Most anime series will come from the manga of the same name, but Leviathan — released on Netflix today (Thursday, July 10) — is a little different as it is adapted from a 2009 illustrated young adult novel written by American author Scott Westerfeld.
This is a move straight out of the Studio Ghibli playbook, though, with many of their beloved animated movies — including The Secret World of Arrietty and Howl’s Moving Castle — being based on Western novels.
And that's not where the Ghibli links end for Leviathan. In fact, close your eyes and you could almost be in a Studio Ghibli movie, as Joe Hisaishi (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Castle in the Sky) composed both the opening and closing themes for the new show. Excited already? Me too, and that’s before really diving into everything else Leviathan has in store. On paper, it is set to be one of the biggest anime shows of the year.
Leviathan takes place in an alternative steampunk World War One with the guns, tanks, and artillery, replaced by mechs, walkers, and genetically engineered creatures — including a gargantuan whale airship. Beyond the battlefields, however, there is a touching friendship (and later romance) between Alek (Ayumu Murase) — the son of Austria-Hungary’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand in this universe — and Deryn (Natsumi Fujiwara) — a teenage girl who disguises herself as a boy to fight in the war.
It’s worth knowing going into it that the anime series is still heavily targeted at the YA audience of the book, so this is a more sanitised version of war than you might expect. That being said, it is the perfect watch for all the family, presenting a unique vision of a familiar period in history and fusing steampunk-style weaponry and machines with a timeless love story — with the "girl in disguise" trope not being dissimilar to Disney’s Mulan.
As well as Hisaishi, there is some formidable talent involved in bringing Scott Westerfield’s vision to life. The series is produced by Qubic Pictures (Star Wars: Visions) and Orange (the company behind the hugely popular anime series, BEASTARS), so the beloved story is in trusted hands.
At the helm is director Christophe Ferreira, and while this may be his directorial debut, he is credited as the “mechanical designer” for Netflix anime series Eden. This delightful show saw two robots raising a human child, and much like Leviathan, it blends impressive technical machines with a deeply moving human story.
Even if the story is brand new to you, Leviathan is the perfect show for anime beginners — and those who may have only dabbled in the more mainstream offerings from Studio Ghibli before. It is the perfect blend of Japanese animation style with Western storytelling, with a fascinating alternative vision of a world a little like ours, but not quite.
The machinery is impressive, the music exquisitely emotive, and the characters beautifully realised — Leviathan is a show that ticks all the boxes.
Leviathan is on Netflix now. See our best shows on Netflix guide for more recommendations.
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