Part 1: Hiroshima, 1955. Ten years after the city was consumed by a scorching flash of light, a woman's soul is still deeply shaken by the earth-shattering explosion that devastated her home and changed her life forever. A family from Hiroshima struggles to come to terms with their survival of the atomic bombing of their city. The protagonist is Minami Hirano, about 20 years of age. Part 2: Set some decades later, the niece of Minami Hirano is bewildered by her father's mysterious disappearances. She and a friend follow him to discover what he is doing. The main theme of this is historic manga concerns the question what impact the war and the atomic bombing had on the most vulnerable. Fumiyo Kôno examines this question in her outstanding book- an award-winning, widely-discussed masterpiece. Note: Won the 2004 Japan Media Arts Festival's Grand Prize for manga and the Tezuka Osamu Creative Award in 2005.More...