manganews.net

I remember reading a television listing for the animated film Watership Down for one sentence: "If this film doesn't touch you, then you have no soul". This one sentence also summarizes my opinion of Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms.

This single volume series by Fumiyo Kono, and released by American manga company Last Gasp, was originally released to a storm of critical appraise and controversy in Japan. It has since received a live action movie adaptation as well. The story spans fifty years and three generations of the same Hiroshima family as they lived, loved (and in one case died) under the shadow of the nuclear bomb and its after effects even long after it was dropped.

The manga is separated into two stories. 'Town of Evening Calm' is set in 1955 Hiroshima and tells the story of Minami - a young woman trying to enjoy love and life while living with the guilt of surviving the nuclear blast that destroyed so many lives.

The book moves on to the next story, 'Country of Cherry Blossoms' - a two part story based in 1987 and 2004 respectively. We follow Minami's niece, Manami, as she and childhood friend, Toko, follow her father's mysterious trip to Hiroshima where they discover that the shadow of the bomb stretches even to modern day.

Powerful and thought provoking, the series doesn't rely on shock horror images like Barefoot Gen. It instead allows the testimonies and memories of these people to paint a bleak picture of the blast's effects and how it affected them both emotionally and physically. Sometimes even just allowing the artwork to convey their stories is enough.

If there's one manga that deserved to win the awards it received - this is it. If theres one manga that'll you return to again and again - this is it. And if there's one manga you must buy this year – Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms is it.