The Darwin Incident (2026)

The Darwin Incident (Japanese: ダーウィン事変, Hepburn: Dāwin Jihen) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Shun Umezawa. It has been serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Monthly Afternoon since June 2020. An anime television series adaptation produced by Bellnox Films aired from January to April 2026.

By May 2024, the manga had over 1.6 million copies in circulation. In 2022, The Darwin Incident won the 15th Manga Taishō, as well as the Excellence Award at the 25th Japan Media Arts Festival. It won the 50th Kodansha Manga Award in the general category in 2026.

Plot

An extremist animal rights organization called the Animal Liberation Alliance (ALA) carries out a raid on a biological research institute and rescues a miscarrying chimpanzee. At an animal hospital, she gives birth to Charlie, a rare human–chimpanzee hybrid known as a "humanzee".

Raised by human adoptive parents, Charlie develops physical abilities far beyond those of either humans or chimpanzees. Charlie enters high school at the age of 15, where he befriends a shy girl named Lucy Eldred. As he attends high school, he faces fear, prejudice, and moral conflict. Meanwhile, the ALA set their sights on Charlie.

Characters

Charlie (チャーリー, Chārī)

Voiced by: Atsumi Tanezaki (Japanese); Yenni Ann (English)

A 15-year-old boy living in Missouri, United States. The world's only "Humanzee", half human and half chimpanzee, was created using genome-editing technology and possesses intelligence that surpasses that of humans and physical abilities that exceed those of chimpanzees. He is calm, but after enrolling in a local high school at the age of 15, he developed a strong interest in humans. On the other hand, having had little interaction with anyone other than his adoptive parents, Gilbert and Hannah, he often behaves in ways that surprise those around him.

Lucy Eldred (ルーシー・エルドレッド, Rūshī Erudoreddo)

Voiced by: Mitsuho Kambe (Japanese); Kate Domenech (English)

Charlie's classmate at Shrews High School. Although she is an honors student with a frank personality and strong drive, she also has a brilliant mind, but she is fed up with the relationships in her town and at high school. For this reason, she has not actively interacted with other people. However, after Charlie rescues her from falling out of a tree, she develops a strong interest in him and becomes his friend.

Rivera Feyerabend (リヴェラ・ファイヤアーベント, Rivera Faiyaābento)

Voiced by: Akio Otsuka (Japanese); Sean Tapiero (English)

The leader of the ALA. While he comes across as being friendly and composed, he is actually very calculating, manipulative, and ruthless. He has a strong interest in Charlie.

Gilbert Stein (ギルバート・スタイン, Girubāto Sutain)

Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa (Japanese); Roly Gutierrez (English)

A primatologist and Charlie's adoptive father.

Hannah Stein (ハンナ・スタイン, Hanna Sutain)

Voiced by: Rina Satō (Japanese); Sara Secora (English)

A lawyer and Charlie's adoptive mother.

Philip Graham (フィリップ・グラハム, Firippu Gurahamu)

Voiced by: Yōji Ueda (Japanese); Tim PowersEp. 2 credits (English)

A deputy in Shrewsville who while initially antagonistic, eventually helps and fosters Charlie. He is commonly referred to as "Phil" (フィル, Firu).

Gare (ゲイル, Geiru)

Voiced by: Kaito Ishikawa (Japanese); Kevin GarciaEp. 5 credits (English)

A student at Shrews High School who believes in animal rights. Due to his admiration for the ALA, Rivera is able to convince Gare into committing a mass shooting at the school.

Lesley K. Lippman (レスリー・K・リップマン, Resurī Kei Rippuman)

Voiced by: Hiroya Egashira (Japanese); Charles Sothers (English)

A former officer in the U.S. Army who act as second-in-command in the ALA.

Dafne M. Linares (ダフネ・M・リナレス, Dafune Emu Rinaresu)

Voiced by: Yoko Soumi (Japanese); Nicole QuintanaEp. 5 credits (English)

A Congresswoman who involves herself in the legality surrounding Charlie. She has written a book on animal rights.

Roy Navarro (ロイ・ナヴァロ, Roi Navaro)

Voiced by: Izo Oikawa (Japanese); Rene GranadoEp. 5 credits (English)

The sheriff of the Shrewsville Police Department who is Phil's boss.

