The Darwin Incident Celebrates Monkey Day With New Anime Posters

Ahead of the impending release of the anime adaptation of Shun Umezawa’s The Darwin Incident, Bellnox Films isn’t wasting any time promoting their work and exposing new audiences to Charlie. To celebrate Monkey Day in Japan, Bellnox released two brand-new pieces of official artwork of Charlie, and his human best friend Lucy. As of writing, there’s been no official release date set for the anime, but we do know who will be working on bringing the series to life.

Launched by Kadokawa earlier in 2024, Bellnox Films is a brand-new animation studio run by Hiroyuki Omori, the producer of the Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure anime adaptation. The Darwin Incident will be the studio’s first project. The series is set to be directed by Kaokatsu Tsuda (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure) and Katsuichi Nakayama (Neon Genesis Evangelion) – two incredibly powerful names to be working on this project. The series composition will be handled by Shinichi Inotsume (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure), and Shunpei Tomooka (Trinity Seven) will handle character designs. As of writing, there have been no casting announcements for the roles of Charlie and Lucy.

[RELATED: The Darwin Incident Releases First Anime Promo (& Why This Strange Series Is One To Watch)]

The Darwin Incident Is a Deep-Dive Into Ecological Politics

The Darwin Incident is an incredibly unique series that dives into far more than the standard “what does it mean to be human” theme that one might expect from this kind of series. The Darwin Incident goes the extra mile by exploring the ramifications of animal experimentation, ecological radicalism, and eco-terrorism. The main story is set in motion when Charlie – a half-chimpanzee-half-human and main protagonist – is born to a chimpanzee that an eco-terrorist organization kidnapped called the Animal Liberation Alliance. Flash forward fifteen years, Charlie is living with his beloved foster family, who has finally agreed to send him to a normal, human high school where he can finally find his first friend in Lucy, his classmate. In the background of his flourishing everyday life, the Animal Liberation Alliance has grown into a far more radicalized and extremist group and is planning on pulling Charlie into their plans.

The premise is admittedly loaded with information, but Shun Umezawa’s writing style can deliver this incredibly poignant story without ever feeling overly pretentious. The original manga is a seinen, so it isn’t afraid to delve into some dark places to get its point across – which works phenomenally with everything The Darwin Incident has to say. The series has been doing incredibly well commercially and critically, with over 1.6 million copies in circulation as of May 2024. Additionally, it took home the Manga Taisho Award in 2022 and an Excellence Award at the 25th Japan Media Arts Festival. The manga has even been recognized outside of Japan and was awarded the 17th ACBD’s Prize “Asie de la Critique” in France.

H/T Crunchyroll News