Grave of the Fireflies (2005)

Grave of the Fireflies is a live-action TV drama of Grave of the Fireflies, made by NTV in Japan. It was produced in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. The drama aired on November 1, 2005. Like the anime, the live-action version of Grave of the Fireflies focuses on two siblings struggling to survive the final days of the war in Kobe, Japan. Unlike the animated version, it tells the story from the point of view of their cousin (the aunt's daughter) and deals with the issue of how the war-time environment could change a kind lady into a hard-hearted woman. It stars Nanako Matsushima as the aunt, as well as Mao Inoue as their cousin. The drama is approximately 2 hours and 28 minutes long.

Synopsis

The film is something of an epilogue; set in 2005, 60 years after the war, it opens at a crematorium in Kobe, just after the aunt, Hisako Sawano has died at the age of 95. The funeral director comments how a person who lived through the Meiji, Taisho, Showa and Heisei eras had finally gone to rest. After the funeral, Seita's and Setsuko's cousin, who is now a grandmother herself, begins to tell her granddaughter about the family's struggle to survive during the Second World War, and the emotional scars that it left.

Actors