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Grave of the Firefliesis Studio Ghibli’s soberest story, yet it harbors a dedicated fanbase, and I have just found their watchlists’ newest addition:Barefoot Gen. Aside from the fantastically-captivating action, romance, and horror genres of anime,the humbling realities of war and international conflict are also tackled in Japanese media. Some series are outwardly aimed towards anti-war or pro-Japanese themes. However, others are more subtle, masking a clear agenda within a fluffy exterior.
For example, my favorite Studio Ghibli film,Howl’s Moving Castle,contains inspiration and reflections from both its director and the source material’s author. The film’s release date was in 2004, following the invasion of Iraq by the United States. The film depictsdirector Hayao Miyazaki’s thoughts on pacifismand further issues surrounding the previous year’s events.
While this project from Miyazaki attempts to tackle a more serious topic, coupled with a heart-fluttering romance, other anime are much more direct. Fans of Studio Ghibli’sGrave of the Fireflieswill no doubt appreciateMadhouse’s little-known feature film:Barefoot Gen.
Madhouse Studio’s Historical Masterpiece is the Perfect Addition to Any Grave of the Fireflies Fans’ Watchlist
Barefoot Genis a Haunting Autobiographical Account of the Events of World War II
Grave of the Firefliesis known as Studio Ghibli’s most devastating project. Even though the film is set during World War II, its themes of human destruction still ring true today.Grave of the Firefliestells the story of Seita and Setsuko following the American firebombing during the Second World War, which separated them from their parents. Driven by nothing more than a desperation for survival,Miyazaki’s most sorrowful tale follows their struggles to stay together and stay alive.
It is rare forStudio Ghibli’s films to endon anything other than a happy note, butGrave of the Firefliesis one of them. In the end, Seita and Setsuko die of starvation. Alone at a train station,the two children are made victims of one of the world’s most horrific conflicts.While some Studio Ghibli fans may think that Miyazaki’s films are nothing more than lighthearted escapist tales of grandeur, the director proves through his perceptions of the real world that this is far from the truth.
10 Best Historical Anime, Ranked According To MyAnimeList
Anime has no limit on where it can take viewers, even back in time, and MyAnimeList’s top-ranked historical anime are here to prove it.
Barefoot Gen: A Chilling Glimpse into the Bombing of Hiroshima
Madhouse’s Little-Known Feature Film is a Must-Watch for Any Anime History Fan
Barefoot Gen,a project released by Madhouse Studio in 1983, is loosely based onthe manga author’s experiences as a survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bombing.Keiji Nakazawa first released an eyewitness account of the Hiroshima events forMonthly Shonen Jumpback in 1972 titled,I Saw It. However, it began to run internationally soon after its success, released in the United States byEducomicsin 1982.
In 1973, just a year after the original series’ release,Barefoot Gen(an extended version ofI Saw It)ran inShonen Jumpfor the first time on June 03, 2025, but it did not find immediate success.Barefoot Genwas canceled after a year and a half. As a result, the series was forced to move to three smaller, less widely distributed magazines:Shimin(Citizen),Bunka Hyōron(Cultural Criticism), andKyōiku Hyōron(Educational Criticism). More recently,following Christopher Nolan’s film,Oppenheimer,the interest inBarefoot Genrose almost immediately.
Barefoot Genis an animated adaptation of Keiji Nakazawa’s manga. The story is based on some of his personal experiences of the wartime devastation in Hiroshima around 1945. In the 1983 feature film,produced by Madhouse(Death Note, HunterxHunter, One Punch Man), the main character, Gen, along with other protagonists,struggle to survive after losing their friends and family during the war and its horrific aftermath.
The Controversy Surrounding Anime’s Most Popular War Dramas
Two Primary Critiques Have Affected the Popularity of These Breath-Taking Projects
Barefoot GenandGrave of the Firefliesare animated war dramas depicting the bombing of Hiroshima and the effects of World War II from a child’s perspective. The first controversy surrounding these projects concernedBarefoot Gen’sreleasein schools. In December 2012,access toBarefoot Genbecame restricted in elementary and junior high schoolsin Matsue, Japan, on the grounds that its depictions were much too graphic for young children. However, the ban was lifted after a more recent review of the restrictions in August 2013. In response, the series author stated:
“War is brutal. It expresses that in pictures, and I want people to keep reading it.” – Keiji Nakazawa
Secondly, some fans believe thatGrave of the Fireflies, Barefoot Gen,and perhaps evenHowl’s Moving Castle,areall subtle attempts at incorporating Japanese propaganda into larger-scale media projects.Extreme nationalism, in the case of these films, is utilized by writers, filmmakers, and even politicians to sway viewers into favoring Japan over other countries.
While thebombings of Hiroshima and Nagasakiwere among the world’s most horrific events, some shocking acts of human cruelty were committed by Japan during World War II. However, these anti-war films do not discuss this matter. Instead, they focus on an innocent demographic of people who were far removed from the events of the war,left only to be victims of others' choices.
It’s interesting to note that the same movies can be criticized, or even banned, for two opposite reasons. It’s also important to keep in mind that stories, and movies in particular, have to necessarily be focused. Crafting a harrowing tale about the suffering of Japanese children during the war doesn’t necessarily mean that their authors wanted to hide, or justify, the actions of the Japanese army during the conflict. It all ties in with the complex cultural and political shift that happened in Japan after World War II, the effects of which are still felt today.
However, to say that Japanese media was the only content utilized to push a particular agenda would be completely and utterly false. In addition to Eastern media, such as anime, Western media too is guilty of telling stories from calculated perspectives to train their audiences to think a certain way. Nevertheless, perhaps it is stories like these thatforce viewers to consider a perspective outside their own.
By understanding films such asGrave of the FirefliesandBarefoot Gen,Westerners can begin to comprehend a small fraction of the Japanese people’s experience of the war, while at the same time understanding that each side has a unique perspective that we may never fully grasp.Barefoot Genis a necessary, uncomfortably real look into the horrors many children experienced during World War II, in the same vein asGrave of the Firefliesfrom Studio Ghibli.
Barefoot Gen
Barefoot Gen is an animated film released in 1992, based on the semi-autobiographical manga by Keiji Nakazawa. The story follows a young boy named Gen as he experiences the catastrophic aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima during World War II. The film depicts his struggles for survival in the face of immense hardship and the enduring spirit of resilience amidst the devastation.
