Anime Review ~ Clevatess: A Dark Fantasy Tale of Hope and Redemption

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Anime Details

Attribute	Details
Name	Clevatess: The King of Devil Beasts, The Baby and the Brave of Undead (2025)
Japanese Name	クレバテス-魔獣の王と赤子と屍の勇者 (Clevatess: Majuu no Ou to Akago to Shikabane no Yuusha)
MyAnimeList (MAL) Rating	7.91
IMDB Rating	7.90
Personal Rating	8.0 (7.5 + 0.5 for Luna)
Genre	Fantasy, Action
Age Restriction	R - 17+
Seasons & Episodes	01 Season - 12 Episodes
Runtime	23 Minutes per Episode

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Plot

In a world where five Humanoid races strive to push the known boundaries of the earth to defeat the four Demon Beast Kings and their Demon Armies surrounding them. Heroes' parties are sent to defeat the Demon Beasts, but so far, no Hero has ever returned victorious.

In such a situation, a Female Hero named Alicia is sent to Luna Mountain in the Southern Region along with thirteen other Heroes to defeat the Demon Beast King named Clevatess. However, they are all brutally defeated, and Alicia and her companions meet their demise. Enraged by this sudden attack, Clevatess decides to destroy the entire Human Race.

When Clevatess had almost killed everyone in the Royal Capital Hiden, his eyes fall upon a Hiden Newborn Baby. Seeing the baby, Clevatess decides to monitor this child from now on. If the baby’s progress convinces him that there is still hope for humanity, he will not harm anyone. To take care of the baby, he revives the deceased Hero Alicia, bringing her back to life.

Now, will a newborn baby truly save humankind from a horrific fate, or will some truth about their world be revealed that will change everyone’s lives forever?

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Series Review

Watching the first episode of "Clevatess: The King of Devil Beasts, The Baby and the Brave of Undead" hooked me instantly. I realized that this series would undoubtedly remain one of the most memorable of this season. This Fantasy-Action genre series, with its fairy-tale-like feel, had a 45-minute first episode. Yet, I didn’t once feel I was watching such a long runtime, so engaging was the storytelling in the first episode. This shows how strong its initial foundation was.

The question “Is Human Kind really worth saving?” arises in this series. The answer is brought through a baby named Luna in this story. Her innocent eyes seem to symbolize Humanity in this series, or at least that’s how it felt to me. Especially in the Finale, Luna’s small, natural human baby act is presented as the story’s savior. This is the main heart of the Clevatess series. The Dark Fantasy tone was also strongly established in the first episode.

Honestly, the first few episodes, up to the Bandit Arc and freeing Nelluru, progressed spectacularly. But trouble arose in the subsequent arc. The story seemed to lose its main purpose and felt somewhat lost. In the middle, a lot of time was spent figuring out the story’s purpose, what the villains were doing, and the truth of this world. This gave the impression of some pacing issues, as it was dragging a bit.

However, the later episodes brought the story back on track, much like the early episodes. The ending of season 01 was very well executed. The most significant aspect is that, although it took time to reveal all the important information, when the actual truth of this world and the shocking event behind the Hero Tradition were revealed, it truly surprised me.

Thus, the series starts as excellent, becomes average in the middle, and ends very well. The ending was satisfying, and I’m still eager to watch the second season. I’m genuinely very interested in learning more about the Fantasy World shown in this series. There are still several mysteries in terms of world-building, the answers to which we’ll likely get in the second season.

I also want to know about the other Demon Beast Kings, who seem to have significant involvement in the main events of the story, as hinted. I’m particularly curious about Zavthier and Vordin. The Power System, including Hiden Forge and the Heroes’ weapons, was clearly explained in this season.

Some scenes hit me emotionally. Nelluru’s painful life story captured my heart. Moreover, every main character was likable enough that you could easily root for them.

The series explores various Dark and Mature concepts, such as violence, slavery, sexual abuse, gore, and nihilism. However, you can’t expect psychologically heavy dark moments like a Seinen Anime, as at its core, it’s a fantasy action series with a few dark incidents here and there.

The shocking plot twist at the end brought the truth forward in a complex way. Understanding it requires some thought, but I liked this aspect because I wasn’t expecting this kind of twist. If only the series didn’t have pacing issues and the story was presented a bit more cohesively, it could have been absolutely top-tier.

