| Hadashi no Gen, anime movie [message #258259] |
Fri, 27 June 2014 20:27  |
sellers
Messages: 1143
Registered: January 2012
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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This is probably not new information so forgive me if I repeat things
you already know about.
I had never seen the anime movie of this story. I have read and
re-read the manga whenever I feel able to tolerate the pain.
Yesterday searching for something else I the web I ran across
a URL which permitted downloading the story and today I viewed it
watching in shifts.
It is as much a tear-jerker as the manga but unlike the manga
this ends not long after the introduction of Ryouta and the death of
Tomoko. I find the character designs are cartoonified and cutified
in a way you might expect to see in the 1980s when this movie was
released. Gen comes off looking more like Sluggo from Nancy and Sluggo
of the old Fritzi Ritz comic that we read back in WW II in the
Hearst San Francisco Examiner and which was available in comic books
later.
Some of the dates about Japan's entry into the Pacific War
seem off.
The incidents in the manga with the neighborhood leader are
left out as are much of the stories of Gen's trips to try and find food.
If you have a strong stomach I advise you to complete your anime
experience with this show. If you can bear further pain take a look at
Grave of the Fireflies but don't try to watch a double bill of these
shows without a couple of big boxes of facial tissues.
But I would advise you to read the whole 10 volume set of Barefoot Gen
aka Gen of Hiroshima aka Hadashi no Gen which is a much more cheerful
story in the long run.
If you think the manga exaggerates then try the non-fiction
book, "Last Train from Hiroshima". The textual description of this
catastrophic bombing is worse than what is shown in the anime or
manga, while including details that the author of Gen somehow missed.
That last train from Hiroshima ran to Nagasaki and so the
people fleeing from one horrific bombing found themselves present at
another one. One of the horrors of the whole thing is that it could
have been worse as the Hiroshima bomb malfunctioned and release only
a portion of the force the builders intended. The Nagasaki bomb was
not on target.
But forget my quibbles and watch the anime and read the manga.
bliss
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| Re: Hadashi no Gen, anime movie [message #258260 is a reply to message #258259] |
Fri, 27 June 2014 22:54  |
Kenneth M. Lin
Messages: 229
Registered: February 2012
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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I acquired Vol. 9 and 10 of the English manga and somehow Vol. 10 repeated
the content of Vol. 9 so all I got was a different cover. This was
published by Last Gasp Press if anyone had a similar experience.
The story was supposed to continue beyond that as the main character moved
to Tokyo to become an artist. However, the creator developed vision problem
and had to retire.
The manga had that "thick eyebrow" look that was common in that era and I
also wonder they changed the style so much for the animation.
I was shocked by this manga's frankness. It never portrayed Japan as a
victim but rather, as the bully and the instigator that got what was coming.
I still don't think U.S. should have dropped the bombs on mostly civilian
areas, however.
"Bobbie Sellers" wrote in message news:lol25j$l58$1@dont-email.me...
This is probably not new information so forgive me if I repeat things
you already know about.
I had never seen the anime movie of this story. I have read and
re-read the manga whenever I feel able to tolerate the pain.
Yesterday searching for something else I the web I ran across
a URL which permitted downloading the story and today I viewed it
watching in shifts.
It is as much a tear-jerker as the manga but unlike the manga
this ends not long after the introduction of Ryouta and the death of
Tomoko. I find the character designs are cartoonified and cutified
in a way you might expect to see in the 1980s when this movie was
released. Gen comes off looking more like Sluggo from Nancy and Sluggo
of the old Fritzi Ritz comic that we read back in WW II in the
Hearst San Francisco Examiner and which was available in comic books
later.
Some of the dates about Japan's entry into the Pacific War
seem off.
The incidents in the manga with the neighborhood leader are
left out as are much of the stories of Gen's trips to try and find food.
If you have a strong stomach I advise you to complete your anime
experience with this show. If you can bear further pain take a look at
Grave of the Fireflies but don't try to watch a double bill of these
shows without a couple of big boxes of facial tissues.
But I would advise you to read the whole 10 volume set of Barefoot Gen
aka Gen of Hiroshima aka Hadashi no Gen which is a much more cheerful
story in the long run.
If you think the manga exaggerates then try the non-fiction
book, "Last Train from Hiroshima". The textual description of this
catastrophic bombing is worse than what is shown in the anime or
manga, while including details that the author of Gen somehow missed.
That last train from Hiroshima ran to Nagasaki and so the
people fleeing from one horrific bombing found themselves present at
another one. One of the horrors of the whole thing is that it could
have been worse as the Hiroshima bomb malfunctioned and release only
a portion of the force the builders intended. The Nagasaki bomb was
not on target.
