The Darwin Incident

is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by . It has been serialized in Kodansha's manga magazine Monthly Afternoon since June 2020. An anime television series adaptation produced by 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.

Plot

An extremist animal-rights organization, the ALA (Animal Liberation Alliance), carries out a raid on a biological research institute and rescues an injured, pregnant 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, extremist animal rights groups and powerful institutions clash around his existence.

Characters

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.

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.

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.

A primatologist and Charlie's adoptive father.

A lawyer and Charlie's adoptive mother.

A deputy in Shrews who while initially antagonistic, eventually helps and fosters Charlie. He is commonly referred to as .

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.

A former Major in the U.S. Military who act as second-in-command in the ALA.

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

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

An influential figure in Shrews.

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

Maurice's partner in the FBI.

A wealthy Korean benefactor and co-conspirator of the ALA.

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

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by , The Darwin Incident started in Kodansha's manga magazine Monthly Afternoon on June 25, 2020. Kodansha has collected its chapters into individual volumes. The first volume was released on November 20, 2020. As of December 23, 2025, ten 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 and directed by , 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 .

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. 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

External links