Spotlight Anime: Barefoot Gen MAL Series Information Page: Barefoot Gen MAL Score � 8.05 (by 707 users) Ranked - #277 Popularity - #1409 For the next week I would like to have a discussion about the anime that focuses on the key elements that we here on MAL use to critically rate an anime: Animation, Sound, Characters, Story, and Enjoyment. I would like everyone to approach this thread as if you were going to write a review and structure your initial post like this: Animation - insert rating Sound - insert rating Characters - insert rating Story - insert rating Enjoyment - insert rating Animation - discuss any pros and cons of the animation styling used in the series, try to include some specifics. Sound - describe any of the things you liked or didn't care for in regards to the music and sound effects used in the series etc... If you are having trouble writing up a review or coming up with specific pros and cons, please don't worry. Just do the best you can with it and if you can only write two or three sentences about any of the 5 elements then that's OK. Not everyone here is currently at a level which will allow them to articulate their thoughts and opinions. After your initial post is made you can feel free to civilly discuss issues of contention. I am sure there will be many opinions expressed here that some of us will disagree upon and criticise and it is for that reason that this entire club exists. So I hope everyone has fun and I am really looking forward to watching this discussion unfold. NEWEST RESULTS YES: 11 NO: 12 Nuked - 47.8% *Due to voting rule changes, this series is available for nomination again. RESULTS OF THE YOU DECIDE POLL: Barefoot Gen was inducted into the club Anime list: 12 Yes - 70.5% 5 No - 39.5% 81 I don't know - 82.6% of the total number polled On 11/27/2009 Barefoot Gen will be voted on for a second and final time[/b] |
LindleMar 4, 2018 10:19 PM
| You do not beg the sun for mercy. |
| It's not an easy watch, however, It wasn't intended to be. War is the villian, not the bomb, not the enemy. The hero is the human spirit as rightfully represented by Gen. It's not an easy rate either! I gave it an 8 overall. It effected me the way it was made to do. On several occasions I had to pause and walk away. A luxury the people of Hiroshima did not share. |
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| I am kind of sick after watching this. Even if it was not biographical I think it would have the same effect. The perfect characterization of everything simply vanishing and how people tried to face it. Tried is a good word, after all what can you do if life as you know melts in a moment? The animation is very good for its age, even the character designs are not too far from what is needed. But the scenery itself is what impressed me. If this is a biographical work... It means that what is shown is what the author saw through his child eyes, isn't it? I wonder how many people would have enough cold blood to rewind their memories and go back to that amazement followed by horror. Perfect characterization, but we couldn't expect less. Everything seems adequate, but the story itself is not. I gave it an 8 overall because I can't rate it higher. It's too real. I can't rate it lower. It's too real. Even the parts that were supposed to be funny were simply... To real for me to be able to laugh at them. Will vote yes, but this movie is still a punch on the stomach |
 Waratte Oemashou Sore ha Chiisana Inori |
| My MAL review of this movie: "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. 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 a relatively accurate, if abbreviated, account of Nakazawa's experience of the bomb and it's aftermath. The art style 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. The sound is another area where the movie shows it's age. The 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 it is at times foreboding, the film is well served in the scores it uses. 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. 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). 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, 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Apologies for the slightly preachy nature of the review. I watched this when I was a kid, and it left it's mark. I'm glad it's finally spotlighted as, even though it may not get into the club (although I do hope it does and I will be voting yes), the fact that it's here to discuss may encourage others to watch it. It's one of the few anime that I recommend to everyone both as a lesson and an example of the power of anime as a social medium. I just hope that people don't vote it down because it's not "cool" or "popular", and I encourage any nay-sayers to post your thoughts on it here. This is the one movie that deserves justification for any no votes. |
ArchaeonMay 25, 2009 4:34 PM
| What a day! What a lovely Day! |
| Haven't seen it yet. Is this similar to Grave of the Fireflies? because I loved that film |
| @ Saintcross The two are alike, and yet extremely different as well. They both deal with WW2 and they both revolve around children, however that's pretty much where the similarities end. Of the two, Barefoot Gen is the more horrific (at least for me anyway), partly because the anime is doesn't shy away from showing the viewer what happened that day (in relative terms of course - this is an anime after all), and partly because it's taken from the memories of the creator. I'd advise watching it and making your own judgement. It may hit you a lot harder than GotF. |
| What a day! What a lovely Day! |
Archaeon said: This is the one movie that deserves justification for any no votes. I hope the Nos are explained, I'm curious on why would anybody vote that. |
Waratte Oemashou Sore ha Chiisana Inori |
