AllMovie

This combination of a wartime drama and children's film paints an effective depiction of misery as seen through the eyes of a young boy. He has no trouble with his vision, so the picture that emerges is sadly accurate. The time is early 1944, and the 10-year-old Bokuchan (Takanori Kurumagi) has been sent to a children's camp outside the city of Osaka for his own protection. The fire-bombing of the city and its environs has already begun. The frail Bokuchan is in no physical shape to stand up to the camp bullies who demand extra food rations from the children and otherwise harass them. The camp manager is almost a bully himself, yet he knows Japan is losing the war and also realizes that the bombing and destruction is going to get worse. In the face of oppression on all sides, Bokuchan's personal and family situation steadily deteriorates until the young lad faces obstacles that would flatten most adults, and in so doing, he gains new respect from everyone.