Norihiro Naganuma unveiled Jurassic Shadows at Anime Expo 2026, an original action anime about ninjas battling dinosaur-human hybrids in near-future Tokyo.
Director Norihiro Naganuma, best known for helming The Apothecary Diaries, unveiled an original anime project titled Jurassic Shadows during a panel at Anime Expo 2026 on Saturday, July 5. The series blends ninja action with prehistoric horror in a near-future Tokyo setting.
Jurassic Shadows takes place in Tokyo in the year 2029. The central premise hinges on a startling revelation: dinosaurs never went fully extinct. Instead, they survived by interbreeding with humans over millennia, embedding themselves within modern society while secretly hunting people from the shadows. Standing against this hidden threat are covert ninjas who wield a substance called Ryugesho — a special pigment infused with ancient memories that can awaken dormant dinosauric powers in its users.
The concept weaves together seemingly disparate elements — dinosaurs, ninjas, and the Japanese art of kesho (makeup) — into a single mythology built around memory, survival, and transformation. Concept art shown at the panel depicted action sequences set across a rain-soaked neon cityscape, with ninja operatives clashing against towering hybrid creatures in tight urban corridors.
The project is being produced at studio Cannon Code in partnership with Slow Curve and Avex Pictures. Naganuma is directing, bringing the sharp visual instincts he honed on The Apothecary Diaries to an entirely original property.
Kenta Ihara, whose screenwriting credits include Saga of Tanya the Evil, is handling the series composition and screenplay. Yukiko Nakatani, another Apothecary Diaries alumnus, is serving as character designer, while Yōichi Amano is credited with the original character designs that form the basis of the anime's visual identity.
Rounding out the key staff, Shūhei Mutsuki — the composer behind Lycoris Recoil's acclaimed soundtrack — is composing the music, and Shōji Hata is on board as sound director. The assembled team spans action, thriller, and character-driven drama credentials, signaling the production's ambition to deliver on multiple fronts.
Alongside the anime announcement, Kodansha confirmed it is developing a manga adaptation of Jurassic Shadows. Details on the manga — including its author, magazine, and launch timeline — have not yet been disclosed. A simultaneous manga rollout would give the original IP a cross-media footprint from inception, a strategy increasingly favored for new anime-original projects seeking to build readership and viewership in parallel.
No release window or episode count has been announced for Jurassic Shadows, and streaming or broadcast partners have not been confirmed. The Anime Expo reveal served as a first look, with additional information expected in the months ahead. For fans of Naganuma's meticulous direction and Ihara's tightly plotted scripts, this original collaboration is one of the most distinctive new projects to emerge from this year's convention circuit — a high-concept genre mashup with a formidable creative pedigree behind it.
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