Cocoon Entwined, Vol. 1

繭、纏う [Mayu, Matou] #1

by Yuriko Hara

Clad in school uniforms practically breathing with life are the girls of Hoshimiya Girls' Academy, their hair long and luxurious. When a puzzling incident involving the ever-mysterious and elusive student Hoshimiya-san disturbs their peaceful paradise, the hidden feelings these innocent schoolgirls possess begin to entwine and overflow in unimaginable ways...

Genres: Manga, Yuri, Romance, LGBT, Comics, Young Adult, Queer

182 pages, Paperback

First published September 12, 2018

About the author

原百合子

Reviews

[Rebecca]

Gorgeously drawn and hauntingly told, this surreal and subtly eerie manga uses hair as a metaphor for the constraints of femininity, as it tells a non linear story about the aches and desires of young women at a mysterious school. It's captivating and weird in the best way.

[Rebecca]

I am not entirely sure how I feel about this one, but I do know that I will be doing a lot of research about hair in Japanese mythology.



Full review eventually appearing on ANN.

[Orcbard]

It's alright. It should be a horror. The story's obsession with hair gets a bit much at times, but the beautiful and haunting art makes it work somehow. The writing is more poetry than story telling, I wasn't a fan.

This manga belongs to the "Onee-sama" genre, which includes a popular prince-like senior character in a girls school. The relationship is not subtext thankfully, but I cannot connect to any characters to root for them.

[Heather]

I don't know what to think of this one. So far the author has put a lot more effort into building atmosphere and mood than in telling a story. The plot is very confusing. It seems to jump back and forth in time without telling you so. I do like the "prince" school trope, where one girl is a bit masculine and all the girls vie for her attention. But I'm not sure why the prince in this story wants to escape the school so badly. She ran away once, taking another girl with her, but then she went back and just pines for another escape. Why? She claims she is exhausted being the prince of the school, but that doesn't seem to be reason enough to want to leave, especially when she admits she put herself in that position and doesn't behave that way when she's with her family and friends, but at school chose to enact that role.

Barely anything happened in this volume. The art is beautiful and all the school girls have long, flowing hair, which we discover is because when they become seniors they cut their hair and use it to make new school uniforms for the incoming freshmen class. It is hinted that there may be some kind of spirituality in this ritual; the hair-made uniforms "breathe" and if a uniform is not a good match for the girl who wears it, instead of breathing it feels like it is "suffocating."

The school prince finds all the attention the girls lavish on her a bit tedious and she rejects their every advance, yet she purposefully put herself in that position. One day she runs away with a beautiful girl she has just met, only to find that girl is related to the headmistress and they are forced to go back to the school. The beautiful girl locks herself in her room and refuses to come out, even to attend classes, and because of her familial connections, she is not reprimanded. Another girl develops a crush on the prince but she has insecurities of her own and doesn't know if her affections will be returned.

That's pretty much all that happened in this volume. If I hadn't already bought the second one, I probably wouldn't continue. But the art is really attractive and I do love the prince role in school-themed manga. There wasn't a lot of romantic tension in this book and it's kind of only yuri if you squint at this point. But we'll see what happens in volume 2!

[Colten Hoot]

This really took me by storm. The intricate details of not only the art but the symbolism was breathtaking. Chapter 5 had me just in awe of the way it ended.
The relation of making the dresses with the hair was unique, but alluding to the constrictive nature of femininity really broke through when the Prince had outgrown the original uniform. Im all about resisting the compulsory female roles put upon young girls, so I really vibe with how it hinted at the complacent nature of it starting to be noticed. The promise of the second volume has already made me pre order it.

[Rod Brown]

A weird little bit of gay teen magical realism set in an all girls high school where the students fetishize long hair and carry on a bizarre tradition with their bespoke, hand-made uniforms.

A bit too swirly for me in story and art, but I have the next volume from the library already, so onward!

[marcia]

No story, just vibes and gorgeous illustrations of girls with long hair. I have trouble believing this series has enough material to sustain itself for six volumes when it can barely manage one.

[Cecelia]

ABSOLUTELY STUNNING. I am so perplexed at all of these average/below average reviews??? idk this was amazing.

I think part of the appeal for me was how surprisingly creepy this is? I read a couple reviews saying this should be a horror, but I completely disagree. I think the reason this story works so well is because the "horror" aspect is so subtle and nuanced that it just makes you feel uncomfortable and eerily creeped out, rather than scared.

I was also expecting more of a romance based on the coverage and the girls' school setting, but it's definitely not. like are romantic subplots, but this story is mostly about the school , with less focus on characters and a plot line.

the atmosphere is so well done. the plot is confusing and convoluted, but also just makes sense for the story?? the only real aspects of the story I can confidently describe is the setting, and I do think that is completely intentional.

also omg the artwork is BEAUTIFUL. so well done. I cannot wait to read more, I think this might be one of my favorite mangas.

[gaz]

bae💗💗

[Imanewreader ✨]

rep - wlw

wait a second. i'm intrigued now.
i need to read the rest of the series.

[Phoebe]

all girl’s school where school uniforms are made of 3rd-year-students hair… art is gorgeus, but the whole premise feels so yucky to me.

[Kay ☾]

Was going to be two stars til I got to the very end. That bumped it up. Felt it was more vibes than an actual story?

[MIEL]

jai pas tout compris tbh

[Rereader]

Pretty artwork only goes so far. I didn't give a flying fuck about any of the characters and the story's "abnormal" aspect wasn't enough to keep me invested. Also, the girls' constantly touching each other's hair started making me uncomfortable, and since practically every single fucking girl did it, that feeling persisted way longer than it needed to. Dropping this, I don't recommend it, there are way better yuri out there than this.

[Terrence]

Solid first volume of a more traditional Maria Watches Over Us type Yuri, but with a "hair" twist. The land the girls come from historically has seen war come through it that forced women to donate their hair to the effort (or secretly cut their hair for their own clothing purposes). In the modern day, the school uses hair from the students to craft uniforms as a sort of symbolic idea.

There's quite a few characters in this one, so might be worth taking more strict notes or just being better with names than me. The chapters occasionally shift back to when the "prince" of the story, Saeki, was a first year and then back again to when I believe she's a third year. There's a darker aspect to the school as well, one of the daughters of the chair or something who feels locked up and constricted by her family to the point she wants to run away (Hoshizawa I believe was her name). There's other characters as well involved, including the second year that introduces us to the prince (and knows her real personality underneath). You wonder if there will be some romantic tension between the different girls or what will happen in the future. Maybe things will stay platonic, idk.

[Marisa]

The artwork is beautiful. The story is boring, it jumps around between being about the school princess, to the relationship between a student and the school princess. I kept thinking about the student commuters because I was getting bored by the story, that it didn’t seem safe for them to travel to and from school when they’re so conspicuous with their long hair and school uniform. I’ve read accounts of Japanese women who say when they stopped wearing their school uniforms after graduation the harassment went down a lot. Also I kept thinking about how unique their uniforms are that people could easily spot them and take their uniform. This seems like one of those stories where it’s implied that because it’s a all girls school the girls can love and have girlfriends because there’s no boys around and that when they graduate they’ll marry men. That the school is insular and cut off from the rest of the world they get a pass on the rest of society’s mores.
It feels like a fetishized story of girls love. Also in the last chapter there was sexual assault.

[Maddy]

I liked the romances of the girls in this story though none of them seemed to really be going anywhere but the last one (possibly). 'The Prince' was interesting since she had two possible love stories. One with the headmistress' granddaughter and one with another girl who was in her year and possibly supposed to be the main character though it's a multi POV story. This girl is shy and has had a crush on 'the Prince' character for two years since they started high school together.

I'm not sure how I felt about the uniforms being made from human hair though. That is very bizarre. The story's clear obsession with long flowing hair in general was a bit weird to read as well. I got mildly eerie vibes from it. Like this series is bordering on horror but not quite there yet? The headmistress' granddaughter and 'The Prince's' story about feeling trapped by the school and their uniforms (made by former student's hair) only seemed to further suggest that this series is supposed to be some kind of subgenre of horror?

I get that girls have pretty hair but I'd never want to wear someone else's hair as clothing. These clothes also seem to have a life of their own or be haunted by some kind of spirits.

So three stars for the art work and the cute lesbian romances (there are no male characters at all either- it's just girls since it's at an all girls school). The eerie vibe of the hair dresses were putting me off though quite a bit.

