Radical comics library

Originally this was a series of comic books published first in Japan, then translated to in english. My first manga. I stumbled on it while visiting a friend, going through a stack of their dad’s old radical comics, and read the whole thing aggressively. When done, I sat there stunned, wondering what I just experienced.

It’s a model for the non-fiction, memoir graphic novel genre. It felt real. It felt true. The art aligned with the story.

I was transported before and after the bombing of Hiroshima. And saw it through the innocent eyes of a six-year-old boy, Gen. He's the son of a dissenter. The pro-war propaganda was the air the Japanese people breathed. Because of this, the family are ostracized and deprived of community, save for a Korean family who receives much discrimination and also struggles to assimilate.

The propaganda part fascinated me. It illustrated how an entire society was mobilized for the war effort to the extent that families guarded each grain of rice with rage. For families like Gen's labeled as traitors, asking friends for extra food meant putting those friends at risk of being labeled traitors themselves. Dissenting meant starving. Gen’s older brother tries to restore his families honor by joining the army.

The story is told matter-of-factly with no sense of preachiness. The authors objectiveness is startling and exemplifies his character. While the illustrations are fairly simple compared to others I've encountered, they are still captivating, creating an immersive world. Whatever their low level of detail is evened out by the choked detail of the story.

I'm not brave enough to watch the movie version.