Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths

Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths is a 1943 manga by Shigeru Mizuki that portrays a flailing infantry unit on its last legs near the end of the Second World War. It is a deeply personal and landmark anti-war work that was only made by a pacifist, and the desperation and moral depravity on display are devastating. Despite the absurdity of the command structure, the human instinct endures with gallows humor.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 560 pages
Publication date: 23 August 2022
Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly

Kokopo,1943. A platoon of soldiers is ordered into battle. The objective is death. The alternative is certain execution as a consequence of survival. Inspired by Eisner Award-winning author Shigeru Mizuki's own mandatory tour of duty as an active combatant in the Imperial Japanese Army, Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths portrays a flailing infantry unit on its last legs near the end of the Second World War. This deeply personal and landmark anti-war work could only have been made by a pacifist. The desperation and moral depravity on display are devastating. Mizuki's fanciful characters must make do against a photo-realistic backdrop teeming with tropical life that remains inhospitable. Indeed, commanding officers prove even more ferocious than the wild unknown of Papua New Guinea. And yet the human instinct endures, seeing through the absurdity of such a rigid and outdated command structure with gallows humor.

Kokopo,1943.

A platoon of soldiers is ordered into battle.

The objective is death.

The alternative is certain execution as a consequence of survival.

Inspired by Eisner Award-winning author Shigeru Mizuki's own mandatory tour of duty as an active combatant in the Imperial Japanese Army, Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths portrays a flailing infantry unit on its last legs near the end of the Second World War.

This deeply personal and landmark anti-war work could only have been made by a pacifist.

The desperation and moral depravity on display are devastating.

Mizuki's fanciful characters must make do against a photo-realistic backdrop teeming with tropical life that remains inhospitable.

Indeed, commanding officers prove even more ferocious than the wild unknown of Papua New Guinea.

And yet the human instinct endures, seeing through the absurdity of such a rigid and outdated command structure with gallows humor.

Weight: 722g
Dimension: 166 x 222 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781770466302