Leviathan is an animated sci-fi reimagining of World War I, based on Scott Westerfeld’s novel. Set in an alternate 1914, the story features a steampunk war between the Clankers and the Darwinists
Leviathan
Film: Leviathan
Cast: Ayumu Murase, Natsumi Fujiwara, Shunsuke Sakuya, Yasuhiro Mamiya, Mie Sonozaki, Ivan Shibata
Director: Christophe Ferreira
Story: Scott Westerfeld
Rating: 2.5/5
Runtime: 12 eps/ 20 min per eps
‘Leviathan’ is a fairly interesting sci-fi reimagining of World War I. This animation series on Netflix is based on Scott Westerfeld’s novel of the same name illustrated by Keith Thompson. Directed by Christophe Ferreira and brought to life by Qubic Pictures and Studio Orange, the series is set in an alternate 1914 on the brink of war.
The story in this World War I alt-history trilogy, follows a runaway prince and a girl disguised as a boy, whose fateful meeting reshapes world events. This anime adaptation is a blend of history, sci-fantasy, and teen heroics.
The Great War is reimagined as one fought between two opposing sides: the Central Powers/also called “Clankers”, who use steampunk mechanics for warfare, and the Allies/ also known as “Darwinists”, who use genetically engineered animals. This conceptual work is rich on imagination, ideas and art work that boggles the mind.
We see aerial dogfights with flying whales, action involving huge techno-beasts, weaponized bats, bomb-dropping pigeons, flying beasts, Transformer-like war machines, unbelievably brilliant creature/vehicle designs and many more fantastical tweaks that seem from out of this world. The action is swift and thrilling. World War I was noted for its humungous death toll and the tech advances used to increase it. Leviathan, since it has been adapted for anime and has a younger target audience in mind, downplays the worst of it. The complexities involved in the politics and the realignment of opposing sides is made simpler and easily digestible. It’s still serious but a love story is central to this telling.
Aleksandar, son of Austria-Hungary’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand, following his father’s assassination, is forced to flee with Count Volger and Klopp, a mechanic of great repute. On the other side there’s Deryn Sharp, a Scottish teenage girl, who masquerades as “Dylan” Sharp to enlist in the military. Dylan Sharp finds herself aboard the titular Leviathan, a powerful airship on a mission accompanying Dr. Barlow, a renowned scientist, who has to deliver a secret package to the Ottoman empire.They are two teenagers trapped on opposing sides of an escalating conflict. The Leviathan crashes into the mountains and Alek defies orders to help survivors, and that leads to his first encounter with the fiery Dylan Sharp. From that point on, their destinies become intertwined.
Alek’s escape is exciting stuff and Deryn weaving in and out on a giant jellyfish also looks enticing. But as lead characters they are not all that interesting. Alek’s obliviousness grates and Deryn’s unfeminine habit makes it difficult to perceive a love between them. Their characters are not well rounded either. While the relationship between the two develops, the war shifts to the back-burner. Following his interactions with the enemy camp Alek begins to believe there’s room for peace. The idea that love for each other and animals, can conquer all, does seem a little tame when confronted by all-around destruction that mankind has never seen before. The animation and art work are worth commending though.
The ending of Leviathan revolves around Alek’s trying to prevent the Germans from capturing Tesla's machine, Goliath, to prevent the planned destruction of Berlin. There’s quite a bit happening before that also but in the end Alek goes to see Volger, buries the hatchet, and asks him to travel to Austria with him to work together for an era of peace without violence.
‘Leviathan‘ is a visual treat. The landscapes of Europe, Ottoman empire, and even America are beautifully rendered. It gets a little wild when famous historical figures get into the thick of action. By and large the series is well-paced, and is intriguingly adventurous. The background score sounds familiar though.
The simplistic approach, shallow plotting, lack of depth in characters, long speeches that hardly resonate, make the script feel rather underwritten. There’s plenty of imagination and built-in spectacle but Leviathan still ends up being lite and a tad disappointing.
The three books have been adapted, bracketed into four-episodes each. At twenty or so minutes per episode, this series feels a little too light-weight and prettified. There’s not much depth and nuance in the storyboard - making this long hasty run through history seem a little forlorn.
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