Makoto Shinkai English Fan Forum and Site

gleowine · Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 8:53 pm Post subject:

Thanks, zitch, for the write-up. It cleared up a few things for me. To be honest, the only time I watched this, I only caught the first few scenes, missed the middle part, then saw the last portion of the movie. Because of that, I got the idea that the aunt had died, and that he had been left to take care of the girl, but due to the hardships of the time was unable in the end. Now, I'm intrigued and want to go back and watch it again.

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Remember Fu-chan!

zitch · Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 9:28 pm Post subject:

Indeed. Having the Aunt die causing their suffering would have just made this another normal sad story of people caught in a situation that was out of control and forgotten about in the annuals of time. No, this is a classical tragedy, where Seita's own actions caused his (and, unfortunately, his sister's) downfall; this one fact causes quite a bit of controversy and discussion between those who are saddened by the movie and those who are pissed off at Seita, guaranteeing that Grave of the Fireflies stays in the anime public eye for decades to come!

Fiendish marketing, eh? Wink

I wonder if we should mark this thread for spoilers... though the "they die at the end" concept was introduced within the first few minutes of the movie. I'd think everything else would just be details.