For Overseas Viewers of Grave of the Fireflies: The Original Novel by Akiyuki Nosaka
- akiyamabkk
- 2024年9月30日
- 読了時間: 3分
更新日：2024年10月3日
By Hideki AKIYAMA
The anime Grave of the Fireflies has recently become available for worldwide streaming and seems to be generating some discussion. I, too, rewatched this masterpiece of a war movie after quite some time and was deeply moved by it.
However, certain questions arose in my mind, prompting me to reread the original novel. When I looked for the paperback I thought I had, I couldn't find it. While searching online, I stumbled upon this: an English translation of the novel Grave of the Fireflies (translated as A Grave of the Fireflies).
I also found this—a wonderful reading by the famous actor Ko Hashizume. I set aside the English translation and gave this a listen.
Two days ago, I watched the anime on Netflix as well, but I must say, for adults, this reading has a much stronger emotional impact. While listening, I felt an eerie, suffocating sensation gripping my chest. Of course, part of this is due to the power of the reading, but primarily, it’s the sheer brilliance of the novel itself.
There's been some debate about why Seita didn’t withdraw money from the bank, but when you read (or listen to) the novel, it makes perfect sense. Since the two had left their relatives’ house, they were no longer eligible for rations. Without special connections, it was impossible to buy food on the black market, and prices had skyrocketed. On top of that, farmers had become shrewd by the end of the war and stopped selling rice for money. As a result, Seita had no choice but to resort to theft and bartering for food.
If it had been possible to buy food with money, Seita would have undoubtedly withdrawn the savings and provided food for his sister. It’s absurd to think that this older brother would have hoarded money and let his sister starve.
In the anime, Seita learns about the end of the war while withdrawing money, which causes some confusion due to the sequence of events. However, in the novel, after learning the war had ended, he withdraws money and buys "nourishing" food at the now-more accessible black market. (Though, I did wonder how the bank remained open after being repeatedly bombed; perhaps it only reopened after the war ended.)
Why someone as talented as Isao Takahata made such a mistake is beyond me. Perhaps he thought the audience at the time would "get it." But even when I first saw it in theaters, this part didn’t sit well with me. As time has passed, I think it’s becoming even harder for the younger generation to understand. They’ve lived their whole lives with 24-hour convenience stores. I suppose I’m not much different in that sense.
Another point is that in the novel, there are occasional descriptions of Seita also starving alongside his sister, but in the anime, it appears as if only Setsuko is wasting away. This didn't make sense to me and may be another reason why young viewers feel a disconnect with Seita.
Now that Grave of the Fireflies has been streamed globally on Netflix, it seems these debates are resurfacing. I really hope that young audiences in Japan and abroad (now that they know where to find the English version) read the original novel before jumping to any outlandish conclusions.
Note: Since the YouTube reading clip above is somewhat sensitive in terms of copyright, I’ve refrained from streaming it and have only provided the link. Copyright holders have several options for dealing with these kinds of YouTube clips, and sometimes they may grant permission under certain conditions. Since it's impossible to fully understand the situation from the outside, and considering that YouTube has permitted the clip, I’ve assumed that some kind of copyright arrangement has been reached and have responded accordingly: I chose the middle way.
