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39th out of 199 books
—
147 voters
Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths
A landmark publishing event of one of Japan’s most famous cartoonists
Shigeru Mizuki is the preeminent figure of Gekiga manga and one of the most famous working cartoonists in Japan today–a true living legend. Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths is his first book to be translated into English and is a semiautobiographical account of the desperate final weeks of a Japanese infan...more
Shigeru Mizuki is the preeminent figure of Gekiga manga and one of the most famous working cartoonists in Japan today–a true living legend. Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths is his first book to be translated into English and is a semiautobiographical account of the desperate final weeks of a Japanese infan...more
Paperback, 372 pages
Published
April 26th 2011
by Drawn and Quarterly
(first published 1973)
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Shigeru Mizuki (b. 1922) is something of a national treasure in Japan. His innovative manga titles place him the same league as Osamu Tezuki, the artist referred to as the God of Manga. Mizuki made his name with manga involving Yokai, the sometimes playful, sometimes malevolent demons of Japanese folklore. In 1973 he published this magnificent anti-war tale. I have read several manga that are billed as "adult" in content, but this usually means the stories are more sexual or grotesquely violent...more
Onward Toward Our Noble Death can be best described as a different book. I have never read such a book that is read from back to front and right to left but I enjoyed reading it. I enjoyed the outdated black and white cartoon photo's and I believe they did a great job telling the story. When I started reading the book I didn't know what to expect and I can imagine the editor thought we would fell the same way so the directions in the front proved to be very helpful. The context of the story was...more
Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths Review
By Shigeru Mizuki
The graphic novel, “Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths”, was an astonishing experience for a Mizuki virgin, such as myself. Prior to this reading, I had never experienced the elegant and truly magnificent work of Shigeru Mizuki. Shigeru Mizuki is regarded as one of the most famous and respected cartoonists in Japan.
The story takes place in Papa New Guinea, where some of the Japanese are stationed during World War II. The graphic novel fol...more
By Shigeru Mizuki
The graphic novel, “Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths”, was an astonishing experience for a Mizuki virgin, such as myself. Prior to this reading, I had never experienced the elegant and truly magnificent work of Shigeru Mizuki. Shigeru Mizuki is regarded as one of the most famous and respected cartoonists in Japan.
The story takes place in Papa New Guinea, where some of the Japanese are stationed during World War II. The graphic novel fol...more
I really enjoy war books and I was thrilled to read one from another cultural perspective. War sucks, the military sucks and humans are a millisecond from being rotten meat--it appears that these are facts that are immutable and transcend the language barrier. This book was originally published in the 1970s and this is the first English translation. The author served in the Imperial Japanese army during WWII...this is fiction based on cold, hard truth.
The author did a fabulous job of illustratin...more
The author did a fabulous job of illustratin...more
Haunting and important. A terrifyingly true story about the dehumanization and futility of war. A warning against blind obedience to any cause, even patriotism, and the resulting twisted reasoning that can lead to unthinkable consequences. It might be easy as an American to say that this is an interesting look into the pre-WWII Japanese mind and feel superior. But reading the book closely, I found no nobility in the Americans. They were faceless, indiscriminate hunters, more defined by their equ...more
Shigeru Mizuki is best known for his tales of youkai (supernatural monsters) like "Gegege no Kitarou." But he's also written extensively on other subjects, including this fictionalized version of his military service during World War Two.
A Japanese platoon is stationed on a South Seas island in late 1943-early 1944. The regular joe soldiers must deal with the indiginities of military life, abusive NCOs and callous officers who consider them expendable. Eventually, the Allies invade the island, a...more
A Japanese platoon is stationed on a South Seas island in late 1943-early 1944. The regular joe soldiers must deal with the indiginities of military life, abusive NCOs and callous officers who consider them expendable. Eventually, the Allies invade the island, a...more
This is a beautifully written and illustrated graphic novel.
The author takes the reader into the culture of the Japanese army during World War II by showing them the interactions of the members of an infantry unit stationed on New Britain (a unit the author actually belonged to). There is casual brutality, privation and humor as the soldiers first try to survive the environment, then find themselves committed against the American military in a battle they cannot win. The true tragedy of the stor...more
The author takes the reader into the culture of the Japanese army during World War II by showing them the interactions of the members of an infantry unit stationed on New Britain (a unit the author actually belonged to). There is casual brutality, privation and humor as the soldiers first try to survive the environment, then find themselves committed against the American military in a battle they cannot win. The true tragedy of the stor...more
I hadn't expected Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths to be quite as manga-ish as it is. Yes, it reads back to front like manga, and boasts plenty of manga like accolades on its cover, but for whatever reason I have a hard time associating the genre of manga with a subject as serious as World War II. When I read descriptions of this book, it sounds like a dour, moving tale of a troupe of Japanese soliders, and in some ways it is, but the majority of the story is almost slapstick in nature. Even deat...more
No hesitation in giving this five stars. This is a startling, largely autobiographical graphic novel portraying the experiences of a company of the Imperial Japanese Army in Papua New Guinea. The major themes are the pervasive brutalizing of the soldiers, and the obsession with "gyokusai", or noble death in battle - in other words, suicide attacks. What is perhaps surprising is how human the Japanese soldiers come across as - it seems a rare thing to see the Second World War portrayed from the J...more
Fucking. Crazy. Shit.
