Ten tracks for Studio Ghibli's most devastating film — Isao Takahata's anti-war masterpiece about siblings Seita and Setsuko surviving the firebombing of Kobe. "Older Brother, Younger Sister" names the relationship at the story's heart.
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"Episode II ''Setsuko''" gives the younger sibling her own musical portrait. "Mother" carries unimaginable loss. "Firefly" and "hotaru" — the same word in English and Japanese — bookend the firefly imagery that gives the film its name and its most haunting visual metaphor.
"Another Air Raid, The War Continues" refuses to let the violence become background noise. "Black Rain ~ Summer Grass" pairs nuclear fallout imagery with nature reclaiming the aftermath. "The Illusion of a Gentle Breeze and Red Parasol" captures a memory of beauty that makes the tragedy sharper.
"By the Side of the Brook (Twilight with Fireflies)" scores the shelter scenes with fragile peace. This is an image album — composed before or alongside the film to inspire its creation. Ten tracks that carry the weight of one of animation's most emotionally shattering stories.