Grave of the Fireflies/Tear Jerker

Perhaps the king of all anime Tear Jerkers, Grave of the Fireflies is a film about two children losing their parents to war, then starving to death in the late 1940s. It was originally shown in a double feature with the completely dissimilar My Neighbor Totoro.

Most of these examples were written when Grave of the Fireflies was its own genre of sad anime on the main Tear Jerker Anime page.

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• Believe it or not, AMV Hell 4 managed to make it worse. How? Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars". "If I lay here... If I just lay here... Would you lie with me and just forget the world?" If you've seen the movie, you can probably guess the visuals for this one.
  • Given the overall tone of AMV Hell, this troper was giggling furiously at that scene, though he agrees that if someone made an AMV of Grave of the Fireflies using that song, he too would be bawling.
    • Done.
      • * sob* fuck.
    • Try watching the movie, followed by that AMV, and then hear the song several times throughout the day on Pandora Radio. You will feel very down for the entire day, but strangely unable to skip the song or turn it off.
• Try watching the film, and then read about the real-life story that inspired it. Then find out that the author of the original book wrote it as an apology to his sister. If you aren't bawling after knowing that, then you're really not human.
  • This troper didn't cry during the movie. Tears came afterwards when she decided to look up the creators
• Bonus Fridge Logic Tear Jerker: Remember what the man found in that sweet tin at the start? Remember what the boy used it to hold.
  • Answer to the above? Setsuko's ashes, to make it worse he TASTED it.
• This troper would like to say that this movie is not being overhyped. It has earned the title of the tear jerking grand master effortlessly, and everything else on this page doesn't even come close.
  • Seconded. This film is most definitely as sad as everyone here says. In fact, this troper decided to get his parents to watch it, as they really didn't think anime was any good. By the end of the film, they were in tears. And so was this troper, even though it was the second time he'd seen it. He's not sure he can take it a third.
    • I actually never cried during that movie. It was far too depressing to allow for that kind of catharsis at the end.
    • I didn't cry either. Not because it wasn't sad, it was undoubtedly the saddest movie I have ever seen. But no, this movie was so sad I couldn't cry. You read that correctly.
    • I didn't cry. Unlike most people who find it sad, everyone's idiocy ticked me off instead. Considering how angry it made me, it's still equally profound.
      • Which was somewhat the intention of the director - he wanted people watching the movie to feel frustrated at how much pride Seita had, rather than humbling himself and asking for his Aunt's help.
      • This Troper thought it was completely intentional, as the book was an apology from the author to his dead sister. He felt that he was responsible for her death, because of his own stubborness and pride. It was his fault she died. And knowing that makes this movie way sadder.
    • This troper remembers watching Grave of the Fireflies with her senior year Japanese class. There wasn't a dry eye in the place. Even the big, burly football players in the back of the classroom were bawling like babies.
    • For this troper, Grave of the Fireflies prompts equal parts Manly Tears and girly giggles, mostly because of a female friend of ours who, at the moment me and my buddies sat staring blankly at the screen with tears welling up, suddenly wailed, "SHE'S DEAAAAD!" and started bawling so hard we got the giggles trying to comfort her. . .
      • This is probably cause for concern, but this troper, after reading various accounts such as the ones above, watched the movie ready to enter a long period of depression and was underwhelmed by the movie, which was sad for sure, but not deserving of some of the reactions it seems to elicit.
      • This troper can count the times she has cried after she turned eight (which is not many), but was easily reduced to tears watching this, not just because of the character's fates, but by the great cruelty of world and the ignorance and hardheartedness of the people around them. Also owns the film just because she cannot imagine watching it until another five years have passed from the first time, but she knows that when the time comes, she must.
      • This troper cried mainly when they show Seita and Setsuko's Mother post-bombing and ultimately her death. This troper has never lost a parent and has never had to see her parents suffer in such a way, but, for some odd reason... cried just thinking about how much it would kill her. Not to mention Setsuko's death. Being an older sister herself, this troper could not, and would not, be able to live if something happened to her brother and/or sister.
      • This troper had heard many times from many different people how sad this movie was. So when she finally watched it, she decided to take on the challenge to not cry during it. Needless to say, she failed completely.
      • This troper's father cried during this movie. Bare in mind that he's in his 50s, a former Vietnam medic-cum-boiler maker-cum-farmer, and does not cry at movies.
      • After reading everything on this page, this troper decided to watch the movie herself to see if she will cry. She did alot, especially whenever Seita cries and of course when Setsuko dies
• This "Let it Be" AMV for this film. Warning: contains spoilers.
• The lines "Why did all the fireflies have to die?" and "She never woke up." strikes many hard.
  • Especially the last line, never has four simple words kicked you so hard and made you cry so much.
  • For the duration of this movie, I did not cry. However, when I heard Seita say that Setsuko never woke up, it was a Wham! Line for me. I spent the next ten minutes bawling my eyes out - I even had to pause the movie just so I could calm myself down. It didn't work.
• Hand-in-hand with the above is the Really Dead Montage that follows soon afterward, which had the added Mood Dissonance with the family returning to find all of their possessions intact, while the pair we'd been following throughout the movie had lost everything.
  • Especially with Amelita Galli-Curci's Home Sweet Home playing in the background.
• Reading this page. The memories are too much. . .
• A Tearjerking and Heartwarming scene comes right near the end, when Seita asks Setsuko what she would like to eat, not long before his visit to the bank, prompting this exchange...

Setsuko: Tempura... Sashimi... Sour Jelly...
Seita: Anything more?
Setsuko: Ice cream... And I want to eat drops again.
Seita: Drops, huh? Alright! I'll go withdraw all the savings. I'll bring back all that you wanted to eat.
Setsuko: *Clings to Seita* I don't want anything. Just stay here, big brother. Don't go. Don't go. Please don't go.

• Setsuko's funeral, to see Seita sit there all night watching the fire with that music, sniff.
  • Said music? Here you go.
• After reading all of this, I decided to buy the DVD. For some reason i didn't expect the movie to be so...pretty. Such wonderful scenery and little kids still starve to death in it...
  • • This troper just finished watching it, having watched Akira earlier today and feeling up for tackling a more tragic animated film. It is not an exaggeration when he says that it literally hurt so much to watch that it was difficult to cry.