| Perhaps here is a bit of justification to be found. I watched this film mainly as a result of Archaeon's strong recommendation that it should be something to have seen. While I agree that the latter is true, I'm not too sure whether it should be inducted here. After watching the film I posted my initial thoughts on it in a comment on Archaeon's profile. Much of what follows, including the introduction, is an enhanced version of that comment. My earliest completely conscious memory - the first memory that consists of more than some flickers, and where I can precisely pinpoint the place and time - is of the night of 9/11/1989: the night the Wall fell. I was too young to understand what exactly was going on there, but I did know, as I stood there in my pajamas, that what was happening was of tremendous, world-changing importance. When I started attending highschool in 1992 and in the years directly following, years in which history, system of government and politics was first truly explained to me, the world had changed. Tanks had been positioned in front of the Kremlin, while Russian arms dealers were selling to Afghan tribesmen and African would-be dictators, far less open to scrutiny than the Soviet armed forces were; Yugoslavia was showing that we didn't need super-weapons to commit genocide; the Battle of Mogadishu showed the superiority of small, specialised forces over the large conscript armies; systematised Apartheid was gone, to be replaced by a far less rules-bound witch-hunt; Scuds and Patriots were playing tag between Jerusalem and Baghdad, leaving the ICBMs where they were; Gulf War Syndrome replaced fear of the nuclear by fear of the biological; textbooks had been altered and teachers were more experienced in explaining a world past the Cold War. Over the years I have noticed a peculiar generation gap between those who have consciously experienced the final part of the Cold War and those who came after. Exceptions aside, the vast majority of the former still, to some extend, possess an Orwellian fear of the massive State and its capacities to wage total war; the latter generally feel more fearful of non-supervised, smaller and more insidious organisations. In short, the fear of nuclear war is becoming a thing of the past. Now, what the heck has all that to do with a Japanese animated film from 1983 or the manga it is based on and which is ten years younger? Quite a lot, really. What has Barefoot Gen to offer a modern Western audience? Its message, one of 1945 bombings, has been sent before and after and has been delivered in guises more artistically pleasing. In all honesty, the bombings are a part of history, the implicit message of 'never again!' having been superseded by reality in the meantime. As Archaeon mentioned, Barefoot Gen might not be so much about a view of the bombing itself, but more simply a personal account, one made in a time and place when and where people rather forgot all about it. Yet, this statement in itself infers two things: first of all, that the issue was one worthy of being commented upon and being referred to in publications; secondly, that it was made to break through an existing taboo. Whereas the issue might still be current in Japan - not only because of its history, but also because changing politics have again positioned a small expanse of water away from a superpower - such applicability of the message effectively ended in America and especially Europe after '89. With the real threat of any repetition of the '45 events - notwithstanding some extant Doomsday scenarios - having lapsed and with the taboo on speaking about or referencing the bombing never having been in place, what strength Barefoot Gen may have in terms of its message weakens considerably to the modern, Western viewer, so much so that it becomes merely a part of the film, one that, as in every show, must be placed next to quality of animation, sound and direction. Unfortunately, Barefoot Gen wasn't a masterpiece in those regards by any account when it came out almost three decades ago and hasn't aged well since then. The animation simply isn't very good, from the design to the actual animation of movement, with what might be termed the 'horror sequences' being almost laughingly ridiculous, even when considering that these reflect the half-remembered views of a child. The sound, likewise, just isn't good. It's almost as if the recording equipment wasn't up to the task, with the actors having a penchant to over-act grossly. It sounds more like something from the 1970s than the 1980s. That being said, the pacing is good. It's nothing spectacular, following your average pacing from life-action disaster films, but this in itself places it above most anime. Likewise, the projected sense of stoicism in the face of adversity really comes through. To use a word that has come up a few time in discussion between ladyxzeus and myself, what the film does have is a very strong sense of sincerity, which is more than can be said about your usual fare. For that sense alone, I believe everyone here should watch it. A bit like Grave of the Fireflies, yet even more subdued, Barefoot Gen paints a picture that comes close to being that of the actual view of one who was there. It's not even gritty; it's just factual. However, when it comes to deciding whether or not this film should be inducted as an exemplary entry, I say 'No'. The message has watered down over time and place, leaving us with a film that feels like we've seen it a hundred times before and which doesn't very exceptionally well in terms of animation or sound. The strong sense of sincerity and slightly above-average pacing alone are, in my book, just not enough. |
| You do not beg the sun for mercy. |
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