The Darwin Incident #01 — Climb Another Tree, You Nerd!

January 6th, 2026

 

Is… is that a nerd thing now?

Impressions:

This is a baffling show where it feels like the script was written by a crazy person. He's a mad scientist's creation who's world famous and has essentially super powers, but also shows up at a high school one day completely by himself, having never been in any kind of social environement with people before, and nobody's heard of him or was aware of it happening. But also, everybody thinks he's super cool except the jealous BMOC. The weirdness doesn't stop around just him. There's a cat in the tree and characters start saying "Wow, that's crazy. We should call reporters." Then some random girl climbs the tree, which prompts the bully guy to start going "Ha ha, you NERD. Climbing trees LIKE A NERD." Is… Is that a thing that nerds are known for in college these days? Is climbing trees now a nerd thing? How out of touch with the kids am I?

I haven't even mentioned the cabal of men-only vegan terrorists who weep over bystanders to their bombs, or the corny trolly problem debate about the ethics of murdering plague carriers. It's… difficult to even get a baseline for what the hell the setting is. The uncanny valley nature of the writing does not feel intended at all. The bully is supposed to just be a regular bully. The loner girl is meant to be jealous and resentful of attention he gets from the popular girls. When a dude gasps and goes "He's beyond chimpanzee or human" because of some marks left on a tree branch, we're supposed to accept that he is indeed a forensic expert in chimpanzee tensile grip strength after his twenty seconds on Wikipedia. But it's also relying on the writing. The weird nonsensical writing. I really don't think I know what to make of this, which usually means that when we come back for a second glance, it'll just continue to be nonsensical.

Posted in Darwin Incident | 3 Comments »

3 Shouts From the Peanut Gallery

  • nameless says:

    It felt like the creators tried to ape (heh) a Hollywood movie with the character design and writing, but since it has the usual anime-isms it ended up extremely bizarre and off-putting. Being a weird hybrid that’s less than the sum of its parts is ironic in a funny way for a show like this.

  • Denny De Yeeto says:

    ape’s character design is pure nightmare fuel

  • residentgrigo says:

    The terrorists aren´t a men-only group but the important female characters there would only show up in a theoretical S2.

    Eco-thriller used to be a thing, especially in the 80s (Edge of Darkness 1985) but it´s a niche now outside of the printed page. Mostly sci-fi with the occasional eco-horror flick thrown in. The actual plot starts next week. The manga is 80s/90s Alan Moore or Grant Morrison with the over-the-top edge of a DC Black Label/Absolute Universe comic. More so after the anime´s likely endpoint. That said, the V for Vendetta comic is quite bonkers too.

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