Animation as a Medium in Grave of the Fireflies

In times of war, sacrifices are made and lives are lost for the country. Families are separated and even broken for the pride and success of a nation. War is a heartbreaking and violent topic; Yet, in Akiyuki Nosaka’s film Grave of the Fireflies, he is able to bring this subject matter to life through the use of animation. Although some critics objected that animation was unsuited to address such a serious subject matter of war, Grave of the Fireflies is able to skillfully use its animation to bring the subject matter of war to the audiences’ hearts.

Despite being an animated film, it is still very touching and realistic. It displays a true sense of human loss and vividly shows the tragedy of war through the events Seita and Setsuko experience in their journey of survival in a time of war. There are advantages and disadvantages to using anime as a medium for exploring the atrocities of war. However, when analyzing the film as a whole, Grave of the Fireflies captures the topic of war exceptionally. Here, we will analyze how Akiyuki Nosaka is able to capture the advantages of using anime as a medium to outweigh the disadvantages of using anime as a medium for such a serious topic of war.

The effective use of ethos and pathos were also able to fully capture the audiences’ emotions for the war and allow them to watch the film as if they were experiencing the events themselves. We will also discuss why the aestheticization of violence in the anime is justified in this film and why the use of a child's viewpoint is a successful and legitimate approach in exploring the effects of war.

Grave of the Fireflies shows the devastating mediation on the human cost of war.

In this film, we see the tragedy and lost one can experience in a time of war. Akiyuki Nosaka is able to use pathos and ethos to create credibility as well as emotions in the film to bring this anime to life. There is much ethos in this film due to the fact that Akiyuki Nosaka based the story of this film on his own life experience. Akiyuki Nosaka lost his sister in World War II due to malnutrition and blamed himself for this tragedy ever since. This may be a significant reason as to why this film is very realistic even through the use of anime as a medium.

Because the author has experienced this event himself and has based this film from his own life story, it creates ethos and gives him credibility of the events displayed in the film. The audience is able to feel the loss that Seita feels when he loses his sister due to malnutrition. This fact makes this story come alive even through the medium of anime. Here, the audience is able to connect and fully understand Seita’s lost when Setsuko dies because it is coming from a memory of the author first hand.

Pathos is also greatly used in this film to create emotion in the audience. Due to the firebombing of the Americans in the film, many lives were lost leaving numerous children as orphans due to the war. Seita and Setsuko were one of the unlucky ones to lose both their mother and their father. This loss and tragedy creates pathos in the audience as it touches the heart of the audience as they witness the loss and devastation of these children as well as the many deaths that are shown throughout the film.

Through the use of pathos and ethos in this film, it allows an animated film to reach the audiences’ emotions and heart. Critics have objected that animation was unsuited to address such a serious subject matters of war. However, in some ways, anime may be a better medium to display such a serious topic because it is able to use its colors and animation to show the gruesome parts of war without making it too difficult for the audience to watch.

In one of the scenes in the film, Seita goes to the shelters to find that his mother has been burned severely and wrapped in bandages from head to toe due to the burns on her whole body. Although this was shown through anime, it still showed the ghastly image of her skin that was burned under her bandages. This kind of image may be very difficult to watch for many people even when displayed through anime. If this was shown through a different medium, it could have been even harder to watch and possibly too gruesome to watch for many individuals and many audience could have been lost.

The aestheticization of violence used in the anime is in fact very valid and effective because it is able to show the violence and pain war can cause, but also brings it down a level so it is not too gruesome to watch for some audiences. The fact that this scene was very hard to watch even through the use of anime shows how effective the use of anime can be in showing the aftereffects of war and fire bombing.

Not only is the medium of anime able to show the gruesome aspects of war, it is able to show some special effects that may be difficult to show if this film was filmed differently. For example, colours may have symbolic meaning in anime which may be difficult if filmed through a different medium.

