![]() The biggest contrast is the tragic ending, where the inevitable occurs, and Mizuki memorably shifts to a more realistic style over several harrowing pages, not the first time he uses detail to depict devastation. The cartooning, though, allows for an expressiveness. While the satirical approach he takes could be seen as disrespectful, it helps to highlight some ridiculous situations and remove some horror from others, such as his witnessing an almost starving comrade die choking on a fish he’s caught.Īs on other projects, Mizuki draws simple, often exaggerated cartoon figures on exquisitely rendered pen and ink backgrounds, and if not familiar with his methods it takes some getting used to. ![]() Mizuki’s alias is Maruyama, just one among many hungry, ill and demoralised men expected to sustain themselves on patriotism, and regularly beaten by commanding officers. ![]() It’s followed by the lyrics from a song sung by Japanese prostitutes of the time bemoaning their circumstances. One brothel serves everyone and we see a vast herd of soldiers outside and a woman’s plaintive shout from within that her body can’t take any more. The story opens in 1943, with thousands of Japanese platooned on a small Pacific island. ![]() Plenty of atrocities follow in Shigeru Mizuki’s fictionalisation of his World War II experiences fighting for Japan, but it’s worth drawing attention to an opening horror. ![]()
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