Boy Meets East
1988
Isao Takahata / Studio Ghibli
Film

Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka)

Possibly the most emotionally demanding film ever made, animated or otherwise. A film about two children surviving (and not surviving) in the aftermath of the firebombing of Kobe at the end of World War II. Does not redeem the loss. Does not explain the historical context in ways that create distance. Puts you inside the daily texture of what the war cost specific people. Watch it once. Do not watch it alone.