The color red is shown throughout the film to symbolize the alarming situation as well as the fear and warnings of the sky when there were firebombs dropping from the sky. Whenever bombs were approaching the village and the town, there would oftentimes be dark red colors in the sky. This kind of effect would be more difficult to film in real life due to the difficulty in special effects. However, because of these colors displayed in the anime, it is not only significant, but it is also symbolic and represents more than just the color red itself. It symbolizes the darkness as well as the fear that is experienced by the people and shows the sense of urgency that the people had to have in order to survive the firebombs.

With the colors that were displayed, rhetorical imagery and symbolism was able to be brought out in the film. Therefore, when looking at the film as a whole, the use of anime for this subject matter was very successful as it incorporated ideas that would have been hard if it was filmed in a different medium. Clearly, Grave of the Fireflies skillfully uses its animation to incorporate imagery into the story and bring the subject matter of war to life.

Animation in this film is not only able to show the gruesomeness and tragedy of the war, it is also able to enliven the film by emphasizing the beautiful and pleasant memories as well as the child-like nature and innocence of Setsuko. She was animated to be very adorable which can really be felt and seen by the audience. This is also an advantage of using anime in this film because not only can it show the bloody and violent scenes, but it can also emphasize the cute aspect of the children to create more pathos as well.

By presenting this story through animation, the author is able to show contrasting ideas of the violence of war and innocence of children together. Violence is aestheticized in the anime to tone down the bloodiness of the gruesome scenes while pleasant scenes area also emphasized. Setsuko was never able to fully grow up and experience adulthood, however, the flashbacks of the memories before the war really display the pleasant memories of a peaceful world. Near the end of the film, Setsuko is doing adult tasks as a child which really shows the loss of her life because she was not able to experience these things due to her death. It also emphasizes her innocence and childhood that is excellently captured through the animation.

With such a serious topic of war, critics may see the use of a child’s viewpoint in this film an odd way to explore the effects of war. However, Akiyuki Nosaka’s use of a child's viewpoint in this film is a legitimate approach in exploring the effects of war because it really shows some aspects of war that may be neglected or overlooked by adults. Throughout the film, the audience experiences the journey that Seita and Setsuko have to go through in order to survive on their own. The encounters they have with adults really shows the selfishness of human nature in times of desperation.

The children are the true display of true innocence and purity of human nature during a time like this. For example, this is displayed when Seita and Setsuko have to give up and share their food with the family that took them in. However, the family treated them very poorly and cheated a big portion of their food. This kind of situation is often overlooked if we were not watching this film from the perspective of the children. Here, the audience is able to see the loss of these children and the sad situations they are forced to face. This perspective really shows an interesting view during wartime that is not often explored in films that is focused on war.

After the thorough analysis of Akiyuki Nosaka’s film Grave of the Fireflies, it is evident that his choice of using anime as a medium for the topic of war has many advantages that outweigh its disadvantages on a great scale. The imagery used in the film helps express the story vividly, allowing the audience to fully connect with the journey that Seita and Setsuko go through. This film was very successful in making a personal connection with its audience through its effective use of ethos and pathos. It allowed the audience to watch the film as if they were experiencing and walking through this tragedy themselves. The aestheticization of violence in the anime is justified through its portrayal of the individuals hanging onto life such as Seita and Setsuko’s mother after being bombed from the Americans firing the firebombs. This portrayal of chaos and violence is able to show the gruesome effects war while keeping it at a level where the audience can take in the bloody scenes. Last but not least, the analysis of the film through a child's viewpoint in this film is a unique and legitimate approach in exploring the effects of war. It shows a perspective that may be overlooked during such a serious time and brings situations that the children have to face to light. Therefore through careful analysis of Akiyuki Nosaka’s film Grave of the Fireflies, it is evident that his choice in making this film was beautifully constructed and very effective in conveying the effects of war. It can move the audience to tears with its memorable storyline based on a true tragedy that the author personally experienced in his life.