Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Why do fireflies have to die so soon?
In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan. After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. With no surviving relatives and their emergency rations depleted, Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive.
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| Type | Movie |
|---|---|
| Released | 16 April 1988 |
| Genre | Animation, Drama, War |
| Director | Isao Takahata |
| Starring | Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi and Yoshiko Shinohara |
| Runtime | 89 min |
| Rated | NR |
| Scores | Rotten Tomatoes (average) 9.3/10 · Rotten Tomatoes 100% · IMDb 8.5/10 · Rotten Tomatoes 100% · Letterboxd 4.5/5 · TMDB users 8.5/10 |
| Box office | $14 million worldwide |
Where to watch Grave of the Fireflies
Grave of the Fireflies is streaming on Netflix ($19.99 a month) in the US. If that is the only reason to subscribe, one month of Netflix is $19.99 at list price.
We check availability daily. Page last updated 30 October 2026. Prices are standard monthly plans and change often, so check with the service before you sign up.
Rent or buy
You can rent or buy Grave of the Fireflies on Prime Video.
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What kind of watch this is
Director Isao Takahata frames World War II not as a battlefield epic, but as a slow, quiet starvation. The animation is soft, almost gentle, which makes the reality of the bomb shelter feel more unbearable. It is an 89-minute film that refuses to offer comfort. The tone is suffocating, relying on silence rather than explosions to convey the weight of the era. You do not watch it for the war; you watch it for what the war takes away. It is a difficult 89 minutes, but necessary.
What the critics said
Universal acclaim is a strong phrase, but here it fits. Rotten Tomatoes holds a 100% Tomatometer score as of February 2026, with an average of 9.3/10. Metacritic assigns it 94 out of 100 based on 16 reviews, a mark for universal acclaim. Roger Ebert called it one of the most powerful war films ever made. Akira Kurosawa, who thought Hayao Miyazaki directed it, wrote to praise it as his favorite Studio Ghibli production. Even the dissent is polite. Theron Martin noted the English dub of Setsuko lacks convincingness as a four-year-old, a specific flaw in an otherwise unbroken consensus.
How it did with audiences
Grave of the Fireflies pulled in $14 million worldwide, with $1 million of that coming from the United States. On TMDB, users rate it 8.5 out of 10. IMDb lists a similar 8.5/10 weighted average as of February 2026. The numbers are quiet, but the impact is not.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched Grave of the Fireflies.
Sources
- Grave of the Fireflies on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q274520 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “Grave of the Fireflies” on Wikipedia, by its contributors (history) — reception, audience figures and legacy, summarised and adapted here under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Where to watch and prices: Binge Boss, from TMDB watch-provider data (powered by JustWatch) and our own provider list
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