This is an exhaustive (and exhausting) account of events surrounding the Battle of Okinawa, beginning with pre-invasion defense preparations (starting in July 1944), then moving to the aerial bombardment, to the US invasion, and finally to ground combat. In its desire to be "complete" and thoroughly document the battle (from the Japanese POV, of course), it shortchanges story and characters. It feels like three hundred mini-vignettes rapidly spat out by a machine gun rather than a smoothly flowing, cohesive whole.
As for historical context and accuracy, others have already pointed out their reservations about the Japanese being framed as noble, even heroic, warriors fighting the good fight against overwhelming odds. This complaint about its narrative framing also applies to virtually every Japanese film about World War II. In the collective cinematic imagination of Japanese WWII films, the "war" is treated almost as a cosmic, non-human, event that simply happens TO them. Unlike in many German films where characters ponder "will the world forgive us?" or "now our chickens are coming home to roost. We will now reap what we have sown", in Japanese films, it is almost always "oh poor us. We are losing. It's so sad. Why must we lose? What about our honor? What about our children?"
As for historical context and accuracy, others have already pointed out their reservations about the Japanese being framed as noble, even heroic, warriors fighting the good fight against overwhelming odds. This complaint about its narrative framing also applies to virtually every Japanese film about World War II. In the collective cinematic imagination of Japanese WWII films, the "war" is treated almost as a cosmic, non-human, event that simply happens TO them. Unlike in many German films where characters ponder "will the world forgive us?" or "now our chickens are coming home to roost. We will now reap what we have sown", in Japanese films, it is almost always "oh poor us. We are losing. It's so sad. Why must we lose? What about our honor? What about our children?"