Publisher Description

The story of Gen's life after the dropping of the bomb continues. Volume 5 follows Gen's struggles in postwar Japan, with massive food shortages and horrendous health problems. Gen is forced to choose between making money to support his family or staying in school to be a part of society. His choice is complicated when his old friends reappear as part of a street gang. There is no help for his mother, save for the costly medicine procured on the black market. Gen becomes entangled with black market gangs and faces an internal struggle of honour, ethics and duty.

Author Biography

Nakazawa was born in Hiroshima, and was six years old when the city 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. Compelled to tell his story in the memory of his family, Keiji Nakazawa is best known for his epic tragic history Barefoot Gen.

Long Description

Barefoot Gen Volume Five "The Never-Ending War" As the people of Hiroshima face a massive food shortage and horrendous health problems, Gen is in school, but he is forced to choose between making money to support his family or staying in school to be a part of society, but when his mother becomes sick, the choice is further complicated.

Review Quote

...some of the best comics ever done... Nakazawa, I'm sure, will be considered one of the great comic artists of this century, because he tells the truth in a plain, straightforward way, filled with real human feelings. -- R. Crumb, cartoonist

Details