Cocoon || The Latest Anti-War Film

#RecommendationAF

Some films don't just tell a story — they leave something behind. A feeling, a wound, a silence. Cocoon, a one-hour animated TV special released in March, is one of those films. Produced by the newly established animation studio Sasayuri, founded by former Studio Ghibli animator Hitomi Tateno, Cocoon is a delicate yet brutally honest portrayal of war through the eyes of young girls. It's soft in appearance, but shattering in impact.

Set in the final days of World War II, Cocoon follows schoolgirls living on a Pacific island, who are used by the army for assistance. They do things like constructing a military hideot and later act as nurses for wounded soldiers. They trust in their homeland and that the military will protect them. But what are some schoolgirls to desperate military men?

What begins as a sunlit, almost dreamlike portrayal of life on a beautiful island during wartime quickly unravels into a nightmare. And it does so not with loud, dramatic moments, but with a quiet, creeping devastation that makes it all the more haunting.

If you realize that the anime is actually based on true events, it makes it even more impactful. The Battle of Okinawa began on April 1, 1945, with the American invasion of the Japanese island of Okinawa and ended on June 30, 1945. The Himeyuri Student Corps consisted of 222 high school girls between the ages of 15 and 19 from Okinawa who were recruited. Along with their teachers, they served as nurses for wounded soldiers during the battle. Most of the students tragically lost their lives over the course of these battles, which were also known as Operation Iceberg. In total, around 200,000 people died on Okinawa, including 120,000 civilians.

What makes Cocoon so affecting is its choice to show war through the eyes of young girls. There’s something profoundly tragic in that perspective — these girls don’t understand war, they simply endure it. Their innocence doesn’t protect them; it only makes the cruelty more unbearable. It’s a storytelling approach used in other unforgettable anti-war anime like Grave of the Fireflies and Barefoot Gen, and here, too, it hits with full force. The film doesn’t ask for sympathy — it demands witness.

Visually, Cocoon is breathtaking. The animation style is soft, hand-drawn, and reminiscent of Studio Ghibli’s most tender works. Bright colors, gentle lines, and fluid motion make the world feel warm and fragile. It almost feels too beautiful — until you realize that’s the point. This beauty doesn’t soften the blow of war; it sharpens it. The more serene the world seems, the more horrifying its collapse becomes.

One of the most striking artistic choices is how blood is depicted — not as red or violent, but as petals, flowers drifting through the air. It’s surreal and poetic, but not in a way that romanticizes death. Instead, it’s a quiet, visual scream: a reminder that the truth is too horrific to process directly. The flowers aren’t a comfort — they’re a mask. One we put on when reality becomes too cruel to face.

There is one moment in particular that I will never forget. A girl steps out of a cave. It’s a calm, almost hopeful scene. Shes not even in the focus of that scene. And then, in an instant, she’s gone. A bomb. The world was fine a second ago. And just like that, it isn’t. That moment shifts the entire tone of the film. What was once bright and cautious optimism turns into full, relentless despair. From then on, the story becomes darker, sadder, harder to bear. And yet, we keep watching. Because we have to.

By the end, I didn’t cry... I felt hollow... And then came the grief... And the anger. Anger that such things really happened. Anger that they’re still happening. War isn’t a chapter in a textbook — it’s a wound still bleeding in so many parts of the world. Cocoon doesn’t let you forget that. It doesn’t offer comfort. It offers truth, gently drawn and painfully told.

This is not a film I would watch again. Once was enough. But I would recommend it to anyone who believes animation can be more than entertainment. Cocoon is art. It is memory. It is a quiet act of resistance against forgetting.

Cocoon was created to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II — a significant and sobering milestone. As the memory of that global catastrophe begins to fade with time, works like this become more important than ever. The film doesn’t just revisit history; it asks us to confront it.. By telling a personal, intimate story of war through animation, Cocoon serves as both a tribute and a warning. It reminds up that behind every statistic are lives — young, fragile, and full of dreams — that were lost to violence. In choosing to release this film in such a symbolic year, the creators offer not only a work of art, but a call to , reflect, and resist the repetition of past horrors.

If you want to feel something real — something that will stay with you long after the screen fades to black — watch Cocoon. Just be ready to carry it with you.