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Grave of the Fireflies: Psychological Reaction (Patreon)

Published:
2026-10-01 00:00:08
Imported:
2026-10
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Hello everyone! I hope you enjoy (can I say that?) my detailed psychological reaction to Grave of the Fireflies. This is my fourth movie reaction to date. To my knowledge, this is the only sad film that Studio Ghibli has produced, and it is also one of their most important works.

Many folks in our Discord community described the film as "One of the most important works of fiction that I have watched because it will forever be relevant, but I also don't know if I have it in me to watch it again." So, of course, I had to experience the embodiment of pain myself. Many viewers also recommended the movie since my Violet Evergarden series last year, and here we are, at last!

My main takeaways from the film

1) War is the ultimate destroyer of humanity, art, progress, and everything in between; nothing can ever justify the costs of war

2) This is the first reaction that I had to intentionally suppress my extrapolation and yapping because the more I analyze and interpret the symbolism, the more depressing and overwhelming the movie became

3) This leads to my final takeaway that, sometimes in life, the best thing that we can do for one another is to bear witness to their pain and suffering, without necessarily trying to offer solutions or fix their problems; like the movie, there is a profound sense of learned helplessness we, as an audience, must grapple with, and that is the point, and all we can do

4) I feel so much pain from the movie, but no regrets; definitely a must-watch for everyone

I hope we all watch a palate cleanser and do some self-care after bearing witness to all the victims of war, historically and currently. Love is often bearing witness to each other.

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Comments

Ginko 13

Bro why did i think this was going to be "Into the forest of firefly lights" 🤣🤣 This is still good too though LOL you should check out into the forest of firefly lights Tho!!! Its like this just a one off movie but only like 45mins.. its just a little special or something, its so touching 😭

Ginko 13

No no that's SOOO fair.. once you feel better tho its a good cry!

Brad

Glad you got to take the time to finally watch this movie. Like many others I find it too hard to properly rewatch so hopefully it does well.

Brad

Not sure if you end up mentioning it in the video, but this is based on the book by the same name and was written as a semi-autobiography as an apology to his sister for her death. The author based Seita as the type of person he wished he would have been.

Maran

This is one of the most devastating films I’ve ever seen, anime or otherwise. I’m glad you’ve covered it, but it’s no easier the second time around.

Psychotherapist Reacts

I had to watch this 3x for my video review because of constant copyright detections…I feel you there, but such a treasure

Eugeni Macia

Just a comment before I watch the react. This movie is devastating. I must be a kind of masochist because, knowing how hard is on me, I keep watching it from time to time. First time I saw it was in the middle of my worst depression attack (the second one at age 35). Life has this things, In my worst time I watched it and for me was a catalyst. I was devastated by the movie, at first was like a confirmation that life had no sense. But hours, days later, it made me think in another way. finally when I compared my situation with the story I realized that I had no right to complain, all the things and problems that had plaged me sudenly didn't make sense. At the end it saved me. Thats when I get interested in anime, and always been happy about it.

Psychotherapist Reacts

Oh wow, thanks for sharing Eugeni. Also welcome, as well. I wouldn’t say we don’t have the right to complain because pain is 100% subjective and maximum to the person experiencing them, at the same time, like you said, this movie offers a profound perspective that—there’s degrees to human suffering, and also the hope of common humanity

Eugeni Macia

Forgot to tell, I'm @eugenimacia7576 on youtube,been folowing you beacuse Vioet, Frieren, Maomao, 86... :D

Symbolic Remnant

“The elders of the daughter of Zion
    sit on the ground in silence;
they have thrown dust on their heads
    and put on sackcloth;
the young women of Jerusalem
    have bowed their heads to the ground. My eyes are spent with weeping;
    my stomach churns;
my bile is poured out to the ground
    because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
because infants and babies faint
    in the streets of the city. They cry to their mothers,
    “Where is bread and wine?”
as they faint like a wounded man
    in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out
    on their mothers' bosom. What can I say for you, to what compare you,
    O daughter of Jerusalem?
What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you,
    O virgin daughter of Zion?
For your ruin is vast as the sea;
    who can heal you?” - Lamentations 2:10-13 There is little so horrible as what happens to the losers (whoever they are) in the last days of a total war. Japanese residential districts at the time were almost entirely wood and paper, and VERY dense in population. Allied command picked target drop sites such that they would create a ring of fire that would start convecting the very atmosphere in a true firestorm, sucking the wind and fire inward around/towards as much of the population as possible.

