'Levius': All the ways the Netflix adaptation differs from the manga series
'Levius', the Netflix adaptation of Haruhisa Nakata's manga series dropped on November 28 with twelve action-packed episodes. The concept is unusual, as it revolves around a dystopian post-war steampunk setting, blended with the tropes of a boxing drama fused with war-time elements and flashbacks. The show tells the story of Levius, an orphan stranded in a world ravaged by war, which cost him his arm and mother. He possesses a cybernetic arm and stays with his Uncle Zack and grandmother. After a strange epiphany, he finds himself drawn into the world of metal boxing.
While at first it appears to be a straightforward sports drama of a young boy rising through the ranks, the tables turn, and a memory from the past flashes into the present. He remembers a girl crying for help during the war, and how he couldn't save her. To his astonishment, he meets the girl during battle. Named AJ, she is under the sinister Dr Clown's hold. Clown had apparently 'saved' her during the war, and AJ insists that she is happy with this new life and has no desire to leave it. However, her slow tears say otherwise. In other words, AJ is just a puppet for Clown and Levius is determined to rescue her from Clown's clutches, and they strike a deal. If she defeats him in battle, Clown will take him under his wing and a part of the organisation, Amethyst.
If Levius wins, AJ will be set free. During the final battle, Zack realises that AJ possesses two steam engines in her system, which is what makes her indestructible. While one is damaged during the fight, the second one is right below her heart. Despite serious life-threatening injuries, Levius delivers the final punch to her stomach, and wins the battle. And then, Levius throws a punch at Clown, and destroys him. He then realises that Clown, in fact, is an automaton. AJ recovers, and Levius is ready for battle, once again.
However, the manga series is different. Here's how. For starters, in the show, it is revealed that a young Levius had run after AJ on the streets and she had led him into the stadium. However, in the manga, it's Zack who introduces him to the idea of MMA (Mechanical Martial Arts).
The final fight
While the final battle between Levius and AJ is gruelling and intense as shown in the series, it's a lot more complicated in the manga. During the fight, Zack tells Levius that a fighter can divide his hearts, giving him control over the regions of the body that were far from the heart. However this can kill him. And this is exactly what Dr Clown had done to AJ. Zack tells Levius to destroy all her eight hearts.
AJ returns for battle, flowing with steam energy. Levius destroys seven of her hearts. Levius informs Clown that his emotion keeps him standing, as his love for others pushes pain further away. He tells Clown to surrender or die. Obviously, Clown chooses neither and promises to take Levius down with him, making A.J. create an explosion. He was well aware that was A.J.'s last compressed steam and that now Levius could only resort to his own compressed steam. Both Levius and A.J. are exhausted and out of steam, but continue to hold strong. Levius pierces her stomach, thinking that is the heart. But that turns out to be false, and she is still alive. Zack tells Levius that it's in her head. Levius then hears A.J. asking him to help her little brother and pierces her head. And then, they both fall.
The showdown with Clown
In the manga series, just when Levius is concerned about AJ's injuries, Clown shoots Levius in the leg. Levius wants to end Clown once and for all, but Clown threatens if he tries to hurt him, the Amethyst army will kill everyone on the stadium. However, another fighter named Christopher makes an entrance. Clown's henchmen enter telling him that their entire army was destroyed by Grade I, Rank 6 Christopher. Within 11 seconds, he had destroyed them at eight different locations of 2000 km apart.
Clown tells Levius that AJ's brother Balthius will come and kill them all. However, he blows himself up trying to destroy the stadium, but Christopher handles the explosion.
Season 1 of 'Levius' dropped on Netflix on November 28.