Clevatess Honest Review

The latest anime seasons have been swamped with fantasy shows that are Isekai-based in the most generic fantasy settings possible. Luckily, Clevatess is a good change of pace from your run-of-the-mill stuff that we’re seeing each season. I am not saying that Isekai is bad. Still, the modern Isekai shows tend to reflect Japanese Working society and how people in Japan today are seeking escapism from long and stressful working hours, I suppose.

The great examples of good Isekai are Harry Potter, Digimon Adventure, Narnia, and Sword Art Online; the thing that these shows and movies did differently was that the characters would travel between the worlds, and they understood how their presence and absence affected the worlds. The modern isekai is mostly trend chasing and promotes the idea of Escapism from the Real world, and sadly, most of these fantasy settings are horrendously generic and non-interesting. Now I could talk about Isekai stuff for hours, but we have to focus on this Dark Fantasy title known as Clevatess (クレバテス-魔獣の王と赤子と屍の勇者-), which, by the way, isn’t Isekai in case that wasn’t clear.

A Great Dark Fantasy Entry

Before I explore more of my personal thoughts on Clevatess, let’s break down a bit of the premise of this series for those who have not read the original manga, which is still ongoing, started publication in 2020 by Yūji Iwahara, who is known for his work at Dimension W & Darker Than Black: Shikkoku No hana.

Encircled by the armies of four Dark Beasts, five humanoid races struggle to expand their world’s borders. But when thirteen heroes are sent south, they are swiftly annihilated by Clevatess, one of the Dark Beast Lords. Fuelled by vengeance, Clevatess storms the capital of Hiden, leaving devastation in his wake.

Just as humanity’s end seems certain, a fragile hope emerges. Alicia Glenfall, one of the fallen heroes, is revived by Clevatess to help raise a newborn infant, Luna—whose future decisions will determine the survival of humankind. Though reluctant, Alicia realizes Luna may be the only force standing between humanity and destruction.

Disguised in human form, Clevatess journeys with Alicia and the infant in search of a wet nurse. With his true nature hidden, Alicia must fight off every threat they encounter. Meanwhile, rival nations seize the chance to strike at Hiden, vying for control of the sole forge capable of crafting the heroes’ legendary weapons.

Initially, the premise and setting of this show may not feel super original; we have seen dragons and other canine beasts before, and we have seen this Hero/Yuusha stuff countless times as well. However, we don’t always see beasts portrayed in a sentient way. This concept of humanity trying to expand beyond its world borders reminds me of something similar to what we saw in Attack on Titan, which really built up a great mystery about the world. People were very curious to know the truth behind it. While I am not equally as invested in knowing the truth in Clevatess as Attack on Titan, I’m still generally intrigued by where the story goes, and I’m invested in seeing more of this anime.

Will Character Development Improve?

I’ve always been very “Premise/Setting” focused, a kinda guy, and that is a huge draw point for me to get sucked into the stories; for other people, it may be animation or, in most cases, the characters. Clevatess has a couple of pivotal characters. We have Clevatess/Clen, Alicia the Hero, and then Nelluru, who is the caretaker of the child Luna. Many of the other characters actually end up getting quite a little screen time or just die, so it’s really this trio that the anime spends the most time with.

• Alicia Glenfall – She is the main character who got killed and then resurrected by Clen, and now she is kind of a Zombie complying with Clen’s orders while slowly growing up to create a bond, but partially is trying to prevent the fall of humanity from Clen’s diabolical plans. Alicia is a hero who undergoes some development in this story, mostly related to learning about her new abilities, but also doubting her overall meaning as a hero, especially after her initial defeat. She’s not a Mary Sue character and is constantly humiliated by Clevatess in the show, so she is kinda like this serious character who tries to be some type of a moral beacon, while being occasionally a laughing stock.
• Clevatess – Now this dark beast is almost omnipotent by the looks of it and has quite a Gary Stu writing as Clen doesn’t really struggle at a single point in this anime, it feels like he’s constantly overpowering his opponents when he happens to be fighting, and even on an intellectual level seems to be most smartest person room in every single instance. Characters that don’t have setbacks or true changes to their core character through development are boring to watch, so I hope next season will offer a bit more development.
• Nelluru – Peasant girl with low aspirations and serves mostly as fan service, and if I’m being completely honest, i was slightly shocked that she became a party member, shes pretty useless and has almost no impact on the overall story.
• Drel – Minor antagonist character with a brief backstory that is tied to Alicia’s father, overall not a very interesting character, and has quite poor motivations for what he is doing and trying to achieve in the grand scheme of things.

Overall, there are only so many things you can do in a 12-episode anime in terms of bigger story and character development. That being said, I perhaps wasn’t as invested in some of these characters in the show as I am generally with anime I’m enjoying.

Sound & Animation

Studio behind Clevatess is called “Lay-duce“; they were established in 2013 and haven’t really done that many shows in the past, and only one that I’ve seen is Magi: Sinbad no Bouken. Whilst this series is not trying to relive 90’s anime aesthetics and storytelling, there is definitely this older animation look directionally that makes the animation look like a highly colored manga panel, the outlines have this sort of sketchy outline that I like.

I would argue it’s decent quality animation, and there wasn’t anything that felt rushed or constrained by budget quality-wise. I’m sure most people will enjoy the gore and a bit darker contrast of the anime’s screen quality. As for the Music and sound, I can’t say I’m too fond of the OST as it was very forgettable, the OP was probably highlight musically, but that is not something I would listen to outside of this anime, and I totally hated the ED, so that was instant skip for me.

Final Thoughts and Season 2

Overall, this was quite an enjoyable anime. I think the 12-episode season was well executed, as there was no filler or rushing – very good pacing from start to finish, there were no boring moments or parts where you would feel the story wasn’t moving forward. Shortly after the first season had finished airing, the official team confirmed that Season 2 would be coming, and we don’t have an exact date, but I presume by the earliest that would be in the spring of 2026.

If you want to check out this anime, it’s currently available at Crunchyroll as of right now without a region block in both English and Japanese Dub.