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Buried Treasure - Barefoot Gen


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DerekTheRed



Joined: 19 Dec 2007
Posts: 3544
Location: ::Points to hand::
PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 2:47 am Reply with quote
Justin Sevakis wrote:
It's incredibly provocative and blunt in its portrayal the events of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima and killed millions.


Although still nothing to scoff at, 140,000 died in the blast at Hiroshima, not millions. Less than half a million lived there at the time of the bombing. Still, this is one movie that I've meant to see, but I never got around to doing so. Thanks for the reminder.
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Kirkdawg
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Joined: 07 May 2006
Posts: 742
Location: California, USA
PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 2:49 am Reply with quote
I have watched this and agree for the most part that it's a bit hard to swallow to watch the bomb being dropped and it's aftermath, but I think the reviewer went overboard in saying that this is something most people can not watch. Or maybe I'm just that desensitized. Anyhow I'd like to point out a small error-an exaggeration.

Quote:
the events of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima and killed millions

Nobody can deny the horrors of war, but I think it's best we get our facts straight-combined, both Nagasaki and Hiroshima did not have a joint population anywhere near 1 million during the time of the bombings.
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 2:54 am Reply with quote
The bombing scenes and aftermath depicted in that anime were pretty horrific. Reminded me a lot of Grave of the Fireflies, but not nearly as sad or with as much depth or thought.
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Mr Adventure



Joined: 14 Jul 2008
Posts: 1598
PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 3:21 am Reply with quote
This certainly sounds like a DVD I should try tracking down. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8501
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 3:34 am Reply with quote
This is one of those anime I sort of want to see, but sort of dread seeing at the same time, due to its subject matter. I'm not really one to wince when it comes to tragic violence, but even getting through Grave of the Fireflies the first few times was grueling, though it was beautiful.

I just hope this thread doesn't devolve into a finger-pointing blame game.
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Mr Adventure



Joined: 14 Jul 2008
Posts: 1598
PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 3:41 am Reply with quote
penguintruth wrote:

I just hope this thread doesn't devolve into a finger-pointing blame game.


About what?
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jsevakis
Former ANN Editor in Chief


Joined: 28 Jul 2003
Posts: 1685
Location: Los Angeles, CA
PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 3:46 am Reply with quote
Mr Adventure wrote:
penguintruth wrote:

I just hope this thread doesn't devolve into a finger-pointing blame game.
About what?

Whenever WWII and Japan is brought up someone inevitably has to bring up the politics of who's to blame for dropping the bomb. It's all really tiresome and usually either is clear flamebait or reeks of jingoism. Especially for stuff like this because politics and blame are clearly not the point of the work. Usually the logic is something like, "I can't watch stuff like this because I can't feel bad about nuking a foreign country because it's their fault for having a jerk government."

So yeah, none of that in this thread, OK? No politics. Not the point of the movie. Officially off-topic.


Last edited by jsevakis on Thu Jul 30, 2009 3:48 am; edited 1 time in total
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jason913



Joined: 13 Sep 2008
Posts: 14
Location: Plano, Texas
PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 3:55 am Reply with quote
Quote:
So yeah, none of that in this thread, OK? No politics. Not the point of the movie. Officially off-topic

Good idea, there are countless threads dedicated to that.

The Geneon DVD is available at Netflix, but I'm still wary of the film.
I know that this will probably be a great movie, but Grave of The Fireflies was already really, really hard to sit through and that only took place after the bombing so I'll have to see.
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dizzywulf



Joined: 16 Aug 2005
Posts: 102
Location: Wakayama, Japan
PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 3:57 am Reply with quote
This was one of the most disturbing movies I've ever seen. It's one of the few movies that actually gave me nightmares.
I had to watch it all the way through 3 times for different classes in school, each time dreading it and then feeling depressed hours after it had finished.

The dub is cartoony and distracting because Gen has the same voice as Ash Ketchum.

