Grave of the Fireflys (1988)

This lovely Japanese tale of siblings trying to survive during the midst of WW2 just about cracked my beautiful porcelain exterior. While not preaching about the horrors of war it makes it plain to see the tragedy. The animation and sound are spot on at capturing a tranquil landscape shattered by relentless hailstorms of bombs. They also capture the tender relationship of the brother and sister in their quest to stay together and stay alive. 

Director Isao Takahata is a legend of the Anime scene and was a founder of Studio Ghibli. In case you are ignorant of this sort of thing I should inform you they are the studio responsible for Spirited Away (2001) and Howls Moving Castle (2004). I hope that helped. Casting my eyes over some of his other directorial efforts a story about shape shifting racoons caught my eye. Pompoko (1994), I believe we have a date!

This is recommenced if not essential viewing at some stage of your life regardless of your feelings about animation, war or ugly truth bombs.

4/5