• KUROI AME NI UTARETE

    KUROI AME NI UTARETE

    It's about young people in postwar Hiroshima getting involved in the black market for weapons. The main character is an A-bomb survivor whose hatred drives him to kill an American black marketeer. He asks the Americans, "Who are you to talk about justice when you massacred hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Hiroshima, in Nagasaki, in the firebombing of Tokyo? Was that what you call justice?"

    Genre(s): Drama, Historical, Mature, Seinen, Slice Of Life, Tragedy

    Updated Time: Oct 21, 2016

  • HADASHI NO GEN

    HADASHI NO GEN

    Barefoot Gen recounts the bombing of Hiroshima from the perspective of a young boy, Gen, and his family. But the book's themes (the physical and psychological damage ordinary people suffer from war's realities) ring chillingly true today. Gen and his family have long been struggling without much food, money or medicine, but despite hardships, they try to maintain a semblance of normal life. The adults are exhausted and near despair; the children take air raids and starvation more or less in stride. Nakazawa, a Hiroshima survivor, effectively portrays the strain of living in this environment and shows how efforts to stay upbeat in dire circumstances sometimes manifest as manic, irrational humor. The story offers some optimism: characters perform acts of self-sacrifice for the sake of neighbors and loved ones (e.g., when Gen's pregnant mother becomes ill from malnutrition, he and his brother pose as orphans and perform in the streets, throwing the money over the walls of their home so they won't get caught). Underneath this can-do attitude are the parents' deep guilt and sense of helplessness. When the children clamor ecstatically over a scrap of food, the parents dissolve in shame and grief. The art is sharply drawn and expressive, and the narrative has such a natural rhythm, it's easy to get pulled into the family's life, making the cataclysm readers know awaits them all the more real, intimate and difficult to take. Despite its harrowing nature, this work is invaluable for the lessons it offers in history, humanity and compassion.

    Genre(s): Comedy, Historical, Mature, Shounen, Slice Of Life, Tragedy

    Updated Time: Nov 11, 2023

  • Heiwa no Kane Series

    Heiwa no Kane Series

    1.Ore wa Mita (I Saw It) I Saw It is a biographical piece following the life of Nakazawa from his youngest days in post-war in Hiroshima up until his adulthood. I Saw It became the predecessor for Nakazawa's popular manga series Barefoot Gen. 2. Eien no Anchor 3. Shuppatsu no Uta 4. Hyoushigi no Uta 5. Ii Tama Ippon

    Genre(s): Drama, Historical, Shounen, Slice Of Life, Tragedy

    Updated Time: Mar 07, 2019