The Darwin Incident anime reveals January 2026 release window and more

Modified Mar 12, 2025 15:46 GMT

The Darwin Incident anime reveals January 2026 release window and more (Image via BELLNOX FILMS)

Wednesday, March 12, 2025 saw the official X (formerly Twitter) account for the television The Darwin Incident anime series reveal its January 2026 release window in a new promotional video. A sinister key visual was also released alongside the new promotional video, also reconfirming the anime’s January 2026 release window.

The new promotional video and key visual also announce several new staff members for The Darwin Incident anime series. Intriguingly, no cast members have been announced for the series as of this article’s writing. Fans can likely expect this information to be revealed alongside the next batch of promotional material for the series.

The Darwin Incident anime previews high-stakes action and ethical dilemmas in latest trailer for series

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The latest trailer for The Darwin Incident anime series begins by introducing its protagonist, a human-chimpanzee hybrid which the video calls a “humanzee.” Called Charlie, the trailer makes it clear that his very existence shakes society to its core. However, he’s also seen having a positive impact, saving a woman and her dog from falling out of a tree. The trailer then quickly teases darker consequences, such as an exploding building and piles of graffitied rubble.

The key visual features one unnamed character from the trailer who seemingly takes a major interest in Charlie. This character’s inclusion in the key visual further supports this, as it shows him playing a game of chess in which Charlie is represented with his own unique piece. Unfortunately, there’s not much more narrative information to be gleaned from currently available promotional material as of this article’s writing.

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The newly announced staff members for the series are music composers Airsa Okehazama and Mairko Horikawa, and sound director Yoshikazu Iwanami. They join previously announced staff members Naokatsu Tsuda, who is directing the anime at BELLNOX FILMS, Shinichi Inotsume, who is handling the series scripts, and character designer Shinpei Tomooka. As mentioned above, no cast information for The Darwin Incident anime is available as of this article’s writing.

The series will serve as the television anime adaptation of mangaka Shun Umezawa’s original manga series of the same name. The story began serialization in Kodansha’s Monthly Afternoon magazine in June 2020, where it is still ongoing today. Kodansha USA Publishing, who has released six of the currently available eight compilation volumes in English, describes the series as follows:

“Created in a biological science lab, Charlie is a half human, half chimpanzee hybrid known as "Humanzee."

Raised by his adoptive human parents, Charlie is now 15 and starting high school. There he meets Lucy, a clever loner who becomes his first-ever friend.

But his "normal" life is shattered when the animal rights extremists who freed his mother from the lab fifteen years ago reemerge as terrorists bent on kidnapping Charlie at all costs.”