Re-assessing Grave of the Fireflies  Should a work of art be
assessed in isolation, without considering its creators, the
process behind its making, and the wider cultural, historic and
economic context in which it was made? Should you refrain
letting your opinion and enjoyment of it be affected by it? (And
I mean only for the work itself, as any judgement of its impact
or the creators’ skills should obviously cover this.) I am
tempted to say it should: an ideal that art stands on its own
merit and transcends its circumstances. Yet in practice I have
come across cases where I simply cannot apply this. And having
seen this video by Sage on That Guy With The Glasses, I have to
reconsider my opinion of Studio Ghibli’s most famous film not
made by Miyazaki (at least until The Borrower Arrietty): Grave
of the Fireflies, 1988, directed by Isao Takahata, from a novel
written by Nosaka Akiyuki.  Grave of the FirefliesMy opinion
upon seeing this film was in line with everyone else’s: it’s a
masterpiece of credible cha