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Anime Limited Acquires Grave of the Fireflies For Home and Cinema Release in U.K. and Ireland

The distribution rights agreements for Grave of the Fireflies are different from those for the other Ghibli features, thus allowing Grave of the Fireflies' rights to be negotiated separately from other Ghibli works. Anime Limited describes the film as follows:

"When an American air raid kills their mother in the final days of World War II, 14 year-old Seita and his 4 year-old sister Setsuko are left to fend for themselves in the devastated Japanese countryside. After falling out with their only living relative, Seita does his best to provide for himself and his sister by stealing food and making a home in an abandoned bomb shelter. But with food running short, the siblings can only cling to fleeting moments of happiness in their harsh reality."

In Britain, Grave of the Fireflies was previously released on Blu-ray by StudioCanal UK in 2013. In North America, Central Park Media, ADV Films, and later Sentai Filmworks released Grave of the Fireflies on home video. Subsequently GKIDS acquired the North American theatrical rights and released the film on Blu-ray Disc and DVD in North America in July.

The film is based on the late author Akiyuki Nosaka's semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. The story follows a brother and sister's struggle to survive in the final months of World War II. Takahata and Ghibli's 1988 film was double-billed with Hayao Miyazaki and Ghibli's My Neighbor Totoro.

Source: All The Anime website