Grave of the Fireflies

A devastating portrait of the human cost of war--not to mention one of the most powerful anime features ever made--Isao Takahata's 1988 Grave of the Fireflies follows two orphaned children in the aftermath of a WWII bombing raid. After spending an unhappy period with their resentful aunt, the pair--Seita and his little sister Setsuko--decide to strike out on their own, initially living off the land, but gradually sinking further into hunger and sickness. Based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Akiyuki Nosaka, this multiple award-winning film is both heartwarmingly beautiful in its depiction of a loving sibling relationship and heartwrenchingly sad in its tragic denouement. Central Park Media's double-disc set includes both Japanese (with English subtitles) and English-dubbed versions (while not all English-dubbed titles compare favorably with the original Japanese versions, this one is excellent) of the film, presented in a rich new anamorphic widescreen transfer with remastered Dolby Digital stereo sound. The set's numerous extras include an insightful 12-minute interview with film critic Roger Ebert, an 18-minute interview with the director, an interesting 12-minute perspective from a husband and wife historian team, an original seven-minute featurette, a five-minute "restoration" featurette, art gallery, and more. But for anime fans, one of the biggest extras will be the completed storyboards (over 2,700 for the entire film) as a viewing option synched to both language tracks. A landmark anime film, presented in a handsome "collector's series" package, this is highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)[DVD Review—Aug. 18, 2009—ADV, 2 discs, 89 min., in Japanese w/English subtitles or English-dubbed, TV-PG, $19.98—Making its latest appearance on DVD, 1988's Grave of the Fireflies features a great transfer. DVD extras include an interview with film critic Roger Ebert (12 min.), an interview with director Isao Takahata (18 min.), an “Historical Perspective” featurette (13 min.), a Japanese release promo (7 min.), a “DVNR” featurette on remastering the film (5 min.), a “Locations, Then and Now” featurette (3 min.), text bios of Takahata and author Akiyuki Nosaka, storyboards of deleted scenes, an option to view alternate angle storyboards during the film, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a landmark anime film.][Blu-ray Review—Jan. 2, 2012—Sentai, 89 min., in Japanese w/English subtitles or English-dubbed, TV-PG, $29.98—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1988's Grave of the Fireflies features a great transfer and a DTS-HD 2.0 soundtrack. Extras include a full storyboard version of the film (89 min.), two deleted scenes storyboards (3 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: an anime classic makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.]