Today, with a heavy heart, I am bringing you a vision of earthly hell—that one animated film that everyone must watch once in their life: Grave of the Fireflies.
This film uses sorrow to show us how the act of revealing trauma can deeply and powerfully connect people. The consequences of a “meaningless war”—whether attacking or defending, winning or losing—once it begins, there is no such thing as a “happily ever after.”
The video linked above features two American YouTubers sharing their thoughts and reactions while watching this film, and every word they say is deeply moving. If I remember correctly, one of them said:
“We Americans were raised to believe how glorious we were in World War II—but this film... it made me think about what we can do to make sure this kind of thing never happens again. We need to handle conflicts better, because in any war, there are always innocent victims.”
All people and all countries have made mistakes and have stains on their history—because that is human nature. But I respect Japan as a nation because, in its postwar anime culture, it has often confronted its own mistakes honestly. It reflects deeply, constantly asking how we can survive together, what is truly right or wrong, what counts as just defense, and what counts as aggression.
It’s like how Taiwan commemorates the February 28 incident, and yet someone is still the mayor of Taipei. Society and history are full of contradictions. But the hatred of previous generations should not be passed down to the next. To teach our children about what happened on this land is not to keep the hate alive, but simply to make sure such foolishness never happens again.
And only through honest remembrance can true forgiveness begin.
