Cocoon

by Machiko Kyo, Asuka Ozumi (Translator)

Amicizia, amore, bombardamenti e morti. San frequenta la migliore scuola femminile di un'isola tropicale, l'ambientazione sembrerebbe quella della Seconda Guerra Mondiale e la situazione si aggrava al punto che lei e le sue compagne vengono impiegate nel soccorso dei feriti. Le sue amiche perdono la vita una dopo l'altra e San deve affrontare una realtà cruda e drammatica... L'orrore della guerra attraverso gli occhi dell'adolescenza. Postfazione di Paola Scrolavezza.

Genres: Manga, Historical Fiction, Comics, Josei, Historical, Graphic Novels, Japan

213 pages, Paperback

Published October 11, 2018

About the author

Machiko Kyo (今日マチ子, Kyo Machiko) is a Japanese cartoonist and illustrator from Tokyo. She was born in 1980 and graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts.
Her daily one-page manga blog Sennen Gaho started in 2004 and was published as a book in 2008, attracting much attention. Among her comics are the slice-of-life series Mikako-san (2009-2013), the WWII drama Cocoon (2010) and the post-apocalyptic Mitsuami no Kami-sama (2011-2013). The latter was adapted into a short animated film in 2015 by the studio Production I.G., winning more than twenty awards around the world. In 2014, Machiko Kyo received the 18th Osamu Tezuka Cultural Award.
In addition to manga, she is also involved in a wide range of illustration and essay projects. Her war-themed picture book Ichigo Sensō received the 2015 Japan Cartoonists Association Award's Grand Priz. Her other illustration books include Essential, Distance and From Tokyo.

Reviews

[daph pink ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stunning, enthralling, and tragic tale of war-torn Japan.
I’m so appreciative that I had the chance to read this account and step into the lives of these girls, whose voices might have otherwise been forgotten. The way their struggles are portrayed is both raw and haunting, a reminder of the human cost of war that history books often gloss over.

It’s not an easy read emotionally—it’s incredibly depressing and unflinchingly tragic—but that’s what makes it so powerful. The resilience, the pain, and the quiet moments of humanity shine through even in the darkest chapters. This book doesn’t just tell a story; it leaves an imprint.

[Vanessa Ferreyra · Rating 4 out of 5]

“La crisálida de los suelos me reguardó de la muerte que ahogaba mi realidad.”

El manga nos contará la historia de unas chicas que están en el instituto y tienen que ir a la guerra a prestar ayuda médica.

Amé que el dibujo sea tan simple y que al mismo tiempo te transmita varias cosas. Me encantaron las metáforas y el final fue demasiado, no me lo esperaba.

La simplicidad de los dibujos le da cierta ternura, pero al mismo tiempo varías escenas llegan a ser fuertes y crudas.

En cuanto a la puntuación, la historia va muy rápido y me hubiera gustado que profundice más cosas. Igualmente en la última parte la autora hace unos comentarios que complementan el manga y en que está basada la historia.

[Eressea · Rating 4 out of 5]

比起謝謝你，在這世界的一隅找到我
那種一邊看覺得平民很可憐
又一邊覺得日本人總是搞不懂
為什麼自己國家會變成香菇培養皿
搞到廣島長崎長了兩顆香菇

這本書，完全就是悲慘的平民悲慘的戰火餘生錄啊啊
應該只會看一遍，但臉譜又不出電子書Orz

[Irene ➰ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

Difficile dare una valutazione in sè a questo manga.
E' molto forte e crudo, con argomenti belli pesantucci ma che allo stesso tempo non sono da lasciare in disparte.

Mi sono trovata a leggerlo molto velocemente, complice il fatto della non troppa presenza di testo.
Le immagini parlano da sole e sono più che sufficienti per narrare la storia da sole.
Il tratto è molto particolare e devo dire che ci ho messo un pochino ad adattarmici.
Non è tra i più dettagliati, nè tra i più fini. E' un tratto quasi abbozzato, stilizzato, ma che riesce comunque nel suo intento.

Una lettura che consiglio a tutti per gli argomenti trattati e come sono stati trattati.
Una storia forte che vale la pena di leggere fino all'ultimo.

[Mehsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful, heartbreaking, holy crap manga about a group of girls being drafted as nurses during the WWII in Japan. We see the events through the eyes of San and Mayu (though San is the real MC). How the girls are at first quite eager to do something for their country but quickly wishing to go home, to be safe, to go to their families. We see friends die in gruesome ways, we see the girls nurse people and have to help with sawing off legs and all that, we see bombs go off, we read that people are being told to commit suicide to avoid capture by the Americans who are coming (yes, really, and apparently they are even killing their own to make sure of that), and we see the girls running away when things go totally terrible. I was actually crying during many of the scenes as the girls are dying one by one. I was so hoping that San would survive, and Mayu as well. I didn't want everyone to die.
It was pretty horrific at times and at times my stomach was clearly not amused with what was going on. Also another warning, attempted (or actual) rape.
Oh, btw, I had a suspicion about Mayu.
The ending was wow, that is all I will tell.
Despite the gruesomeness, the fact this will break your heart, I would recommend this book.

