Barefoot Gen – The Movies 1 & 2

 

Picture: C-     Sound: C     Extras: B     Films: C-

 

 

Barefoot Gen 1

 

It is near the end of WWII, Gen is an ordinary boy who lived in Hiroshima.  Life is hard due to the war, but all that changed in just one day.  The atomic bomb is dropped on his town, Gen being one of the survivors has to face, the hardship that follows, only his mother survives and with the city in ashes, food, help and kindness is in desperate short supply.  Gen must somehow regardless of circumstance keep his head up find a way to carry on.  Along the way he meets all sort of people, other survivors, some more badly scared than other, while others have lost hope... How Gen helps others, encouraging to not give up and live on.... no matter how bad things are.

 

 

Barefoot Gen 2

 

3 years have gone past; Gen and his adopted brother are still surviving in the slum remains of the city.  Streets are filled with homeless children, children who have lost their parents, surviving by stealing and scrapping by with what they can.  Gen becomes involved with these children and helps them find a way to survive.  But with his mother becoming more and more ill can Gen remain strong?  Children are starving in the streets and aftermath of the atomic bomb can be still seen in the survivors...

 

 

 

An older anime put onto DVD, while you can see some of the picture quality isn't as good, most of it comes from older films where you can still see dirty frames, sound quality is pretty low, but it is an older anime.  But after while, you stop noticing and get into the show.

 

And while this doesn't have the typical giant robot, magic transforming girls, or huge space ships you find in modern anime, Barefoot Gen is actually based on historical contents.  While the character Gen is made up, its story and drama didn't need any imagination.  Based on the book, the story was not originally written for its historical content, nor for entertainment, but after WWII it was written for the children who survived atomic bomb, to give them hope and inspiration for the future.

 

The story is inspirational and gives an insight not only to that time and its people but also reminded people that regardless of loss, the human spirit can still remain strong.  To live on not only their own sake but for those who died as well.  A lot of times these movies will remind you of simple things, family, food, home and then touch you.  It reminds one of sometimes how hard is it for the simplest of things is important to us.

 

 

-   Ricky Chiang