Hadashi no Gen now online

[Bobbie Sellers]

Any readers left, Ahoy

You may well have read this earlier. It is famous and really
a great manga and only the first couple of volumes have chapters been
turned into anime. One of the bright spots of the anti-war,
anti-nuclear bomb movements. This was translated long ago for the use
of the propaganda against all wars. It gives a glimpse of how the war
destroyed traditional Japan. Eventually in the printed manga (12
volumes) it goes into post-war survival and eventual artistic
apotheosis. If somehow I ever get space and money this is one manga
that I would buy. Oh and the anime was online but I dunno if this is
still the case. I downloaded it long ago and in view of recent problems
wonder if I still have it.

Hadashi no Gen Ongoing aka Barefoot Gen

Author: NAKAZAWA Keiji

Genres: Comedy Shounen Tragedy Slice of Life Mature Historical

Barefoot Gen recounts the bombing of Hiroshima from the perspective of a
young boy, Gen, and his family. But the book’s themes (the physical and
psychological damage ordinary people suffer from war’s realities) ring
chillingly true today. Gen and his family have long been struggling
without much food, money or medicine, but despite hardships, they try to
maintain a semblance of normal life. The adults are exhausted and near
despair; the children take air raids and starvation more or less in
stride. Nakazawa, a Hiroshima survivor, effectively portrays the strain
of living in this environment and shows how efforts to stay upbeat in
dire circumstances sometimes manifest as manic, irrational humor. The
story offers some optimism: characters perform acts of self-sacrifice
for the sake of neighbors and loved ones (e.g., when Gen’s pregnant
mother becomes ill from malnutrition, he and his brother pose as orphans
and perform in the streets, throwing the money over the walls of their
home so they won’t get caught). Underneath this can-do attitude are the
parents’ deep guilt and sense of helplessness. When the children clamor
ecstatically over a scrap of food, the parents dissolve in shame and
grief. The art is sharply drawn and expressive, and the narrative has
such a natural rhythm, it’s easy to get pulled into the family’s life,
making the cataclysm readers know awaits them all the more real,
intimate and difficult to take. Despite its harrowing nature, this work
is invaluable for the lessons it offers in history, humanity and compassion.
<http://fanfox.net/manga/hadashi_no_gen/>

bliss - had given up on rec.arts.manga but at least some stuff gets
posted occasionally.

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