Manga like COCOON

Souin Gyokusai seyo!

Also known as Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological

Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths is his first book to be translated into English and is a semiautobiographical account of the desperate final weeks of a Japanese infantry unit at the end of World War II. The soldiers are told that they must go into battle and die for the honor of their country, with certain execution facing them if they return alive. Mizuki was a soldier himself (he was severely injured and lost an arm) and uses his experiences to convey the devastating consequences and moral depravity of the war.



Note: Won Best U.S. Edition of International Material at the Eisner Awards in 2012.

Tags: Military , Historical , War , Autobiographical , Tragedy , Primarily Male Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Seinen , Guns , Suicide

Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni

Also known as In This Corner of the World.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

1940’s Hiroshima Prefecture. Suzu, a young woman from the countryside, joins her new husband and his family in the shipbuilding city of Kure. As her beautiful home collapses around her, Suzu must confront the challenges of a new life while coming to grips with a world in turmoil. Unwilling to give up hope, Suzu struggles against the horrors of war to create her own happiness.

Tags: War , Tragedy , Female Protagonist , Historical , Family Life , Drawing , Seinen , Rehabilitation , Disability

Houseki no Kuni

Also known as Land of the Lustrous.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Fantasy , Mystery , Psychological , Sci-Fi

In a world inhabited by crystalline lifeforms called The Lustrous, every unique gem must fight for their way of life against the threat of lunarians who would turn them into decorations. Phosphophyllite, the most fragile and brittle of gems, longs to join the battle. When Phos is instead assigned to complete a natural history of their world, it sounds like a dull and pointless task. But this new job brings Phos into contact with Cinnabar, a gem forced to live in isolation. Can Phos’s seemingly mundane assignment lead both Phos and Cinnabar to the fulfillment they desire?



Note: Nominated for the 8th Manga Taisho in 2015.

Tags: Philosophy , Tragedy , Seinen , Anthropomorphism , Coming of Age , Religion , Anti-Hero , Shapeshifting , Cosmic Horror , Body Horror , Post-Apocalyptic , Time Skip , Revenge , Agender , Amnesia , Reincarnation , Dissociative Identities , Memory Manipulation , Ensemble Cast , Space , Aliens , Asexual , Politics , Swordplay , Suicide , Robots , Gender Bending , LGBTQ+ Themes , Gods , Foreign , School , Work , Nudity

Shirahata no Shoujo

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

April 1945, Okinawa. While Japan has been at war for some time now, the small tropical island of Japan still seems untouched by conflict. It is there that little Tomiko lives in joy and good humor, despite the absence of her mother. However, when the bombing begins and her father has to go to the warfront, her daily life changes. Now, she will have to survive... survive against all odds!!

Tags: War , Survival , Autobiographical , Shoujo , Female Protagonist , Historical , Gore

Dien Bien Phu

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Fantasy

It's 1965 and guerrilla fighting and war has divided north and south Vietnam with conflict. American intervention is being sent in as support, and along with the army a young Japanese-American journalist by the name of Hikaru Minami, enters Saigon, South Vietnam as a newspaper reporter for 'Stars and Stripes.'

After witnessing serious crimes being committed, he is almost killed when a mysterious girl, known only as Princess, comes to his rescue. Is this love at first sight?

Tags: Military , Seinen , Historical , War , Foreign

Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou

Also known as Girls' Last Tour.

Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Sci-Fi , Slice of Life

Civilization is dead, but Chito and Yuuri are still alive. So they hop aboard their beloved Kettenkrad motorbike and aimlessly wander the ruins of the world they once knew. Day after hopeless day, they look for their next meal and fuel for their ride. But as long as the two are together, even an existence as bleak as theirs has a ray or two of sunshine in it, whether they're sucking down their fill of soup or hunting for machine parts to tinker with. For two girls in a world full of nothing, the experiences and feelings the two share give them something to live for…



Note: Winner of the Best Comic Award at the Seiun Awards in 2019.

Tags: Post-Apocalyptic , Philosophy , Female Protagonist , Tragedy , Lost Civilization , Survival , Iyashikei , Primarily Female Cast , Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , Episodic , Travel , Seinen , Snowscape , War , Urban , Artificial Intelligence , Chibi , Cosmic Horror , Military , Tanks , Denpa

Hadashi no Gen

Also known as Barefoot Gen.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

1945, Japan. Gen Nakaoka is a spirited six-year-old boy who lives with his poor yet loving family in wartime Hiroshima. As the second World War rages on, Gen's father Daikichi stands among the few outspoken who are opposed to the emperor and stand for the innocent civilians bearing the brunt of the war. However, in a society with nothing but feverous support for their nation, Gen and his family are ostracized as traitors. Unbeknownst to them, a terrible fate awaits the people of Hiroshima...

One quiet morning, the US forces drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. In an instant, the city is completely destroyed, leaving thousands dead and many more exposed to radiation. Though Gen manages to survive the blast, he finds his life irreversibly changed. Regrouping with what's left of his family, Gen must now grapple with starvation, destitution, and an unsympathetic public who see survivors as little more than disease-ridden beggars.

Based on author Keiji Nakazawa's real-life experiences, Hadashi no Gen follows Gen and his fellow survivors in their struggle to survive in post-war Hiroshima. Gen resolves to soldier on with unwavering determination, while never forgiving those who caused the atrocity, never forgetting the pain of the bomb, and never letting his spirit be broken by the tragedy.

Tags: Tragedy , Historical , Delinquents , War , Found Family , Autobiographical , Male Protagonist , Gore , Adoption , Body Horror , Coming of Age , Shounen , Crime

Suna no Tsurugi

Also known as Sword of Sand.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

Suna no Tsurugi is a collection of stories that take place at the end of WWII. Susumu Higa gives us an inside look at the battle of Okinawa, from the first signs to the aftermath, through different points of view of inhabitants, soldiers, Japanese and American, in this war where there is neither good nor evil, neither good nor bad, only a cruel sense of absurdity. The men are in turn overwhelmingly stupid, full of wisdom or infinitely touching by their humanity. Because Higa's work has something deeply generous, which is also felt in his simple and precise lines.



Tags: War , Historical , Anthology , Biographical , Military

Youkou wo Matsu

Also known as Waiting for the Sunlight.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Summer of 1940 in Shigaraki, Shiga Prefecture. Yoko Matsubara is a young girl with a talent for pottery. She dreams of becoming a ceramic artist, unaware of the horrors yet to come… In commemoration of the 80th anniversary of World War II, Shonen Jump+ presents an untold account of life during the war.



Tags: War , Female Protagonist , Historical , Shounen

Inochi wo Odoru

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

Shishima Sakura, penname Ouga (19) winner of the 2018 Niigata Manga Award & the 96th Tezuka Manga Award for her debut, "I want to date you", bring you a one shot about Laila and Anastasia, who inspired each other through ballet.



Tags: Dancing , Foreign , Yuri , Female Protagonist , Primarily Female Cast , Slavery , Time Skip , Shounen , Ballet