The Clevatess Anime is Surprisingly Good
Article at a glance:
- I went in expecting your typical fantasy anime, but what I got was something way darker and way more unique than I bargained for.
- Clevatess has some rough spots, especially with exposition, but the world and tone? Absolutely nailed it.
- If you’re into grim fantasy vibes like Fumetsu no Anata e or Goblin Slayer, this one might be right up your alley.
I don’t know what I had in mind for this anime, but I guess I was expecting another typical fantasy anime. But, as you may gather from the title, that isn’t exactly true. Yeah, it has aspects of a typical fantasy story, but at the end of the day, it manages to be quite unique, and I appreciate that. I heard about Clevatess from quite a few anime circles online, so I finally gave it a try, and yeah, while I have my issues with it, it is interesting. We need more dark and gritty fantasy anime like this, man.
But yeah, no more being vague, let’s get into it. So welcome back to another first impressions article, and today we are talking about Clevatess. I was being vague on purpose in the introduction because the less you know about the show, the more you will enjoy it. So a big fat spoiler warning is in place now.
What did I think of the Clevatess Anime?
The first episode is such a mixed bag of good and bad exposition lol. When kid Alicia asks her father about the map, that is good exposition, it feels natural, and it is only right for a child to be curious. But then, when we transition to the present, my god, we have such a sloppy exposition dump multiple times. But, I digress. The core premise of the anime is that the 4 extreme edges of the world are ruled by 4 Lords of Beasts, called Clevatess. The show follows the Clevatess of the Moon who, out of curiosity, agrees to raise a human baby.
Obviously, since the Beast doesn’t know much about humans, he struggles to raise the baby on his own and understand his needs. So well, he brings Alicia back to life, and things go on from there. The overall tone of this show is surprisingly oppressive. The Clevatess doesn’t even pretend his disdain for humanity; he is only raising Luna out of curiosity, and if something happens to Luna, he will not hesitate to eradicate all of humanity. I mean, the first episode literally shows him destroying an entire kingdom without second thought.
Even the whole bandit arc, after all that, is quite dark. That tone is what I appreciate the most. It reminds me a lot of something like Fumentsu no Anata e or Goblin Slayer. The art style fits with that tone really well, too. There’s something oddly nostalgic about the art style; I can’t quite place it, but I like it. The animations can goof up times; some scenes have very obvious CGI usage, but the 2D art looks awesome. The soundtracks are alright too. As far as my issues go, they mostly boil down to bad exposition and small contrivances, but this is not the place for that.
That is all for now
So yeah, the Clevatess anime has potential, and I look forward to seeing more of it. I really like the tone and the world they have set up. I look forward to seeing how they carry it on. Yeah, this one’s like if Bambi got adopted by Satan; dark, weirdly heartfelt, and kinda rules. But with that said, I will take my leave here. See ya!
