“Darwin Jihen” Original Author Umezawa Shun on What to Be Careful About for the “Anime Adaptation”? Dialogue with TV Anime Director Tsuda Naokatsu Released!

“Darwin Jihen” Manga Celebrates 5th Anniversary with Special Talk Between Creator Shun Umezawa and Anime Director Naokatsu Tsuda

With the TV anime adaptation of the manga Darwin Jihen set to begin broadcasting in January 2026, the original manga reached its 5th anniversary on June 25, 2025. To commemorate this milestone, an official talk between the original creator, Umezawa Shun-sensei, and the TV anime director, Tsuda Naokatsu-kantoku, has been released.

Darwin Jihen, serialized in Kodansha’s monthly comic magazine “Afternoon”, is a human and non-human drama by Umezawa Shun. It depicts the story of Charlie, a “humanzee” born from a human and a chimpanzee, as he confronts human problems like “terrorism,” “online harassment,” and “discrimination” from the perspective of “someone who is not human.”

The series has achieved significant acclaim, surpassing a cumulative circulation of 2 million copies up to its latest 9th volume. It has won numerous awards, including the Grand Prize at the “Manga Taisho 2022”, an Excellence Award in the Manga Division at the “25th Japan Media Arts Festival”, and ranked 2nd in “Recommended Comics 2022 Selected by Comic Store Staff”. It has also garnered international recognition, winning the BDGest‘Arts Asia Section at the “50th Angoulême International Comics Festival” in France, sweeping various manga awards both within Japan and overseas. The announcement of its TV anime adaptation was made last year, and a teaser PV and a second teaser visual have already been released, building anticipation for the January 2026 broadcast premiere.

June 25th marks the day the original manga serialization began in Monthly “Afternoon”, making June 25, 2025, the 5th anniversary of its run. The official talk released to celebrate this milestone features the original creator Umezawa-sensei and TV anime Director Tsuda-kantoku discussing a wealth of information that can only be heard here, including the background behind the birth of Darwin Jihen and how Tsuda-kantoku came to be the TV anime director. How did this work, which portrays the world being shaken by Charlie, a hybrid of a human and a chimpanzee, come into being? And how will it be expressed through animation? Let’s delve into the thoughts on the work shared by these two key figures.

The TV anime Darwin Jihen is scheduled to air starting in January 2026. We eagerly await further updates in the future.

Official Talk: Original Creator Shun Umezawa-sensei × Director Naokatsu Tsuda-kantoku (Full Transcript)

――To start, it seems Darwin Jihen originated from a short story you previously drew, called “Mou Ningen“.

Umezawa-sensei: I had always wanted to depict something on the theme of bioethics. When I was releasing a collection of short stories called “Erehons“, I created the work “Mou Ningen” based on that idea. After finishing it, I felt a desire to depict that theme within a broader worldview. So, while researching online and in literature to expand my knowledge, I developed the concept for Darwin Jihen. I immediately brought the proposal to several companies, but most editors told me, “We think it’s interesting, but we have no idea how to sell it,” which left me scratching my head… However, the editor at Monthly “Afternoon” showed interest, and it led to the serialization.

Tsuda-kantoku: I still remember when the serialization started in Monthly “Afternoon”. At the time, I was purely reading it as a fan, but I had the impression that a work this difficult to adapt visually was starting… Well, in a way, maybe that’s what makes it an “Afternoon”-esque work (laughs). I have a professional habit of lightly thinking about how I would approach animating any manga I read, and I felt that Darwin Jihen was a work that was difficult to animate in a good way. I thought it might be possible to adapt it as a Hollywood film or drama.

Umezawa-sensei: I was originally aiming for a structure that looked like a Western drama, so if you felt that way, I succeeded (laughs).

――The serialization proceeded from there, but what do you value most when drawing Darwin Jihen, Umezawa-sensei?

Umezawa-sensei: I’d say being sensitive to information. Even though the core theme I’m dealing with doesn’t change, I try to think about how that theme will be received. For example, the word “vegan” appears in this work, but the knowledge and events related to it have been constantly changing between the start of the serialization and now. So, I feel it’s important to capture these changes from a current events perspective and depict them accordingly.

――Director Tsuda, you are now working on the anime adaptation of such a Darwin Jihen. First, please tell us how you felt when you received the offer to direct.

Tsuda-kantoku: Actually, there was a time when a producer gave me a list of several works and asked me, “Which manga would you like to make an anime of?”. Darwin Jihen was one of them. For me, knowing full well the difficulty, I pushed for Darwin Jihen, thinking this would be a challenging and rewarding work. Umezawa-sensei is tackling something seemingly obvious but difficult, themes we must consider in our daily lives, so I wanted to be on the same ship. That desire is how the Darwin Jihen project began.

