A.I.C.O. -Incarnation-

In 2035 a research project goes catastrophically wrong, producing a self-replicating substance called Matter that overruns the Kurobe Gorge and forces the government to seal off the research city. Two years after that disaster, 15-year-old Aiko Tachibana is living with the loss of her family and a life full of questions. When a transfer student, Yuya Kanzaki, tells her there is a secret inside her own body and that the key lies at the Primary Point where the Burst began, Aiko decides to enter the quarantined zone. She joins a specialist dive team with Yuya as her guide, and together they head into a hazardous no-go area where scientific hubris, memory, and identity collide without guaranteed answers.

Released in 2018 and directed by Kazuya Murata, the series features voice work from Yusuke Kobayashi, Haruka Shiraishi, Takehito Koyasu, Toru Okawa, and Taishi Murata, positioning it as a sci-fi anime with an action emphasis.

Critical and audience responses were mixed, reflected in an average rating of about 6.33 out of 10 from collected votes. Many viewers praised the show for its tense action sequences and high-concept premise, while others pointed to uneven pacing and some underdeveloped character moments. Major themes include personal identity, the ethics of biological experimentation, memory and reconstruction, and the uneasy boundary between human life and engineered matter.

Among anime fans it developed a modest following on streaming platforms, prompting online discussion, fan art, and theory threads about its technology and moral questions. The series fit into a late-2010s trend of science fiction anime that treat biotechnology and corporate secrecy as sources of suspense, and it drew particular interest from viewers who like science coupled with survival and mystery elements.

The series did not receive major industry awards or widely publicized nominations, and it is better known for reaching niche audiences through streaming than for awards recognition.