Heartbreaking 100% Rotten Tomatoes score animated movie comes to Netflix

The most notable film to come to Netflix this week may not even be new, but a classic we’ve hoped for years would appear.

Netflix has been a streaming home to Studio Ghibli’s classic animated movies for years, but Grave of the Fireflies has only just been added to its ranks.

Not encountered Grave of the Fireflies before? It might be the saddest of the Ghibli films, and is quite a departure from the wonder and magic of classic introductory Ghibli works like Spirited Away and My Neighbour Totoro.

However, it’s considered one of the studio’s best films, and sits at a lofty 100% rating at Rotten Tomatoes.

Why so sad? Grave of the Fireflies follows children Seita and Setsuko, brother and sister, as they try to survive in Japanese city Kobe, after it is all but destroyed following bombing by the U.S. during the tail end of World War II.

It’s not one to show to young kids. The BBFC rates it as a 12A, in part for the “disturbing images” it contains.

We strongly recommend adults give Grave of the Fireflies a watch, though, as it’s likely the strongest Ghibli film not directed by Hayao Miyazaki.

The film was instead directed by Isao Takahata, whose other works include Pom Poko and the brilliant The Tale of Princess Kaguya, another one of the sadder films in the Ghibli catalogue. Takahata was a co-founder of Studio Ghibli, and sadly died in 2018.

Grave of the Fireflies was originally released in 1988. We heard back in August that Netflix had picked up the streaming rights to the film, outside of Japan.

The film has proved such a streaming anomaly because of the unusual way it was produced. Studio Ghibli made the film not for its parent company Tokuma Shoten but for Shinchosha, the publisher of the short story on which the movie is based, written by Akiyuki Nosaka.

It’s part of a recent push to bring more notable Japanese animated content to Netflix, alongside the also-great Suzume and The First Slam Dunk (not currently available in the UK).

• Studio Ghibli movies ranked