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A-bomb history resonates with youth through animated film

14 Comments
By Sophie Jackman

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A good lesson to the Japanese people - think deeply about peace, but don't worry about your huge role in creating chaos and death around the world during WWII. It's only important to mention the atomic bombing of Japan (x2) because you view yourselves as victims.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

Yeah, I agree with Andy. As I was reading this, I was also thinking you'd never see an animated portrayal of a girl being forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese during WWII. Show all sides of history, warts and all.

Always the victim.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

Having lived in Japan for several years, I know the education system has been less than forthcoming with the facts about Japanese Military atrocities throughout Asia & South East Asia, HOWEVER, That is not the fault of the youth culture. From my experience the young adults know why their reputation around Asia was so bad and both sides of this issue have done a great job in moving past WWII issues and into mutually beneficial partnerships in business, manufacturing, travel and cultural exchanges. The Japanese are also very aware of how fleeting a peaceful existence could be with the continuous & increasing threat posed by North Korea.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

When accomplished, peace should be naturally preserved, never enforced. If you neglect your responsibilities, under the slogan of peace, you take away the value of the whole concept, and stay deeply coward and insensitive towards the others. We all make mistakes, the thing is, how do we learn from them.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

More self-pitying garbage. Can someone make a cartoon about what the imperial forces did in China or SE Asia? the victim card is getting old, japan. we can all see through it.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Sequel of 'Grave of the fireflies' which was bashed hard by Asian neighbors for its self-pitying air regardless it had been intended or not?

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Thank you for the review, Ms. Jackman. I did not know about this work and I now look forward to finding it.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Yeah, I'm looking forward to the version about China, Korea, The Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Burma, etc.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Graduate student Tatsuro Nishikawa, 28, said the film made him feel the medium of animation is uniquely suited to bridging the gap between historical events and today's world.

Sigh. Cartoons. I can't imagine telling the community where I grew up that cartoons are the perfect medium to explore the holocaust. Look, I'm not saying this is a bad cartoon. And, I liked Maus. But Japan can be so childish sometimes. I see this with my university students who look at books the same way I looked at green beans when I was a kid. Without a love of learning in the system, whatever is imparted will be defective.

it strips away the big ideological questions of the time to show the universality of suffering in war.

So, in other words, the context that you'd get from "book learnin'... And why confront the difficult questions at all? Or learn to question?

 this is so much more gentle

I'm sure it is.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

think deeply about peace and what it means,

Just another meaningless platitude.

Kids have to understand not only the horror of what happened to their own country, but also the reality that there were "ordinary" Japanese exactly like themselves who committed acts of brutality during the war, some of them eagerly. Everyone has to realize that, put in another time and place, it could have been them doing the same terrible things. And that it could happen in the future.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Many of the critical comments here are from people who obviously haven't seen the movie. It was well made, but burdened by a slow first half build up. It was a movie that showed the real day to day effects of the war on ordinary life in Japan. It was effective at that.

The comments here seem to have zero interest in a film unless it shows very specific things that appeal to them. While the issue of Japanese crimes during the war is important, this movie is not about that.

The fact is, relatively few people will pay to see a movie about the terrible things their ancestors did. This film is a more effective antiwar film than many.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

@commanteer

Exactly. And the title itself shows that the film is concerned with a very specific aspect of the war, rather than being an attempt to tell the whole story....

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

has any one got a link so I can watch this movie? on you tube they all seem to be trailers

0 ( +0 / -0 )

While the issue of Japanese crimes during the war is important, this movie is not about that.

Along with almost all recent Japanese movies about the war.

The fact is, relatively few people will pay to see a movie about the terrible things their ancestors did. This film is a more effective antiwar film than many.

i.e. sugarcoating history and playing the victim card is the only way to get people to think about it at all. Why even bother?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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