The anime community received a major announcement on December 31, 2025, as Anime News Network reported that Hitoshi Iwaaki’s prestigious historical manga Historie is receiving its first television anime adaptation. LIDEN FILMS, the studio behind acclaimed series like Tokyo Revengers and The Heroic Legend of Arslan, will bring this award-winning epic about ancient Greece to life. For fans of the Parasyte creator, this adaptation represents a long-awaited opportunity to see another of Iwaaki’s masterworks animated on screen.
A Decades-Long Journey to Animation
According to the announcement made via a newly opened website, Historie has been a labor of love spanning decades for creator Hitoshi Iwaaki. In his statement, Iwaaki revealed that he first conceived the story over four decades ago and began sketching the art in his studio approximately 20-odd years ago. This lengthy development period speaks to the meticulous care and research that has gone into crafting this historical epic, which has been serialized in Kodansha’s Afternoon magazine since 2003.
The manga follows the life of Eumenes of Cardia from childhood, chronicling his extraordinary journey from mysterious origins to becoming the personal secretary and general to Alexander the Great, one of history’s most legendary military commanders. Set against the backdrop of ancient Greece in the 4th century BCE, Historie offers a dramatic reimagining of real historical events and figures that shaped the ancient world.
The Historical Foundation of Historie
Eumenes of Cardia was a genuine historical figure whose life story reads like fiction. Born around 362 BCE in the Thracian Chersonese (modern-day Gallipoli peninsula), Eumenes rose from humble origins to become one of the most influential figures in Alexander the Great’s court. Historical sources, including Plutarch’s biographies, describe Eumenes as exceptionally intelligent and capable, despite facing prejudice from Macedonian aristocrats who viewed him as an outsider due to his Greek heritage rather than Macedonian lineage.
What makes Eumenes’ story particularly compelling is his role during the Wars of the Diadochi—the succession conflicts that erupted after Alexander’s death in 323 BCE. As Alexander’s personal secretary, Eumenes controlled the conqueror’s intelligence and correspondence, granting him immense authority and insight into the empire’s operations. After Alexander’s death, Eumenes became one of the few commanders who fought to maintain the unity of Alexander’s empire, eventually commanding Alexander’s legendary Silver Shields veterans in battles that would determine the fate of the ancient world.
From Parasyte to Ancient Greece: Iwaaki’s Artistic Evolution
Hitoshi Iwaaki is best known internationally for Parasyte (Kiseijuu), the science fiction horror manga that ran from 1989 to 1994 and received a highly successful anime adaptation titled Parasyte -the maxim- in 2014-2015. The series, which tells the story of high school student Shinichi Izumi and the alien parasite Migi that inhabits his arm, became a cultural phenomenon and earned Iwaaki the Kodansha Manga Award in 1993.
The transition from body horror science fiction to meticulously researched historical drama demonstrates Iwaaki’s remarkable versatility as a manga artist. In interviews, Iwaaki has discussed how after completing Parasyte, he worked through commitments to various magazine editors before finally being able to launch Historie. The series represents a complete departure from his previous work, requiring extensive historical research and a different artistic approach to capture the grandeur and complexity of ancient civilizations.
Award-Winning Excellence
The critical acclaim for Historie has been extraordinary. In 2010, the manga took the grand prize in the manga division of the Japan Media Arts Festival, one of the country’s most prestigious cultural awards. Even more significantly, Historie earned Iwaaki the 16th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize’s top award in 2012—the Grand Prize named after the legendary “God of Manga” himself, Osamu Tezuka.
The Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, sponsored by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, recognizes manga that best follow Tezuka’s tradition of excellence and innovation. Previous Grand Prize winners include masterworks like Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, Takehiko Inoue’s Vagabond, and Fumi Yoshinaga’s Ōoku: The Inner Chamber. For Historie to join this pantheon demonstrates the manga’s exceptional quality and cultural significance.
