"war without mercy" is divided into four sections. the first section describes the patterns of a race war. the second and third part are a matched set: part ii covers the war from a western viewpoint, while part iii relays the war as seen by japanese eyes. kitano says 'the point-counterpoint scenario, as the two cultures misunderstand, mis-perceived, misinterpret and attempt to justify the destruction of each other is skillfully done.' the final part is an epilogue, explaining how those intense viewpoints subsided, but may not have entirely disappeared.