The upcoming The Darwin Incident TV anime has received its first non-teaser trailer and a key visual.
Its main cast was also announced:
• Atsumi Tanezaki as Charlie
• Mitsuho Kanbe as Lucy
• Akio Otsuka as Rivera
©2026 うめざわしゅん・講談社／「ダーウィン事変」製作委員会
The Darwin Incident is set to begin its broadcast in January 2026. The anime is based on the Kodansha-published manga by Shun Umezawa, which involves the birth of a “humanzee,” a half-human and half-chimpanzee being. The premise as provided by Kodansha USA reads:
The Animal Liberation Alliance, an eco-terrorist organization, rescues a pregnant chimpanzee from an animal testing lab-only for it to give birth to a half-human, half-chimpanzee “humanzee” named Charlie! Fifteen years later, Charlie’s human foster parents are finally ready to send him to a normal high school, where he makes his first friend: a human girl named Lucy. In the meantime, however, the ALA’s stance has become ever more extreme, and now they’re here to drag Charlie into their terrorist plot…
Winner of the prestigious Manga Taisho, as well as an Excellence Award at the Japanese Media Arts Festival, The Darwin Incident is as action-packed as it is socially relevant!
The manga has been serialized in Monthly Afternoon since June 2020 and has nine volumes as of May 2025. It was a finalist in the General category of the 47th and 48th Kodansha Manga Award.
Staff
• Director: Naokatsu Tsuda (Tokyo 24th Ward)
• Series director: Katsuichi Nakayama (Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory director, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time co-director)
• Series composer: Shinichi Inozume (Spy Classroom)
• Character designer: Shinpei Tomooka (Trinity Seven)
• Animation production: Bellnox Films
