Rewatched 2024/08/27
For the first time. I let my mom pick which anime she wanted to watch. All this time, I specifically picked and chose what to show her. This time tho, I just told her that there’s this extremely popular Japanese anime studio named Studio Ghibli that makes Disneyesque movies (my only exp with them was cat returns, okay..). Then I showed her their Anilist page sorted by popularity and told her to choose one. And that’s how we ended up with this.
The ending sequence of the movie is simply phenomenal. Well, the whole movie was phenomenal but that ending carried a lot more weight than some 12 ep anime’s I’ve watched. I simply couldn’t hold back my tears to it. In a way, it was like a photobook. You keep them to remind you of the people who are close to you. Or the people who ‘were’ close to you. Those minimal scenes of Setsuko just goofing around carried quite the punch. It was like a memory that isn’t worth forgetting but one that will be forgotten nonetheless. This is a theme the movie reminded me a lot about. Even though how playful their life was. In the end. They were simply forgotten. That’s why the scene in the opening sequence really struck me after I finished the movie. The station cleaner threw away that carton without a care in the world. Without knowing who’s ash it contained. Without a single clue about the person, it belonged to. It still saddens me to even think about it. Man, that’s so tragic.
This is why I couldn’t help crying at the end. Even in the presence of mom. I couldn’t hold back. I tried my very best to keep my composure to no avail. I gave up my attempt at keeping my pride intact and just let my emotions have control over me. They simply couldn’t be bottled up. And like a balloon popping after blowing it up too much. I let it all out. My eyes kept watering and watering.
Honestly, I didn’t expect this at all. There was a reason why I told my mom that Studio Ghibli’s movies were Disneyesque. My only experience with them was with The Cat Returns. Grave of the Fireflies is a far cry to that. On top of that, when I first saw its release year. 1988. I was like: Awww, is this one of those old-timers? So, in a way. I was fully hoping to see a children’s movie. In the end. My expectations were literally bombed into oblivion.
This was just the thing I needed. This evening I went to see that Chinese Marvel film. I don’t even remember its name. I just called it the Xi Jinping movie. I was in all meanings of the word disappointed by it. The concepts themselves weren’t bad. I really liked the 10 rings. I think it’s cool. The way it’s used for propulsion. The way it handles as a weapon. Everything. It was as interesting as Dr Strange’s magic system. Which is my favourite part of the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, the movie was also inspired by Chinese fantasy. Which meant a lot of flying around as if Earth had the same gravity as the Moon, kinda scenes. If I hadn’t gone to the cinema with a couple of friends. I wouldn’t have been able to stand it at all. Plus the beers we smuggled in helped a lot too. I mean, we were the only ones at the cinema. Just nine people. Not a soul was there except for us. And the cinema has like 200+ seats. So, in a way, we owned the place. I bet they lost money just screening it to us. The electricity alone for the A/C and projector must cost a lot more than just nine tickets, right?
Anyways, coming home from that whole debacle. This was one hell of a watch. In a way, it shattered some preconceptions I held about Japan too. Until now, I thought Japan was a country where the people had an extreme sense of commune. I’m from a country where ‘community’ is considered a pinnacle of society. So, I know what it means to be extremely social. It’s only now that I realise how mistaken I was. Japan didn’t become the pacifist nation they are known for now through just social evolution alone. It’s built on top of an extremely cruel and brutal past.
My mom told me about this article she had read just after finishing the movie. After the Second World War, a census had revealed that there were more than 125,000 orphans in the country. But all the orphanages in the country combined could only handle around 12,000 kids. Just let that sink in for a bit. The movie is truly a look into the reality of that discrepancy.