War changes everyone’s lives and leaves permanent scars.
For two young women, their friendship becomes stronger, and they seek solace in an island shelter as the war approaches their island in Cocoon—One Summer of Girlhood.
The animated film is the directorial debut for Yukimitsu Ina (Keep Your Hands off Eizouken!, Star Wars: Visions – Tatooine Rhapsody. He teams up with animation studio SASAYURI, founded by Studio Ghibli alum Hitomi Tateno (My Neighbor Totoro, How’s Moving Castle. Other renowned animators on the project include Akihiko Yamashita (Spirited Away, The Boy and the Heron) and Shinji Otsuka (Kiki’s Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke0. Ina penned the screenplay adaptation with Taku Kishimoto (Haikyu!!, SAKAMOTO DAYS) based on the manga by Machiko Kyo.
Here is the official synopsis:
San and Mayu attend an all-girls school on a warm and tranquil island. When war reaches their shores, they are ordered to help nurse the wounded in a military hospital hidden away in a cave. Amidst escalating death and brutality, the friends struggle to find solace in their fragile lives.
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The animation for this film looks and feels similarly to anything from Studio Ghibli, just without the fantasy elements, but definitely with emotion. Definitely seems like a film you’ll need to bring tissues for.
The film recently made its North American premiere at JAPAN Cuts, the Japanese film festival in New York. GKIDS will release it in theaters with both the original Japanese with English subtitles and an English dub on Friday, September 4.
Check out the poster and trailer below. Let us know what you think of them.
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Source: GKIDS
