by Sophisticated pattern and intense depiction of the atomic bombing
Keiji Nakazawa’s manga Barefoot Gen, which depicts in detail the madness of militarism and the tragedy of the atomic bomb, is still a bestseller that continues to be read worldwide.
On the other hand, there are also voices saying that “Barefoot Gen” is unsuitable for the current era, such as removing “Barefoot Gen” from peace education materials for municipal elementary, junior high, and high schools in the spring of 2023. Some people say, “I’m not good at the pattern, and I don’t read it., can be asserted to be a tremendous masterpiece. It’s real, it’s scary, it’s dynamic, and it’s crazy funny. For those still not good at it, I would like you to watch the 1983 animated film, Barefoot Gen.
The animated movie “Barefoot Gen” has a much more sophisticated style than the manga. Gen, glistening in the original, had a clean face, and Gen’s older sister, Eiko, was drawn as a beautiful girl. In addition, the number of characters has been streamlined, and the story has been simplified, such as the appearance of civilians crazy about militarism and the scene where the Nakazawa family is in trouble as a non-citizen. In a way, it is very easy to see. The impact of the atomic bombing and the depiction of the bombing
The story begins with a calm everyday life in wartime. The US military carried out air raids all over Japan, but Hiroshima escaped damage. But the fateful day will come. At 8:15 am on August 6, 1945, a single atomic bomb dropped from a B-29 destroyed the city of Hiroshima and its people. As the flash of light spreads and the explosion spreads, the little girl with her balloon is instantly burned to the ground, her clothes and hair all over her body, and her eyeballs falling off.
A man in a military uniform was screaming, and his whole body was burned, and an old man had his eyes and neck blown off. Is it her maternal instinct that her young mother is charred yet still trying to protect her charred baby on the ground? Hiroshima Castle collapses, trams are knocked down, and a huge mushroom cloud rises over the city of Hiroshima. A girl with Gen at her school died from a sore on half of her face. Even after that, Gen sees people walking around with glass stuck all over her body, and her skin burned and sores. Gen’s house collapsed, his family was buried under the ground, and his father, sister, and brother were tragically burned to death.
In addition, there are horrific depictions of people piled up in a fire prevention tank, a parent and child drowning one by one in the river, and a mother burning to death while breastfeeding her baby. Continue. In addition, “black rain” containing radioactivity fell on the heads of those who wandered around while moaning. From every depiction, you can feel the enthusiasm of the staff who want to convey the horror of the atomic bomb to children in detail. If you read the original manga or the depictions in Keiji Nakazawa’s autobiography, you will understand that none of them are exaggerated expressions but rather faithful depictions.
