Initially, I read from various sources that 
-- it was a comedy with the events happening away from the warfront ... So, I presume it was not gruesome like most war movies and it would be okay for them to watch ... Frankly, after watching, I would not like to call it a comedy, esp. the ending scenes ... Even if it were a comedy, it was really a very very very dark one ...
-- it was banned in China because the film humanized the Japanese ... So, I presume it would be okay for the Japanese to watch ... Again, the ending scenes were not exactly very humane ... they were very disturbing ... 

So, 
-- the Japanese girl did not know what to say after that ... 
-- the Chinese girl also did not know what to say ...
-- the guys did not know what to say either ...
In sum, none of us really wanted to talk about the film (nor the war), whether the film portrayed events correctly, or whether it was bias toward any nation, etc ...

Back to the film, what is commendable ...
-- it was definitely very thought provoking ... were people to blame? or simply "war" to blame?
-- the initial take (apart from the ending) was really very unique and different, at least for a "war" movie ...
-- the main cast was very good, and they looked "real" in their roles (not like actors) ...

My only qualm was ...
-- I did NOT think the casting of David Wu (I had nothing against him) as Major Gao (in the end) was appropriate. As he had appeared in too many comical works and carried himself that way when he hosted various TV shows, his comic presence amidst the graveness of the ending scenes left me with a weird feeling ...

PS: oh no ... For the US DVD, I hear that they have edited the original 162 min to 140 min ...