Netflix’s latest original anime series Levius has finally arrived and while it holds heavy similarities to the hit anime series MEGALOBOX, this series manages to tell a unique story that strays it completely away from the former. In this review, we won’t get into a massive deep dive of the anime but we will hit some key plot points that make the story compelling enough to keep you watching.
Levius follows the story of the titular character Levius. A 17-year old boy living in the 19th Century, who’s taken in by his uncle Zack Cromwell, after the death of his parents. Levius is then trained in the art of Metal Boxing by his uncle Zack who was once a boxer in his own right up until he suffers an eye injury.
The highlight of this anime series lies in the backstory of the main characters, Levius, Zack and AJ Langdon. A young teenage girl who Levius crosses paths with at a much younger age during the Greenbridge City rescue. It’s essentially a story of overcoming your past and past traumas in order to be a better you in the present and the inevitable future. As Levius fights his way up the ranks in the metal boxing league he’s met with some real challenging fighters.
One of them being Malcolm Eden. A former Grade 2 boxer who was demoted to Grade 3. Eden has since built a reputation of killing every single opponent he’s faced in Grade 3. This causes a concern for Levius’ camp as this is a fight in which Levius can potentially lose his life. This is one of if not the better fight Levius has in the entirety of this season. Not just because of what he learns technically from the fight but what comes into play later on in the season because of it.
The fight also changes Malcolm Eden in the process. We learn that Eden has a daughter who tired of seeing him fight. Following the themes of soul searching, Eden uses his fights as a way to find some sense of self-worth. A sense of redemption and in a way, looking for peace. After he loses the fight against Levius, he decides to hang up the gloves and start doing charity work. Levius on the other hand who’s also doing some soul searching during his fights has yet to find what keeps him going.
Next, we meet the ruthless Hugo Stratus, the number one ranked fighter in Grade 3. Cocky and arrogant, Hugo finds comes across a humbling experience in the form of AJ Langdon. The best thing about Hugo’s introduction and arc in this series how he is used as the connective tissue between Levius and AJ. Prior to his fight with Levius, Hugo has a tune-up match with AJ. AJ gives Hugo the beatdown of a lifetime. Beating him within an inch of his life. Adding onto the overexertion by Hugo, who through and through is an amazing boxer and amazing athlete, you then have the best recipe for disaster.
Here is when things really get going for the latter half of the season. Completely coming full circle in fully connecting the past with the present. As two distant souls cross paths once again in what is the most cliche scenario of “fate bringing us together”.
AJ Langdon, now a 17-year old teenager, under the guidance of Clown. Clown is the head of Amethyst and also responsible for the “rescuing” of the survivors of Greenbridge City. We soon learn that the rescue was not entirely a rescue, it was more of a planned kidnapping by Amethyst. For now, the only known fighters of Amethyst are AJ and her brother Balthus.
After Levius learns who AJ truly is and how their pasts are deeply connected. Knowing AJ is being held captive and being used by Clown and Amethyst. Levius is dead set on saving her and freeing her from Clown’s grasp. The conditions are set! Levius is to go toe to toe with AJ Langdon in a G2 promotional bout. If Levius wins, not only does he get promoted to G2, he frees AJ. If AJ wins, Levius is to become another one of Clown’s pawns.
The fight between AJ and Levius is severely prolonged. Taking up the final three slots of this first season. A lot of it due to the constant addition of insurmountable odds placed against Levius. What are the odds? AJ is heavily drugged to the point where she cannot feel pain, thus forcing Levius to overexert himself, eventually catching a strain in his heart. Once we think Levius gains the upper hand, another curveball is thrown. AJ is also brainwashed, granted, both of these revelations were revealed prior to the fight taking place, but also play a heavy hand in this fight.
The goal now is to destroy AJ’s Agartha water cartridge, which Levius successfully executes after a couple of failed attempts. After their maintenance break, AJ is painfully refueled with Agartha water and drugs which causes her to go berserk. Zack and Billy discover that AJ is being injected directly from within. It’s essentially a pacemaker of sorts filled with drugs which is how AJ has been able to keep the upper hand throughout all of her fights.
Levius is now severely injured and it’s up to his uncle Zack to locate the “pacemaker” in order for Levius to properly attack and take AJ out. Once again the odds are heavily stacked against Levius because his uncle Zack suffers from infrared-hypersensitivity. An optical disease on the human eye that causes the person to see heat in their surrounding area not seeable to the naked human eye. Over-exertion can cause optic nerve damage and brain injury that can potentially lead to death.
The mechanical piece is located and as Levius goes in for the striking blow, AJ counters and destroys his hand. What now?! Once again, the odds of even winning at this point are at -100%. Levius finds a way to still land that final blow to AJ’s heart in order to win the fight. Clown still has an ace up his sleeve as he hops into the ring and threatens to blow everything up, including AJ. Levius lands a heavy strike on Clown with his shattered hand, knocking out Clown and preventing him from pressing down on the detonator.
The end result, Levius wins, AJ is rushed to the hospital so she can be saved. Levius is promoted to Grade 2, and AJ is now free and residing at Zack’s gym. Clown is back in the shadows with Amethyst in what seems to be some form of regrouping and reform. Levius is now heading into his first G2 fight, end of the season!
THE GOOD:
- Interesting story
- Decent action
THE BAD:
- 3D CGI – works in some aspects but not so much overall
- Not enough exposition on Natalia, Clown, and Amethyst
- Exposition on Levius’ mother and his promise to her
- Lackluster finale
Overall, the series is able to stand on its own two feet and tell an interesting story despite its similarities to Megalobox. With decent action pieces and somewhat decent animation. The series has room for vast improvements and exposition on certain plot points.
Images: Netflix