If you’ve been wondering is Barefoot Gen manga finished or still ongoing, the short answer is: yes, it’s complete. All 10 volumes have been published in both Japanese and English, and you can read the entire story right now without waiting for new chapters.
There is one detail that trips people up — the final volume carries a “Part One: Complete” label, which understandably raises questions. But don’t worry: the story still reaches a satisfying conclusion. Let’s walk through exactly what that label means, what to expect from the ending, and where to pick up the series.
One thing to note before we go further: while physical editions are the most common format, a Kindle edition is also available for at least some volumes on Amazon. Physical copies remain the primary way most readers collect the series.
Is Barefoot Gen Manga Finished? Yes — All 10 Volumes Are Complete
Barefoot Gen is a completed manga created by Keiji Nakazawa. The series was originally published chapter by chapter in Japanese magazines — a process called serialization, which is how most manga are first released — and later collected into 10 volumes by publisher Chobunsha.
The English edition, published by Last Gasp, also spans 10 volumes — matching the Japanese release one-to-one. Every volume has been translated and published, so the full story is available to English-speaking readers.
The bottom line: there are no missing volumes, no untranslated chapters left waiting, and no continuation in progress. What exists is what Nakazawa completed, and you can read it all from start to finish today.
Publication History and Volume Breakdown
Barefoot Gen has an interesting publication history. The manga began serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump — one of Japan’s biggest manga magazines — in 1973, but was canceled there after roughly a year and a half. Nakazawa continued the series in several smaller publications, and the manga ultimately ran across multiple magazines from 1973 to 1987 before being collected into book-format volumes by Chobunsha.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the editions:
| Edition | Volumes | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | 10 | Chobunsha |
| English | 10 | Last Gasp |
The English volumes from Last Gasp are presented in a slightly larger format than typical manga paperbacks and read left-to-right. That’s actually the opposite of how manga is traditionally read in Japan (right-to-left), but flipping the artwork to match Western reading direction was common practice when these English editions were produced.
The “Part One: Complete” Label
Here’s where the confusion comes in. The final volume — Volume 10 — ends with the notation “Part One: Complete.” Nakazawa intended to continue Gen’s story beyond where Volume 10 leaves off. However, that continuation was never produced. Keiji Nakazawa passed away, and no sequel or Part Two was ever created.
Despite that label, the story as published tells a complete narrative — meaning it follows Gen through a beginning, middle, and satisfying emotional ending. The 10-volume series is all there is, and as you’ll see below, it stands on its own.
Does the Story Feel Complete? What to Expect From the Ending
This is the question that really matters to most readers, and the answer is reassuring: yes, the story feels complete.
Without getting into heavy spoilers, Barefoot Gen follows its protagonist Gen Nakaoka from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima through the devastating aftermath and into the early years of rebuilding. The narrative covers a significant span of time and traces Gen’s growth from a young boy into someone shaped — but not destroyed — by unimaginable loss.
The ending of Volume 10 provides genuine emotional closure. Gen’s journey reaches a point where, while his life obviously continues beyond the page, the story has said what it needed to say. You won’t be left on a cliffhanger or feel like the story cuts off without resolution.
That “Part One: Complete” label can cause a moment of doubt when you reach it, but readers overwhelmingly find that the 10-volume story stands on its own as a finished work. Nakazawa may have wanted to tell more, but what he completed is a full narrative — not half of one.
A Word on Tone
This manga is relentlessly dark. It depicts nuclear horror, radiation sickness, starvation, discrimination against survivors, and profound loss with an unflinching directness that can be genuinely difficult to read. Nakazawa based the story on his own childhood experiences surviving the Hiroshima bombing, and that autobiographical weight gives the manga a raw honesty that fictional works rarely achieve.
But Barefoot Gen is ultimately a story about survival and resilience. Gen’s stubbornness, his refusal to give up, and the moments of human connection scattered throughout the devastation give the series a core of defiant hope. It earns every emotion it asks of you.
