Setsuko Yokokawa (横川 節子 Yokokawa Setsuko) is the deuteragonist in the Studio Ghibli film Grave of the Fireflies. She was the younger sister of Seita Yokokawa who was born in late year 1941, but she later dies in year 1945 towards the end of the film.
Appearance[]
At the beginning of the film, Setsuko is shown to have the average body. As the film progresses, however, she is shown to have lost a considerable amount of weight. When Seita Yokokawa takes her to the doctor, she lifts up her shirt to reveal her agonizingly-haggard stomach; her ribs clearly visible, as well. She has dark brown hair cut short above her ears and shiny, dark brown eyes. She wears an off-white polo shirt and blue monpe, and a hooded cape of the same color and pattern and off-white bloomers along with tabi socks and getas (clogs). She also wears a red dress, and a white seifuku with black shoes and short socks in various flashback scenes.
As a spirit, Setsuko glows with an orange light, she is surrounded by fireflies and she is healthy once again.
Personality[]
Although Setsuko is young and naïve, she is shown to gain a deeper understanding of life and death as certain events unfold throughout the film. When she finds the dead fireflies that prompts the question "Why do fireflies have to die so soon?" and figures out that her mother is deceased, it is clear that Setsuko's outlook on the cycle of life has been cemented into her still-developing mind.
Setsuko loved sweets and once tried to eat stones thinking that they were her favorite candy drops. She also had a deep connection to her brother where she was overall a sweet and happy child. She also loved eating rice for dinner, except if it is rice porridge.
Story[]
The Yokokawa family in happier times
Setsuko was born in year 1941, but she dies in year 1945 towards the end of the film. When a fleet of American B-29 Superfortress bombers fly overhead, she and Seita are left to secure the house and their belongings, allowing their mother, who suffers from a heart condition, to reach a bomb shelter. Although they survive unscathed, their mother is caught in the air raid and is horribly burned. After she dies in a makeshift clinic in a school shortly afterwards, Setsuko leaves with Seita on their way to the home of a distant aunt, who later becomes increasingly resentful their food rations continue to shrink due to the war. Seita and Setsuko give their aunt what they had left of their mother's belongings so that she could trade them for rice despite Setsuko's protests, forcing Seita to hold her back. Their aunt only fed them soup but not rice while her daughter and her houseguest got plenty of both and only gave Seita and Setsuko a small portion of rice each when they agreed to give her their mother's clothes to exchange for rice then she chastised them when they wanted rice for dinner instead of soup (even though the rice that they exchanged for their mother's clothes technically belonged to them).
After Setsuko leaves with Seita again and moves in with him in an abandoned bomb shelter, they release fireflies into the shelter for light. However, the next day, Setsuko finds them all dead, and becomes horrified. She digs them a grave and buries them all, asking why they have to die, and why her mother had to die. What begins as a new lease on life grows grim as she and her brother run out of rice, Seita tries to steal food from a farm to feed Setsuko, whose health is deteriorating. A farmer catches Seita in the act and brings him to a police station, beating him along the way infront of Setsuko. The police officer takes pity on Seita and shows him kindness, but is unable to help him any further. As Setsuko's health gets worse, she is rushed to a doctor after becoming increasingly ill from malnutrition. She is found dying and hallucinating as Seita returns to the shelter with large quantities of food. She then dies as he hurries to cook, and is cremated the next day, after a montage of past moments in her life set to "Home Sweet Home" performed by Amelita Galli-Curci.
Relationships[]
- Kiyoshi Yokokawa (Father, Deceased)
- Mrs. Yokokawa (Mother, Deceased)
- Seita Yokokawa (Older Brother, Deceased)
- Seita's aunt (Aunt, Alive)
- Seita's Cousin (Cousin, Alive)
Quotes[]
Why do fireflies have to die so soon?
- —Setsuko to Seita Yokokawa
I don't want rice porridge.
- -Setsuko to Seita about her unhappiness with the dinner.
Etymology[]
- The name Setsuko means "section, period, verse, melody" (節) (setsu) and "child" (子) (ko).
Trivia[]
- Setsuko is the same age as Mei Kusakabe from My Neighbor Totoro.
- The red dress Setsuko wore when she was younger resembles Ponyo's.