Grave of the Fireflies

Flier #2 was a Japanese Anime film called Grave of the Fireflies. I knew very little heading in and got my lid peeled back. I was expecting something a little tamer than Japanese film about after we bomb the shit out of them and ruin children's lives. Don't let the cartoonism fool you, this thing was SUPER CEREAL. Serious as anything the cute Japanese artistry did nothing to soften the horrific fact the movie was about the last parts and surrunder of Japan in WWII. The A-bomb hits close enough to the hometown of a young teenage boy (I'm guessing his age) and his toddlerish sister (5ish maybe?). Their mother dies from burns suffered in the bombing and their father is in the Navy, so he's certainly dead, though they don't know that at the time. They are taken in by a horrific human being of an Aunt and decide, after several mini blow-ups from the Aunt, they are heading off on their own to lives in a bomb shelter. Things go from bad, to horrible, and it's tough to watch. Bottom Line: 5.9 out of 10. I'm almost certain the fact I was not expecting something this harsh and brutal lowered the rating considerably, but I frankly doubt I can bring myself to watch this movie again. I'm not certain if I opted for the original language with English subtitles if it would have been better either, I just felt like this film was a slow and monstrous gut-punch. SPOILER ALERT: Watch if you enjoy a movie where everyone dies horribly and slowly.