Forum - View topicBuried Treasure - Barefoot Gen
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Daimao Raki
 Posts: 593 Location: Dark Side of the Moon |
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Still on Right Stuf: Barefoot Gen DVD (S)
From the tone of review and the responses in this thread, this is something I need to buy. |
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TsukasaElkKite
 Posts: 3952 |
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It's difficult for me to watch, but it's a masterpiece in its own right.
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DFBTG
Posts: 385 Location: Hell |
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I remember watching the some prior to the bombing and about 5-10 minutes after it in US History. Never watched more than that; that was all I needed to see. Maybe eventually I'll watch it from beginning to end, it's certainly worth it, but....who knows.
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v1cious
 Posts: 6203 Location: Houston, TX |
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there you have it kids! duck and cover works. |
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taster of pork
 Posts: 594 Location: My House |
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This anime hit me pretty hard. Especially the part when spoiler[the baby dies]. But I still enjoyed it and highly recommend it.
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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Hiding under your desk is a far cry from standing behind a heavy brick wall. 
The real thing to remember about atomic warfare is that most people didn't die incinerated in the initial blast. They died from the fires that raged through the city, from windows exploding in their faces, from burns left by the blast, from buildings that were designed to be earthquake proof collapsing on them, and worst of all, from the unbelievably huge levels of radiation that made peoples' flesh starting rotting while it was still on their bodies and caused who knows how many cases of cancer (Nakazawa's mother died of cancer) that continue to this day. |
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yurijuri
Posts: 9 Location: Colorado, USA |
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I recently started reading the Barefoot Gen manga since I found out my library had it. Some of the single scenes in there after the bomb was dropped were very powerful (especially involving Gen's family). I've owned a VHS copy of the movie for some time, but never watched it due to the subject matter. I'll watch it someday, but I'm sure I won't be able to last long.
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Magamish
 Posts: 39 Location: FL |
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Amazing movie, and the ending was a bit abrupt, but very much needed and SOMEWHAT comforting.
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Vixaires
 Posts: 1 Location: NH |
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Almost scares me to think my world history teacher at high school had the class watch this...
I was able to buy a VHS copy from a local video rental store for $0.50. Definitely worth seeing at least once in your life. |
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Craeyst Raygal
 Posts: 1383 Location: In the garage, beneath a 1970 MGB GT. |
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It's a shame that the animation industry has strayed from projects like Barefoot Gen in recent years. It feels to me sometimes that unless your name is Oshii or Kon you simply cannot make an animated film aimed at a genuinely mature audience.
Barefoot Gen is a great film because it's - by my estimation - a necessary work. It's a frank and intimate viewpoint of an event that turned the 20th century inside out. |
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DuelLadyS
 Posts: 1705 Location: WA state |
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I wasn't unmoved, don't get the wrong idea- but I never felt the need to stop the movie or tear up. Maybe I have a great ability to emotionally detatch myself when I have no control over the situation. Maybe I'm just desensitized. I don't really know. More importantly, I don't people to think that this movie is so incredibily graphic it's unwatchable... becuase then they won't. And that's a true shame. Whether or not you think you can 'take it', you should try and see it anyway- it's one of the most personal, most human depictions of the Hiroshima bombing out there... and it's important to remember the tragedies of the past, not ingore them becuase they're unpleasant. |
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FaytLein
 Posts: 1260 Location: Williamsburg, VA |
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When I was about 16, Barefoot Gen aired on late night TV along with Golgo 13 and other such shows, and I plopped down to watch, thinking it was some kiddie show, probably with mecha or some such thing.
I watched up until I saw the mother and her child DISINTERGRATE due to the bomb blast. I promptly shut the TV off, ran to my room and did whatever I could to block that image from my mind, it was so horrifiying. Now that I'm older, I think its time I actually sit down and get both Barefoot Gen and Grave of the Fireflies, something I held off for a long time, since even now, almost 13 years later, that image pops into my mind from time to time. I had no idea at that point that anime was anything other than robots and women in bikinis with rayguns. It was a sobering experience to say the least, and hopefully I can get through it this time without shutting it off. |
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Nermal
 Posts: 223 Location: I was made to hit in America |
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Thank you for reviewing this title, Justin. After watching a WWII special on the History Channel, I decided to finally watch the dvd that has been sitting on my shelf for quite some time now. I was completely stunned by the bombing scene and could not stop crying. As one reader put it, the fact that this event really happened is probably what makes it so powerful. I am glad I watched it, although I don't plan on viewing it again anytime soon.
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Moomintroll
 Posts: 1600 Location: Nottingham (UK) |
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That might be so in Japan these days but try Persepolis (French) and Waltz With Bashir (Israeli), both of which are exceptional. Oh, and there's also Princess (Danish) - not seen it yet but it's certainly aimed at mature audiences. |
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Xenofan 29A
 Posts: 378 |
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Reading this review brings back all my memories of being in Hiroshima about two months ago. I was with a few friends, and we were spending one day going to the Atomic Bomb Dome (which is a building that survived the blast pretty much intact) and then the Peace Museum. A few of my friends were joking around at first, while we were looking at the dome. It looked like any other burned out building.
Then we entered the museum. It was a sobering experience, all right. They have description after description, in both Japanese and English, of what led to the bombing. That's the history side which everyone heard about. (However, it was pretty surprising to find US ofiicial documents detailing the decisions leading to the attack.) But all of that feels so far detatched from the human side, which is what the museum showed next. Photos of the actual destruction, stories of people lost in the fires and ensuing radiation poisoning, and actual clothing worn by some of those people as they were killed. It was very sobering to me as well. They had the Barefoot Gen (doesn't the Gen derive from "Genshibakudan", the Japanese word for the atomic bomb?) manga in the gift shop, but I was unwilling to buy anything after all that I'd just seen. It felt too insensitive, somehow, even though most of it was anti-war, anti-bomb t-shirts and things. I was not surprised by the number of foreigners that I saw while I was there, but I found it surprising how many groups of elementary school kids were visiting. Group after group of Japanese elementary school kids was seen walking through Peace Park and looking at the Atomic Bomb Dome. I wondered whether or not they would feel distrust towards us, since we were 4 foreigners (three from the US), but they were very friendly, and impressed that we knew some words in Japanese. I don't know if I want to watch this....I've seen Grave of the Fireflies, but after going through the museum, I don't know if I want to see it in animation. |
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