Is Leviathan woke?
Leviathan (2025)
TV Show
Released: January 1, 2025
Wokeness Score
7/10
Strongly Ideological
Woke messaging is very prominent and often feels forced or shoehorned in. Characters and plot are primarily shaped to serve the ideology. Many viewers feel the agenda overshadows the entertainment.
Key Summary Points
- Gender disguise and identity fluidity central to protagonist Deryn Sharp's arc with explicit queer elements added in adaptation.
- Strong emphasis on empathy, overcoming national/cultural differences, and unity as core thematic messages from creators.
- Diverse casting and female characters challenging societal norms integrated into the steampunk war narrative.
Wokeness Analysis
The 2025 Netflix anime adaptation of Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan series centers on an alternate-history WWI steampunk world divided between Clankers (mechanical tech) and Darwinists (bioengineered creatures). The core plot follows fugitive Prince Aleksandar and Deryn Sharp, a Scottish girl who disguises herself as a boy named Dylan to join the British Air Navy aboard the living airship Leviathan. This gender disguise and identity exploration form a prominent narrative thread, with the adaptation making queer subtext from the 2009 novel more explicit in 2025, including Sharp choosing to maintain a masculine identity post-reveal. Creators and reviewers emphasize themes of overcoming differences, empathy across divides, cross-cultural understanding, and hope amid conflict, framing the story as a timely message about unity in a divided world. Supporting elements include a diverse international voice cast, female scientists like Dr. Nora Barlow who navigate societal hurdles with wit, and portrayals of characters with fluid identity relationships. While action, adventure, and worldbuilding drive the entertainment, the intentional foregrounding of identity, gender fluidity, and anti-division messaging feels shoehorned to serve progressive social commentary, often overshadowing pure escapism for viewers seeking neutral storytelling. Reception highlights these elements positively in progressive outlets but aligns with critiques of forced ideological integration in adaptations updated for modern sensibilities.
Plot
Set in an alternate 1914 on the eve of World War I, Leviathan follows Aleksandar von Hohenberg, a fugitive Austro-Hungarian prince fleeing after his parents' assassination, and Deryn Sharp, a daring Scottish girl who disguises herself as a boy to serve in the British Air Service. They meet aboard the HMS Leviathan, a massive bioengineered whale airship, amid a conflict between Clankers using mechanical war machines and Darwinists deploying genetically engineered creatures. The pair embarks on an adventure to prevent global war, confronting themes of loyalty, identity, and unlikely alliances in a steampunk dieselpunk world blending historical events with sci-fi elements. The 12-episode Netflix anime adapts the first book of Scott Westerfeld's trilogy.