Isao Takahata and Studio Ghibli's harrowing depiction of World War II's final days, seen through the eyes of teen Seita and his little sister Setsuko.
After their mother dies in a World War II air raid, a young brother and sister in Japan struggle to survive and protect one another in an abandoned shelter. Considered one of the greatest animated films made to date and a masterwork of Japanese animation, the film is renowned for its deep empathy for its child protagonists, its emotional weight, and its forceful anti-war reception. [88 min; drama; Japanese with English subtitles]
"An emotional experience so powerful that it forces a rethinking of animation." — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"Isao Takahata, Studio Ghibli's second best-known filmmaker and co-founder, adapts Akiyuki Nosaka's short story of the same name to great effect, using animation to create a film that emphasizes the horrors of war better than most live-action films." — Juan Barquin, Miami Herald
"It is a film which demands—and deserves—total concentration and emotional surrender. The reward is an experience unlike any other: exhausting, tragic and utterly bleak, but also somehow monumental." — Time Out
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