Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths Review: Shigeru Mizuki's Unflinching Account of a Suicidal Military Order
by Shigeru Mizuki
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Quick Take
- The most direct war memoir in manga — Mizuki depicts the Japanese Imperial Army's culture of suicidal orders without sentimentality or excuse
- Based directly on Mizuki's own survival of a charge order, the manga carries autobiographical weight that changes how it reads
- Single volume; among the most important antiwar manga in any language
Who Is This Manga For?
- Readers who want to understand the human cost of Japan's Pacific War from the perspective of ordinary soldiers
- Anyone interested in war memoir that refuses to make heroism from mass death
- Fans of Shigeru Mizuki's historical work
- Adult readers who want serious graphic war content
Content Warnings & Age Rating
Age Rating: M (Mature) Content Warnings: War violence; mass death; explicit military culture; suicidal orders and their consequences; graphic wartime content
M rating — mature readers only; the war content is serious and the death toll is depicted honestly.
Yu's Rating
| Category | Score |
|---|---|
| Story Depth | ★★★★★ |
| Art Style | ★★★★★ |
| Character Development | ★★★★★ |
| Accessibility for Non-Japanese Readers | ★★★★☆ |
| Reread Value | ★★★★★ |
Story Overview
A Japanese Imperial Army unit in the Pacific receives a suicidal charge order — an attack that cannot succeed, structured to produce honorable death rather than military objective. The unit complies. Through a combination of circumstance, some soldiers survive.
The survivors are punished by their officers for failing to die.
Mizuki survived the war — losing his left arm in the process — and depicts these events with the specific authority of a witness who saw how the Japanese military's cult of honorable death worked in practice: not as individual sacrifice but as institutional waste.
The manga follows the soldiers from their ordinary lives through their deployment, the increasing pressure of military culture, the charge itself, and the aftermath.
Characters
The soldiers — ordinary young men from various parts of Japan, depicted with specific personalities and backgrounds before the military machine processes them into units and orders.
Art Style
Mizuki's war art is realistic and detailed — the Pacific settings are rendered with tropical specificity, and the violence is depicted honestly without being gratuitous. The ordinary faces of ordinary soldiers carry the memoir's anti-heroic argument.
Cultural Context
The Japanese Imperial Army's culture of honorable death — the expectation that soldiers would choose death over surrender or failure — is the specific historical context that makes this story possible. Mizuki depicts this culture from inside it: how it worked, what it demanded, and what it cost.
What I Love About It
The punishment of survivors. The moment where soldiers who survived by chance — not cowardice — are disciplined for failing to comply with their own deaths is the manga's most precise statement about what the military culture of "honorable death" actually meant in practice.
What English-Speaking Fans Say
Western readers describe Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths as one of the most important war manga in English translation — specifically noted for Mizuki's authority as a survivor giving the content specific weight, for the antiwar argument being made through events rather than rhetoric, and for the depiction of Japanese military culture being both specific and unflinching. Frequently cited alongside Barefoot Gen as essential Japanese war memoir.
Memorable Scene ⚠️ Spoiler Warning
The charge itself — and the specific chain of circumstance that allows some soldiers to survive what was designed to kill all of them — is rendered with documentary specificity rather than dramatic heightening.
Similar Manga
- Showa 1926-1939 — Mizuki's historical account of the period leading to this war
- Barefoot Gen — The most famous Japanese war memoir manga
- The Burma Chronicles — Different war perspective in graphic memoir
- In This Corner of the World — The home front during the same war
Reading Order / Where to Start
Single volume — Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths stands alone; reading Showa first adds historical context.
Official English Translation Status
Drawn & Quarterly published the English translation. Single volume, complete.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Autobiographical authority gives unique weight
- Antiwar argument made through events, not rhetoric
- Art is exceptional
- Complete in single volume
Cons
- M-rated war content throughout
- Extremely heavy subject matter
- Not light or entertaining reading
Format Comparison
| Format | Notes |
|---|---|
| Single Volume | Drawn & Quarterly; complete |
| Digital | Available |
Where to Buy
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Written by
Yu
Manga Enthusiast from Japan
I grew up in Japan and manga literally saved me during a tough time in elementary school. My English isn't perfect, but my love for manga is real — and I want to share it with you.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.