[MarinaLawliett · Rating 4 out of 5]

*9*

Me habría gustado que este tomo fuese más extenso para poder profundizar más en cada capítulo, personaje y situación, pero aun así es increíblemente duro y triste.

[Grec Gregori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha impactado bastante más de lo que me esperaba y por suerte ha superado mis expectativas, que tampoco eran muy altas. És un manga con la crudeza y el punto de vista de obras como "La tumba de las luciérnagas" o "En este rincón del mundo" y hasta ahora nunca había leído nada que me desgarrara tanto por dentro como lo hacen este par de películas.

El dibujo es simplista y a veces un poco confuso pero va acompañado de una muy correcta narrativa. Machiko Kyo a veces nos regala alguna doble página memorable, como la del capítulo de los campos en llamas.

En resumen, es una lectura dura pero ligera que plantea diferentes ideas de la autora sobre las consecuencias de la guerra a través de un recorrido hacia el infierno.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy bueno. La guerra desde el punto de vista de una niña que pierde a sus amigas es devastadora. Además de todos los temas que también toca, como el abuso sexual por parte de los soldados y la presión de serle útil a la patria. Tiene momentos devastadores en un estilo tan sencillo y bonito.

[Valentina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ne parlo su Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi9Mz...

[Alma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very touching story and beautiful artwork. I did find the artwork sometimes interfered with clearly portraying what was happening in the story. The style is very loose and sketchy so at times it was hard to make out what you’re looking at.

A disclaimer at the beginning to indicate you’re supposed to read it like manga would also help the reader. Besides that, the story was very touching and harrowing at times. Definitely worth the read.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an honest review.

[Ludwig Aczel · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.5/10
The Himeyuri were Japanese high school girls used as nurses during the battle of Okinawa, one of the last and most tragic episodes of WWII. Most of them did not make it to the end. Those not killed by diseases or the American bombings immolated themselves (with grenades), not to fall into the enemy hand, victims first and foremost of a foolish nationalism turned into madness.
This book is fictional, but provides a most horrifically realistic depiction of the Himeyuri misfortunes, as maybe only a fictional book can. Machiko Kyo is renewed for her art style, capable of combining the aggressiveness of simplified lines to a very elegant sense of shapes. Her art feels sketchy, but soft. Hence, it fits well the underlying theme here, i.e., the tension between the emotional softness of teen age and the macabre of a war that turns young girls into pieces of flash and fluids scattered along an indifferent sunny beach.
The pace is set by the format, as the story was serialised in fifteen monthly instalments, of twelve pages each. So, every twelve pages a new horror unfolds, as the girls are mowed one after the other. The lyricism of the author is strong but does not completely take over the tone of the book, which remains a no frills depiction of human butchery, how war should be depicted. Speaking of which, as I was finishing reading this news came out that they are making an anime adaptation, I assume in a style inevitably more realistic than the sketchy lines of Kyo. How are they gonna pull it? Visually, this is a terrifying story.
One last thing. I know it would have been unrealistic to produce (at the pace of one chapter per month), but I would have loved to see this story fully coloured, because Machiko Kyo is a great watercolorist.

[diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

"If I was a silk-worm, I wouldn't come out in a world like this. I would stay safely inside my cocoon and in my imaginary cocoon, I would slowly die away but, truthfully, none of us wanted to die."

"My cocoon broke open and I emerged transformed. I may have wings, but I'm unable to fly which is why... I decided to live instead."

[新新 Xin-Xin · Rating 3 out of 5]

如果《謝謝你在這世界的角落找到我》還有一些可愛的日常可以撫慰療癒，還有力氣可以控訴天皇和國家，《Cocoon》 只會強烈感受到戰爭中受傷最深的就是平民，輕飄飄的筆觸看得很快，不過衝擊感很強，重新思考過故事名稱之後，實在不太想看第二次⋯⋯

[Cynthia Bolduc Morissette · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ sujet difficile mais il y a du beau …

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a striking, powerful read based on the real-life events of the Himeyuri Corps. The Himeyuri were Okinawan high-school girls forcibly conscripted into the Japanese Imperial Army during WWII

I picked this manga up after hearing about the film adaptation, which was coincidentally released right before my own trip to Okinawa. I wasn’t able to visit any of the Himeyuri monuments during that trip and wanted to get a stronger sense of this portion of it’s history.

