Grave of the Fireflies Imagery

Setsuko amidst the Fireflies

Grave of the Fireflies is a Japanese animated film by Studio Ghibli,

following the story of two young siblings during the end and aftermath of WWII in Japan. The two siblings in question are Seita (14), the older brother, and Setsuko, (4) his much younger sister. The plot itself is fairly grim, focusing on the effects of the air raids and bombings in Japan.

In the very beginning of the movie, Seita is watching himself from outside of his body. Chronologically speaking, this scene occurs after the events of the majority of the movie. This out of body experience can be easily identified as showing Seita dying.

In the image, there is Seita's body and his spirit. Here, his body is very thin, dirty, and beat up. His head is limp, and his palms are facing upwards, showing how little strength he has left. His clothes are patchy and tattered.

Conversely, his spirit is bathed in a red light, like a warning sign or blood. He is wearing his uniform, complete with his hat and satchels. In the following scenes and rest of the beginning of the movie, he is shown wearing this same uniform.

While it isn't a lot of overly exaggerated imagery, it all shows a lot about the journey of Seita, especially when considering that this is one of the first scenes of the entire movie, before you even know what is to come. So, let's take a closer look at said imagery:

1. Red lighting: The color itself has many different meanings, but generally is associated with negative effects, anger, and blood. In this context, it represents Seita's future, and how it is in no way a positive one. It is a very in-your-face kind of foreshadowing of his death.

2. Change in clothing: The stark difference in the clothing each Seita is wearing is a big clue to the path he has walked. His past was extremely difficult, as shown by the horrible condition of his clothes. He doesn't even have shoes, if that's any clue to how bad it was.

3. Lighting/Shadows: Seita's body is the only part of the image that isn't red, instead it is surrounded by this soft light, blurred softly into red tinted shadows. This stands to represent how death is slowly creeping towards him. This kind of slow death has a very simple name, starvation. It's a bit of a spoiler, but Seita and his sister both end up succumbing to malnutrition due to food shortages and poverty after the end of WWII, a not so uncommon fate.

Overall, the imagery of the image is fairly straightforward, even if some of it isn't obvious at first glance. It simply shows the contrast between Seita near death, and Seita as a spirit, which is represented by him in his prime.