Genre Note — Barefoot Gen Is Dark, but Not Dark Fantasy
Since this site covers dark fantasy manga — stories that blend dark themes with supernatural or fantastical elements — it’s worth being upfront: Barefoot Gen is not a dark fantasy manga. It’s a historical war manga based on real events and the author’s own experiences. There are no fantasy elements, no supernatural forces, and no fictional worldbuilding.
That said, it’s easy to see why readers who gravitate toward dark fantasy might end up here. Barefoot Gen shares a visceral intensity with the darkest corners of fantasy manga — the unflinching depiction of physical horror, the weight of suffering, the feeling of characters pushed to absolute extremes. If you’re someone who reads dark fantasy for its willingness to confront the worst of human experience, Barefoot Gen operates in that same emotional register, just through a historical lens.
Dark Fantasy Manga With Similar Intensity
If you came here looking for dark fantasy manga that carries the same kind of harrowing, unflinching energy as Barefoot Gen, here are a few directions to explore:
- War horror and survival against impossible odds — Series that put characters through prolonged suffering in hostile worlds and focus on the cost of simply staying alive, such as Berserk or Vinland Saga (which blends historical and dark fantasy elements)
- Body horror — Manga where grotesque physical transformation and decay are central to the horror, much like the radiation effects depicted in Barefoot Gen. Series like Parasyte or Biomega operate in this space.
- Stories about the aftermath of catastrophe — Dark fantasy worlds built on the ruins of civilization, where characters must navigate the trauma of what came before. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Attack on Titan both explore devastated worlds with unflinching intensity.
We cover many of these titles elsewhere on the site, so feel free to browse if you’re looking for your next dark read.
Where to Buy Barefoot Gen in English
All 10 volumes of Barefoot Gen are published in English by Last Gasp and are available through major retailers. The series has been in print for a long time, which is both good and bad news — it means the books are well-established and widely distributed, but individual volumes can occasionally go in and out of stock depending on print runs.
While physical editions are the most widely stocked format, a Kindle edition is also available for at least some volumes — Last Gasp published a digital edition of Volume 1.
If you want to start from the beginning, Volume 1: A Cartoon Story of Hiroshima is the place to go. It sets up Gen’s family life in wartime Hiroshima before the bombing and establishes the characters and relationships that carry through the rest of the series.
Barefoot Gen, Vol. 1: A Cartoon Story of Hiroshima
A few practical notes for buying:
- Check availability across multiple retailers. Because Last Gasp is a smaller, independent publisher — not one of the major manga companies — stock levels can vary. If one retailer is out of a particular volume, another may have it.
- The series is not currently available as a box set (a single package containing all volumes together). You’ll need to buy individual volumes, which means building the complete set may take a bit of patience if any volumes are temporarily unavailable.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many volumes of Barefoot Gen are there?
There are 10 volumes in both the Japanese and English editions. The Japanese edition was published by Chobunsha, and the English edition was published by Last Gasp.
Is Barefoot Gen still being serialized?
No. Barefoot Gen is a completed series. The manga finished its original chapter-by-chapter magazine run years ago, all collected volumes have been published, and no new chapters or continuation are in production. The story is finished.
Is Barefoot Gen a dark fantasy manga?
No. Barefoot Gen is a historical war manga based on author Keiji Nakazawa’s real experiences as a child survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. While it contains extremely dark and graphic content — including scenes of nuclear devastation and its aftermath — there are no fantasy, supernatural, or fictional genre elements. It is grounded entirely in historical reality.
What does “Part One: Complete” mean at the end of Volume 10?
Nakazawa originally intended to continue the story beyond Volume 10, but that continuation was never produced. The “Part One: Complete” notation reflects his plans for a sequel that didn’t materialize. The 10-volume series as published tells a complete story and provides emotional closure on its own.
Is Barefoot Gen appropriate for younger readers?
The manga contains extremely graphic depictions of nuclear devastation, death, radiation sickness, and human suffering. It was originally serialized in a magazine aimed at younger readers in Japan, and it’s used as an educational text in some schools — so there is precedent for younger audiences reading it. However, the imagery is intense by any standard.
The most practical approach: read at least Volume 1 yourself before deciding whether to share it with a younger reader. That will give you a clear sense of the content and whether it’s right for them.