Kiki's Delivery Service

Genres: adventure, drama, fantasy, supernatural

Themes: witches

Released : 1989
Episodes : -
Resources : Wiki

Narrative :

Kiki is a 13-year-old witch-in-training, living in a small rural village where her mother is the resident herbalist. The film opens at the time traditional for Kiki to leave her home to spend a year alone in a new town to establish herself as a full witch. Kiki therefore flies off on her mother's broom with her closest companion, Jiji, a loquacious black cat. At her departure from home, she has trouble controlling her newly inherited broom, and ricochets off of the trees in her front yard.

Soon after leaving, Kiki asks Jiji to turn on the radio. He flips to a lively pop song and the beginning credits roll. After the credits and song finish, Kiki and Jiji meet another witch in training. After giving some advice about inner skills, this newcomer flies down to the town where she is staying. Seconds after she leaves, Kiki and Jiji are caught in a thunderstorm, from which they take overnight refuge in a train - specifically, in a cattle transport wagon. The next morning, Kiki and Jiji leave to find a place to settle in.

Screencaps :

Kiki's Delivery Service

Grave Of The Fireflies

Genres: drama

Themes: historical, military, war, World War II

Released : 1998
Episodes : -
Resources : Wiki

Narrative :

Taking place toward the end of World War II in Japan, Grave of the Fireflies is the tale of the relationship between two orphaned children, pre-teen Seita (清太) and his young sister Setsuko (節子). The children lose their mother in the firebombing of Kobe, and their father in service to the Imperial Japanese Navy, and as a result are forced to try to survive amidst widespread famine and the callous indifference of their countrymen, some of whom are their own extended family members.

Screencaps :

Grave Of The Fireflies

Shakugan No Shana

Genres: action, comedy, drama, fantasy, romance, supernatural

Themes: superpowers

Released : 2005
Episodes : 24
Resources : Wiki

Narrative :

Yuji Sakai, a high school student, expected his very normal life to last forever. However, this expectation is quickly shattered one day while on his way home.

The world suddenly freezes in time, leaving Yuji to watch in horror as blue flames engulf the people around him. Soon a monster resembling a large doll appears and begins sucking the flames into its mouth, until it notices Yuji. Surprised with Yuji's insusceptibility to the time-stop (fuzetsu), it jumps with glee.

Just as the monster prepares to consume Yuji, a sword-wielding girl in black attire with flaming red eyes and hair appears, swiftly and confidently destroys the monster, before noticing Yuji moving freely. The girl calls herself a "Flame Haze" who hunts the "Denizens of the Crimson Realm" and the "Rinne" they send to do their bidding. When Yuji notices a blue flame in his chest, the Flame Haze tells him that the "real" Yuji died some time ago, and that he is a "Torch", a temporary replacement for erased humans. Torches take on the forms of those erased persons, but after a period of time, they will vanish from existence and the memories of the living. Unfazed by his apparent death, Yuji befriends the strange girl and names her "Shana" after her sword. The reason Yuji was able to move in the fuzetsu is that he is not a normal Torch, but instead a special kind called a "Mystes": he has a treasure inside him, known as a "Hougu", a device possessing special abilities of sorts, and an extremely powerful and valuable one at that. The hougu inside Yuji allows him to remain in existence rather than fading away like other torches. Shana resolves to protect Yuji from the Denizens, who would use the treasure to disrupt the balance of the world, and Yuji decides to join Shana in her fight.

Screencaps :

Shakugan No Shana