VIZ Media announced that it will publish the English version of Machiko Kyo’s “cocoon”. The manga is scheduled to be released in summer 2026.
The announcement was shared on VIZ’s official social media accounts as well as through the creators of Bluesky (where I first learned of the news). The announcement reads:
Notice: Based on a true story. Sun and her friends are employed as assistant nurses in Okinawa during the final stages of World War II. They endure as war strips them of their purity, in a cave hospital marked by carnage and relentless loss. “Cocoon”, based on the original work by Machiko Kyo, is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2026.
“Kyo no Cocoon” was serialized in Akita Shoten’s women’s manga magazine “Elegance Eve” from March 2009 to May 2010, and is part of the author’s war-themed trilogy. It is modeled after the real-life Himeyuri Student Corps (incorrectly known in English as the “Lily Corps”). Comprised of 222 students between the ages of 15 and 19 and 18 teachers who attended and taught at Okinawa’s two prestigious schools, Okinawa Daiichi Girls’ High School and Okinawa Women’s Normal School, this group of young women was mobilized by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945 at the end of World War II and drafted to work as nurses in field hospitals (often simply caves or bunkers). Japanese army.
The Himeyuri students were falsely told that they would be working at a Red Cross hospital far from the battlefield, and were instead placed in a field hospital near the front lines. Girls with little or no medical training were tasked with performing crude surgeries on wounded soldiers, burying the dead, and transporting ammunition and supplies to front-line troops, often under horribly unsanitary and extremely dangerous conditions.
Only 19 students were killed before the Himeyuri Unit was disbanded. However, on June 18, 1945, the Japanese army suddenly issued an order to disband and leave the cave to fend for themselves as the fighting continued, and many of the girls became victims of cross fire from both Japanese and American forces. According to Stars and Stripes, approximately 80 percent of the unit was killed in the week after the order was issued, with 123 girls and 15 teachers killed in the fighting, and an additional 87 who were allowed to return home.
Photo courtesy: VIZ Media
The Himeyuri tragedy is one of the most painful symbols of civilian suffering in war, especially how Japan’s militarization exploited its own youth. Today, the Himeyuri Peace Memorial Museum and Monument is being built to commemorate the memory of the students in Itoman City, Okinawa Prefecture, and the story is often used in peace education in Japan to teach the horrors of war and the importance of peace.
There is also an anime film adaptation of “Kyo no Mayu” produced by Sasayuri with the cooperation of anime producer Hitomi Tateno. The director is Toko Ina, and the music is by Kensuke Ushio. It will be broadcast on BS NHK from late March 2025, and will be additionally broadcast on NHK General in August 2025.
Other summer 2026 announcements from VIZ include “Alice in the Land of the Dead” by Haro Aso, “Daydream Darling” by Io Sakisaka, “Marshall King” by Boichi, “Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi” by Shoichi Usui, “Shinobi Undercover” by Kazumoto Takekushi (story) and Mitarashi Santa (art), “Himaten! Written by Genki Ono, “Assassin’s Creed Shadows Iga Story” written by Legger, “The Reason for Taika” written by Paru Itagaki, “Star Wars Visions: Ninety-nine” written by Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi, “Half is More” written by Yoiko Fujimi, “I’m No Angel” written by Ai Yazawa, “Sakamoto Days: Assassin’s Method” novel (written by Renka) Misaki and others based on the original idea by Yuto Suzuki.
Check out the cover image below.
Photo credit: VIZ Media Photo credit: VIZ Media Photo credit: VIZ Media Photo credit: VIZ Media Photo credit: VIZ Media Photo credit: VIZ Media Photo credit: VIZ Media
Photo credit: VIZ Media Photo credit: VIZ Media Photo credit: VIZ Media Photo credit: VIZ Media
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