Written by: Manaswi Sapkota - 26004, Grade IX
Posted on: 27 May, 2022
Genre: Animation, War, Drama
Release date: April 16, 1988
Director: Iswori Takahata.
Producer: Toru Hara
Cinematography by: Nobuo Koyama
Production company: Studio Ghibli
Characters: The story consists of 2 main characters: Seita Yokokawa and Setsuko Yokokawa. They are siblings. There are also quite a few side characters: Mrs. Yokokawa, Mr.Yokokawa, Setsuko and Seita’s cousin who are important for the story to keep going.
Settings: The story takes place during the time of World War II in Kobe, Japan
Plot: The movie starts with the soul of a young man, confused, roaming around a train station. We are then introduced to our main characters Seita and Setsuko. Both of them seem to be injured but not severely. It turns out that a bomb had just been dropped at their village and they had lost their house. Their mother, unlike Setsuko and Seita, wasn't just severely injured but had lost consciousness too. While their mother was recovering they lived with their aunt. Seita (14) worked and Setsuko (4) followed her brother wherever he went. Even though they got treated really poorly in their aunt’s house they couldn't really leave, until Seita found out that his mother didn’t make it and had unfortunately died. Seita and Setsuko left their aunt’s house after a argument and managed to find a place that was used as a shelter during the bombing, abandoned. They started to live there with the little money they had. When they were out of money, Seita had no choice but to steal so that his sister wouldn’t starve. Even though Seita fed Setsuko, she ultimately fell victim to malnutrition. Seita, having realized he had to feed Setsuko proper food, went to the bank to withdraw the money his mother had left. In the bank he overheard a conversation saying the Japanese Navy standing in the frontline had been wiped out, which meant that his father had died too. After finding that out Seita zoned out due to sadness and was late returning back to Setsuko. During the time Seita was gone, Setsuko had become really ill. Upon returning and buying things, Seita realized his sister had passed away. He held her funeral in a forest. Having lost all of his family, Seita was out of it and couldn’t do anything. He eventually died at a train track and became the soul we saw at the beginning of the movie.
Analysis: Let’s analyze the ending and see if it would change if certain choices weren’t made. In the movie Seita withdraws the money too late and also resorts to stealing. If he had drawn the money earlier he wouldn't have heard of his father’s death and wouldn't have lost his sister that early. But at the end it was quite clear that they would suffer a lot living alone as the money their money left wasn’t enough to last more than a week or two. So at the end, the movie’s ending wouldn't change a whole lot. Of course if both siblings hadn’t decided to leave their aunt’s house they might’ve lived but seeing how their aunt treated them, they would be kicked out after their mother’s clothes, jewelry, etc. couldn’t be sold anymore, since the aunt only kept them in the house out of greed. Though they might have not died if they chose not to leave, they would suffer.
Opinions: In this movie the time of war and flu is shown clearly. The movie shows human emotions like love, sorrow, greed and many more in a single sitting. It also shows how in extreme conditions such as this one, it isn’t possible to survive without doing bad things. The story itself was sad to watch but the animation and music were pleasing to see and hear. I would recommend this movie to everyone.
