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borpotingis's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, War, and Death of parent
jbentley10's review against another edition
4.0
Somewhat strange art style at times and somewhat goofy, Barefoot Gen tells a deeply serious tale about the bombing of Hiroshima. By the end of this first volume, you have a small sense of the emotional toll the bomb took on families in the city. It's enjoyable and powerful at times, while also silly and lighthearted other times. While the art style isn't my favorite, I really enjoyed learning about the history of the time and appreciate the perspective shared on the tragedy.
jn0el's review against another edition
4.0
From Amazon: 'This harrowing story of Hiroshima was one of the original Japanese manga series. New and unabridged, this is an all-new translation of the author's first-person experiences of Hiroshima and its aftermath, is a reminder of the suffering war brings to innocent people. Its emotions and experiences speak to children and adults everywhere. Volume one of this ten-part series details the events leading up to and immediately following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.'
I read this book for a Japanese lit/culture class, and it was the first time I had studied the Pacific War (the Pacific Campaign of WWII) from a Japanese perspective. It blew me away. I had no idea how the Japanese were suffering at the hands of their own rulers. America justified dropping the bombs by pointing to this fact (much as we did when invading Iraq). It's a gripping, often gory tale of a young boy surviving during this awful period in our shared history, but it's even more powerful when reminded this is [a: Keiji Nakazawa|67379|Keiji Nakazawa|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1377707592p2/67379.jpg]--the author's--truth, his life, his story.
I read this book for a Japanese lit/culture class, and it was the first time I had studied the Pacific War (the Pacific Campaign of WWII) from a Japanese perspective. It blew me away. I had no idea how the Japanese were suffering at the hands of their own rulers. America justified dropping the bombs by pointing to this fact (much as we did when invading Iraq). It's a gripping, often gory tale of a young boy surviving during this awful period in our shared history, but it's even more powerful when reminded this is [a: Keiji Nakazawa|67379|Keiji Nakazawa|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1377707592p2/67379.jpg]--the author's--truth, his life, his story.
tashas_books's review against another edition
3.0
Didn't really like the main character, Gen (probably because he was an annoying, young boy), but I did feel for him and his family as they went through hardships and tragedy.
Don't know if I'll continue reading this.
Don't know if I'll continue reading this.
ppetropoulakis's review against another edition
5.0
The original 50-year-old Manga that dealt with the real-life story of Gen and his family coping with the second world war in the eve of the nuclear bombing of Japan. It is an intimate, sensitive and educational story about wartime imperial Japan.
alles_allerlei's review against another edition
4.0
Beim zweiten mal lesen muss ich sagen fand ich diesen Teil nicht mehr ganz so eindringlich wie beim ersten mal lesen und würde daher der Geschichte eher 3,5 statt 4 Sternen geben
dennoch keine Geschichte die etwas für schwache nerven ist ...
dennoch keine Geschichte die etwas für schwache nerven ist ...
krpollard's review against another edition
5.0
This should be required reading for everyone. Nakazawa brilliantly conveys the complexity of a nation at war, and the ways that everyday people are forced to act in unjust systems. He furthermore does so without ever suggesting that his characters have all the answers: Gen, the protagonist, makes mistakes as he learns how to think for himself; Shinji, Gen's little brother, often acts selfishly though he tries to learn to think of others; and their father, a self-proclaimed pacifist, beats his children out of love. I left this comic grappling with some heavy questions.
scarletohhara's review against another edition
5.0
This book is all kinds of trigger warning, but is a must read. We all know the holocaust caused by the A-Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But I bet none of us read this from the perspective of someone who actually was alive at that time in that place.
These drawings being to life the horrifying time the author has gone through when the bomb was dropped. But before that, the author depicts so well the impact of the pro-war brainwash in the Japanese society - families believing their children’s lives are worth only if they die in the war, calling anyone who calls out the war as a traitor and denouncing their families, Kamikaze fighters, soldiers in suicide bomber vests falling under the American tanks, civilians choosing death over living in the defeated Okinawa island - all these are examples the author so well shows in this book.
I winced and held my heart throughout this book.
And I’ll read the rest in this series too.
This is an effort to learn more about our history, man’s cruelty towards another man and the lengths one will go to, to be a ‘victor’. I see why the author wanted this story translated into English and other languages, and am glad I read it for that very reason.
These drawings being to life the horrifying time the author has gone through when the bomb was dropped. But before that, the author depicts so well the impact of the pro-war brainwash in the Japanese society - families believing their children’s lives are worth only if they die in the war, calling anyone who calls out the war as a traitor and denouncing their families, Kamikaze fighters, soldiers in suicide bomber vests falling under the American tanks, civilians choosing death over living in the defeated Okinawa island - all these are examples the author so well shows in this book.
I winced and held my heart throughout this book.
And I’ll read the rest in this series too.
This is an effort to learn more about our history, man’s cruelty towards another man and the lengths one will go to, to be a ‘victor’. I see why the author wanted this story translated into English and other languages, and am glad I read it for that very reason.