Psychotherapist Reacts

Absolutely horrible and unimaginable suffering that no word is adequate to describe

CervenySun

Somehow that was even harder to digest than it was when I was 13, especially with them losing their mother. If I had younger siblings I don't think I'd have made it through the video. Alright time to watch Porco Rosso.

Maran

Three times? And then you went to work with clients? Benoit, I hope YOU did a huge amount of self care after all that.

Jeffry L Manion

Nope. I watched it once. I can't even look at stills from the movie without tearing up. Brilliant movie that I will never watch again.

Gate

Just the utter silence when they show the mom covered in bandages.

CervenySun

And then just tossed into the mass grave.

Psychotherapist Reacts

I happen to have a younger sister, so this film hits all my feels on all fronts, and enjoy!!

CervenySun

Warm prayers for you and your family's continued good health, Benoit.

Waiting4Erik

“Why do fireflies have to die so soon?” 😭😭😭 There are many that criticize Seita’s pride and selfishness. What’s more tragic is that the author wished he was as selfless and kind to his sister as Seita was. Some context for the film adaptation is it was released in 1988 as part of a double feature with My Neighbor Totoro in order to secure funding to make the film. It was not intended to be anti-war. It’s a societal critique. There had been a resurgence of firefly catching festivals in the decade prior to the film’s release. The 80s city skyline serves to contrast the decadent modern society the audience was living in with the society that just a few decades prior failed to protect its most vulnerable. A modern society that chose to forget and not teach about this chapter in its history just as the post-war society was more concerned with not letting the Americans see their orphaned children starving in the streets. And the government…the imperial government was already rationing food for its citizens before they expanded the war when they invaded the Philippines and bombed Pearl Harbor. And the martial society gave Seita privileges and taught him to have too much nationalistic pride for his and his sister’s wellbeing.

Psychotherapist Reacts

Yeah can’t believe this film is the author’s representation of his survivors remorse with his sister dying. Not sure why people critiqued his selfishness though because he’s a kid

Waiting4Erik

Yeah, it’s really ugly to see those kinds of comments. The opening scene sets the tone. Society was callous to the fate of the children. And that’s the lesson to be learned from in this film. Once Seita and Setsoku leave their hometown there are no adults acting with compassion towards them. I’d argue the military officer that lets him go only lets him go free of punishment due to the privelege of being a military officer’s child. The officer doesn’t render any actual aid. So to still see comments blaming Seita shows how people can miss the point and how these things can continue to happen.

Psychotherapist Reacts

For real the tone was set since the first scene - the utter irony of those hateful comments

Greg Boege

@Eugeni - you're a stronger person than I... I cannot bring myself to watch it again. I will say that I seek out sad and depressing anime at times. I feel like it allows my brain to deal with these strong feelings in a relatively safe space. It's sad, but they also aren't real and I don't really know them. So it's like practice for the hard stuff. What you describe is not quite what I'm saying but it feels like the end result was the same: using sad stories to help with real life sadness and depression. Anyway, I do agree with Benoit here - it's a bit dangerous to think that you have no right to complain. I think it's wonderful that this film gave you perspective. I agree with what you got out of it: that sometimes life makes no sense and you'll experience hardship and pain when you did nothing to deserve it. But complaints aren't inherently good or bad. They're more like a tool and so sometimes they are helpful for getting over when bad things happen... And sometimes they are an anchor that keeps you from being able to move on. Just like sometimes a screwdriver is helpful when your using screws and sometimes it is counter-productive if you're using nails. That's my take at least.