Barefoot Gen 2

Gen, his mother Kimie, and his adopted brother Ryuta scavenge for food and scrap metal to sell in the black market while Hiroshima struggles to rebuild. The family relies on each other to endure the harsh postwar environment. Their daily routine establishes the grim context in which future events unfold.

Kimie begins working at a geta factory, while Gen and Ryuta attend school in a ruined building. In that shattered setting, they encounter Masa and his gang of orphaned children in a hostile first meeting. The encounter foreshadows the complexities of survival in postwar Hiroshima.

Gen and Ryuta start a small shoe-shining business hoping to earn money. Masa's gang disrupts their efforts, drawing the attention of policemen who intend to place the orphans in an orphanage. The brothers fend off the police and seek refuge with Masa's group in their shelter.

Gen learns that Masa's orphans survive by pickpocketing in the black market to endure. Seeing Masa's desperation for a better life, Gen and Ryuta decide to join his gang, seeking a sense of belonging and protection in numbers.

Gen befriends Katsuko, one of the burned orphans, and Masa's gang invites Suekichi, a retired journalist who lost his family in the bombing, to live with them. These relationships deepen the makeshift family among the survivors. The compound becomes a tenuous but hopeful home.

Gen rallies the orphans to construct a new home from wood and other materials scavenged from abandoned buildings. They raid and repurpose debris around town to create a sense of stability and belonging. The effort marks a shift from mere survival to rebuilding a community.

The orphans raid a potato field at night to supplement their meals, but the farmers catch them. In the confrontation, Katchin, a member of Masa's gang, is killed, highlighting the dangers and costs of their desperate scavenging lifestyle. The group retreats, leaving the field behind.

Gen notices he can carry his mother on his back, a sign that her health is failing. Doctors later inform Gen and Ryuta that Kimie is suffering from radiation sickness caused by the bombing, a condition that will progressively worsen with time. The family confronts an uncertain future.

Kimie is told by a surgeon that she has only four months to live. Gen resists accepting her death and offers to work in her place, but Kimie insists she continues to work out of love for Gen's late father. Her determination underscores the stubborn resilience that defines the family.

Gen, Ryuta, and Masa attempt to steal copper from a shipyard to buy penicillin for Kimie. Their plan fails when their boat sinks on the return journey, leaving them with nothing and intensifying the sense of futility in their struggle. They press on despite the setback.

The trio witnesses an improper burial of bombing victims by American soldiers and is chased away from the scene. The scene reveals the ongoing indignities and trauma faced by survivors in the postwar landscape. It hardens their resolve to find meaning amid loss.

They locate copper bullets in an abandoned firing range and, with Masa's gang, collect them into a wheelbarrow. The find becomes a potential resource for trade and survival, illustrating the improvisational economy of the era. It foreshadows further risky moves for their group.

Gen and Ryuta return home with money for penicillin, only to discover Kimie is dying. They carry her toward a hospital, torn between hope for a cure and the impending loss. The moment marks a profundamente painful turning point for the brothers.

As they push toward the hospital, Kimie dies on Gen's back, urging him to live on. Her death leaves Gen and Ryuta to confront a future without their pillar. The loss crystallizes the fragility of life in a postwar world.

Gen has Kimie cremated and then plays with Ryuta, Masa, and the other orphans, reminiscing about the influence his parents had on his life. The scene emphasizes resilience, memory, and the shaping of Gen's identity through adversity. The orphans continue to cling to family bonds in a fractured era.