Levius (manga)

Story

In the 19th century, Imperial City is heavily damaged in a war. Five years later, a new sport called Metalboxing emerges, combining boxing with robotic elements. Levius Cromwell, who lost his father during the war, begins training under his uncle Zacks Cromwell after losing consciousness.

He works up the ranks, aiming to challenge for promotion to Grade I, the highest rank. To achieve this, he must defeat Hugo Stratus, but Hugo is unexpectedly defeated by a mysterious boxer named A.J. Langdon. The battle between Levius and his opponents determines the dignity of human beings and the future of Imperial City.

Characters

Levius Cromwell is a young Metalboxer who cares deeply about his mother, who fell unconscious during the war. Before the events of the manga, his right arm was amputated and replaced with a robotic arm after corrosion from an automated object attack.

Zacks Cromwell, Levius's uncle, suffers from congenital tetrachromatic abnormality in his left eye and wears an eyepatch; he trains Levius due to his own experience as a regular boxer. Natalia Garnet is a Grade III boxer training at Zacks Gym who offers Levius advice. A.J. Langdon, a member of the Amethyst military corporation and the youngest soldier in the war, defeats Hugo Stratus controversially in Levius's Grade II promotion match and later attacks Levius, causing a steam explosion that sends him for medical treatment.

Media

Haruhisa Nakata created and drew the manga Levius, which breaks from the standard right-to-left reading format by being read left to right. It first appeared in Shogakukan's Monthly Ikki from December 25, 2012, until the magazine shut down on September 25, 2014. The final issue promised the story would go on, but no specifics were provided at that time.

Shogakukan released the chapters in three tankōbon volumes between January 30 and December 26, 2014. Later, Shueisha put out a two-volume edition under the Young Jump Comics imprint on April 19 and May 17, 2019. A follow-up series, Levius/est, ran in Shueisha's Ultra Jump from April 18, 2015, to June 18, 2021, and was compiled into ten tankōbon volumes from December 18, 2015, to August 18, 2021. In North America, Viz Media announced an English version in February 2019, issuing Levius as a single omnibus on September 17, 2019, and starting Levius/est on November 19, 2019.

Polygon Pictures produced a 12-episode original net animation that debuted worldwide on Netflix on November 28, 2019, with "Wit and Love" as the opening and "Child Dancer" as the ending, both by Nazome. It later aired on Tokyo MX and BS11 from January 9 to March 27, 2021, featuring "Link or Chains" by Nana Mizuki as the opening and "Beautiful Doll" by Mamoru Miyano as the ending. Viz Media put the series on Blu-ray in North America on March 21, 2023.