The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Blistering performances.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

As this anime was set in the "Grave of the Fireflies" and "Who's left behind?" era, this actually gives us a more extreme and a realistic approach of how an atomic bomb could just rip bodies into pieces within seconds. I honestly was pretty much speechless and felt I could just scream with horror coming out of my mouth. AIlthough i dont think people around me would appreciate it lol! Seriously though, I can only imagine what the screams sounded like and the cries of survivors searching for their loved ones. Ill tell ya, war is the worst decision that man has ever done and like there were no winners here.All I can say folks about this anime, that it is very hard to watch like i don't know how I go through it all but I guess, we have to remember what happened during that time and reflect how this kind of thing shouldn't have happened in the first case. May those who have perished during that time, rest in peace. You will not be forgotten <3

I've basically pasted this from wikipedia, but since the autobiographical element to this story wasn't mentioned I thought I should post it. There is an interesting article with the artist here http://www.tcj.com/256/i_nakazawa.html (中沢 啓治, Keiji Nakazawa, born 1939) is a Japanese manga artist and writer.He was born in Hiroshima, and was in the city when it was destroyed by an atomic bomb in 1945. All of his family members who had not been evacuated died in the bombing except for his mother, and an infant sister who died several weeks after the bombing.In 1961, Nakazawa moved to Tokyo to become a full-time cartoonist, and produced short pieces for manga anthologies such as Shonen Gaho, Shonen King, and Bokura.In 1966, following the death of his mother, Nakazawa returned to his memories of the destruction of Hiroshima and began to express them in his stories. Kuroi Ame ni Utarete (Struck by Black Rain), the first of a series of five books, was a fictional story of Hiroshima survivors involved in the postwar black market. In 1972, Nakazawa chose to portray his own experience directly in the story "Ore wa Mita" ("I Saw It"), published in Monthly Shonen Jump (In 1982, the story was translated into English and published as a one-shot comic book by Educomics as "I Saw It").Immediately after finishing "I Saw It", Nakazawa began his major work, Hadashi no Gen (Barefoot Gen). This series, which eventually filled ten volumes (six volumes in English translation), was based on the same events as "I Saw It" but fictionalized, with the young Gen as a stand-in for the author. Barefoot Gen depicted the bombing and its aftermath in graphic detail, but also turned a critical eye on the militarization of Japanese society in the World War II years, and on the sometimes abusive dynamics of the traditional family. Barefoot Gen was made into an animated film, released in 1983. It was followed three years later by a sequel.

I rate this high mainly because of the subject. The animation itself is not what one would expect from '83 animes, but the story is sound. The plot is less emotional than Grave of the Fireflies, but mainly because it is not as dramatic and the message is actually a positive one. The scenes of the nuclear explosion in the city are horrendous.There is also an 1986 movie called Hadashi no Gen 2, and I will see it as soon as possible to comment on it.Bottom line: if you've seen Grave of the Fireflies, you will find this mildly entertaining; if you haven't, I suggest you see this one first and then definitely see Grave of the Fireflies.On a personal note: if you're American, you should see this at least to understand what things were done in the name of freedom and pursuit of happiness.

If, for one reason or another you only saw the first half of this film (before the bomb), you'd be highly confused as to why people are being so complimentary of it. It's humour is almost embarrassing to watch, the events seem to come in blocks, one after another, and as much as I hate to use the word: corny is the predominant feeling.However, when the bomb falls, you'll see why the filmmakers opted for this approach. The contrast between the two parts of the film is extreme. The sickeningly happy garden-gnome like sense of the first half is instantly and shockingly shattered by the truly horrific and sobering atmosphere of the second. Tears are to be fully expected as the results of the attack reveal themselves, again, accurately, in the blocky way they had in the first half, and truly excellently directed to its purpose.The focus of the movie is always on the suffering of the people, the sadness of the results of the 'Pika bomb', the consequence of war. It doesn't blame anyone and doesn't attempt to inspire patriotism, instead it only displays the cost of the decisions taken by the various political big shots on both sides, so ignorant to the true results of their choices. Certainly an important lesson today.Why people feel they need to state their personal opinions on the war and the bomb in the other reviews is not clear and not appropriate, however it is testament to the effect this film has on the viewer. Even the most right wing of audiences would struggle to resist the peace sentiment after seeing Barefoot Gen.Just as a note though, to those here who have said they don't feel sorry for the Japanese regarding the atomic bomb, bear in mind that it was the political and military leaders that led the war effort, that made the decisions, and that ordered the atrocities. The people that suffered from the atomic bomb, as is the nature of war, were the civilians, those who had no influence whatsoever over the action of their country - and indeed, as does Gen's father in the film, many of them believed Japan was making a mistake. Regardless of political position, age, sex and physical fitness, the terrible suffering was inflicted on many thousand people. The blame must always be placed carefully and correctly, misdirected blame only leads to discrimination.