LIDEN FILMS Takes the Helm
The announcement that LIDEN FILMS will handle the adaptation brings considerable expertise to the project. Founded in 2012, LIDEN FILMS has built a reputation for producing high-quality anime across multiple genres, with particular strength in action-oriented historical and fantasy series. The studio’s work on The Heroic Legend of Arslan demonstrates their capability with epic historical fantasy narratives, while Tokyo Revengers showcases their ability to handle complex character-driven stories.
Other notable LIDEN FILMS productions include Berserk (2016), 86 -Eighty Six-, and Call of the Night. The studio operates multiple branches across Japan, including facilities in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Fukuya, giving them substantial production capacity. Their selection for Historie suggests confidence in their ability to handle the manga’s detailed historical settings, large-scale battle sequences, and nuanced character work.
Bringing Ancient Greece to Life
Adapting Historie presents unique challenges for any animation studio. The manga’s artwork is renowned for its meticulous attention to historical detail, from period-accurate architecture and clothing to the depiction of ancient military tactics and weaponry. Iwaaki’s backgrounds are particularly praised for their depth and authenticity, creating an immersive representation of the ancient Mediterranean world.
The narrative itself balances intimate character moments with sweeping historical events, requiring the anime to successfully convey both the personal journey of Eumenes and the grand scale of Alexander’s conquests. The manga explores themes of identity, loyalty, ambition, and the nature of power—subjects that resonate across millennia and give the story contemporary relevance despite its ancient setting.
Accessibility for Western Audiences
For English-speaking fans, Kodansha’s K Manga service currently publishes Historie digitally, making the source material accessible to those who want to experience the story before the anime adaptation. The manga has been praised by Western critics for its sophisticated storytelling and the way it makes ancient history compelling and accessible to modern readers.
The historical subject matter may actually give Historie broader appeal beyond typical anime audiences. The story of Alexander the Great and his companions has universal recognition, potentially drawing viewers interested in historical drama who might not typically watch anime. This crossover potential could make Historie a significant title for introducing new audiences to the medium.
What We’re Still Waiting to Learn
While the announcement confirms LIDEN FILMS as the animation studio, many crucial details remain unknown. No premiere date has been announced, leaving fans uncertain whether the series will debut in 2026 or later. Additionally, no staff members beyond the studio have been revealed—information about the director, series composer, character designer, and other key creative personnel will be essential for gauging how the adaptation will approach the source material.
The format of the adaptation also remains unclear. Given the manga’s ongoing serialization (though it has been on hiatus since 2022 with 11 volumes published), questions arise about how much of the story the anime will cover and whether it will be a single-cour series, split-cour production, or longer continuous run. The complexity and depth of the source material suggest that a substantial episode count would be necessary to do justice to Iwaaki’s narrative.
A Significant Moment for Historical Anime
The announcement of Historie‘s anime adaptation represents a significant moment for historical drama in anime. While the medium has produced acclaimed historical series like Vinland Saga, Kingdom, and Golden Kamuy, adaptations of serious historical manga remain relatively uncommon compared to fantasy, science fiction, and contemporary settings. Historie‘s combination of meticulous historical research, compelling character drama, and award-winning pedigree positions it as a potentially landmark series.
For fans of Hitoshi Iwaaki who have followed his career since Parasyte, this adaptation offers a chance to see a completely different facet of his artistic vision brought to life. The announcement also highlights the enduring appeal of quality manga, as Historie has maintained its reputation and readership over more than two decades of serialization.
As more information emerges about the Historie anime adaptation, anticipation will undoubtedly build among both manga readers and anime fans eager for sophisticated historical storytelling. With LIDEN FILMS at the helm and Iwaaki’s masterful source material as foundation, this adaptation has the potential to become one of the most significant anime releases in the historical drama genre. Fans will be watching closely for updates on the premiere date, staff announcements, and first promotional materials that will offer glimpses of how ancient Greece will be realized in animated form.
