Heidi MacDonald came across a truly strange food product, based on a movie about kids who starve to death.
One of the finest animated movies ever made is the Japanese film HOTARU NO HAKA – or GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES, a horrifically beautiful movie about two Japanese children orphaned by the war who struggle for survival with no food in a society turned savage. Based on a true story, it is a struggle they do not win, as the opening scene reveals. Beautiful, lyrical, grim yet unsentimental — no one human can watch this film without weeping.
At one point the starving children have a can of fruit drops that they desperately cling to. When they finish the candies, they fill the tin with rainwater and drink the juice. Sad.
Well, it seems Glico made a commemorative tin full of delicious candy to tie in with this film.
Click for comments:
Reader comment:
Matt Deckard says:
In your post regarding the Japanese candy tins, the article you linked to makes it sound like the candy was some sort of fictional thing from the movie that they've now started to market (kind of like when they made South Park "Cheesy Poofs" for a while). According to JBOX – scroll down to the entry on "Sakuma Drops", this candy is as Japanese as apple pie is American:
"A dynamite treat from Japan's past, Sakura Drops hard candy have been around for almost a hundred years, since the Meiji Era. Seen in the famous Miyazaki anime Grave of the Fireflies, a touching tale of two children trying to survive in war-torn Japan. This delicious and long-lasting tin of candies will be useful after you've eaten the delicious candies. There are approximately 40 candies in each tin."
So they're really just taking a product that has been popular for years and doing a tie-in for the movie. Yes, the movie happens to be about a depressing subject, but it's not as bad as that site made it sound.
Reader comment:
Noah says:
I just wanted to shoot you message because I thought the post about the Japanese candy was a bit misleading. From what I understand that fruit drop candy was a traditional candy of the time (1940s) that was extremely rare during the war years. So the can of fruit drops isn't really a product made to be based on the film, but is rather an already existing product that simply added the picture of the animated girl on the can for advertising since they used the candy in the film. I'm also guessing this is a limited edition type thing.
Reader comment:
Kanako Kobayashi says:
I just wanted to point out that the story is actually sadder than it says. The girl who is pictured on the tin eventually dies as is written, but what isn't written is that her brother keeps her cremated ashes in the same tin and carries it around with him.
It's a very famous movie here in Japan and is broadcast every summer as the end of war anniversay comes around.
I don't think it's a commemorative tin… I've seen it around for the past 5 years at least in both Osaka and Tokyo. I think they chose this particular film to market the product since in the movie, the girl's only source of true happiness/luxury is the candy. (Also, the candy is mentioned/shown as being the exact same brand so many people already associate the film and the candy without having the picture on it)
So that's my two cents!
Reader comment:
George says:
While there are already several comments for the Grave of the Fireflies/fruit candy story, just wanted to add that despite what one commenter said, it is not a Miyazaki movie. I'm not trying to come off as some anime auteur, as I just found this out on IMDB after coming under the impression that there was some bizarre, depressing Miyazaki film that I hadn't seen. Oh well, still wanna check it out.
