Barefoot Gen recounts the bombing of Hiroshima from the perspective of a young boy, Gen, and his family. But the book's themes (the physical and... more>> psychological damage ordinary people suffer from war's realities) ring chillingly true today. Gen and his family have long been struggling without much food, money or medicine, but despite hardships, they try to maintain a semblance of normal life. The adults are exhausted and near despair; the children take air raids and starvation more or less in stride. Nakazawa, a Hiroshima survivor, effectively portrays the strain of living in this environment and shows how efforts to stay upbeat in dire circumstances sometimes manifest as manic, irrational humor. The story offers some optimism: characters perform acts of self-sacrifice for the sake of neighbors and loved ones (e.g., when Gen's pregnant mother becomes ill from malnutrition, he and his brother pose as orphans and perform in the streets, throwing the money over the walls of their home so they won't get caught). Underneath this can-do attitude are the parents' deep guilt and sense of helplessness. When the children clamor ecstatically over a scrap of food, the parents dissolve in shame and grief. The art is sharply drawn and expressive, and the narrative has such a natural rhythm, it's easy to get pulled into the family's life, making the cataclysm readers know awaits them all the more real, intimate and difficult to take. Despite its harrowing nature, this work is invaluable for the lessons it offers in history, humanity and compassion. <<less

Osomatsu-kun is an all-time classic gag manga that follows the lives of the sextuplets: Osomatsu, Karamatsu, Choromatsu, Ichimatsu, Jyushimatsu, and Todomatsu. While the boys are almost always indistinguishable, they're constantly up to various shenanigans. As the series continues, Focus shifts from the six brothers to Iyami and Chibita, who were becoming much more popular as the series went on for their unique and eccentric personalities Many other reoccurring characters appear as well, such as the sextuplets' love interest, Totoko. While the series' characters had base personalities, and the manga itself had a base premise, often there would be chapters set in alternate settings or time periods, making the series much more versatile in the type... more>> of stories it could tell, and focused more on comedy based upon character's personalities and their interactions within any given setting.

Note: Won the 10th Shogakukan Manga Award in 1964. <<less

From Birdman, a superman from space, he received a mysterious mask and cape. Wearing these, even a slightly clumsy elementary student can transform into Perman,... more>> a hero of justice! Rescue the weak, thwart the evil. Together with his three friends, Perman does hiｓ best every day to protect peace on Earth! <<less

In medieval Japan, the feudal lord Nobuhira reigns as an authentic tyrant over his domain, carrying out all kinds of abuses on the peasants. He kills some for fun, to test the effectiveness of his sword blade and to generate a climate of terror that drives other farmers into blind obedience. These, increasingly reduced to starvation, are forced to pay higher and higher taxes in rice, extorted from them through coercive methods, the kidnapping of women or the taking of hostages but all their attempts to revolt are suffocated in blood in the bud.... more>>

One day, however, a crippled monk makes his appearance in those lands, who attributes those nefarious events to the curse of the venerable Akame, who in reality are very normal rabbits, the main food of the local population.

The rabbits thus become the object of the veneration of the peasants, who invoke their protection, which, however, is not frowned upon by the feudal lord ... <<less