But forget my quibbles and watch the anime and read the manga.
bliss
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|
|
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| Re: Hadashi no Gen, anime movie [message #258261 is a reply to message #258260] |
Sat, 28 June 2014 01:13 |
sellers
Messages: 1143
Registered: January 2012
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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On 06/27/2014 07:54 PM, Kenneth M. Lin wrote:
> I acquired Vol. 9 and 10 of the English manga and somehow Vol. 10
> repeated the content of Vol. 9 so all I got was a different cover. This
> was published by Last Gasp Press if anyone had a similar experience.
Well there have been several versions of the manga published in the
USA, The SF Public Library system has them on the shelves and so
should the rest of the California city libraries. So don't worry about
the ones on sale and the Cartoon Art Museum down on Mission Street
should have the whole set in stock.
>
> The story was supposed to continue beyond that as the main character
> moved to Tokyo to become an artist. However, the creator developed
> vision problem and had to retire.
Too bad about the vision problem as the story takes a positive
turn as they leave Hiroshima behind.
>
> The manga had that "thick eyebrow" look that was common in that era and
> I also wonder they changed the style so much for the animation.
The brows are thick in the movie but the face of Gen is less stressed,
after the bombing in the manga he seems to be growing older
by the chapter.
>
> I was shocked by this manga's frankness. It never portrayed Japan as a
> victim but rather, as the bully and the instigator that got what was
> coming. I still don't think U.S. should have dropped the bombs on mostly
> civilian areas, however.
Remember the author's father was a pacifist who took a very unpopular
view of the Pacific/China war. Gen carried that attitude
forward. The military that were foolish enough to order bombing of
Pearl Harbor were convinced that a nation which put so much emphasis
on commerce would fold at a powerful blow. The admiral in charge of
the ships involved was fearful of the result but being a Japanese
officer followed the orders of his superior officers.
Neither bomb performed as expected and they were trying to hit
Japanese naval facilities in Hiroshima as I understand. In Nagasaki
they missed their aim completely. Again it was supposed to take out
military targets but instead hit suburban areas. The Hiroshima bomb
almost misfired, the Nagasaki bomb worked as violently as planned.
>
> "Bobbie Sellers" wrote in message news:lol25j$l58$1@dont-email.me...
>
SNIP
bliss
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| Re: Hadashi no Gen, anime movie [message #258295 is a reply to message #258261] |
Sat, 28 June 2014 21:10 |
Kenneth M. Lin
Messages: 229
Registered: February 2012
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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|
"Bobbie Sellers" wrote in message news:loliu7$227$1@dont-email.me...
On 06/27/2014 07:54 PM, Kenneth M. Lin wrote:
> I acquired Vol. 9 and 10 of the English manga and somehow Vol. 10
> repeated the content of Vol. 9 so all I got was a different cover. This
> was published by Last Gasp Press if anyone had a similar experience.
Well there have been several versions of the manga published in the
USA, The SF Public Library system has them on the shelves and so
should the rest of the California city libraries. So don't worry about
the ones on sale and the Cartoon Art Museum down on Mission Street
should have the whole set in stock.
>
> The story was supposed to continue beyond that as the main character
> moved to Tokyo to become an artist. However, the creator developed
> vision problem and had to retire.
Too bad about the vision problem as the story takes a positive
turn as they leave Hiroshima behind.
>
> The manga had that "thick eyebrow" look that was common in that era and
> I also wonder they changed the style so much for the animation.
The brows are thick in the movie but the face of Gen is less stressed,
after the bombing in the manga he seems to be growing older
by the chapter.
>
> I was shocked by this manga's frankness. It never portrayed Japan as a
> victim but rather, as the bully and the instigator that got what was
> coming. I still don't think U.S. should have dropped the bombs on mostly
> civilian areas, however.
Remember the author's father was a pacifist who took a very unpopular
view of the Pacific/China war. Gen carried that attitude
forward. The military that were foolish enough to order bombing of
Pearl Harbor were convinced that a nation which put so much emphasis
on commerce would fold at a powerful blow. The admiral in charge of
the ships involved was fearful of the result but being a Japanese
officer followed the orders of his superior officers.
Neither bomb performed as expected and they were trying to hit
Japanese naval facilities in Hiroshima as I understand. In Nagasaki
they missed their aim completely. Again it was supposed to take out
military targets but instead hit suburban areas. The Hiroshima bomb
almost misfired, the Nagasaki bomb worked as violently as planned.
>
> "Bobbie Sellers" wrote in message news:lol25j$l58$1@dont-email.me...
