Reviews

Barefoot Gen, Volume Three: Life After the Bomb, by Project Gen, Keiji Nakazawa

minda's review

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emotional sad medium-paced

4.0

zorpblorp's review

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fast-paced

3.75

timshel's review

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4.0

The third book in the Barefoot Gen series, Life After the Bomb continues the horrific tale of post-nuclear Hiroshima and how one boy lived through it all. Trials abound in this third volume, the most memorable of which involves a new character, Seiji, whom Gen is given charge of. Life After the Bomb brings back some of the comic mischief that dominated the first volume and detracts, whether positively or negatively, from the grim story.

Life After... is a welcome addition to the Barefoot Gen storyline, although I did struggle placing this in context with the story's overall timeline. It seems so much time has passed, the family has mourned and roamed the countryside, many nights seemed to have elapsed, and yet, given Japan's announcement of surrender in this volume, only nine days have passed. This doesn't seem remotely possible and leaves me disconnected from the story some.

Also, it just dawned on me how ridiculously happy these covers are. It appears this is a happy tale, doesn't it, the way Gen is full of smile. That smile reflects nothing of the horrific images inside of these books.

bkgunderson's review

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5.0

The continuing story of Gen and his family is heartbreaking but never despondent. If you appreciate manga, this story will really bring home the reality of everyday life in Japan after the war and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

librosprestados's review

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4.0

Poco queda ya que no haya dicho de este manga.

Añadiré que me ha gustado más este tercer volumen que el segundo, y ello porque en este volumen las partes de humor infantil se reducen y vuelven las crónicas sobre las primeras horas de supervivencia en Hiroshima tras el estallido de la bomba. Además, se van desarrollando las consecuencias de la ocupación americana en Japón, como las torturas a prisioneros o la censura a cualquier crítica al gobierno de ocupación o a la bomba atómica, y se habla del comienzo de la guerra de Corea.

Sigue siendo en puntos demasiado melodramático, con escenas de humor que cortan la atmósfera y un desarrollo de personajes más simple que una línea recta, pero está escrita con honestidad y desde la denuncia y lo cierto es que es muy adictivo. Esperando ahora el cuarto y último volumen.

cindyc3689's review

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4.0

Situasi yang sangat buruk bisa membuat orang melupakan ikatan keluarga - seperti Seiji, atau sebaliknya, membuat orang menemukan keluarga baru - seperti Ryuta pada Gen dan ibunya.

15 Agustus 1945 Jepang menyerah tanpa syarat. Kalau saja perang berakhir 10 hari sebelumnya, penduduk Hiroshima dan Nagasaki tidak akan luluh lantak seperti ini. *sob*

depleti's review

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4.0

Another good volume, but still heavy stuff! I'm pretty curious how this goes for eleven volumes.
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