Back in June, Netflix revealed a slew of anime movies and series coming to the streaming platform over the next couple of months, even into 2025. One of these highly anticipated projects is Leviathan, an anime adaptation of Scott Westerfield's alternate history novel of the same name.
At the time, Netflix only shared a handful of gorgeous images and a brief synopsis. Today, the streamer revealed the official teaser trailer.
There was already a ton of excitement surrounding this project when it was revealed that Orange Co., Ltd. was animating it and now you can see why. Studio Orange is known for its high-quality CG animation which is on full display in the teaser.
The teaser checks in just under two minutes and doesn't feature a single line of dialogue. But the visuals and soundtrack do all the heavy lifting as we get a good sense of the anime's storyline and general tone. For those unfamiliar with the source material, Leviathan is set in an alternative version of World War I in which the Central Powers (known as "Clankers) are at war with the Triple Entente (known as the "Darwinists"). The Clankers — Austo-Hungarians and Germans — make use of dieselpunk war machines equipped with heavy weaponry, while the British Darwinists rely on biopunk conventions as their weaponry, including the titular Leviathan, a masterful beast whale airship.
At the center of the story are Aleksandar of Hohenberg, a prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on the run after his people revolt against him, and Deryn Sharp, a commoner girl posing as a boy. Leviathan is the first book in a trilogy of novels and chronicles the ship's flight across Europe as our two main characters embark on a journey to reshape history.
In 1914, on the eve of war, a fugitive prince and a girl in disguise meet aboard a bioengineered airship, the HMS Leviathan, and change the course of history.
Leviathan is based on the novel written by Scott Westerfield and illustrated by Keith Thompson. Christophe Ferreira is directing at studio Orange (Trigun Stampede, BEASTARS, Land of the Lustrous) with music by Nobuko Toda & Kazuma Jinnouchi (Suzume, Ghost In The Shell SAC_2045, Metal Gear Solid 4) and original songs by Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away, Castle in the Sky). The anime is produced by Qubic Pictures (Eden, Star Wars: Visions).
While computer-generated animation is becoming more and more popular across anime, Orange Co., Ltd. was one of the first — and best — to do it. One of the studio's earliest projects was Land of the Lustrous, which studio co-founder Eiji Onomoto considers to be one of their flagship work.
"At that time, the demand for CG in the anime industry was growing as a way to fill in the gaps that were difficult to handle with traditional animation. The situation was so unstable that I honestly wasn't sure if a CG-only production company could continue to generate profits," Onomoto said in an interview earlier this year. "As the main contractor, more people became aware of Orange. This project is still considered one of our flagship works."
Netflix has not announced a specific premiere date for Leviathan, but the anime will debut sometime in 2025.