Sensou wa Onna no Kao wo Shiteinai (original) (raw)

The suffocating atmosphere of war hangs over every chapter like a bad omen. Dozens of nameless characters appear and disappear, and the story constantly reminds you that these were real people, young men and women, giving up their lives, their futures, everything. And for what? The unlucky will see battle and never return. The even unluckier survivors live out their lives with blood on their hands and corpses on their shoulders, the victorless remnants of an ultimately meaningless triumph.

Just like its characters, The Unwomanly Face of War does not stop to dwell. It must push onwards, no matter what, making it feel as if some... stories have been left unresolved. Such is the reality of war.

Despite the depressing reality that sets the tone, the manga is still occasionally punctuated glimmers of joyous reunions and happy endings, scattered across the story like little gold specks, rare feel-good moments within the tragedies that unfold before our eyes. These moments, like breaths of fresh air, provide a brief respite for the weary stragglers of these stories. But unlike in Hollywood's war movies, they are not dramatized, not used to emotionally manipulate the audience, and not exploited in a way to frame war as a necessary evil.

These types of works are crucial to inform younger generations about the mistakes of our predecessors and the tragedies that we were not present for. While we are discussing WWII, I would like to take a moment to acknowledge Japan's atrocious actions in this conflict, such as the Rape of Nanking and the sexual enslavement of Korean comfort women. Although this platform is a place to appreciate Japanese works in the anime and manga medium, these contributions should not delude us into simply forgiving and forgetting its brutal history.

EDIT (2023):
If you've enjoyed this manga, I highly recommend reading the original novel by Svetlana Alexievich. It seems like this manga has been all but dropped by scanlators, and I promise that the source material is a phenomenal read.