Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓) Japanese animated war tragedy film written and directed by Isao Takahata. This is the first film produced by Shinchosha, who hired Studio Ghibli to do the animation production work. It tells the story of two orphan children, Seita and her sister Setsuko, after the bombing of Kobe at the end of World War II.They are alone trying to survive on their own and one of the few things they have to eat is a candy box that Setsuko keeps as if it was a treasure.
As the story unfolds the candy box becomes one of the most important symbols in the movie. Setsuko’s candy or Sakuma Drops (サクマ式ドロップス) which have been produced in Japan since 1908 by Sakuma Seika. Nowadays it’s not easy to find them. This is the Grave of the Fireflies movie special edition box which has a picture of Setsuko trying to find if there is any candy left:
