Anime Spotlight #64: Clevatess

Article by Sean Wilkinson,

a.k.a. The Animeister.

I'm super-excited for AniMonday, Ticketholders!

Not because H.P. Lovecraft has replaced the moon as this year's "thing I can't escape from" (I clearly have the opposite reaction to the inescapable), but because of what I get to review today. I have a huge seasonal BAWklog from everything I've been putting off to catch up with My Hero Academia, Tower Of God, Solo Leveling, and other series I've reviewed so far this year, to say nothing of the movies, books, and live-action series I've consumed. And sometimes, when you can't decide where to start (like me), it's best to just go alphabetically.

Clevatess (with the spoilery Japanese subtitle of The King Of Magical Beasts, the Baby, and the Corpse Hero) is based on an ongoing 2020 manga by Yūji Iwahara (Darker Than Black, Dimension W), and is confirmed to be getting a second season for good reason.

In a world surrounded by shadowy, Beast-infested lands, Alicia (daughter of the Sword Master Margo) dreamt of being a Hero and making the bright world bigger with her exploits and travels. When that day comes, though, Alicia and twelve other Heroes encounter the titular Beast King (called the King Of Dark Beasts in the dub), a multi-tailed, aura-farming goat/unicorn/wolf monster who slaughters them all...in the opening scene of the first episode. And in retaliation for invading his land and Alicia being able to strike a blow against him, Clevatess destroys Haiden (the kingdom of cute, bear-nosed elf/dwarf people whose king forged the Heroes' stat-boosting Regalia weapons). The end, right?

Nope.

Instead, the literal edgelord lovechild of an Umbreon and Naruto's spirit animal winds up Mandalorian-ing a Haiden baby through a warzone with the help of a reanimated Alicia and the baby's reanimated bandit-slave nursemaid Nelluru, all the while nerfing himself in a humanoid body so he can learn more about the human world and the history of the Hero legend (which, in an existentially horrifying conformity twist, a la Attack On Titan or the few moments where Seven Deadly Sins is any good, is less true and morally defined than previously thought) out of simple, nihilistic curiosity. Standing in their way is Drel (a perfect villain name), a warmongering former Hero empowered by the same magic stones from which the Heroes' weapons were forged (called Arcanacite, in the tradition of all plot-relevant substances throughout fiction) and wielding a Regalia of his own that was possessed by another of Clevatess' fellow Beast Kings (most of whom are shown as goliath, many-eyed, many-limbed shades, hence my earlier suggestion that Clevatess has Lovecraft inspirations; there's even a giant jellyfish Beast trapped at the bottom of a lake that the local bandits call The Ancient One, and a book—spoiled in the end credits animation—with the power to revive and possess the dead) whom Alicia blames for her father's death and who wants to put an end to the Hero legend, in sort of a "same ends, worse means" juxtaposition to Clevatess and crew.

Clevatess follows a traditional shōnen/isekai structure, but subverts normal genre expectations with its opening swerve, unlikely focus characters (a villain, a female shōnen protagonist who got sekai'd—because it's the same world, though an argument can be made that Clevatess is still an isekai because everyone's view of the world has changed—an undead nursemaid, and a baby), and memorable (if not by name) supporting cast in a bleak but optimistic fantasy world. It blurs the boundaries of class, morality, mortality, tradition, race, and knowledge (Alicia's death in the first episode ironically gives her hope in her new "life" that the world is bigger than anyone knows, and her companions are proof that exploration does not necessitate conquest) in a healthy way (the unsavory and unsubtle implications of Clevatess' blood necromancy notwithstanding) that puts differentiation and entertainment value first and messaging second. Add on the banger OP ("Ruler" by Mayu Maeshima, who also contributed songs to Re:Zero and Overlord)

and that mother-son moment in the season finale that messed with me emotionally in so many (ultimately good) ways, and you should definitely watch this anime, read the manga, and then binge it again when the second season comes out.

I listened to enough of the ending music to figure out that it didn't grab me, but it's worth mentioning because it's by Ellie Goulding

(whom I remember for her first single, "Lights" back in 2010, but looking up her discography, I ran into some "wait; that was her‽" pop jams like "Love Me Like You Do" and "Anything Could Happen," and she's apparently a multi-award-winner and Adele-level album-seller to boot; I miss being into music, Ticketholders!).

With that dip into music-related ROMO (Regret Of Missing Out), I now bring this Anime Spotlight to a close. Please remember to Become A Ticketholder if you haven't already, leave a comment at the bottom of this post and any others you have opinions about, help out my ad revenue as you read so I don't have to sell my blood to a condescending monster to get by, and follow me on BlueSky, Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and LinkedIn to like what you see and receive the latest news on my content.

Animeister,

Out.