the m0vie blog

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney and with special guests Graham Day and Marianne Cassidy, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.

This year, we are proud to announce Anime April, a fortnight looking at two of the animated Japanese films on the list. We hope to make this an annual event. This year, we watched a double feature of Isao Takahata’s Hotaru no haka and Hayao Miyazaki’s Tonari no Totoro to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of their original release in April 1988. This week, the first part of the double bill, Hotaru no haka.

Regarded as one of the most affecting animated films ever made, Grave of the Fireflies tells the story of two children caught in the middle of the United States’ firebombing of Japan. Adapted from Akiyuki Nosaka’s semi-autobiographical novella of the same name, Grave of the Fireflies is a harrowing portrayal of the consequences of war, particularly upon those in need of society’s protection.

At time of recording, it was ranked the 57th best movie of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

Show notes:

• Recorded 10th February 2018.
• This was recorded before the unfortunate passing of Isao Takahata.
• Recorded as part of a double bill with Tonari no Totoro, to recreate the circumstances of their original release in April 2018. The process was to watch each film, and then record the episode on it, before watching the next. The second half of the double feature will be released next week.
• All of our guests have been fantastic, but doing this involved a massive commitment from Graham Day and Marianne Cassidy, so just a quick shout out to the duo for giving up their whole day to this.
• With a bit of luck, we are hoping to turn Anime April into an annual tradition on The 250, hopefully with both Graham and Marianne. This was Graham’s idea, and prompted in large part by our satisfaction with the episode that we recorded on Your Name.
• Hotaru no haka at The Internet Movie Database.
• The IMDB 250 as it appeared at time of recording.
• Read Marianne’s blog at Massive Hassle.
• Follow Marianne on Twitter.
• Read Graham’s reviews at Scannain.
• Hear Graham on Speaking Geek.
• Read Graham’s guide to Irish Gaming at Gameir.
• Follow Graham on Twitter.
• Ryan Lamble at Den of Geek discusses the wonderful pairing of Hotaru no haka and Tonari no Totoro as a double feature, May 2013.
• Leah Schnelbach at Tor discusses the ways in which Hotaru no haka and Tonari no Totoro play off one another when examined as a double feature, June 2017.
• Matthew Jones discusses responsibility and victimisation in Hotaru no haka for Philosophy in Film, May 2014.
• Jun Hongo discusses Studio Ghibli’s official position on Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution in The Japan Times, as outlined in their official magazine, July 2013.
• Brooks Barnes at The New York Times discusses the controversy over the perceived hawkishness of Hayao Miyazaki’s Kaze tachinu, November 2013.
• Peter Tieryas at Kinja contrasts Hayao Miyazaki’s outlook in Kaze tachinu with Isao Takahata’s perspective in Hotaru no haka, September 2015.
• Kyle Anderson at The Nerdist discusses Hotaru no haka in the context of Isao Takahata’s body of work, January 2016.
• Masami Ito profiles Isao Takahata for The Japan Times, September 2015.
• James Robert Douglas at Junkee offers a retrospective on Isao Takahata’s contributions to Studio Ghibli, October 2014.
• Amy E. Boyle Johnston at L.A. Weekly on Ray Bradbury’s controversial interpretations of his own work, May 2007.
• Interview between Isao Takahata and Akiyuki Nosaka for Animage Magazine on translating Hotaru no haka to screen, June 1987.
• Translated excerpt of Akiyuki Nosaka talking about the autobiographical aspects of Hotaru no haka in Animerica, October 1994.
• Akiyuki Nosaka obituary at The Independent, February 2016.
• Follow The 250 on Twitter.
• Subscribe to The 250 on iTunes.
• Subscribe to The 250 on Stitcher.
• Listen to The 250 on Soundcloud.

Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: animation, anime, anime april, children, graham day, grave of the fireflies, Hotaru no haka, Isao Takahata, japan, marianne cassidy, second world war, Studio Ghibli, The 250, war |