For days after watching this movie for the first time (summer of 1982 on TV), I would start crying everytime I thought of it. The version I watched was dubbed in English and titled The Last War. One part of the movie that was especially memorable to me (and inspired several poems) was where Seiko (the oldest child) returns home (after spending time with her boyfriend) to be with her folks and kid brother and sister so they can all die together when the bombs and missiles all hit in a matter of mere hours. She goes out into the back yard where her mother has just planted some tulip bulbs and breaks down and cries, saying that, next spring, all of the tulips will come up, but nobody will be left to see them. This movie was an ancestor to THE DAY AFTER, which was also well-made and driving the message home. In spite of the fact that THE LAST WAR was more of a low-budget film, it was, in many ways, more haunting than THE DAY AFTER. Anybody who thinks that war is cool instead of a last-resort necessary evil should watch this movie and understand that war isn't some sort of video game you play and then go eat and do your homework.
Review of Sekai daisensô
