【ACG】【2025 SUMMER】Clevatess : Underrated Masterpiece

The 12th and final episode of Clevatess (Japanese: クレバテス-魔獣の王と赤子と屍の勇者-) has finally aired. While many people enjoyed The Witch of Silence this season, this series was personally the most surprising. Unfortunately, while the first two episodes were stunning with top-tier production, the quality couldn’t be maintained. The action scenes in the final few episodes, though they showed effort, were still somewhat constrained, and the increased use of low-dynamic shots inevitably lowered the viewing experience, which was a pity.

The final battles were fantastic, especially in the last episode. Despite being outmatched by the powerful opponent Dorrel, the undead hero Alicia, with her steadfast heroic belief and the support of her comrades—from adhering to the way of the hero to Neruru’s assistance—cleverly seized a moment of opportunity. The bittersweet victory, which tied up all the previous plot threads, was magnificent. At the same time, the interactions between the beast king Clevatess and the baby, with Luna using her life force to recapture his attention, kept both story lines building to a climax, creating an excellent conclusion.

With overpowered and “loner protagonist” anime now mainstream, a show like this with a more rigorous, epic fantasy story feels like a rare gem. It’s a rare treat to find a work with such a high standard in its story, characters, production, and voice acting.

Hero Alicia’s journey and resilience throughout the season were deeply moving. She went from being a chosen hero to feeling the pain of powerlessness and failure against the beast king, the resentment of becoming his servant, and personally experiencing being despised and rejected by the people. After all this suffering, she still found her own way of the hero and moved forward, making her a very likable character.

The show currently has a 6.9 on Bangumi, 7.91 on MAL, and 4.9 stars on Anime-based platforms. Its viewership on YouTube and other streaming sites ranks it among the top this season. However, with this season’s high average quality—13 shows on MAL surpassing an 8.0—Clevatess is only ranked 16th. In other seasons, it could easily have broken into the top 10.

The good news is that a second season is scheduled for production, so we’ll have more to watch.