GKIDS has shared an English-subtitled trailer for its upcoming North American release of cocoon – One Summer of Girlhood. The anime feature will be released in North American theaters in Japanese with English subtitles and English dub on September 4, 2026.
The trailer below may be region-locked in select territories.
The anime first debuted in Japan on March 30, 2025 and had its main broadcast on NHK General TV on August 25, 2025. It made its North American premiere on July 10, 2026 at the Japan Society’s JAPAN CUTS film festival.
Yukimitsu Ina directed and co-wrote the screenplay the anime adaptation at Sasayuri, which handled the animation production. Kensuke Ushio (Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc) served as the music composer and Taku Kishimoto (Sakamoto Days) as co-screenwriter.
Meanwhile, the voice cast of cocoon – One Summer of Girlhood stars:
- • Hikari Mitsushima as Mayu
- • Marika Ito as San
- • Yoko Hikasa as Tamaki
- • Rena Motomura as Hina
- • Chinatsu Akasaki as Mari
- • Aoi Koga as Yuri
- • Yume Miyamoto as Kaede
- • Miyuki Sawashiro as Kaho
- • Umeka Shoji as Teacher
- • Izumi Aoyagi as Shiho
GKIDS also announced plans for a home entertainment release later this year.
Machiko Kyo’s Cocoon manga was serialized in Akita Shoten’s Elegance Eve from March 26, 2009 to May 27, 2010. The series was collected into a single book volume and released in Japan in August 2010. It was published again as a single tankobon volume in April 2015, which included a side story. VIZ Media licensed the manga for English release and it was recently nominated for “Best One-Shot Manga” at the third American Manga Awards.
NHK stated when the anime was announced in June 2023 that it was meant to serve as a thought-provoking work about war, and noted that 2025 marked the 80th year since the end of World War II.
© Machiko Kyo (AKITASHOTEN) / NHK, NEP
GKIDS describes the main synopsis of cocoon – One Summer of Girlhood as:
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.
Source: press release