To that end, I think this was an incredibly moving work that provided a glimpse into an oft-forgotten chapter in Japanese history. I was worried the manga would sanitize some of the darker aspects of the story and, for the most part, that was not the case. It was as gruesome and dark and painful as it needed to be.

This story also managed to transcend the war in which it is set. This isn’t a straightforward recounting of a single individual from the Himeyuri Corps. The author successfully integrates her own girlhood experiences and perspective into the story, making it all the more touching.

If I have one complaint, it’s that I felt the forced nature of the conscription and the girl’s identities as Okinawan (not broadly “Japanese”) were not adequately conveyed here. The fact that the girls were not mainland Japanese is a big part of why they were treated so horribly, which I felt got lost in the author’s efforts to tell a more generalized “war” narrative.

Despite those critiques, I would highly recommend this to those interested in the Himeyuri Corps as well as WWII in Japan writ large.

[ジェシカ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t really know what I want from fictional stories that cover the Battle of Okinawa anymore. I’ve read or watched a lot of war-related media where the protag is bright-eyed and committed to their side of the war, wanting to do their all. It’s not a tired story, it’s necessary, it’s a song that must be sung over and over and over cause same reality keeps happening and happening and happening.

But, I wish I knew more about the characters outside of their war-time lives, the before and after—the manga covers that all the girls were attending a school similar to the Himeyuri students, but their lives are narrowed to prominent shoujo tropes. I just get their pain, which, should be known, but not just their pain. Unfortunately, when narratives focus on just the war, readers just might not get how much was truly lost by the war, may struggle to understand the land, the people, or culture when it’s not tied down to violence and power. I’m always shocked when I see pre-wartime photos of Okinawa, when you see trains running or whole neighborhoods divided by limestone/coral walls.

The only war-time media that meets what I yearn for is In This Corner of the World / この世界片隅に.

[Isa González · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un manga desgarrador que retrata una época horrible. Me ha gustado sobre todo como todo se va degradando cada vez más y a más velocidad y llega un punto en el que es casi doloroso seguir leyendo. Muy interesante.

[Eli Ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ai 😢 Feia temps q no llegia un còmic tan dur.

Cocoon és la història d'unes nenes que han de donar suport al cos d'infermeria durant la segona guerra mundial. La crueltat de la guerra es palpa a cada pàgina. 😔

M'ha trencat el cor 💔 🎌

[Adonys · Rating 4 out of 5]

oh-

[Kamilah · Rating 5 out of 5]

everything about this was perfect. devastating isn't a strong enough word though for what that was ! 😭

[Carlos Wang · Rating 4 out of 5]

很文青，從畫風到故事都是。

日本軍國主義可惡之處，不旦在禍害了其他國家的，也弄了不少自己人。
沖繩被逼著「玉碎」的無辜平民多了個去，但沒多久帝國就投降了，他們的死變成了毫無意義，就不知道戰後這座島嶼的人是怎麼看待這段歷史了。

[pau]

4 ⭐

[Tamine Rasse · Rating 5 out of 5]

que manera de llorar por la chucha

[Aya N · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went into this manga thinking itd be a fun, pleasant, feel good story. So to be hit with quite the opposite did make me a bit traumatized but.. still good to learn about different stories

[Agathe 🧚🏻‍♀️🍧 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Euh wow
J’y suis allée sans être préparée et c’était un peu dur
Donc tw guerre, suicide, morts, etc etc
Et je crois que ce qui a rendu ma lecture encore plus dur c’est la douceur des dessins alors même qu’ils sont explicites, y’a pas de sugarcoating AT ALL et donc c’était dérangeant (mais pas dans un mauvais sens juste upsetting)

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kyou Machiko is a creator I learned about from 100 Manga Artists, but I couldn't find any of her books translated into English. Which is a shame, because Cocoon is absolutely incredible. It follows a group of Japanese schoolgirls who sign up to help out the nursing stations (some of which were in caves) during World War II. Apparently it's based on actual accounts, though the story itself is fictional. Machiko's art is deceiving in that it (as well as the characters) communicates positivity and hope, but then things go downhill quickly, as the tide of the war turns against the Japanese and the girls find themselves on the run from the enemy (that would be the Americans!) with no guarantee of safety. In addition to the intense storyline, one of the characters harbors a secret that doesn't come out until the very end and creates more questions than it answers. I hope the English-speaking world clues in to her stuff soon, because I want to read (and own) more!!

[Anny Ramírez C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hermoso y trágico. Creo que son las palabras más adecuadas para describir Cocoon. Lo leí de una sentada y la tristeza se hacía cada vez más grande conforme iba leyendo. Un manga cuyo estilo de dibujo es sencillo y bonito en contraste con escenas brutales. Definitivamente uno de mis favoritos. "Podríamos oxidar el metal con azúcar?"

