grave of the fireflies

i cried my soggy eyes out both times i saw this animated film. i was crying even minutes after the television has cooled down from my marathon viewings. don't hate me for being such a crybaby. (my mother wonders why i put myself through this when i am supposed to be taking a break and recovering from a brush with frustration-induced-quasi-depression, a vain attempt at self-medication)

grave of the fireflies is a simple touching story of two children, setsuko and her brother seita and how they struggled to keep each other alive, after being orphaned amidst the difficulties of war; when people couldn't care less but to focus on their own survival.

the eyes of these poor kids deeply connected with my emotionally charged disposition (which seem to have heightened the past few weeks). each time seita held back his emotions (after learning of his mother's death) and silently dealt with his fears of raising a younger sister alone, when he himself is still a child, i felt his pain and fought my own fears. he did everything in his power to shield setsuko from such harrowing experience and the burning indifference of the people around them.

the things seita and setsuko went through would have been the ultimate test that strengthened their bond as brother and sister, and it was sad that they did not grow old to have the chance to look back at such bitter experience to make everything else sweeter, much like setsuko's favorite fruit drops.

their characters seemed very real, perhaps because i always wished for a brother. but i will always be thankful that i have my big sister, and i wished that all siblings would love each other like seita and setsuko did. and i wouldn't mind crying over those kind of touching stories.

it's just sad when "fireflies have to die so young".