Another issue is that, despite the series being named after Clevatess, the focus on him is relatively low. Although we see the crucial parts of the story unfold from Clevatess’s perspective at the beginning and end, most of the series focuses on Alicia and her journey to becoming a Hero. Seeing her in the spotlight didn’t bother me, but it felt a bit unusual that Clevatess received so little focus. Perhaps in the next season, we’ll see Clevatess shine, as Alicia has clearly established herself as a Brave Hero in this season.

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Character Development

In this series, the main cast includes the titular character Clevatess, a Demon Beast King. We see Clevatess in his Beast form for very little time, as he mostly takes a human body form, using the identity of Klen. The regret is that, despite being repeatedly referred to as a powerful Demon Beast King, we rarely see him use his powers in this series. In fact, he is often portrayed as defeated or weak.

However, as a character, Clevatess or Klen is very interesting. His purpose of understanding the worth of Human Life felt unique to me. From what I understood, his affection for Baby Luna played a key role here, and I related to this affection.

Additionally, we see a Female Hero named Alicia, sent to kill Clevatess. Alicia is seriously one of the better-written female characters I’ve seen. I wasn’t bored at all following her Hero Journey; on the contrary, her fighting style felt fantastic to me. The way she pushed herself to the extreme to win every fight portrayed her as a strong character flawlessly. I was invested in both her backstory and her desire for revenge.

Alongside her, we see Nelluru and Baby Luna. Nelluru’s story was the best part of this series. Although it was extremely saddening, the series delivered at its peak in this part. I felt so sorry for Nelluru that I almost cried hearing her backstory. However, seeing her gain freedom and enter a new life as a substitute mother for Baby Luna made me very happy.

And what more can I say about Baby Luna? He is freaking adorable. I gave the series an extra 0.5 points just for this little child. Many complained about his crying, but I’d say to them: He is a newborn baby, what do you expect? He falls into some pretty scary situations, so it’s very normal for him to cry. Luna’s crying didn’t bother me; it was entirely appropriate for the situations. In fact, I wanted to cuddle him.

In the final episode, I was so proud of Baby Luna, I can’t even explain. In the end, I’d say Humanity got a chance to be saved because of Luna.

As for the villain, we see Evil General Drel, portrayed in a very menacing and terrifying way. We learn his backstory, but it was shown very weirdly, right in the middle of Alicia’s final war, which felt very misplaced. Still, as a villain, I consider him solid. His purpose was well-established by the end, and his demise at Alicia’s hands was terrifying yet satisfying.

There were also some barely relevant side characters who played their roles in moving the story forward, but none seemed particularly noteworthy to me.

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Animation and Technical Aspects

Regarding Animation and Technical Aspects, I must first mention the series’ exciting Action Sequences, Sound Design, and Art. This series performed spectacularly in terms of sound design. Each BGM felt thrilling to me, and you literally feel present in the scenes because of the sound effects.

The Art and Action of the series complemented the Sound perfectly. The Action scenes were very well choreographed. The use of gore, blood, and violence was done appropriately. The series’ Art is such that its Sharp Character and Backdrop Art give you a picture book-type feel of a Fantasy Adventure story, which is perfect for this story’s context.

Among the Voice Artists were Nakamura Yuiichi (VA of Satoru Gojo), Aoi Yuuki (VA of Maomao), Shiraishi Haruka (VA of Kujirai Reiko), Yasumoto Hiroki (VA of Sado), and many other talented Voice Artists, who did a fantastic job in their respective roles.

Moreover, both the Opening Song "Ruler" and the Ending Song "Destiny" felt absolutely amazing to me. Interestingly, the song Destiny was sung by Hollywood singer Ellie Goulding, so the entire song is in English.

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Final Thoughts

All in all, among the new series released in the Summer 2025 season, "Clevatess: The King of Devil Beasts, The Baby and the Brave of Undead" felt worth the watch to me. Yes, it does drag a bit in the middle, but the starting and finishing are honestly pretty good and solid.

Despite the pacing issues in the middle, the series will hold at least a minimal level of interest, ensuring you finish it. So, even though the middle parts are average, they won’t bore you.

As I mentioned, I really liked the ending. The plot reveal in the Finale felt very unpredictable and complex. However, this plot reveal is still surrounded by many mysteries and questions. You can easily look forward to the second season, which has already been announced. Let’s see what we learn in the upcoming season.

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⚠️Season 2 Already Announced and Coming Soon⚠️
Happy Watching ❤️

Anime Trailer

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