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 I saw this on TV as a kid. It might of been a 30 minute show or a movie. Not sure, it freaked me out too bad. It's a cartoon where this, I think, Japanese city gets the bomb. All I can remember is a boy throwing a paper airplane out of a window. There is an explosion and much incineration. Survivors are stumbling around and a person sees a hand sticking out of the ground and attepts to pull the person up but when he pulls, the skin slides off the bones. Any ideas?

I've got a copy laying around and it's been a loooong time since I've watched it, but could it be from Heavy Metal? 

Just a shot in the dark.

No paper airplane...but maybe that was in a differnt part of the movie...does THIS look like your cartoon?

 [youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lDFLLKSkUg

I was suspecting Barefoot Gen. But without the paper airplanes and the skin sliding scene I can't be certain. I know it is not Heavy Metal. Thanks!

I think I might have to buy Barefoot Gen to find out. There are similarities but I remember the animation being not as anime in appearance. Also, this was on television in the early to mid 80's before we even had cable.

i think i have this in my collection somewhere...it's on a dvd of"educational"shorts,or maybe propaganda..i'l see if i can find it and get back to you!

Hm, there are lots of Japanese cartoons about or based on the Hiroshima bomb...

I love the apocalyptic "nuclear war" opening to Fist of the North Star. Kinda similiar to that nasty video RCMerchant posted up there.

I believe there were some bombing scenes in Grave of the Fireflies, too, but I doubt a Ghibli cartoon would be that graphic.

It could be an educational short.
I wish their was more Barefoot Gen clips online. To see some aftermath scenes. I found out Barefoot Gen came out in 1983 but I find it odd that that would play on basic TV way back when.
I know it's not Grave of the Fireflies.  That came out in the 90's I think.
Thanls for all the help so far!

I'm pretty certain its Barefoot Gen your thinking of, I seem to remember the paper airplane scene but I'd have to see it again to be sure. I have it and will watch it sometime soon to make sure for you.

From the clips I've been watching it sure sounds like the kind of thing to expect from Barefoot Gen, perhaps you should rent it and find out?

I wanna see Barefoot Gen now, lol.

Looks like this one might be solved but I do want to interject about Grave Of The Fireflies.  Grave doesn't have any nuclear bombing scenes, just a few firebombing scenes.  As for Ghibli film not being graphic....I dare you to watch Grave and not want to kill yourself afterwards.  It's actually surprisingly graphic, but even more emotionally devastating than graphic.

Well, looks like I am going to order Barefoot Gen this weekend. Hopefully, it'll be the one. That scene has stuck with me forever. Thanks to all!
Not too much into anime but I've been wanting to see Grave of the Fireflies.

VogNhymn,

Grave Of The Fireflies is one that I recommend to anyone whether they are an anime novice or not.  I lucked into a copy on DVD a while back, and every viewing is an experience to say the least.  My wife refuses to watch it again after seeing it a while back.  I actually once had my parents watch it after they asked to borrow a "drama".

I recommend having a box of tissues handy when watching it. 

'Fireflies is on my rental list. I'm a fan of Ghibli and the concept does interest me, I just hope it arrives when I'm in the mood for something so heavy.

As for Barefoot Gen, I'm definitely going to give that one a shot, too, although there's no English language version available in Region 2, which is a little disappointing for me since reading subtitles is one of my pet hates.

if i may ask,why do you hate subtitles?me,i hate dubbing,i read the subtitles with the english dubbing,if i can,,, :smile:

Simply because the films which are most often translated from other languages are either kung fu/action movies or animated manga films, both of which are all about the visuals, what's going on on the screen, so spending half of the time staring at some text along the bottom of the screen just seems absurd to me.

On top of that I just find it totally distracting from the movie. Obviously a really bad dub is equally distracting but they're usually not so bad these days. With a decent dub I can suspend my disbelief, sit back, relax and enjoy the film the same as I would have if it was English in the first place.

I never got around to watching Gen again but it is a good movie and probably the one you want. I liked Grave of the Fireflies better myself and highly recommend it. Also, not to offend anime purists but I agree with DistantJ, subtitles seriously distract me and I avoid them whenever possible. Most dubs these days are decent so I can watch them even if they aren't great.

+ Karma to Kirohime

Thanks :)

Truer words have never been spoken.

I wanted to post an update here.  This is definitely the short "Pikadon."  Very disturbing visuals, and a very bleak film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEOZ1sBppWs

This is the film you're looking for; I'm sure of it:

Go to YouTube and search for "Cartoon about the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima".  The poster should be "thefilmarchive".  (It wouldn't let me post the link here.)

I've been looking for it for ages since I saw it as a kid...it gave me nightmares, same as you.  Someone on YouTube made a video with it, and was kind enough to give me the link to the original film.  I really hope you get this and that it helps.   I'd be glad to know I helped someone else find it.