Alternative Titles
Hadashi no Gen; Gen of Hiroshima
Information
Type: Movie
Episodes: 1
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Jul 21, 1983
Duration:
1 hr. 23 min. Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
L represents licensing company
StatisticsScore: 8.021 (scored by 418 users)
Ranked: #2552
Popularity: #1339
Members: 854
Favorites: 3 1 indicates a weighted score
My Info
Popular Tags
drama historical |
SynopsisIt's the summer of 1945. 3 years have elapsed since the war between Japan and USA began. Gen is a young boy living a struggling yet satisfying life in the city of Hiroshima, that has been strangely spared by the bombing taken in almost every other Japanese City. Food is scarce, and Gen's family is suffering from severe malnutrition, which endangeres his pregnant mother. There isn't much spare time as Gen and his little brother Shinji help their father and mother at work and try to make sure their family survives the tought times. Little do they know, what the Americans have in store for the city of Hiroshima and as of the 6th of August 1945, their lives are about to change dramatically. (from ANN) |
Related AnimeAdaptation: Barefoot Gen
Sequel: Barefoot Gen 2
Characters & Voice Actors
Recommendations
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They are both about the same thing - war. These two stories are very depressing, sad and cruel...
They both give depictions of what it was like after WWII in Japan. Grave of the Fireflies gives the opinion more after the war was nearing it's end while Barefoot Gen gives perspective of both during and after the war.
Not only are both films a must watch - they also share a lot in common. Both lead characters are forced to 'be a man' at times of tragedy (despite their age) and both must come to terms with the losses that occur - as such they are both extremely powerful anti-war movies based on real events the authors went through. They are both very upsetting, but don't let that put you off watching these great films!
Both shows involve the bombing of Hiroshima, and the aftermath.
It's hard to imagine you'd like one of these titles and not the other --- they are each a unique and interesting story yet both composed of very similar content and themes. Watch both back-to-back for guaranteed sadness.
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Barefoot Gen 2 continues the story from Barefoot Gen, though its a little bit more upbeat in tone than the first.
This movie is a continuation of Barefoot Gen and takes place 3 years later. We follow Gen's and Ryuta's struggle to earn money and buy food. This becomes especially important when they are about to loose the one they hold most dear (again).
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Reviews
| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
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Jul 22, 20081 of 1 episodes seen 17 of 19 people found this review helpful "I dug my father, sister and brother out of the ruins. Their skulls and other bones were intact. I thought humans became like that when they were burnt. When my mother's body was cremated however, there were very few bones. It made me shake with anger that the atomic bomb radiation deprived my mother, who had survived for 21 years, of even her bones. I vowed never to endure wars or atomic bombs"
(Taken from an interview with Nakazawa Keiji by Jonathan Clements.)...
On Moday. August 6, 1945, the US bomber Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb known as "Little Boy" on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The explosion killed around 70,000 people immediately, with almost as many again dead from the resulting radiation by the end of 1945.
Nakazawa Keiji, the author of Barefoot Gen, was 6 years old at the time of the bombing, and is one of the survivors of the destruction of Hiroshima. The bomb was responsible for the death of his father, his sister, and his brother. At the age of 6 he and his mother dug their remains out of the ruins of their home. In 1963 Nakazawa moved to Tokyo to become a manga artist, but returned to Hiroshima in 1966 to attend his mothers funeral. It was his discovery of the true impact of the radiation from the bomb that inspired him to risk becoming a pariah by openly discussing his experience of the bomb with the first of his "Black" series, Beneath the Black Rain.
Barefoot Gen is the autobiographical account of his experience of the bomb and radiation. The manga was fraught with problems because of it's nature and content, and was effectively sidelined by mainstream publications. In 1976 however, a volunteer group called Project Gen was formed, and they took on the task of producing english translations of the manga. In truth, Barefoot Gen was the first manga to be translated and published in english.
Story
As the story in Barefoot Gen is autobiographical it is difficult to give it any score. The anime loses out to the manga in certain repects because sections had to be left out. However, this in no way takes away from the story which remains an accurate, if abbreviated, account of Nakazawa's experience of the bomb and it's aftermath.
Art
The art style in Barefoot Gen is unusual in that it adopts a more "cartoony" approach compared to other anime. However, the anime manages to attain a certain ethereal quality that the manga cannot match, especially in it's depiction of the results of radiation sickness. The atomic blast is rendered with shocking clarity, and the transformation of people into "monsters" (from Gen's perspective), is horrifyingly realised.
Althought production values may be dated (the anime is 25 years old now), the movie should not be marginalised on the basis of "poor" animation. The cartoon like quality of the characters only adds to the emotional impact of the movie as it is a stark contrast to how "normal" cartoon characters are depicted.
Sound
This is another area where the movie shows it's age. The sound effects, although well used, can sometimes be overwhelming for the viewer, while at other times the various noises are relegated to the background. This can give the movie a slightly "off-kilter" feeling for some viewers, but for the most part the sound and visuals work well together.
