Toratsugumi: Tsugumi Project

Tsugumi Project (Japanese title: Toratsugumi) is a TV anime based on a science fiction manga by the artist ippatu. The manga has an unusual history. It was first published in France, by the publisher Ki-oon, in July 2019. Later it moved to Japan, where it ran in Kodansha's Weekly Young Magazine from January 2021 until 2023. The full story fills seven volumes. Kodansha USA brought it to English readers, and all seven English volumes were out by September 2025. The TV anime adaptation was announced on July 14, 2026.

The story takes place far in the future. More than two hundred years earlier, a nuclear war destroyed Japan. After that, the islands were closed off from the rest of the world. What is left is a wild and dangerous wasteland. Huge creatures, changed by radiation, roam the land. The broken ruins of the old cities are still there, empty and quiet. No normal person is allowed to go there, and few who go in come back.

The main character is Leon, a French soldier. He is accused of a crime he did not commit, and he is taken away from his family. As punishment, he is sent into the closed-off land of Japan together with a group of other prisoners. They are given a deal. If they can find a powerful weapon from the old world within one year, they will be set free. They know almost nothing about this weapon. All they have is its code name: TORATSUGUMI. In Japanese, toratsugumi is the name of a real bird, a kind of thrush. Leon and the others expect that most of them will not make it out alive.

Inside the ruins, Leon meets Tsugumi. She is a mysterious girl who is only partly human, with sharp bird-like claws called talons. She saves his life, and she soon turns out to be very important to the truth behind the weapon he was sent to find. Another member of the group is Dudu. In the Japanese voice cast, Masaaki Mizunaka plays Leon, Haruki Ishiya plays Dudu, and Misaki Watada plays Tsugumi.

The show mixes action, adventure, and science fiction. Its main themes are survival in a ruined world and the work of rescuing someone in great danger. It is a post-apocalyptic story, which means it is set after a huge disaster has ended normal life. Much of the tension comes from the setting itself. Every trip into the wasteland could bring a new monster or trap. At the same time, the story asks what really happened to Japan, and why someone wants this weapon so badly.

For viewers who enjoy dark, dangerous journeys into strange lands, and stories where an outsider slowly uncovers the secrets of a lost place, Tsugumi Project offers a strong hook. It is also a rare case of a manga that began in Europe before finding success in Japan.