Levius (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray) Unboxing

Levius (レビウス) is a 2019 television anime series based on Haruhisa Nakata’s manga series of the same name. The series was produced by studio Polygon Pictures, and the staff credits include director Keisuke Ide & chief director Hiroyuki Seshita, screenplay writers Kenta Ihara & Hiroshi Seko, character designer Yuki Moriyama and music composed by Yugo Kanno. The season was first released via streaming in Japan on November 2019.

Background:

“As a boy, Levius lost his mother and his right arm in the war. Throwing himself into the arena, demanding he call on all his strength and endure great pains, he must push himself to victory and perhaps save a young woman who may be beyond redemption.”

Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, May 2023.

Polygon Pictures has had a track record of releasing a lot of anime in CG, and whilst I have enjoyed their adaptations for Knights of Sidonia and Ajin: Demi-Human, a lot of people in the community still ignore their works due to the CG designs. And while I do agree that it’s not perfect or on the same level as studio Orange, I still think they do manage to make solid anime shows.

A lot of Polygon Pictures projects also ended up on Netflix, with the two shows I mentioned were also streaming exclusive to the platform. Another example is their adaptation of the boxing sci-fi manga Levius by Haruhisa Nakata. Levius is one that’s had my interest ever since the adaptation was revealed, because it’s a sports series and the setting it gives out. Now looking at it at first glance you may draw some comparisons with another recent boxing anime called MEGALO BOX (which is the spiritual successor to Ashita to Joe) by TMS Ent., as both share the dystopian sci-fi style boxing look, though what Levius does differently is that our leads have prosthetics whilst the other is more like exo-skeleton add-ons to your regular boxing fights.

That said I’m happy to see the series see a place in the home video scene, with Viz Media distributing the series in North America and Anime Limited bringing it over for the UK & Ireland territories.

Collector’s Edition Contents:

Levius was fortunate enough to get a pretty solid package from Anime Limited as it’s more than just your standard collector’s box set from them.

The package is presented as a rigid box with an Amaray case to house the discs as well as the show’s original soundtrack CD. Also included with the set is a 52-page booklet and an A3-sized poster. The booklet features character designs and background artwork from the anime series.

The artwork is free of any information or BBFC content and the info sheet covers the information and specification like previous Anime Limited releases. The collector’s edition Blu-ray set is limited to 1000 units for SRP £69.99 (the higher SRP is due to the show’s original soundtrack being included with the set), and I pre-ordered my copy through AllTheAnime during their early bird deal at £44.99 but using their membership discount for £40.50. A standard Blu-ray is expected to follow suit later down the line.

Physical Contents:

• Rigid Box with clean artwork and Amaray packaging
• Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
• Original Soundtrack CD
• 52-page Booklet

On-Disc Contents:

Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 15th May 2023

The collector’s edition release for Levius contains all 12 episodes across two Blu-ray discs, with the encode and authoring produced by VDMS. The discs do not use the Viz Media encode as the US distributor hasn’t provided good quality discs in a long while (which is why UK releases for the likes of In/Spectre, InuYasha & Jujutsu Kaisen are considered the better options).

Upon starting the disc you’ll be greeted by the option to choose between English, French and German. The audio options for selecting English include Japanese with English subtitles and the VSI Los Angeles English dub commissioned by Netflix. Selecting French will offer Japanese with French subtitles and the English dub, and selecting Deutsch will offer Japanese with German subtitles and the English dub. Basically you have the audio languages available for each option but the subtitles related to those languages are locked between each of them. In addition, French & German dubs are not included.

The white subtitles are locked during playback, and the regions are locked to Blu-ray players set to B.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages	English, Japanese
Audio	English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English DTS 2.0 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Japanese DTS 2.0
Video	1080p High Definition Native format 16:9 aspect ratio
Region	B
Subtitles	English, French, German
Locked Subtitles	Yes
Discs	2 BD-50s

Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:

Disc 2:

• Character Models
• Storyboards
• Clean Opening “Link or Chains“
• Clean Ending “Beautiful Doll”
• PV1
• PV2
• Character PV 1
• Character PV 2
• Character PV 3
• Character PV 4

Unboxing Photos:

Final Notes:

Levius is available to order across multiple retailers in the United Kingdom. The collector’s edition Blu-ray can be acquired through Amazon UK, Anime Limited’s store, MVM’s Anime-on-Line and United Publications.

(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)