A Studio Ghibli movie is finally coming to a streaming service in Japan, but it's not one of the heartwarming titles most often associated with the studio's image. 

Netflix Inc. announced on May 15 that “Grave of the Fireflies" will be available on its platform from July 15 ahead of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

The 1988 animated film directed by Isao Takahata depicts a pair of war-displaced siblings struggling to survive in Kobe in the waning days of World War II. 

Author Akiyuki Nosaka (1930-2015) drew on his experience living through air raids on Kobe during the war to write the novel that would inspire the film that shares its name.

"Fireflies" is the first Ghibli movie to make it to a streamer in Japan. 

SALES AND SOCIAL MEDIA

While the studio Takahata was part of produced it, Shinchosha Publishing Co. holds the copyright as the publisher of the book's paperback edition.

Netflix began distributing the film in approximately 190 countries and regions outside of Japan on Sept. 16, 2024.

It logged a total of 1.5 million views (total watch time divided by the movie's run time) in the first week of its release and ranked seventh globally for non-English-language movies. 

Among the numerous comments on review sites in English-speaking countries were posts declaring the film was a masterpiece that they never wanted to see again. Others noted how it overlapped with the war-related situations in Ukraine and Gaza.

The publisher shared that it received a wave of requests, mainly on social media, to make the film available in Japan as well.

In fact, the month "Fireflies" began streaming overseas, Shinchosa said the DVD's domestic sales surged fivefold over the prior month and that this was one of the factors that led to a change in its cautious stance on domestic distribution.

The film had previously been aired on Japanese TV, but it has not returned since an April 2018 memorial broadcast shortly after Takahata's death.

Other than that, it has only been individually licensed for revival screenings at movie theaters and other venues, according to Shinchosha. 

“It is unusual for a film that is over 30 years old to be viewed to this extent,” said Kazutaka Sakamoto, 42, who oversees the content division at the Japanese arm of Netflix.

“I myself had seen it when I was a child, but watching it again now, I feel that it carefully depicts not only the tragedy but also the joy of life,” he said. 

UNEXPECTED RESONANCE

Vietnam is one country where "Fireflies" has gained substantial popularity. 

Netflix did not disclose the actual number of views, but said the movie ranked eighth during the first week of its release. 

Shinchosha also shared that, beyond streaming, 200 movie theaters in Vietnam held screenings that attracted more than 84,000 people in one month—an unprecedented figure for an old film.

Some believe that memories of the Vietnam War may be the reason for the strong response to the film.

Nosaka's original novel was published in 1967, just as the United States was entering the Vietnam War in earnest and the conflict was descending into a quagmire.

Vietnamese YouTuber Man Thi Loan, 31, said she has seen the film five times so far.

“I couldn’t believe that it was a story from another country,” she said. “I was surprised at how similar it was to the damage from bombings I used to hear about from my grandparents of the Vietnam War generation.”

Loan said she is of a generation that has not experienced war and her grandparents taught her that "war is terrible and peace is the best" while growing up.

“We must look hard at the reality as depicted in (the film) so that we can continue to have peace,” said Loan.

Akihiro Yamamoto, an associate professor at the Kobe City University of Foreign Studies who has researched the novel's historical background, points out that viewers' “war-weary” sentiment overlaps with the feelings that Nosaka put into his work.

At the time Nosaka was writing his book, “Japan’s economic growth was accelerating due to special military procurement, while many people were being killed in Vietnam every day,” Yamamoto said.

Yamamoto believes that Nosaka, who also wrote about the tragedy of the Vietnam War in an essay, incorporated such contradictions and feelings of war weariness into the novel.

The “realism of war” is depicted in the animated version as well. Moments such as an on-the-ground perspective of air raids and the poor treatment of one protagonist's corpse "probably touched the hearts of the Vietnamese people and made them sympathize," said Yamamoto. 

Netflix Japan's Sakamoto holds a similar desire as the company has lined up the movie's distribution with the 80th summer since the end of World War II.

"I hope this film will provide an opportunity to spread the baton relay of 'memories' among viewers who did not experience the war," he said.