1986 | Japan | Japanese with English Subtitles | Digital|
Drama, War, Sequel

Directed by: Toshio Hirata and Akio Sakai
Written by: Kenji Nakazawa

Gen and his family are living in Hiroshima as Japan nears the end of World War II. Gen's father has come to believe that the war is unwinnable, thus earning the wrath of the town officials and, in turn, discrimination from the rest of their neighbours. All these concerns soon pale, however, as the American military begins its final assault on Japan. A powerful statement against war, Barefoot Gen is an autobiographical story of manga artist Kenji Nakazawa.

Kenji Nakazawa was born in 1939 in Hiroshima. He was six years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on the city, killing most of his family. He grew up to become a comics artist in Tokyo, publishing his first work in 1963. In 1972, the boys' magazine Shonen Jump begam running stories about the lives of manga artists. Nakazawa used it as a platform to publich I Saw It, an account of Hiroshima, which eventually formed the opening chapters of his ten-volume Barefoot Gen that would later be adapted into feature animated film by Mori Masaki, based on a screenplay by Nakazawa himself.

“Proof that animation is every bit as powerful as any other medium for telling us about real-life horror” – The Critical Eye

“…a compelling and important contribution both to the nuclear debate and to the annals of 20th century history.” – Eye for Film

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