Hadashi no Gen

Associated Names: Barefoot Gen, Barefoot Gen: A Cartoon Story of Hiroshima; Barfuß durch Hiroshima; Gen pés descalços, Hiroshima, Hiroshiman poika, Hiroszima 1945 (Bosonogi Gen)
Status: ON-GOING
Direction: Right(→) to Left(←)
Author: NAKAZAWA Keiji
Artist: NAKAZAWA Keiji
Release:
Synopsis

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.

Title Timeline Download
Chapter 1 2017/04/25 Download
Chapter 2 2017/04/25 Download
Chapter 3 2017/04/25 Download
Chapter 4 2023/11/11 Download
Chapter 5 2023/11/11 Download
Chapter 5g 2023/11/12 Download
Chapter 6 2023/11/12 Download
Chapter 7 2023/11/12 Download
Chapter 7g 2023/11/12 Download