Hadashi no Gen

"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 6th, 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 social 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.

The story was later adapted into three live action movies, two animated features, and a TV series, however the first anime movie adaptation remains, to this day, one of the most harrowing versions because of its counterintuitive nature.

As the story in Barefoot Gen is predominantly autobiographical it is difficult to consider it in terms of a normal story. 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 reasonably accurate, if abbreviated, account of Nakazawa's sof the bomb and its aftermath.

The art style is unusual in that it adopts a more "cartoony" approach compared to other anime, however the movie manages to attain a certain ethereal quality that the manga cannot match, especially in its 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 over 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, as it is a stark contrast to how "normal" cartoon characters are depicted.

Sound is another area where the movie shows its 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 fairly well choregraphed, especially during the more foreboding scenes. The variety of tracks complement the pervading atmosphere of the film, and most surprising are the scenes where music, noise and visuals combine to give the viewer a truly visceral experience.

The characters are a bit of a tricky subject in Barefoot Gen, as they are generally taken from the people that nakazawa met before, during and after the bombing, whilst Gen himself is Nakazawa as a child. Granted, there is obviously a degree of artisitic license with both the design and the portrayal, however this in no way diminishes their impact of the overall movie. Because of this things like character developmentand interaction are difficult to consider, especially given the fact that this is mainly a factual account, and in the absence of of evidence to the contrary, I prefer to think of the characters as "real" - at least, for this movie.

Watching this movie is a truly harrowing experience. There is no real way to "enjoy" this in normal terms, especially given its history and content. Very few movies, especially animated ones, are able to convey the level of emotional impact that Barefoot Gen achieves, and only Grave of the Fireflies or Ushiro no Shoumen Daare can be considered equal in terms of content and viewing experience (although the former deals with the aftermath of the firebombing of Kobe, and is semi-autobiographical in nature, and the latter is more of a historical fiction).

Although there are similarities between those two movies 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 Neon Genesis Evangelion, Death Note, Akira, Code Geass, or any other popular movie or series. You cannot use normal standards to judge this movie.

In all honesty, Barefoot Gen isn't something 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 everyone, whether you're a fan of anime and manga or not, to read the books and watch the movie.

Barefoot Gen is at the same time a compelling visual of the horrors of war and a cheesy soap opera; a devastating tale of courage and survival and a badly written one dimensional flick. Gen can be seen as the polar opposite of the epic masterpiece Grave of the Fireflies, for although they deal with similar subjects the way they go about doing it are completely different in both style and quality. Where Fireflies focuses on the small picture, one brother trying to care for his litter sister, Gen is bent upon showing the "big picture" of the war, the devastation that it brought upon ... the whole country. The difference is that in Gen, to get the desired emotional response they had to kill over 200,000 people, and when the mass deaths stopped so did the films quality; in Graves they only had to kill one, and that one death was more meaningful and more heartbreaking then all the millions of deaths in Barefoot Gen.

Gen is an energetic ten years old boy, living with his pregnant mother, his pacifist father, his overbearing older sister (about fourteen) and his loyal disciple, Shinji, whose maybe six years old. The war with America hasn't yet reached them in Hiroshima; they have food shortages, and every now and then they are rudely awakened by air raid sirens, but other than these inconveniences they are able to live their lives without the threat of being killed on a daily basis. But their mother is getting sicker, and baby in her womb is in danger of dying. Gen and Shinji take it upon themselves to find good, healthy food for her to eat. The movie is a feel good, heartwarming story about family trying its best to live their lives while their country falls apart around them; that is until August 6, 1945. On that fateful day Gen is on his way to school when he glances into the sky and sees a lonely B-29, the sun reflecting off its wings, flying overhead. A young girl beside him comments on how strange it is to see an American bomber all alone. Gen drops a pebble and bends down to pick it up; a moment later the sky turns white, a thunderous boom splits the air, and Gen looks on in horror as the girl who, seconds before, stood beside him took the full force of the atomic blast, her eyes melting out of their sockets, her skin instantly turning charcoal grey, skin peeling off her arms and legs. The visuals of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima is almost enough to make me a pacifist, its devastation so real and unquestionably brutal that only a heartless monster could watch it and not think about how evil war is. It’s all too much for anyone with a weak stomach; a small girl instantly turning into a skeletal; a baby suckling on the breasts of its already dead mother; a young boy trapped beneath the weight of his own home, screaming, pleading, for his mother to save him before the atomic fires burn him to death. A dead infant in its mothers arms; zombiefied children, transformed by the radioactive fire, shambling about in the ruble, their eyes and skin melted away, seeking out the relief of water and drowning to death once they find it. Gen survives by sheer luck, but his family isn't so fortunate. The death and sorrow of these twenty minutes of film are almost unsurpassed in film, anime or otherwise.

