Few works of animated entertainment can claim to be educational or even historical, but Barefoot Gen has both bases covered with chilling efficiency. It tells the semi-autobiographical story of Gen – who represents the author of the original manga series, Keiji Nakazawa, in the film – as he survives the horrific aftermath of the Hiroshima bombings during World War II.

Not only does the film deliver a hard hitting message about the suffering brought about by the bomb, but it’s also a study of family bonds, life in wartime Japan and the effect that the war has on Gen’s childhood as he faces the hardships with naivety as well as courage. It’s also been used by scholars like Susan J. Napier as an illustration of the Japanese ‘victim’s history’ of WWII, along with the classic Grave of the Fireflies.

Far more complex than you might expect from an anti-war film told from a child’s point of view, Barefoot Gen is not only a tense thriller, a sickening exploration of the horrors of war, but it’s a survival story told bluntly and honestly. This is even more obvious when the sequel, which is bundled with this film in Optimum’s release of the title, is viewed, with its exploration of the treatment of radiation sufferers.

One of the most interesting things about this movie is its depiction of the atomic bomb blast itself. Far from being inappropriate to portray such a horrific event, the animation more that meets the challenge of the Hiroshima bomb, showing the brutal nightmarish scene in an almost psychedelic riot of colours and suffering. It manages to connect the viewer into an experience that somehow seems more honest than a bland CG re-enactment – a true feat that makes it worthy of respect.

This title has been rated 21 times.