Humanism and Posthumanism: Grave of the Fireflies

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Humanism and Posthumanism
The Grave of the Fireflies is an animated film produced in 1988. The film is based on the autobiographical story of Akiyuki Nosaka, which bears a similar title. Isao Takahata directed the film and animated by Studio Ghibli. The story captures the events that happened shortly after the end of the Second World War. A teenager, Seita, dies from starvation in a train station. On the other hand, a janitor searches through things he left belongings. The janitor finds a candy can, which she throws into a field, and the burnt remains of numerous small bones empty from the can. From the can, the spirit of Seita's young sister, Setsuko, comes out. The two spirits come together, and a cloud of fireflies joins them, and they board the train. The major themes addressed in the film include politics, war, death, among others. There is the utilization of humanistic and post-humanistic approaches throughout the development of the story. In this paper, we will analyze how the film utilizes humanistic and post-humanistic approaches to develop the narrative.
In film analysis, the humanist approach entails the processes that a character undergoes. Its emphasis is on the individuals and showcases the centrality of human values, including humans' creative and active nature. In film analysis, humanism is presented by giving importance to fundamental aspects of life, such as caring and welfare. Therefore, since this is a wartime film, we can see that the directors used the film to present the issues that affected humans at that time (FilmTheory.org). On the other hand, posthumanism implies the surpassing of human abilities or conditions. Through the ideas of posthumanism, we can see what abilities are possible beyond the conventional perceptions about humans. It is based on challenging long-held perceptions concerning humans' condition (Hauskeller, Philbeck, and Carbonell, 1-7).
The humanistic perspective of the film arises from the focus on the ravages of war and its aftermath. Instead of portraying war as a heroic achievement, the filmmaker reveals the suffering and negative impacts it produces within the society. When we assess the film first hand, we can see the movie as anti-war because of the graphic and emotive representations of the malicious consequences of war within the society, including the people within the film. One of the humanistic aspects of the film is seen from the life of the brother and sister. They are isolated from society and end up living a failed life. It is a sad narrative about the two orphans as they desperately fight for survival during the closing moments of the Second World War (Chen).
When Seita succumbs to starvation, leading to his untimely death, a janitor searches through his belongings and finds a can with ashes and fragments of bones. When the containers are disposed of in a specific field near the station, the spirit of Seita is released and reunites with the spirit of his sister (Mousoulis). This event shows the post-humanistic approach used in the film. The release of the spirits of the two siblings is beyond what is expected in normal human life. After their spirits are reunited, they are joined and surrounded by fireflies, and that is how th...