Episodes 1-3 – Clevatess – Anime News Network

Like I explained in my Preview Guide coverage of its first two episodes, Clevatess feels like an anime that was engineered in a laboratory to appeal specifically to me. It combines the grungy aesthetics of 1980s fantasy animation like Heavy Metal with gritty plotting and bloody horror undertones that you’d find in anime like Made in Abyss and Berserk. Its remix and reevaluation of classic anime fantasy tropes feels much more in keeping with the more thoughtful and handcrafted worlds you’d find in shows that were popular around the turn of the millennium, instead of the generic light-novel slop we’ve been stuck putting up with for the last decade. On top of all that, it has a kick-ass premise, where we watch this strange and inhuman god and his undead heroine walk amongst humanity and judge them accordingly as he raises the baby Luna to be his dark heir to power.

The first two episodes of Clevatess did an excellent job of establishing the show’s world and introducing us to the complicated relationships of our heroes. Clevatess/Klen is at once a monster capable of terrible destruction and a being that lives outside the traditional boundaries of human laws and morals, though he is seeking to better understand them through this journey (even if he only plans to use this knowledge to better destroy the mortal pests that threaten the sanctity of his dark lands). Alicia was once a true hero who gave everything she had, including her life, to purging the world of monsters like Clevatess. She doesn’t want to see Luna raised as a puppet for a monster’s throne, but the power of undeath that Clevatess has granted her is her only means of surviving the increasingly brutal and bloody circumstances her party has been trapped in. Alicia and Clevatess both need each other to keep Luna safe, but they’re both keenly aware of the threat that the other poses as well (though Clevatess seems to have also developed some affection and respect for Alicia’s ability to land a single hit on his horn).

It’s an incredibly compelling dynamic for the show to anchor itself on, and it becomes even more interesting when our larger-than-life main characters have to deal with the ordinary evils of the human world. This recent arc has dealt with the Ravens, their disgusting leader, Crow, and the plight of the women who serve them, like Carme and Nell. Alicia has been given the more down-and-dirty work of dealing with the scummy goons who made the poor choice of trying to take advantage of a dead woman who can (very painfully) stitch her body back together after even the biggest of falls. The visceral action sequences that we’re treated to whenever Alicia has to put her hero-ing skills to use remain a highlight of Clevatess‘ whole production.

Klen, meanwhile, has been discovering the kinds of suffering that go on when humans decide to be monsters to other humans. I like that the show doesn’t immediately pivot to Klen reacting with righteous fury that would make him more identifiable and likable. He recognizes the injustice that Nell has been forced to endure; he offers her what seems like a superior job serving as Luna’s wet nurse, and he is mildly irritated and confused when Nell’s despair (and Klen looking like a tiny boy) makes her brush off his deal without a second thought. He doesn’t suddenly decide to become Nell’s protector because he still sees humans as a species entirely beneath him, worthy of study but certainly not empathy. This is doubly proven when, late in the episode, poor Nell is executed by Vroko’s troll for having the temerity to hope for a life where she is free.

This is the part of the episode that reminded me the most of Made in Abyss (that, and the way that Nell kind of looks like Mitty before she got toothpasted by Bondrewd’s death elevator). Nell’s death is utterly vile and cruel, and Clevatess does not offer any comfort by giving us even one character who is there to witness her death and grieve for her, save perhaps for Luna. Klen seems like he would not have minded being able to save Nell from her fate, had he been quicker to intervene, but what upsets him is the sight of a troll trapped in chains by some lowly human. It’s a potent reminder that Clevatess may look and sound like a human, but he sees the world from an altogether different point of view. Likewise, as Alicia slaughters the idiot Ravens who don’t know when to quit, you can see her perspective shifting from the idealistic and good-natured heroine she always strove to be.

It’s here that I should probably mention the stellar work being done by the English dub cast, so far. It’s a great localization, for one, so the crew has good material to work with. Sean Letourneau and Morgan Berry each do excellent jobs communicating Clevatess‘ haughty and distant attitude in beastly and humanoid forms, respectively. Katie Wetch is getting to flex her badass muscles as Alicia, which just makes the character more endearing, something we badly need when so many other characters are impossible to truly root for. Of special note is Celeste Perez‘s performance as Nell. Both the Japanese and English dubs have called for Nell’s speech to be altered on account of her damaged teeth, not to mention the psychological and physical wounds she carries on top of that. This could have so easily transformed Nell into a character who came across as an insensitive parody of someone with a speaking or developmental disability, but I think Perez does the role justice. It makes what happens to Nell that much more heartbreaking.

Now, given how much emphasis the show has put on Nell’s role as a beacon of innocence who also happens to be a functional wet nurse for Luna, I would not be surprised if Clevatess uses his zombification powers to bring Nell back to life. If that does happen, though, it won’t simply erase the horror of what happened in that cave at Vroko’s behest. Nor would that suddenly make Klen into a savior worth admiring. Clevatess is merely one beast winding his way through a dark, violent, and cruel world, and the scars it bears on account of all this bloodshed run deep. I am eager to follow Clevatess, Alicia, and Luna on their adventures, if only to see whether they will be able to set some of these wounds right, or if our beastly antihero will simply sink his claws deeper into those scars to ensure that nobody could mistake anyone else as the rightful heir to the darkest of crowns.

Rating:

Clevatess is currently streaming on
Crunchyroll.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on BlueSky, his blog, and his podcast.

Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.