>
--------------------------------------------
I do wonder how Barefoot Gen is perceived in Japan when even their school
textbooks do their best to suppress what atrocities they committed during
the war. Even in the manga, their treatment of Koreans were deplorable and
they were essentially brought to Japan by force because they possessed some
valuable skills.
If you want to see a truly depressing anime about WWII, this one is worth
tracking down:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_of_the_Fireflies
It's about two siblings who became destitute after their parents passed
away. And Japanese don't have monopoly on payback, Germans faced similar
retaliation from the rest of the Europe.
Cartoon Art Museum has "pay as you go" special on first Tuesday of every
month. Do you ever go there? They recent had the Sandman exhibit (based on
Neil Gaiman's DC series) that was highly recommended. It coincides with the
monthly Free Museum Day so it's worth the trip. SFMOMA is closed for
foreseeable future but Yerba Buena Center and Contemporary Jewish Museum are
nearby.
I know that the public library in Western Addition has shelf after shelf of
manga (well, at least one shelf full) but it's quite far for me to go there
as it's quite a walk from the BART station. A couple of years ago I was at
Western Addition and read all the Tezuka's Phoenix books that were available
in one sitting. The main library only had two manga by Mizuki Shigeru.
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| Libraries and Manga xRe: Hadashi no Gen, anime movie [message #258297 is a reply to message #258295] |
Sat, 28 June 2014 22:54 |
sellers
Messages: 1143
Registered: January 2012
Karma: 0
|
Senior Member |
|
|
snip
Kenneth M. Lin wrote,
>
> --------------------------------------------
>
> I do wonder how Barefoot Gen is perceived in Japan when even their
> school textbooks do their best to suppress what atrocities they
> committed during the war. Even in the manga, their treatment of Koreans
> were deplorable and they were essentially brought to Japan by force
> because they possessed some valuable skills.
I wonder too but the Koreans have been imported to Japan since
before written history in Japan began. You can read the legends if you
can find the equivalent of the Sacred Scriptures of the Japanese from
1952 by Post Wheeler, Ph.D,, LL.D., Litt.D once time Charge' d' Affaires
at Tokyo, By the way I would rather read the dictionary as I slog
through this list of Imperials and their behaviors, good and bad.
The Imperial Family may have had direct Korean connections.
But the majority of the Koreans brought into Japan at any time were
treated as slaves and in better times simply tolerated but they
despite intermarriage were considered non-Japanese and generally
shunned. In the aftermath of the 1923(date may be incorrect) the
Koreans were blamed for looting in areas they never went to.
This is aside from the Chinese and Korean Buddhist missionaries
who came to Japan at the beginning of their written history when Prince
Shotoku favored the new religion.
That old myth of descent from Heaven and its extension to all
native Japanese was used as a license to treat everyone non-Japanese
as less than human. The Imperial Edict to rule all of Japan was
extended with State Shinto to attempt to rule the whole world.
>
> If you want to see a truly depressing anime about WWII, this one is
> worth tracking down:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_of_the_Fireflies
Watched it years back and I think I read the manga too.
>
> It's about two siblings who became destitute after their parents passed
> away. And Japanese don't have monopoly on payback, Germans faced
> similar retaliation from the rest of the Europe.
The siblings die of starvation as the rest of the adults hoard food for
their own families. This is a direct result of the bad management of
the resources of the nation by the military wartime
rulers.
Germans had a worse time after WW I. The USA managed to prevent
similar destructive terms for reparations after WW II. The USSR
of the time (WW II)was very punitive toward both Japanese and Germans
soldiers using them very badly. It failed to return them to Japan or
Germany until long years after the War. I remember the news reels
showing their repatriations.
>
> Cartoon Art Museum has "pay as you go" special on first Tuesday of every
> month. Do you ever go there? They recent had the Sandman exhibit
> (based on Neil Gaiman's DC series) that was highly recommended. It
> coincides with the monthly Free Museum Day so it's worth the trip.
> SFMOMA is closed for foreseeable future but Yerba Buena Center and
> Contemporary Jewish Museum are nearby.
>
> I know that the public library in Western Addition has shelf after shelf
> of manga (well, at least one shelf full) but it's quite far for me to go
> there as it's quite a walk from the BART station. A couple of years ago
> I was at Western Addition and read all the Tezuka's Phoenix books that
> were available in one sitting. The main library only had two manga by
> Mizuki Shigeru.
Well on the main floor of SFPL Main at the Western end of the Genre
section they have a wall full of graphic novels and manga. As for the
particular authors best to check via the online catalog. If you can get
a card you can make reservations and have the books delivered to the
most convenient branch.
bliss
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