At the beginning it's "Why haven't you reported to the brothel yet?" and we all have a good laugh... Then they inch the curtain back a little, and from then on the curtain never stops moving. Usually, the soldiers are cartoony, the backgrounds are realistic. But every now and then -- and especially near the end -- he goes all realism on us, and draws the soldiers more like they really were. No onomatopoeia or speech bubbles to be found...
This was a scary realistic book. Peop...more
At the beginning it's "Why haven't you reported to the brothel yet?" and we all have a good laugh... Then they inch the curtain back a little, and from then on the curtain never stops moving. Usually, the soldiers are cartoony, the backgrounds are realistic. But every now and then -- and especially near the end -- he goes all realism on us, and draws the soldiers more like they really were. No onomatopoeia or speech bubbles to be found...
This was a scary realistic book. Peop...more
This is a semi-autobiographical account by one of the great figures of Japanese Manga, Shigeru Mizuki, of his experiences as a young Japanese soldier during WWII. It is harrowing and absurd in equal doses, and like Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima, it provides a window into the experience of Japanese soldiers, who are usually portrayed monolithically as mindless hyper-nationalists ready to lay down their lives without question. Mizuki humanizes these men and shows their complexity and the traged...more
Mizuki is the quintessential mangaka and this translation of Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths has been a long time coming for the English speaking world. Based on his personal experience during World War II in the Pacific Islands, Mizuki does not shy away from the grotesqueness of war and humanity that is lost during the inevitable horrors. The illustrations balance both a realistic background with characters sketched in a classical manga style. Perhaps, this is also a commentary about the dissoc...more
A great look at the psyche of your average japanese soldier in a suicide squad, written by a survivor of a suicide mission.
Mizuki goes to great lengths (perhaps too much so) to counter the image of the mindless zealots (there is plenty of questioning of orders)or even austere and noble warriors (there's plenty of nose-picking and other gross-out humor).
It was a bit annoying to read as the book is presented Japanese style reading back to front and right to left, and the characters were sometime d...more
Mizuki goes to great lengths (perhaps too much so) to counter the image of the mindless zealots (there is plenty of questioning of orders)or even austere and noble warriors (there's plenty of nose-picking and other gross-out humor).
It was a bit annoying to read as the book is presented Japanese style reading back to front and right to left, and the characters were sometime d...more
i've put off reading this one for a little while, because i thought it would be harrowing, and it is, and i cried. but it's also very funny in places--it reminded me of Milligan's earlier war memoirs, in that the soldiers are instantly recognisable as young guys the world over--they could be living down the street right now--and the art is a masterclass in how to draw in black and white, from the linework of the characters' faces to the crosshatched backgrounds and landscapes, used in different...more
Do not expect any sort of happy ending, some kind of moral satisfaction, at the end of this boom. It is first and foremost a story about war, and the men made to fight in them It is violent, vulgar, bloody, and unforgiving. You will probably walk away from ONWARDS TOWARDS OUR NOBLE DEATHS with a sense of futility, a sense of anger, and yet also an inch of comprehension for those soldiers made to die in the name of gyokusai. And if so, then manga-ka Mizuki has succeeded in his mission with this "...more
The best war stories are anti-war stories written by men who were there on the frontlines and suffered the brutal consequences both physically and mentally. As with most stories in this genre, it took the author a while (over three decades) before he could talk about his experiences. For some reason, it also took more than three decades before this book was finally published in English.
This novel reminded me of the classic Robert Kanigher-Joe Kubert war stories, which is as high a praise as I c...more
This novel reminded me of the classic Robert Kanigher-Joe Kubert war stories, which is as high a praise as I c...more
Manga shame no longer, I read this in a restaurant waiting for my to-go and teared up a little. AND JAPAN. War is not fun, but listen to me other armies, you best have a "Praise Cheesus" ready that you never were a Japanese soldier. Things weren't just rough, they were Japanese army rough.
Mizuki does a recklessly well-done job of mixing the sweet cartoony faces of the soldiers, along with the natural realism of the island backdrop. And other than that, anything goes. I MEAN HOLY SHIT. Laughing a...more
Mizuki does a recklessly well-done job of mixing the sweet cartoony faces of the soldiers, along with the natural realism of the island backdrop. And other than that, anything goes. I MEAN HOLY SHIT. Laughing a...more
Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths features a battalion-scale look at the lot of Japanese infantrymen in World War II. It centers on a group of soldiers stationed on a remote island in New Guinea—although “abandoned” might be more accurate, given their lack of supplies and suffering at the hands of their superiors.
