Leviathan - Anime Review

Duration: 13 Episodes
Supplied: Bluray purchased via RightStuf
Publisher: Sentai Filmworks


In Leviathan we are in the world of Aquafall. A meteorite descends to the surface unleashing untold hoards of monster-like insects known as Lucasites, which in turn release drones known as Toripu. To deal with this threat, the Fairy, Syrup, travels to enlist the help of eager young heroes to form the Aquafall Defense. In this we get to meet our trio of heroines who all just happen to be named after giant beasts of Nordic mythology; Leviathan, Bahamut, and Jormungandr . Oh, wait, they can actually transform and take on dragon characteristics? And they wield different styles of magic? Ya, sure, let's see what this is about!

The plot of this is pretty simple: Aliens are tearing up stuff and messing around with people's way of life; stop the threat. We get a fairly video-game-esque style adventure that is totally straightforward and hits all the right notes. From the formation of the party to the battle with a Big-Bad at the end, it's exactly what you are expecting. We get a little bit of lore pertaining to the world at the start of each episode too, which is pretty interesting.

The animation from Gonzo is pretty good. The character designs integrate their dragon heritage onto their bodies in the form of scales. If it falls flat anywhere it's the transformations; the tails! It's a totally minor gripe, though. The CGI in a few spots looks very out of place too(you'll know it when you see it). I imagine it is hard to blend that kind of stuff but the uncanny valley is not kind to us very often.

As far as how the action fares in this, it's not bad. You won't see anything grandiose, however, it's all relatively simple. Some of the stuff is laughable but if you are watching this sort of thing anyways you probably threw logic out the window a long time ago.

Very early on I was reminded heavily of Magic Knight Rayearth. The three protagonists are all similar in style to those same heroines. Leviathan has blue hair/eyes and wields water magic. Bahamut has red hair/eyes and calls upon the power of the flame. Last, but not least, Jormungandr has blonde hair and green eyes and utilizes more wind/earth type magic(if you could call it that). Hell, even her axe grows in size similar to Fuu's Escudo blade. The way the characters themselves act, though, is very different from the aforementioned series. Bahamut is a total stick-in-the-mud a lot of times. Leviathan is a bit on the reserved side. Lastly, Jormungandr is a total airhead and forgets people's names frequently. Oh, and Syrup is quite a good comic relief character.

Conclusion
I had no expectations for this whatsoever and it managed to be entertaining. It's pretty goofy and cartoonish(think Looney Tunes) in some parts which was pretty unexpected and good for a laugh. It is a pretty straight-forward Magical Girl series set in a more "Swords and Sorcery" type of universe and we could use more of that.

Recommendation
If you like Magical Girl series then sure, it's not bad. As I said, it's pretty goofy at times and it does not try and hide it. It's light-hearted and silly. If you can handle that then give it a shot. You could seriously watch a lot worse.