Leviathan Review
Director: Christophe Ferreira
Date Created: 2025-07-11 23:31
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Leviathan Review: Directed by Christophe Ferreira and based on Scott Westerfeld’s book series, this 2025 Netflix anime that unflinchingly reimagination World War I in a steampunk universe. The 12-episode series has Ayumu Murase, Natsumi Fujiwara, Shunsuke Sakuya, and Mie Sonozaki providing their voices to bring to life a world divided not just by nations, but by science and religions. Coming in at approximately 28 minutes per episode, the series whisks us away on a thrill ride of war, romance, and self-discovery—in stunning animation.
Netflix’s Leviathan is the story of two young men—a prince from a war dynasty and the other who wants to fly over the air—one who goes off to fight a war that blazes across the world. It is not your ordinary war drama, though. The series combines actual history with an alternate world where war is not only waged with rifles, but also with giant equipment and gene-spliced beasts. That is what makes this series superior to the rest of the anime dramas.
Leviathan Review
My biggest surprise about Netflix’s Leviathan was how well it applied spectacle and emotion. I went in thinking I was going to receive action and awesome machinery, and yeah, there is a lot of that. What I did not anticipate, however, was the emotional content—how the series does take the time to develop its characters, particularly the two leads, and gets you invested in their respective tales.
Both the protagonists are members of opposing factions of the war, and their initial meeting primes them for what could have been a cliched love story. Rather than going down the usual “enemies to lovers” route, however, the anime takes time out to cultivate their friendship on the lines of trust, confusion, curiosity, and understanding. That emotional subtext makes the Leviathan series more than a war fantasy about gung-ho troops—it becomes an introspective discussion of learning from individuals who are different from us.
One of the most fascinating things about the Leviathan anime is that it takes place in an alternate history setting. Planes and tanks are replaced by gigantic mechanical monsters and whales with biological engines that can fly. The two forces—Clankers and Darwinists—stand as a greater battle of philosophies, machines against nature, logic against instinct.
This imaginative world-building was one of the primary reasons that I loved the series. It’s not only gorgeous to look at (although it is truly gorgeous); it also serves to create a tension between the characters and even allows for some truly surprising warm moments. Watching the characters gradually begin questioning their side’s ideology and develop through their interactions provided the series with an emotional foundation that truly lands with impact.
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The quality of animation in animated series Leviathan is of top-grade quality. From the cackled-up racetracks in cities in Europe to the large airships congesting the skies, all of it comes alive. The action scenes are kinetic and exciting, but what delighted me even more were the lulls in between—such as a dialogue amidst a war zone or a glance exchanged between the leads. Those little moments were well dealt with by the animation team and brought reality to this larger-than-life world.
Their personality also comes through in their character designs. The neat uniforms, the meticulous work on animals, and the lighting in each segment of the show all go towards the development of a mood that’s adventurous as well as somber.
The reason why Leviathan on Netflix is worth viewing is that so much of it revolves around making choices—and more importantly, the tough ones. The characters are continuously placed in a situation where there is never really a right or wrong to do. Perhaps it was choosing between being loyal and telling the truth, or choosing between individual happiness and taking on greater responsibility. The anime never hesitates to reveal how heavily the choices weigh upon one, particularly for those who are young and stuck in this world created by adults.
There were at least a couple of scenes that actually meant something to me—not because they were sad, but because they were realistic. The show doesn’t attempt too hard to make it too dramatic; instead, it just allows the events to occur by themselves through the characters. I was still recalling some of these scenes days after I’d watched an episode.
All that being said, Leviathan series (利維坦號戰記)isn’t flawless. The pacing was a little uneven at times—particularly the second half when things are picking up steam. There were some of the secondary characters that weren’t fully fleshed out, and I would have liked to have some of those emotional peaks with more room to breathe. But these are small complaints in a show that dares to be ambitious. And honestly, I’d much rather watch something that tries to do more than play it safe.
Summing Up
If you enjoy anime with historical fiction and fantasy mixed together, if you enjoy character-based shows but still with plenty of action, and if you desire a show that is not as usual for a Netflix anime series, then Leviathan is well worth the view. It’s not war, flying creatures, or steampunk warships. It’s learning, developing, and coming together in a world that won’t hold people together. The payoff, Leviathan has a mighty strong message conveyed softly—that true power is found in knowledge, not destruction.
Leviathan 2025 is streaming on Netflix
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