Barefoot Gen 2

Three years have passed since the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima. Gen and his mother survived, but the city is still rubble and the effects of the radiation continue. Gen meets a group of orphans who lost their families; the children live by stealing and nobody looks after them. Gen tries to help. At the same time his mother's health keeps failing. Toshio Hirata's film continues Hadashi no Gen from 1983; both adapt Keiji Nakazawa's manga, drawn from his own experience. Nakazawa was six at the time of the bombing and lost most of his family. This second film covers not the blast but what came after: orphans, illness, survivors who received no help, and post-war Japan's unwillingness to see them. The narrative is aimed at children and softens nothing. Who it's for: Viewers who like anti-war animation, historical narrative, and anyone following the Barefoot Gen series. Who it's not for: The scenes of death and illness are direct and harsh. Anyone who has not seen the first film will also lack context.