Levius

I am feeling like breaking rules with this manga – I am going to review early (at 3 chapters) and I am going to advertise a bad reading attitude. I’ll do this, because the first chapter of Levius is so stunning, that, frankly, I feel it’s better to read it in isolation or make a stop before going further. I’ll also rate capriciously, based on my impression of a the first chapter, for the sake of attracting attention of more readers (though this manga seems to get enough love at home, as well as be licensed and sold far ahead of English fan scans in France).

Of course, it’s a matter of being in the right mood (I never feel secure about praising), but the first chapter of Levius is one of the most exquisite reads I’ve had in a while. It is a thing of beauty. It manages to feel fresh. At one moment all of its parts align and you see a work of art coming to life – an artificial heat taking its first beat, with that scarily powerful, seemingly lazy majestic grace that you witness in works, made by the talented. So - I am not going to spoil you this moment. I’ll simply point out three important aspects:

The first one is the unusual art. I’ll probably never be closer to truth, when I call art in a manga “impressionistic”. Not only this manga employs depth of field, balances lively linework with detalization and is able to show readable expression in realistically-drawn eyes, but it also uses the aesthetics of XIX century, which are close to the time of Impressionism. The flow of panels is smooth and cinematographic. Levius belongs to seinen, but it makes good use of the type of tense airy frames, that we often see in female-oriented works.

The second is the setting – it’s a XIX century mechanical cyberpunk, so to say. The world is europeish, done with commendable attention to period fashion and architecture, but with a completely alternative history. The source of the unusually advanced tech has been hinted on, but not disclosed. The tech is detailed, but hidden a bit, as if to not stand out. And the mechanical boxing… Ah, nevermind, I am not telling.

The last one is the writing. In the first chapter (which I focus on right now) it’s a bit out there, in the context we’re unfamiliar with, in the personalities of the characters we do not know enough. It’s non-linear at times, so you need to catch up quickly. It may be annoying to some readers to not understand things fully, but it’s obviously intentional. As for me – I like that there’re hints on a world, as if barely contained by the frames.

Then time jump 5 years back, to show us how things have gotten to this point.

The serialized Levius displays the same quality (and qualities) in the art, albeit its drawing style understandably gets slightly more grounded to serve steadier storytelling, and in the immediate writing, under which I mean the very fabric of the words in character lines. There’s undeniable cleverness in some aspects of the story too. People are connected in complex ways or refuse to connect, people are swept away by history (and crushed under it, as it is a world after a civil war) and by scientific progress (as it is a world with limbs being replaced by tubes with vents).

As far as I can see there’re two main problems:

There’s a crack in the very foundation of the story, because some of the core motivations are too strange to empathize with, and a tad too much edge leads to a certain alienation between characters. Alienation and impressionistic art both work marvelously in short format, but will be tested harshly by a longer story.
French readers on batoto say that by the second volume the story turns to the more traditional structure and tropes of battle manga. I believe it, I can see it being disappointing, though I also expect fighting scenes to be done well. (By the way, after the 3 volumes that are shown on this page the manga was continued as Levius/est for at least two more volumes in another magazine).

And, as far as I am concerned, the first chapter was perfectly self-contained, it was enough, I don’t care all that much for the rest. More details make the structure heavier, less elegant. I am able to continue reading only by separating the two things in my eyes. (I haven’t found proof that the first chapter was released as a one-shot, even if it feels like that, by the way.)

Anyways. It remains to be seen what will happen to the plot, of course. The art and the writing may be a bit too high-brow for some readers, but unless the plot is butchered completely, we’re looking on at a niche hit, if not a full hit.

I do recommend the first chapter of Levius to all and everyone (*sigh* ok: if you're legally cleared to read about violence, that is). Additionally this manga, in any of its parts, is a definite must for readers who look for handsome comic art. As for the series itself and readers, who are not art-centric, – at least look into it, if you’re up for early adoptions of ongoings, or, at the bare minimum, remember the name for the future.

This will be my second written review on this website. I usually don't feel compelled to write them but I do so when it's for underrated mangas that are misunderstood or need more attention.

This is one of them. I found out about this manga as I was reading some random Twitter thread where people weresupposed to list down obscure manga, and as always, people were listing well-known things like Jigokuraku Hell's Paradise or Jujutsu Kaisen. One person however, mentioned this manga and it seemed very interesting so I felt compelled to check it out.

The first few chapters didn't grab me initially, because though I liked how unique the artstyle was, it was a bit hard to read through. Eventually, it started to grow on me as my enjoyment of the series grew as well, around chapter 5. By the end of it, I loved the artstyle and its uniqueness as a whole. It's pretty amazing on a technical level and has a very fluidly sketchy feel to it that's great for conveying action.

And the art is only one part of it; by the time the story picks up at around chapter 5, the rest becomes an interesting thrill ride that does very well in getting you invested from only a limited amount of chapters. I've read four or five times the length of this manga in chapters of other series and those other series still failed to really interest me.

The characters become surprisingly engaging and belie more than they seem to be on the surface. The worldbuilding was also great in this manga given with how short it was. It did well to set up the basic foundation of different existing organizational bodies and the history of how the current setting came to be. These all augmented the enjoyment of the story and of the characters. Though the plot is relatively simple, you can tell the author put a lot of attention to detail into fleshing out this riveting steampunk world.


And though it's short, it clearly conveys the potential this world has in store and makes you excited for the sequel, which I have yet to read but I'm sure will be great. Perhaps my only issue with this manga was the main villain, who seemed to be a bit over-the-top to the point of being a kind of a caricature. If they were toned down and had more depth they'd be more enjoyable.

So anyway, if you like unique artstyles and cool settings with raw characters, read it!

I don't usually do review because the mangas I love already got great score (Berserk, Akira, Gunnm, Vagabond, Death Note etc...) but Levius is underrated here.

I was introduced to the Levius manga thanks to the anime that I loved. But I was blown away by the manga : it's way different. Still a steampunk universe but way more violent, beautiful and shocking (Volume 3 specially). The art is fantastic, the more you look at it, the more you are impressed. The story is way more than a steampunk boxing manga. I won't say more because I don't want to spoil anything.

Levius has gone straight to my top 10 of mangas. I can't wait to read the sequel (Levius/est).



Excuse my english, it's not my first language.