Barefoot Gen -- A powerful statement against war.
February 24, 2022 10:26 AM Subscribe
Barefoot Gen (English sub-titled) (dubbed) Barefoot Gen is a 1983 Japanese anime war drama film loosely based on the Japanese manga series of the same name by Keiji Nakazawa. Directed by Mori Masaki and starring Issei Miyazaki, Masaki Kōda and Tatsuya Jo, it depicts World War II in Japan from a child's point of view revolving around the events surrounding the bombing of Hiroshima and the main character's first hand experience of the bomb. IMDb Wikipedia
It's powerful as hell. Easier to watch a vid on youtube than to break out and read John Hershey's "Hiroshima."
It's powerful as hell. Easier to watch a vid on youtube than to break out and read John Hershey's "Hiroshima."
When I was about 10 my dad gave me Barefoot Gen and Maus.
He's an cartoonist and was a big fan of Spiegelman, but Nakazawa before this made a comic called "I Saw It" about yknow, seeing it. I still have all those old books.
Heart rending stuff. Brilliant and painful.
If you need to feel more depressed, you can also check the Ghibli movie "Grave of Fireflies".
posted by lkc at 12:00 PM on February 24, 2022 [8 favorites]
He's an cartoonist and was a big fan of Spiegelman, but Nakazawa before this made a comic called "I Saw It" about yknow, seeing it. I still have all those old books.
Heart rending stuff. Brilliant and painful.
If you need to feel more depressed, you can also check the Ghibli movie "Grave of Fireflies".
posted by lkc at 12:00 PM on February 24, 2022 [8 favorites]
The actual bomb dropping is around 30mins in. It's ... not disney.
When I was about 10 my dad gave me Barefoot Gen and Maus.
I only heard about Maus this year, at 42yo. Of course I read it. They really Streisanded that book they want no one to read. I wonder how sales are doing?
posted by adept256 at 12:57 PM on February 24, 2022
When I was about 10 my dad gave me Barefoot Gen and Maus.
I only heard about Maus this year, at 42yo. Of course I read it. They really Streisanded that book they want no one to read. I wonder how sales are doing?
posted by adept256 at 12:57 PM on February 24, 2022
The manga for In This Corner of the World is a must-read, as is the follow up Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms, both by Fumiyo Kono.
The way the manga for In This Corner of the World depicts the bombing of Hiroshima is one of the most powerful things I've ever read. It took me a few pages to understand what was being shown on this page, and when I realized it was like a gut punch.
(I numbered the panels for those who aren't familiar with the right to left way of reading manga.)
posted by ralan at 2:33 PM on February 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
The way the manga for In This Corner of the World depicts the bombing of Hiroshima is one of the most powerful things I've ever read. It took me a few pages to understand what was being shown on this page, and when I realized it was like a gut punch.
(I numbered the panels for those who aren't familiar with the right to left way of reading manga.)
posted by ralan at 2:33 PM on February 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
This recount by Yoshito Matsushige is one that has always haunted me after I came across it in a book of photographs from the bombings, of a photo not taken…
Does that mean several times you thought of taking a picture and then decided not to do it?
Yes—there was one time. It happened when I left the Miyuki-bashi Bridge at around two, when the flames were more subdued. I went to my newspaper office down-town. The way was very` difficult. I could find no street. Everything was gutted, a few fires were still burning here and there, roof tiles were everywhere. It was hard not to walk on the dead bodies. I tried not to, but I had to. On the way I passed Hiroshima University. There is a swimming pool at the university. The previous day it had been full of water, but when I passed by in the afternoon there was almost none. It must have evaporated because of the fire. All that was left was a little water in the bottom of the pool, and people had jumped in to get to the water, but it must have been almost boiling, and the people couldn’t get back out of the pool, so they died in the hot water. There were seven or eight people like boiled fish at the bottom of this pool.
Was this a scene you tried to take a picture of?