Ronnie Schulz (ロニー・シュルツ, Ronī Shurutsu)

Voiced by: Yasuhiro Kikuchi (Japanese); Heath MartinEp. 7 credits (English)

An influential figure in Shrewsville.

Maurice Williams (モリス・ウィリアムズ, Morisu Wiriamuzu)

Voiced by: Fumihiko Tachiki (Japanese); Marcus RothenbergEp. 8 credits (English)

An FBI agent involved in Charlie's case. He is a habitual smoker.

Kyle Foster (カイル・フォスター, Kairu Fosutā)

Voiced by: Toshiki Watanabe (Japanese); Chris VandepasEp. 8 credits (English)

Williams' partner in the FBI.

Sarah Yuan (サラ・ユァン, Sara Yuan)

Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu (Japanese); Emi LoEp. 13 credits (English)

A doctor of Korean descent who is a co-conspirator of the ALA.

Omelas (オメラス, Omerasu)

Voiced by: Takuya Satō (Japanese); Jason KesserEp. 13 credits (English)

Charlie's secret humanzee younger brother, who is hidden by Rivera.

Production

Shun Umezawa previously wrote a short story titled Mō Ningen (もう人間; lit. 'Already Human'), which explored the bioethics of what defines a human being. He explained that The Darwin Incident is a thought experiment that expanded upon the short story, wondering how people would react if a being like Charlie existed and the boundary between humans and animals collapsed.

Initially, Umezawa showed the prototype of the story to Koji Terayama, the editor-in-charge, and told him what he wanted to write about. According to Terayama, Umezawa read a considerable amount of literature and applied it to the story, such as extensive research on humanzees.

Umezawa stated that the reason The Darwin Incident is set in the United States was due to wanting the characters to have lively discussions about discrimination and terrorism, believing that such a setting allowed a greater sense of realism concerning these issues. While neither Umezawa nor any of the editors and staff have ever lived in the United States, Umezawa, a fan of foreign films and television shows, broadened his portrayal of the country via these sources.

Regarding Charlie, Umezawa stated that he initially drew him realistically, before settling on his final character design after deeming it "too scary".

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Shun Umezawa, The Darwin Incident started in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Monthly Afternoon on June 25, 2020. Kodansha has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was released on November 20, 2020. As of June 23, 2026, eleven volumes have been released.

During their panel at Anime NYC 2022, Kodansha USA announced that they licensed the manga, with the first volume released on September 5, 2023.

Volumes

Anime

In May 2024, it was announced that the manga would receive an anime television series adaptation. The series was produced by Bellnox Films and directed by Naokatsu Tsuda, with Katsuichi Nakayama serving as series director, Shinichi Inotsume overseeing series composition, Shinpei Tomooka designing the characters, and Alisa Okehazama and Mariko Horikawa composing the music. It aired from January 7 to April 1, 2026, on TV Tokyo and its affiliates. The opening theme is "Make Me Wonder", performed by Official Hige Dandism, while the ending theme is "Turn It Up", performed by Ako.

The series is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Episodes

Reception

By May 2024, the manga had over 1.6 million copies in circulation. It ranked 10th on Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2022 list of best manga for male readers. The series won the 15th Manga Taishō in 2022. The series ranked second on the Publisher Comics' Recommended Comics of 2022. It won an Excellence Award at the 25th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2022. It was ranked fifth at the first Late Night Manga Award hosted by Bungeishunjū's Crea magazine in 2022. It was nominated for the 47th Kodansha Manga Award in the general category in 2023; it was also nominated for the 48th edition in the same category in 2024; it won the award in the 50th edition in 2026.

The manga was awarded the French 17th ACBD's Prize "Asie de la Critique" in 2023. It was nominated for the Japan Society and Anime NYC's first American Manga Awards in the Best New Manga category in 2024.

Notes

References

Further reading

進化論を揺るがす"人間×チンパンジーのハイブリッド少年"が立ちむかう、テロ組織との戦い！. Da Vinci News (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. December 18, 2020. Archived from the original on July 17, 2021.

External links

The Darwin Incident official manga website at Monthly Afternoon (in Japanese)

The Darwin Incident official anime website (in Japanese)

The Darwin Incident (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia