If you haven't read Cocoon by Machinko Kyo yet....DO.IT. It's only 15 chapters long & while there isn't an offical English translation out yet all you need is internet access & maybe a free ad blocker.
Synopsis: San and Mayu are two schoolgirls living in Okinawa during the closing months of the Pacific War. Together with their classmates, the two friends are drafted into the war effort as nurses for wounded soldiers. When ordered to die for their country, the remaining members of the group escape only to face the harsh environment of a tropical paradise that has become a hellish battlefield.
This is such a raw & realistic depiction of the realities that ordinary citizens were forced to endure during WW11. The author also based this on a very real story about the Himeyuri Students. So in fact, the characters are almost all Okinawan who are an indigenous people that were colonized by Japan. This in no way romanticizes Japan's war crimes & in fact does a really good job at exploring the propaganda used to trick their own people into dying for them. The material is intense though & trigger warnings include Gore & SA. I think this is one of those stories that deserves to be read despite how uncomfortable it can be though. It's important.
There's also a movie that just released in Japan by a former Ghibli alumni & in that classic Ghibli style! I don't think it's been released globally & on streaming yet, but keep an eye out for that.