The music is generally good throughout the movie.The various pieces used to enhance the impact of a given scene are generally appropriate, and although is is at times foreboding, the film is well served in the scores it uses.
Characters
This is another area that is difficult to apply a score to. The characters in Barefoot Gen are generally taken from the people that nakazawa met before, during and after the bombing, whilst Gen himself is Nakazawa as a child. Because of this things like character developmentand interaction are difficult to consider, especially given the fact that this is not a fictional account.
Enjoyment
Watching this movie is a truly harrowing experience. There is no real way to "enjoy" this movie in normal terms given it's history and content. Very few movies, especially animated ones, are able to achieve the level of emotional impact that Barefoot Gen achieves. Only Grave of the Fireflies can be considered it's equal in terms of content and viewing experience (although GotF deals with the aftermath of the firebombing of Kobe, and is semi-autobiographical in nature).
Overall
Although there are similarities between GotF and Barefoot Gen, there are major differences as well. It is extremely difficult to compare any other anime or manga to Barefoot Gen (aside from GotF), as no other work is taken directly from real life. If you decide to watch Barefoot Gen then you cannot compare it in any way to shows like NGE, Death Note, Akira, or any other popular movie or series. You cannot use normal standards to judge this movie.
This isn't a movie to enjoy, even though it ends on a hopfeul note. This is a movie to be experienced, as it is the story of a boy who has literally seen hell. It is both a lesson and a warning for future generations of the true horror of nuclear and atomic weapons, and I urge every anime and manga fan to read the books and watch the movie. read more
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| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
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Jul 6, 20081 of 1 episodes seen 4 of 10 people found this review helpful Don't watch this movie. Not that it's a bad movie, by any means. It's just that if you've been taking antidepressants, or have a cynical view of the world already, this movie won't help improve your outlook on anything for the time that you're watching it. It's not a date movie. And it might not be the best movie to introduce someone to anime. However, it's a great film in its own right, and will tug at your heartstrings, and give you the sniffles, or at least a manly, single tear.
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For those of you who haven't finished this part of your history books, skip this huge spoiler:
the city of Hiroshima gets bombed. People die. A lot of innocent people die. Barefoot Gen is WWII unfiltered, and unapologetic. It doesn't pick sides, but exposes the horrors of war through animation, which makes scenes that would have been unwatchable a lot more palatable. (Seeing children turned to ash in a live-action movie... Eh. I haven't seen the live-action adaptations, but I'd probably feel worse after watching them)
Like the other super-sad-WWII-movie-people-mention-when-they-talk-about-animation-as-an-artform, Grave of the Fireflies, BG uses painted cells to show what the war would look like to children. That's probably the most heart-breaking part of all. The two brothers in the movie and other children exprienced things nobody should ever have to-things that, unfortunately, real children had. It's like a memorial to the survivors of the bomings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but it's never preachy. In fact, I think I liked this better than GotF because of how hopeful (if somewhat cheesy) the ending was. But after the bleakness before it, it's a welcome relief.
read more
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| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
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Jul 20, 20081 of 1 episodes seen 3 of 9 people found this review helpful Barefoot Gen is one of the rare Anime films that everyone must see, at least once. If you've read the Manga then you might be a little disappointed by this movie, initially. This movie, in comparison to the Manga, lacks some of the Manga's emotional depth due to the movie cutting out most of the characters' establishing story. In this way, the feeling for the characters by the audience is diminished. Instead, the movie moves quickly to the day of the actual bombing of Hiroshima. In doing so, the... movie forgoes much of the interpersonal violence that takes place in the Manga and replaces it with a much wider sweeping and graphic violence. The events during and following the bomb are depicted rather grusomely. The advantage of Anime as a medium is used to full effect here as the bomb's blast is depicted with such grotesque brutality that it is hard to watch. Indeed, the art is one of the big strengths of the film. There are scenes, pre-explosion, that are simply beautiful, beautiful animation and art. There are scenes during the explosion that depict events vividly that could scarcely be imagined by one who wasn't there. As well, after there are many well-animated scenes as well. The art is strong, and the direction, on the whole is largely good. The story, to some extent, bares that strength of direction out. There are many sad moments in the film as many, many people die and Gen is forced to find a way to survive in this new harsh world after the bomb. The emotional level of this movie can easily, and fairly, be compared to Grave of the Fireflies. However, where this movie (Barefoot Gen) is different from Grave of the Fireflies is in its tone. While Barefoot Gen is an immensely sad film for two-thirds of its length, overall it takes a more hopeful and encourageing 'never give up' look at life and events. While the art and the story are strong, the sound is not as wonderful. The theme music is fun, and otherwise ok, but nothing spectacular. Otherwise, the music is nothing to write home about, unfortunately. While it certainly has a highly developed and wonderful artistic style and strength, the music is not up to that same level. Overall, Barefoot Gen is the kind of movie that is very important - it tells an important story and it tells it well. It is not perfect - sometimes even too graphic to watch - but its an important film, beautiful artistically and otherwise, that teaches an important lesson through the eyes of someone who has seen the absolute worst. read more
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