[Emerson]

This is giving big Revolutionary Girl Utena vibes and as someone who loved that anime, it's neat that something else gives a similar feeling.

That being said the whole story relies heavily on metaphors and symbolism, so if you want some easy to read that isn't an entire puzzle to put together this probably isn't for you. It feels like random scenes spliced together in volume one, but the next volume goes back to scenes in this volume to weave the story back. When things started clicking, it was when I really started to get into it.

[Peepee Poopoo]

Not particularly enthralled by this yet but I’ll give it a few volumes. The art is beautiful but the characters so far are very stock stereotype and bland, not much besides typical Yuri antics (shy girl pining after another girl who she thinks is too good to ever notice her, etc). The basic concept is that the uniforms at the girls school are “alive” in some capacity, since they’re made from the hair of previous graduates at the school, so that persons soul still lingers in the garment. Interesting concept but so far hasn’t been particularly exciting. We’ll see if it goes anywhere

[Nals]

It's an odd premise, but the art is gorgeous which makes it work. I like the characters & the tone.

The art— it's got this light, airy feeling, and the hair is fittingly beautiful. I think that this book is mostly a set up for the rest of the story, so we get a taste of all the characters, their dynamics, and the conflict, but it doesn't go very deep. I'm looking forwards to reading the next one.

[Valentine]

Me fascinó.

Es un tomo introductorio, que va y viene en el tiempo para narrar la relación que varias estudiantes tienen entre sí, con sus uniformes y con ellas mismas. El manga es bastante metafórico y si no se tiene esto en mente, quizá puede resultar confuso. En lo personal, me pareció bastante claro. Es un manga que habla sobre la opresión, la búsqueda de la libertad y el deseo femenino, todo ligado a y simbolizado por el cabello de las estudiantes.

El arte es maravilloso.

[Hazel]

I would give this a 3.5 if it was possible.
A surrealist atmospheric story first and foremost. There is something deeply unsettling about this series that I can't quite put into words. The obsession with hair isn't what I find distressing as a lot of reviewers have mentioned. There is something deeper to it, almost primal. The hidden faces, the use of hands isolated from the rest of the body, the whole thing is eerie and it served as enough to at least keep me intrigued.

[typewriterdeluxe]

Despite taking place at all all-girls school where the uniforms are "practically breathing with life," this manga was lifeless. Cocoon Entwined is totally a missed opportunity for a horror-romance. Also a missed opportunity to just be horror. Or just romance. Oh man, this one was weak. It could have been so good, too...

[Emilee]

If you’re a lesbian with a hair fetish this book is for you!!

The uniforms are made from hair of students who graduate and their hair seems to retain some sort of emotions after it has been cut and made into a dress. There’s a weird sort of mystery to this manga that makes me wanna keep reading it to find out what’s going to happen!

[Amanda Peterson]

While it was a quick read, and I understand the pairings are going to be girls, the plot makes little sense. One moment there is romantic tension and the next they are talking about hair in the fabric. I understand there is supposed to be some symbolism but there is no specification on what that symbolism is supposed to be.

[L. Luck]

I really have no thoughts on this one yet... Some interesting ideas (uniforms made of the hair that older students have grown out since they entered the academy? Weird, but interesting), but I’ll have to read on to see what I think...

3*
Warnings for kissing a sleeping person

[Zian B.]

I genuinely don’t know what to rate this volume since the entire time I was confused about the plot/storyline. I thought I understood it at certain points but then got lost again. I won’t be reading future volumes because just this first volume is giving me a headache.

[Donna]

Girls at an Academy wear uniforms woven of human hair.

Manga can be so bizarre, which is part of why I love reading them. This one has a neat hook, but doesn't follow through with enough characterization or story to make me want to read another. The artwork is gorgeous (including the hair.)

[Cynthia]

I'm not exactly actively disliking this but I am not connecting with any of it so far. The hair thing is just plain weird due to its enshrinment into the whole onee-sama culture. Not much plot so far, but the art is nice.

PS: i cannot stop thinking that the author has never had to deal with long hair, especially curly hair...

[AP]

This one was really weird... The hair obsession....
That said I am curious enough to continue and I might end up reading the entire series since it's 6 volumes I believe and my library seem to have them all. But yeah we will see after I have read the second vol.