Their lot is a grim one. Even at best, the grunts are subject to constant beatings from their officers. They’re sent to scavenge in unfamiliar jungle, falling prey to crocodiles, tropical...more
Their lot is a grim one. Even at best, the grunts are subject to constant beatings from their officers. They’re sent to scavenge in unfamiliar jungle, falling prey to crocodiles, tropical...more
A strange piece, both artistically and plot-wise. The story is about the culture of honor, death, and suicide during WWII, in the Japanese military. The author is pointing out the tragedy of this cultural fascination with death and, more generally, commenting on the plight of soldiers in general (particularly, Japanese, during WWII.) Artistically, it's a weird mix of lusciously detailed backgrounds and cartoony characters.
Jarring and strange, but sort of depressingly charming.
Jarring and strange, but sort of depressingly charming.
Shigeru Mizuki tells a semi-autobiographical story about a battalion of Japanese soldiers in World War II ordered by their death obsessed commander into a suicide charge against Allied forces on the island of New Britain off the coast of Papua New Guinea. Eighty one soldiers survive the charge but are forced by their superior officers to try again rather than disgrace the army with their failure to die honorably. The insanity of war doesn't get much more blatant than this.
I felt like this was supposed to feel more significant than it felt. It's a war, yeah, Japanese armies were intent on all of their men going down in a blaze of glory. War sucks. Ok, yeah. There were affecting moments, but it didn't really come together or hit its marks hard enough for me. Maybe I'm missing something.
BUT I did really like the manga style, all these guys with their drawn (as in long puttyish) faces and their confusion and delirium. That worked really well.
BUT I did really like the manga style, all these guys with their drawn (as in long puttyish) faces and their confusion and delirium. That worked really well.
This lightly fictionalized memoir about the authors experience as a japanese soldier in WWII is touching, but cluttered with too many characters. Even with the character guide at the front, I got totally lost. Since I never really got to know any of the characters, thier death's didn't affect me as emotionally as it could have.
The movie, Letters from Iwo Jima, is thematically very similar with a more focused and emotionally gripping plot.
The movie, Letters from Iwo Jima, is thematically very similar with a more focused and emotionally gripping plot.
This manga is certainly darker than I am used to reading. Based on about 90% of a real account of island warfare during WWII, Mizuki's story focuses on two sections of a Japanese Battalion and their inevitable march towards death. It's tragic, but at times, Mizuki's recounting of the troubles they had to face is somewhat comic in it's inanity. I suppose that is the point as this work is a wide criticism of Japanese involvement during the war.
I was surprised that the first half or so of this war manga was (very dark) comedy/satire (not nearly as wacky, but in the vein of Catch-22), though it builds up to an extremely intense resolution. Makes no bones about the tragedy and senselessness of war. It's particularly critical of the Japanese culture of suicide attacks (the "noble deaths" of the title) and lays out brutally what that actually meant from the point of view of the soldiers and junior officers.
What was odd about this one was that somehow the fact that the characters are so cartoonish made it even more grotesque when they were blown to pieces or mowed in half by machine gun fire. Apparently 90% of this story was true, with the exception being that in reality, not everyone was killed. (Obviously) Suffice it to say, I have no desire to ever use my secret time machine to take me back to the war in the Pacific.
Who said war is hell-well damn it is and this vignette of the south pacific is unbelievable-and 90$% accurate as the author described his time there towards the end of WWII.
I loved some of the larger scenes of boats or the enemy or the jungle-it was amazing hashes and lines closer or further to create depth and darkness and rough features that were somehow clear-I was astounded.
I loved some of the larger scenes of boats or the enemy or the jungle-it was amazing hashes and lines closer or further to create depth and darkness and rough features that were somehow clear-I was astounded.
Really interesting to see the war from the point of view of the regular Japanese soldier. Mizuki survived the absolutely atrocious mortality rates of the Japanese war in the Pacific and in 1970 wrote a graphic novel that tells his story. Recently it was translated into English and while it is at times difficult to keep the characters straight the story is very compelling.
Excellent graphic novel about life in the Japanese Imperial Army during the waning years of WWII, told largely from the common soldier's point of view. What comes across is the harshness of Japanese military life, particularly of how superior officers treated the general infantrymen, and obsessiveness with symbolic but ultimately futile suicide and death.
This was a great representation of the Japanese Army during the end of World War II. Mizuki does a stupendous job of bringing the Japanese private soldier to life in all his hungry, dirty, and degraded details. The story is compelling and has a few good twists and turns. This is well worth the read for anyone who is interested in the war or in Japan.
By all accounts a very good book, and apparently Mizuki is a genius, but I just couldn't do it. The plethora of characters, barely introduced, and with oddly childish outlooks, just didn't hold my interest. 200 pages in, I was completely bored and couldn't even distinguish one character from another, let alone care about them.
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Aug 30, 2012 11:08pm