To commemorate the fifth anniversary of the serialization of Shun Umezawa's manga "The Darwin Incident," which is also being made into a TV anime, Umezawa and the anime's director, Naokatsu Tsuda, had a conversation, discussing the story behind the creation of the work and what goes on behind the scenes in the anime's production.
--In the first place, the "The Darwin Incident" was born from a short story you previously wrote, "Already Human."
Umezawa: I had always wanted to write something on a theme related to bioethics. When I published a collection of short stories called "Elehon," I created a work called "Mo Ningen" based on that idea, but after I finished it, I felt that I wanted to write about that theme in a broader worldview. So I came up with the idea for "The Darwin Incident" while searching the web and literature to increase my knowledge. I immediately took the idea to several editors, but most of them said, "I think it's interesting, but I have no idea how to sell it," so I had my head in my hands... However, the person in charge at the monthly magazine "Afternoon" showed interest, and it led to a serialization.
Director Tsuda: I still remember when the series began serialization in the monthly magazine "Afternoon". At the time, I came into contact with the work as a pure reader, but I had the impression that it would be such a difficult work to adapt into a film... Well, in a way, that may be a "Afternoon"-like work (laughs). I have an occupational habit of casually thinking about how to approach any manga if it were to be adapted into an anime, but I felt that "The Darwin Incident" was a work that would be difficult to animate in a good way. I thought it might be possible for it to be adapted into a Hollywood movie or drama.
Umezawa-san was originally aiming for a structure that would look like a foreign drama, so if that's what you thought, then I consider it a success (laughs).
--The serialization progresses from there, but what is the most important thing to you, Umezawa, when depicting "The Darwin Incident"?
I guess it's Umezawa's sensitivity to information. Even if the core of the theme I'm dealing with doesn't waver, I try to think about how that theme will be received. For example, the word "vegan" appears in this work, but knowledge and events related to it have changed rapidly between the time the series began and now. So I think it's important to properly grasp those changes in a timely manner and depict them accordingly.
--Director Tsuda, you will be working on the animation of "The Darwin Incident." First of all, please tell us how you felt when you received the offer to be the director.
Director Tsuda: Actually, the producer gave me several works and asked me, "Which original work would you like to make an anime out of?" One of them was "The Darwin Incident." I knew it would be difficult, but I thought "The Darwin Incident" would be a worthwhile project, so I recommended it. Umezawa-san is taking on something that seems obvious but is difficult, and it depicts themes that we have to think about in our daily lives, so I wanted to get on the same boat. That's how the planning for "The Darwin Incident" began.
When Umezawa-san's serialization started, I never thought it would be made into an anime, so I was very surprised when I heard about it. At the same time, I asked him to depict the theme head-on without running away from it, and to be careful not to use discriminatory expressions, as well as to be careful about depictions that could be perceived that way. I am particularly conscious of the latter when I am drawing the manga, but even if the author does not have any discriminatory intentions, there is a possibility that one frame will be cut out and people will say, "That's a terrible thing to say!" Personally, I think that there is a higher risk of this happening in anime than in manga, so I asked Director Tsuda to be extremely careful.
Since it was Director Tsuda , we made sure that all the staff gave their opinions on how to express things during the scenario meeting. This is the most logical exchange of all the works I've ever been involved in, so it's a very tenacious production.
--The series composition for this work is handled by Shinichi Inotsume, who is known for works such as "Akatsuki no Yona" and "Spy Classroom."
I asked Director Tsuda Inotsume because, out of all the projects we've worked on together, he's good at thinking things through logically. Anime episodes are set to be about 21 minutes long, excluding the opening and ending, so even if the plot follows the original, there will inevitably be pages that are omitted. This is a particularly difficult work, as even if it seems like there would be no problem if you skipped a single frame, the rest of the plot will not work. So Inotsume paid close attention to how to fit it into the storyline.
I had to change the structure to fit the time frame and decide when to include Umezawa- san's part. But when I read the scenario, it was so amazing that I wondered who had come up with such an interesting story.
Director Tsuda came up with that idea (laughs). I basically didn't include any original elements, and I was conscious of creating the scenario and storyboards by thinking about what the original story wanted to convey most in that episode, and which lines I wanted to convey most.
Umezawa : I think that the fact that the lines are constructed on the assumption that they will be performed by voice actors is what makes it different from the original in a good way. I felt that way just from the scenario, but I was even more surprised when I recorded it. When the voice actors performed the lines, I was so taken aback that I realized that there was another way to interpret them (laughs).
--The character designer is Tomooka Shinpei. Did the director give Tomooka any instructions?
Director Tsuda Tomooka is an employee of Belnox Films, the production company for "The Darwin Incident," and we decided to have him participate because of his skills. He read the original work very carefully and incorporated it into the setting, and he is always searching for the best way to animate "The Darwin Incident." What I asked him to do was not to omit too many elements from the original work. Deformation makes it easier for an animator to draw, but it deviates from the theme of the work. I knew that it would be a high production cost, but I asked him to draw it carefully.
Umezawa: I don't watch that much anime myself, but I was surprised by the visuals, which are not like Japanese anime in a good way. I told him that the designs that are easy to move are different between manga and anime, so it's no problem if he adjusts them. However, when drawing a character like Charlie, you naturally have to draw the races of the characters around him, so a detailed design is required. He really got that point, so I can't wait to see the characters in action.
--This is the first time that Belnox Films, the production company behind "The Darwin Incident," has been the prime contractor for the project. It is led by former David Production producer Koji Kajita, who has worked with Director Tsuda in the past.
Director Tsuda: It's true that Kajita-san is originally from David, but there are also staff members like Tomooka-san who have worked at Seven Arcs, and some who have been transferred from other studios, so it's a diverse team. I was originally a director at David, but since I've come to a different studio, I'm currently exploring new things so as not to make the same kind of film.
--I was also intrigued to see that the name of Nakayama Katsuichi, one of the directors of the "Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time" movie, is listed as assistant director.
Director Tsuda : I've worked with Nakayama before, and he's a very capable person, so he inspires me. This time, Nakayama is taking on a large part of the main production - the actual production - of my directorial duties. Belnox Films is still a young company, so we have to try things one by one, but I and Nakayama will work hard to raise the staff's capabilities one step at a time so that we can deliver a wonderful film.
Umezawa: I'm really looking forward to seeing how Charlie and the others will move. I'm looking forward to not only the action scenes, but also how Charlie blends into everyday American life in the anime.
Director Tsuda: America has a lot more space than Japan. Therefore, the layout is different from works set in Japan, so we are paying attention to the details of the art as we proceed. I would like to repeat the tests and make the video even more complete.
"The Darwin Incident" has been serialized in "Monthly Afternoon" (Kodansha) since 2020. Charlie, a "humanzee" born between a human and a chimpanzee, faces human problems such as terrorism, online outrage, and discrimination. The series has sold over 1.8 million copies in total. The TV anime will begin airing in January 2026.