All of that said, it is very powerful and one of those movies that everyone should see at least once.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15563
PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 4:06 am Reply with quote
Quote:
The books are quite popular among educational professionals, but clearly they're of limited appeal to the typical manga buyer.


But if you are the typical manga buyer, I gotta warn you that that shite is gory. So much so, that, if it weren't for the subject matter, it'd be poly-bagged in stores.
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Starre257



Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Posts: 90
PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 4:19 am Reply with quote
I remember once a while ago, I read a comic about how comics can have the same impact as any other form of fiction, and the comic the character read (or the author, since I think it was somewhat autobiographical, though I don't exactly remember) that had a greater impact on her than she previously thought a comic could was Barefoot Gen. I've wanted to at least read the manga since I read that, though now, I'm a little less willing to.

I have a good reason for avoiding sad fiction, historically important or otherwise, and I typed up a whole long reason why, then decided it wasn't really necessary here and transferred the thing to my personal journal.
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Cyclograph



Joined: 07 May 2005
Posts: 11
Location: CA, USA
PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 5:23 am Reply with quote
Quote:
The film was based on an autobiographical manga series by Keiji Nakazawa, which is considered a seminal work in Japan despite its sometimes rough artwork. The manga has the distinction of being one of the first manga titles ever to be released in English

Educomics released the original 1972 Shonen Jump strips of Ore wa Mita in a single pamphlet volume titled "I Saw It". Still available NOS from LastGasp at the original $2 SRP - so don't go paying ridiculous sums from resellers just yet! This English edition is flipped and colorized tho, but I still highly recommend it! Short and brutally to the point, this is the original autobiography Barefoot Gen would be based on, covering his years pre-war up through the time he wrote this in 1972.
Quote:
(a volunteer organization released a 4-volume English edition in 1976), and San Francisco-based publisher Last Gasp is currently finishing its release of a new 10-volume edition

The LastGasp final volumes of the extended 1973 version, vol 9 and 10, are expected to be available around March/April-ish, or so the rep told me last week at their booth at ComiCon. (They also seem to usually have an advance printing available at WonderCon) She also mentioned that this project is basically a labor of love for this title by all the staff involved, and they aren't really making their money back on the project... Sad Do purchase if interested, as this one could go OOP and not return anytime soon.

I have both the UK DVD released by Optimum, and the Geneon US disc. Both are basically the same, though the translation has some slight regional variations (e.g. "mum" vs "mom".) The UK set also has a nice booklet containing an interview with Mr Nakazawa, otherwise the video content is pretty much the same.

The Comics Journal has a portion of an interview they did with Mr Nakazawa online here: http://www.tcj.com/256/i_nakazawa.html with much covering his biography and creation of "Barefoot Gen", an interesting read.
Another more extensive interview from 2007 more specifically covering the events of and his writing of Barefoot gen: http://japanfocus.org/-Nakazawa-Keiji/2638


Last edited by Cyclograph on Thu Jul 30, 2009 2:46 pm; edited 1 time in total
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HyugaHinata



Joined: 25 Jun 2005
Posts: 3505
PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 6:47 am Reply with quote
I must agree - both Barefoot Gen's are great films. I remember hearing a story (I assume it must be about the mangaka himself) who survived the blast by falling over at the right time.

I got the DVDs when Madman brought them to Australia.
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JohnathanEnder



Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 88
PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 7:33 am Reply with quote
I can rarely talk about about Barefoot Gen (manga or movie) without tearing up. As Justin said, there are images from this story that are permanently seared into my mind.

My girlfriend keeps telling me that I should show it to her. I definitely agree, but I just can't bring myself to witness those scenes again.
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LeanGreen



Joined: 10 Jul 2009
Posts: 323
Location: New England
PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 7:42 am Reply with quote
I was just looking at this DVD online. I've ordered Grave of the Fireflies and was looking at other movies in the genre, so I'm happy to have this positive (well, as positive as you can get considering the subject matter) review.
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