Babylon (Japanese: バビロン, Hepburn: Babiron) is a Japanese novel series written by Mado Nozaki and illustrated by Zain. A manga adaptation by Nobuhide Takishita was published in 2019, and an anime television series adaptation by Revoroot aired from October 6, 2019 to January 27, 2020 which was streamed worldwide on Amazon Video.

Plot

Zen Seizaki is a public prosecutor in the newly created Shiniki district west of Tokyo which is a testing ground for a new nation. He investigates a pharmaceutical company promoting a defective drug following reports of falsified test results by university labs. During the investigation, Shin Inaba, an anesthetist is found dead and a bloodstained document is discovered, which includes hair and skin, covered with letter “F”. Seizaki’s investigation leads to a plot involving the mayoral elections and manipulation of the Shiniki population to embrace a new legislation legalizing suicide. Seizaki discovers that a sinister woman called Ai Magase appears to be behind the push to legalize suicide and is causing the deaths of all of those who oppose her.

Mado Nozaki published the first novel in the series, with illustrations by Zain, under Kodansha‘s Kodansha Taiga label in 2015. Three volumes have been published as of November 22, 2017.

A manga adaptation with art by Nobuhide Takishita began serialization on Kodansha‘s Comic Days website on February 25, 2019 and ended on October 7, 2019. It was compiled into two volumes, both released on October 9, 2019.

An anime television series adaptation was announced to be in production in March 2018. The series is animated by Revoroot and produced by Twin Engine. Kiyotaka Suzuki directs the series, while Keisuke Goto provides the series’ character designs, and Yutaka Yamada composes the series’ music. The series aired from October 6, 2019 to January 27, 2020 on Tokyo MX, BS11 and AT-X, with Amazon Video streaming the first three episodes worldwide.^[1][9] The third story arc was delayed and resumed on December 30, 2019. The first story arc opening theme song is “Live and let die” by Q-MHz featuring uloco. The second story arc opening theme song is “Inochi food soul” by Q-MHz featuring Mikako Komatsu. The third story arc opening theme song is “The next new world that no one knows (blood stained ver.)” by Q-MHz featuring Namirin.

On February 11, 2021, it was announced Sentai Filmworks has licensed the anime for a North American home video release and it will be released on Blu-ray and digital on May 11, 2021.

Babylon
The cover of the first novel, featuring Ai Magase.
バビロン (Babiron)
Genre	Suspense
Novel series
Written by	Mado Nozaki
Illustrated by	Zain
Published by	Kodansha
Imprint	Kodansha Taiga
Original run	October 20, 2015 – November 22, 2017
Volumes	3 (List of volumes)
Manga
Illustrated by	Nobuhide Takishita
Published by	Kodansha
Imprint	Afternoon KC
Magazine	Comic Days
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	February 25, 2019 – October 7, 2019
Volumes	2
Anime television series
Directed by	Kiyotaka Suzuki
Produced by	Koji Yamamoto
Written by	Minaka Sakamoto
Music by	Yutaka Yamada
Studio	Revoroot
Licensed by	Amazon Video (streaming) NA Sentai Filmworks (home video)
Original network	Tokyo MX, BS11, AT-X
Original run	October 6, 2019 – January 27, 2020
Episodes	12 (List of episodes)