Overtime 

One of the great achievements of this film is its ability to challenge the mind and to force you to try to process information in a different way than you’re used to.

A sweet slice-of-life anime that visualizes all the ways we creatively hide our vulnerabilities from the world.

This is not a film, it’s a drop tower.  A drop tower that you don’t get off of for the vast majority of its 106-minute runtime. 

What seems like such a simple story of survival is so much more than that—it’s a story of family, and of war, and of destruction. It’s painful to watch, but not in a bad way. It makes its audience reflect on their own actions, and in how they are complicit in the sufferings of others as the adults in this film are. Grave of the Fireflies does not hold back from being heartbreaking, and it shouldn’t. It tells a message that needs to be heard decades after the war, and a story that cannot be forgotten by history.

Want a list to watch some of the best Japanese anime films of all time? Check out this article which presents some anime films that will keep you glued to your couch!

Intergenerational friendships and community can be so powerful, and this was a great example.