m
- MPAA rating
- —
- Language
- Japanese
- Country
- Japan
Figures from the verified production record. Fields we cannot source are left blank rather than estimated.
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