Grave of the Fireflies
A wartime drama about Seita and his little sister Setsuko, who lose their home and mother in the 1945 Kobe air raids, leave their relatives, and try to survive hunger and isolation together in an abandoned shelter.
- Genre:
- 戦争 / 家族 / 歴史ドラマ
- Medium:
- Anime / Film
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Grave of the Fireflies — Timeline12 events
Seita and Setsuko lose their home and mother in the air raid
Incendiary bombs rain on Kobe, and Seita carries his four-year-old sister Setsuko through the fire. Separated from their mother during the evacuation, the siblings lose their house and neighborhood and cannot find her at the post-raid assembly point.
Vol.劇場アニメーション映画 6月5日・神戸大空襲と避難Ch. — Official Studio Ghibli film page and the film; the date is given by the air-raid sequence. ↗
Their badly burned mother dies, and Seita hides it from Setsuko
At a school aid station, Seita finds his mother covered in severe burns, and she dies soon afterward. Her body is cremated with other victims; trying to protect young Setsuko, Seita conceals the death and says their mother remains in the hospital.
Vol.劇場アニメーション映画 救護所での母との再会と死Ch. — Official Studio Ghibli film page and the aid-station and cremation scenes in the film. ↗
The siblings take refuge with their aunt in Nishinomiya
Carrying possessions salvaged from the ruins and their mother's ashes, Seita and Setsuko move to their aunt's home in Nishinomiya. With no word from their naval-officer father, Seita turns over stored food and initially shares the household's life.
Vol.劇場アニメーション映画 西宮の叔母宅への避難Ch. — The film's move from Kobe to the aunt's Nishinomiya home; official materials confirm the story of wartime-orphaned siblings in Kobe. ↗
Conflict with the aunt deepens over food
The aunt trades their mother's kimono for rice and gives less food to Seita and Setsuko because Seita does not work. He separates their meals and begins cooking with their own pot and dishes, while the aunt's harsh words wound Setsuko as well.
Vol.劇場アニメーション映画 叔母宅・着物の交換と別炊事Ch. — The film scenes involving the exchange of kimono for rice and the separation of meals. ↗
Seita and Setsuko begin living alone in an air-raid shelter
Leaving their aunt's home, the siblings move into an unused tunnel shelter beside a pond. Seita arranges the space, plays with Setsuko by the water, and cooks with whatever they have, trying to create a home free from adult interference.
Vol.劇場アニメーション映画 満池谷の横穴防空壕への移住Ch. — The film scenes of leaving the aunt's house and moving into the shelter. ↗
The siblings light the shelter with fireflies and bury them the next morning
Seita releases fireflies inside their mosquito net, surrounding Setsuko with light for one night. The next morning Setsuko buries the dead insects and reveals that their aunt told her their mother is in a grave too, leaving Seita to suppress his grief alone.
Vol.劇場アニメーション映画 蛍の夜と蛍の墓Ch. — The film's night of fireflies in the mosquito net and the burial scene the following morning. ↗
Seita steals crops and is taken to the police
When their supplies run out, Seita takes food from houses abandoned during air raids and begins stealing crops. A farmer catches and beats him before taking him to the police, but an officer sees the circumstances and lets Seita go.
Vol.劇場アニメーション映画 食料盗難／畑での逮捕Ch. — The film scenes of taking food during raids and Seita's arrest after stealing crops. ↗
Setsuko is diagnosed with malnutrition
Setsuko suffers persistent diarrhea and rashes and becomes too weak to stand. At the hospital, a doctor diagnoses malnutrition and says she needs food but offers no medicine. Seita decides to withdraw the money they have left to obtain supplies.
Vol.劇場アニメーション映画 病院・栄養失調の診断Ch. — The film scenes of Setsuko's symptoms and hospital examination. ↗
Seita learns of Japan's surrender and the fleet's destruction
While in town to withdraw their savings, Seita learns that Japan has surrendered and the war is over. Told that the Combined Fleet has been destroyed, he confronts for the first time that his naval-officer father may never return and collapses in grief.
Vol.劇場アニメーション映画 8月15日・銀行で知る敗戦Ch. — The film's bank and surrender-announcement scene; Shinchosha's official feature also explicitly identifies August 15 as experienced by the siblings. ↗
Seita returns with food, but Setsuko dies
Seita spends their remaining money on rice, eggs, and fruit and rushes back to the shelter, but Setsuko is so weak that she mistakes stones for food. He feeds her a piece of watermelon; she falls asleep and never wakes.
Vol.劇場アニメーション映画 防空壕・節子の最期Ch. — The film's post-surrender shopping, Setsuko's delirium, and watermelon scenes. ↗
Seita cremates Setsuko and places her remains in the candy tin
Seita buys charcoal from a farmer and cremates Setsuko's body in her bedding. The next morning he gathers her white bones into the Sakuma Drops tin, carries the tin with him, and leaves the shelter.
Vol.劇場アニメーション映画 節子の火葬とドロップ缶Ch. — The film's cremation and gathering-of-remains scenes; Shinchosha's official synopsis also specifies Setsuko's bones in the candy tin. ↗
Seita dies at Sannomiya Station, and the siblings' spirits watch Kobe
After losing Setsuko, Seita reaches Sannomiya Station and dies of malnutrition on the night of September 21. When a station worker throws away the candy tin, Setsuko's bones and fireflies emerge; reunited as spirits, the siblings watch the later city of Kobe from a hillside.
Vol.劇場アニメーション映画 9月21日・三宮駅／魂の終幕Ch. — The film's opening and coda; Shinchosha's official synopsis explicitly dates Seita's death at Sannomiya Station to September 21, 1945, and describes the candy tin. ↗
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