Umezawa-sensei: When the serialization started, I never imagined it would be animated, so I was very surprised when I heard the offer. At the same time, I asked that they not shy away from the themes it deals with and depict them head-on, and that they take care not to use discriminatory language, but also to be mindful of depictions that could be perceived as such. Personally, I think this risk is higher in anime than in manga, so I asked Tsuda-kantoku to pay the utmost attention.

Tsuda-kantoku: So, in the script meetings, we all voiced our opinions on whether certain expressions were appropriate. It requires the most logical discussions among all the works I’ve been involved with, making it a very patient-demanding workplace.

――Shinichi Inotsume-san, known for works like Akatsuki no Yona and Spy Kyoushitsu, is handling the series composition for this work.

Tsuda-kantoku: I asked Inotsume-san because, among the works I’ve done together with him so far, he is someone who is excellent at thinking things through logically. Since each episode of an anime, excluding the opening and ending, is limited to about 21 minutes, even if the story follows the original work, we inevitably have to omit some pages. This work, in particular, is difficult because even developments that might seem okay to skip at first glance can lead to later developments not making sense if even one panel is omitted. So, I asked Inotsume-san to write with the utmost care on how to adapt it skillfully to the time limit.

Umezawa-sensei: We have no choice but to change the composition due to time constraints, like where to put the cliffhangers. But when I read the script, it was so wonderful that I thought, “Who thought of this amazing story?” (laughs).

Tsuda-kantoku: It was Sensei who thought of it (laughs). We are basically not adding original elements, and we are consciously creating the script and storyboards while thinking about what the original work wants to convey most in that episode, and which lines it wants to deliver the most.

Umezawa-sensei: Perhaps the structure being assembled with the premise of seiyuu performing the lines is creating a difference from the original in a good way. I felt that even just with the script, but I was even more surprised during the recording sessions. The seiyuu’ performances made me realize, “Oh, that line could be interpreted that way too,” which really opened my eyes (laughs).

――Shinpei Tomooka-san is serving as the character designer. Did you give Tomooka-san any specific instructions, Director?

Tsuda-kantoku: Tomooka-san is an employee of Bellnox Films, which is producing Darwin Jihen, and we asked him to participate because of his skill. He has thoroughly read the original work and incorporated it into the character settings, constantly exploring what kind of lines would be best for animating Darwin Jihen. The instruction I gave him was that I didn’t want too many elements omitted from the original. While simplifying designs makes it easier for animators to draw, it can diverge from the work’s themes. Knowing that it would increase the production effort, I asked him to depict them faithfully.

Umezawa-sensei: I don’t watch a lot of anime myself, but I was surprised by the visuals which, in a good way, don’t feel like typical Japanese anime. I had told him that since designs that are easy to draw are different for manga and anime, it was okay to make adjustments. However, when drawing a character like Charlie, you naturally have to differentiate the races of the surrounding characters, which requires detailed designs. He has grasped this well, so I’m really looking forward to seeing the characters moving in the animation.

――Bellnox Films, which is producing Darwin Jihen, is working on its first main production with this project. It is led by Producer Kouji Kajita-san, who you previously worked with at david production.

Tsuda-kantoku: While it’s true that Kajita-san was formerly at david production, the team is diverse, with staff members like Tomooka-san who come from the Seven Arcs lineage, as well as those who have transferred from other studios. I also directed at david production previously, but since I’m now at a different studio, I’m working on production while exploring new approaches to ensure the film isn’t the same as before.

――We also noticed the name of Katsuchi Nakayama-san as the Series Director, who was one of the directors for Shin Evangelion Gekijouban:||.

Tsuda-kantoku: I had worked with Nakayama-san before, and he is very talented, so I am inspired by him. This time, he is handling a considerable portion of my directing duties, specifically the main production — the actual production part. Bellnox Films is still a young company, so we have to proceed through trial and error step by step, but Nakayama-san and I want to elevate the skills of the staff even further and work hard to deliver wonderful visuals.

Umezawa-sensei: I’m really looking forward to seeing how Charlie and the others will move. Not just the action scenes, but also how Charlie fitting into daily life in America will be depicted in the anime is something I’m excited about.

Tsuda-kantoku: America has wider spaces than Japan, right? So, the layouts will also be different from works set in Japan, and we are paying close attention to the details in the art as we proceed. We are repeating tests and want to achieve even higher quality visuals than now.

【TVアニメ『ダーウィン事変』作品情報】
放送情報
2026年1月より放送開始
スタッフ

(C)2026 Umezawa Shun・Kodansha／”Darwin Jihen” Production Committee