It was such a terrible situation I didn’t think of my camera at all. I felt I was going. crazy. So I just kept trying to get to the newspaper company. When I finally got there I tried to enter the building but I walked only a few steps into it. I couldn’t go in farther because of the heat. When I couldn’t get into my building I walked back into the street. Several dead bodies were lying in front of the building. I went to the corner, and there was a street-car. I went up to it and looked inside. It was jammed with people. They were all in normal positions, holding onto streetcar straps, sitting down or standing still, just the way they would have been before the bomb went off. Except that all of them were leaning in the same direction—away from the center of the blast. And they were all burned black, a reddish black, and they were stiff. It was about twenty people in all. They had all died instantly. I felt that they had their eyes open even though they were all burned. This was the scene I tried to take a picture of. I put one foot up on the street-car and looked into it. I put my finger on the shutter for one or two minutes, but I could not push it. I refrained from taking the picture. It was too terrible to take a picture of. This was the only scene I was going to take a picture of but did not.
How close was this to the center of the bomb?
This was very close—about 300 meters from the hypocenter.
posted by rambling wanderlust at 5:03 PM on February 24, 2022 [6 favorites]
Does that mean several times you thought of taking a picture and then decided not to do it?
Yes—there was one time. It happened when I left the Miyuki-bashi Bridge at around two, when the flames were more subdued. I went to my newspaper office down-town. The way was very` difficult. I could find no street. Everything was gutted, a few fires were still burning here and there, roof tiles were everywhere. It was hard not to walk on the dead bodies. I tried not to, but I had to. On the way I passed Hiroshima University. There is a swimming pool at the university. The previous day it had been full of water, but when I passed by in the afternoon there was almost none. It must have evaporated because of the fire. All that was left was a little water in the bottom of the pool, and people had jumped in to get to the water, but it must have been almost boiling, and the people couldn’t get back out of the pool, so they died in the hot water. There were seven or eight people like boiled fish at the bottom of this pool.
Was this a scene you tried to take a picture of?
It was such a terrible situation I didn’t think of my camera at all. I felt I was going. crazy. So I just kept trying to get to the newspaper company. When I finally got there I tried to enter the building but I walked only a few steps into it. I couldn’t go in farther because of the heat. When I couldn’t get into my building I walked back into the street. Several dead bodies were lying in front of the building. I went to the corner, and there was a street-car. I went up to it and looked inside. It was jammed with people. They were all in normal positions, holding onto streetcar straps, sitting down or standing still, just the way they would have been before the bomb went off. Except that all of them were leaning in the same direction—away from the center of the blast. And they were all burned black, a reddish black, and they were stiff. It was about twenty people in all. They had all died instantly. I felt that they had their eyes open even though they were all burned. This was the scene I tried to take a picture of. I put one foot up on the street-car and looked into it. I put my finger on the shutter for one or two minutes, but I could not push it. I refrained from taking the picture. It was too terrible to take a picture of. This was the only scene I was going to take a picture of but did not.
How close was this to the center of the bomb?
This was very close—about 300 meters from the hypocenter.
posted by rambling wanderlust at 5:03 PM on February 24, 2022 [6 favorites]
I came across a clip from this last night on Reddit, and watching it was devastating and important. My father gave me Maus at an early age, too, and played me Strange Fruit, and taught me to never, ever forget that it was real. It was all real, and it was done by people just like me, to people just like me, and it will keep happening over and over again until we really take that in and decide to do something fucking different.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 6:24 PM on February 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 6:24 PM on February 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
Thirding In This Corner of the World, though Barefoot Gen is the more powerful work (albeit a little overlong).
I'm also reminded of a comic by Raina Telgemeier which appeared on the Barefoot Gen reprint Kickstarter from 2016. It makes me wonder how many people had her same reaction upon reading that first volume.
posted by May Kasahara at 6:49 PM on February 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm also reminded of a comic by Raina Telgemeier which appeared on the Barefoot Gen reprint Kickstarter from 2016. It makes me wonder how many people had her same reaction upon reading that first volume.
posted by May Kasahara at 6:49 PM on February 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
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