A review by dereksilva
Barefoot Gen, Volume Two: The Day After by Project Gen, Keiji Nakazawa
4.0
The first volume of Barefoot Gen focused on Gen's life before and as the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. This second volume focuses on Gen's struggle to find his way (with his mother and newborn sister) right after the bomb is dropped.
Gen struggles to accept that most of his family was killed in the bombing, but it's amazing to see how Gen, through everything, continues to be a boy of very strong character. He struggles to find food but when he finds a delicious-looking peach, he gives it to someone else because he thinks they need it more. He goes out of his way to prove that his mother is innocent when someone accuses her of theft.
There are difficult parts. For example, there are people with skin hanging off their bones and people filled with glass from exploded windows. However, Nakazawa does well to walk the fine line of showing what conditions were really like without making Barefoot Gen too difficult for the reader to stomach.
This volume is a great continuation of Gen's difficult journey and Barefoot Gen continues to be an incredibly powerful story.
Gen struggles to accept that most of his family was killed in the bombing, but it's amazing to see how Gen, through everything, continues to be a boy of very strong character. He struggles to find food but when he finds a delicious-looking peach, he gives it to someone else because he thinks they need it more. He goes out of his way to prove that his mother is innocent when someone accuses her of theft.
There are difficult parts. For example, there are people with skin hanging off their bones and people filled with glass from exploded windows. However, Nakazawa does well to walk the fine line of showing what conditions were really like without making Barefoot Gen too difficult for the reader to stomach.
This volume is a great continuation of Gen's difficult journey and Barefoot Gen continues to be an incredibly powerful story.