Unfortunately once the initial shock of the bomb subsides the weaknesses of the film return in full force, driving the memory of those twenty minutes away and forcing the viewer to suffer though another hour of bad writing, bad acting, and an overall bad war commentary. No attempt is made to make Gen into a rich, three dimensional character; he serves as a plot tool only, the eyes though which we are shown the devastation of the war, but little more. The film takes the most illogical plot turns, and the characters act and speak in ways that will make most people scratch their heads in confusion. When the filmmakers realize this, they kill someone else off, but this time the emotional impact is more like a cheesy soap opera then anything else.

Barefoot Gen is simply the cartoony version of Grave of the Fireflies. It is in every way Graves’s inferior, in animation, music, character development and plot, it fails in every way to match the creative guineas of Ghiblis classic film. Those who have never seen Graves might find this a breath of fresh air, but to those who have Gen will be nothing more than a cheap imitation, void of the same life and warmth which resonated so well with Graves. If not for the twenty minutes of death and suffering, this film would be nothing more than a bad war movie.

Film one; 3/5.
Film 2; 2/5.
Overall; 2.5/5. Rounded to three.

Replay value; low.

I can sum my Barefoot Gen experience up in one word: ANNOYING.

It was so damn annoying! I was ripping at my hair as Gen ripped at his!

So why was it so irritating?


First, Gen's voice. He has the most annoying voice I've heard in any anime to date. I don't know if people liked hearing voices like this in 1983, but from a 2010 viewpoint, I couldn't stand it. It's loud, obnoxious, and stays that way all throughout the movie.

I'm sitting here, trying desperately to see the emotional qualities of the movie, and this voice comes out of nowhere, blasting at my ... ears and detracting from what little sentimental elements there are.


Which leads into my second point. The characters are distant. This is no After Story. The characters aren't shallow, yet they seem to be hopelessly so! How is this possible?

Well, the first half hour is spent trying to connect us with the characters. But it fails. It fails horribly. Part of this is due to Gen's horrific voice, but part of this is due to the not-so-autobiographical nature of the movie - my third point.


Yes, this is based on Nakazawa's own experiences, but it is (quoth Wikipedia) "loosely based." That means it shouldn't be taken as 100% true. And thank God it's not, since there are so many stereotypes in it. The old man lets you get away with the fish? Oh goody. I could care less. The woman suddenly changes her mind?

Because it's both autobiographical and fiction, there's an incompatible mix of the horrors Nakazawa experienced and the stereotypes he didn't. Even if he did witness them, I'm sure they weren't as awkwardly presented as in the film. The old man stares Gen down for what seems like a whole hour while Gen and his brother try desperately to guilt trip him. Huh. Is that really how it goes in real life? The woman changes her mind in two frames. Woah, now that was fast. I wonder if she even had time to think!


But enough about Barefoot Gen's faults. Let's see what good things it has to offer:

1) The horrific sights and sounds of Hiroshima. I didn't find it hard to watch, but it sure is something. I especially liked the accuracy of the storytelling (dropping the bomb on the T-bridge, the rain, the water, the dead and half-dead, even the maggots). If you've never learned about WWII or the bomb, this is going to be a wake-up call. If, like me, you already know about what happened, this might not be as shocking, but it's still worthwhile to see.

2) There's nothing else.


Barefoot Gen is essentially an animated documentary of the bomb. That's all there is. If you want to see a good WWII anime, go watch Ushiro no Shoumen Daare or Grave of the Fireflies. Don't watch Barefoot Gen. If you want to see a drama, don't watch Barefoot Gen. If you want to see a story, don't watch Barefoot Gen. If you want to see an anime, don't watch Barefoot Gen.

But if you really want to watch Barefoot Gen, skip to 30:00 and leave it on for ten minutes. You'll be blown away (very mean-spirited pun unintended). Just don't watch any more, or you'll be painfully disappointed.