The late director Isao Takahata's masterpiece "Grave of the Fireflies" (1988) will be broadcast on Friday Road Show (Nippon TV, Fridays at 9:00 PM) on August 15th. This will be the first time the film has been broadcast on terrestrial television in about seven years, since April 2018, and it will be broadcast uncut on August 15th, the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
"Grave of the Fireflies" is based on the novel of the same name, written by the late Akiyuki Nosaka based on his own experiences during the Kobe air raids and awarded the 58th Naoki Prize. Director Takahata portrays the lives of 14-year-old Seita and his 4-year-old sister Setsuko as they try to survive together. The film realistically depicts the city of Kobe and its people at the time, as well as the horror of the B29 bombings. The voice actors were also chosen from the Kansai region, just like the setting of the film, with Tsutomu Tatsumi, who was 16 years old at the time of the film's release, playing Seita, and Ayano Shiraishi, who was 5 years old at the time, playing Setsuko.
Friday Road Show will be broadcasting Studio Ghibli films for three consecutive weeks as part of its "Ghibli Week of Summer!!" initiative. Grave of the Fireflies will be broadcast on August 15th, followed by Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (2008), directed by Hayao Miyazaki, on August 22nd, and Princess Mononoke(1997), also directed by Miyazaki, on August 29th. All films will be broadcast uncut.