[Jason Brown (Toastx2) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cocoon (Machiko Kyo) | Dark historical fiction horror manga

Based on an Advanced Reader Copy, provided for review purposes.

Machiko Kyo’s graphic novel ‘Cocoon’ was so very dark, beautiful and unexpected. It’s difficult to know where to even start because this beast is emotional.

Based on real events, but follows a fictionalized version of a group of Japanese school girls during the Battle of Okinawa 1945. The ‘Lily Corps’ were told to go into a natural cave system where they could be safe while the Japanese quickly defeat the United States miltary. As the battle got bloodier over the course of it’s 5 months, things shifted. The girls became nurses, fixing soldiers and waiting as the bodies piled up inside their small cave sanctuary.

My only frame of reference before reading this manga was via my daughter, who read the blurb and compared it as ‘Grave of the Fireflies’-esque. I cannot deny that comparison. Reading this was difficult, watching as young girls start off with school supplies and short term expectations. Not long goes by before they are charged with ‘doing their bit for the country.

The story mainly follows San and Mayu. San is a very stereotypical girl, where as Mayu is considered a ‘prince’ of the girl school. Mayu is a bit of a rock, steady and supportive of San and the other girls. It opens with some pretty poetic descriptions of silk strands, but ends in blood and a sidestory with a birthday cake raising real concerns over some massive PTSD. We watch helplessly through the story as eventually San, Mayu, and others attempt to flee the caves to safety where none exists.

Honestly, I thought the selection of Mayu as a character name was excellent. I didn’t know till the writing of this that one meaning of Mayu is ‘cocoon’. This makes the title and the recurring themes of silk more poignant. Likewise, the pupating of the girls from innocent youth to trauma worn young adults becomes a stronger arc’s when all the pieces come together.

SOLID story, incredibly sad.
It is no surprise that this manga has been modified into both a stageplay and a 2025 Film (which I now need to resource access to).

On the book's presentation:

Being a pre-release copy, it was in PDF format and it read left to right, western style instead of like a manga. The final page of the novel clearly states that it ‘has been printed in the original Japanese format to preserve the orientation’ for the release in June 2026. This is great news as many of the PDF panels still read right to left, making it confusing about the way conversations flowed or action occured. Beyond that, no issues. The book was well crafted and the translation by Jan Mitsuko Cash was excellent. Overall should be a great Viz media / Viz Signature release.

[Michelle M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Viz Media and netgalley for the eARC!

This was a very hard book to rate. I personally, would rate this a 1 because of how much I disliked it. But, I think objectively, it was a good story, so I'm rating it a 3.

The illustrations were grotesque but simple. I think it’s because they were so simple that I was left with the feeling of discomfort after reading the whole book. It was gory and graphic and very very eerie. It’s the story of war, and a group of middle-school aged girls who are “drafted” to work as nurses on their island. The story follows San, a young girl who hates men. Her friend Mayu, another student nurse, casts a “spell” on Sen so that the men don’t exist, they’re just faceless white beings. It’s unclear how much time passes in this story, there are no dates, but certain things happen that make it seem like no time at all has passed, and also months have passed.

I’ll be honest, idk what i was thinking when I requested this book. Maybe I was hoping it would be more of a “feel good” story. But instead, it was depressing, graphic, and straight up uncomfortable (mostly because of the drawings). The art style reminds me of this one vocaloid song that I can picture perfectly in my head, but I can’t remember the name of and google doesn’t seem to help, maybe I’ll re-find it one day…

Anyway, I don’t think I can recommend this to a “casual” manga fan, or one who is a fan of shojo manga. I honestly don’t want to read it ever again! However, if you’re not afraid of the very real horrors of war, and what can befall a young girl during that time, then give it a read. It was very powerful. It honestly might be a good read for an advanced history class, but it was not the story for me.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Viz for an ARC of Cocoon in exchange for an honest review.

Cocoon tells the story of a group of children from an all girls school as they're conscripted into being nurses supporting the war effort in Japan. Similar to Grave of Fireflies, this work approaches the horrors of war from the perspective of a child that at times obfuscates details that they cannot comprehend, but still in a way that doesn't shy from the horrors of war. The scratchy inks and simplistic style of the artwork add to the young age of the main cast and while might have detracted from another story, work to really ground Cocoon in a way that a more detailed art style wouldn't have.

More so then usual, when a story is set during an actual historical event, it's important for readers to approach the story questioning what the author is trying to do. Are they trying to elicit sympathy, trying warn people away by repeated mistakes, trying to foster a savior complex, or something else entirely. Everyone should come to their own conclusions, but I will say that the end of Cocoon did give me the most pause.

I would recommend this overall as it does bring attention to something often forgotten about, but absolutely don't go into this blind as this is a heavy read.