The highly anticipated anime series Leviathan had its world premiere at Anime Expo 2025, with an exclusive screening and behind-the-scenes panel hosted by co-producers Qubic Pictures and Studio Orange. The event, held in Petree Hall, featured the debut of the first episode ahead of the series’ Netflix launch on July 10.
The panel offered insight into the project’s five-year development, with Studio Orange joining the production three years in. Qubic Pictures founder Justin Leach and Studio Orange’s Yoshihiro “Nabe” Watanabe emphasized the unique cross-cultural approach, where both teams collaborated closely on story development rather than relying on traditional outsourcing models.
Visually, Leviathan contrasts two factions — the mechanical Clankers and the bioengineered Beasties — inspired by real-world locales like Paris, Istanbul, and Scotland. The story follows a fugitive prince and a mysterious girl aboard a living airship, exploring themes of identity and conflict through character-driven storytelling.
The voice cast includes Ayumu Murase (Haikyu!!) and Natsumi Fujiwara (Spy x Family), with an original score composed by Nobuko Toda and Kazuma Jinnouchi, and additional contributions from Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away). The team closed the panel with a sneak peek at future episodes, reinforcing the show’s vision of bridging cultures through anime.
All 12 episodes of Leviathan will stream exclusively on Netflix starting July 10, 2025.
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Based on: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, Illustrated by Keith Thompson
Director: Christophe Ferreira
Music: Nobuko Toda & Kazuma Jinnouchi
Original Songs: Joe Hisaishi
Produced: Qubic Pictures (Eden, Star Wars: Visions)
Production: Orange
CAST:
Ayumu Murase as Prince Aleksandar “Alek”
Natsumi Fujiwara as Sharp
Shunsuke Sakuya as Count Volger
Yasuhiro Mamiya as Klopp
Mie Sonozaki as Dr. Nora Barlow
Ivan Shibata as Newkirk
Fairouz Ai as Lilit
Hiroki Tochi as Nikola Tesla
Ikuko Tani as Nene
Genta Nakamura as Hoffman
Daichi Hayashi as Rigby
Satoshi Niwa as Matthews
Naoto Kobayashi as Thomas
Yukitaro Namura as Hirst
Ryosuke Higa as Leviathan’s Captain
Michio Hazama as George Darwin
Takahiro Fujiwara as Pavel
Naomi Kusumi as Zaven
Tessho Genda as Sultan
Keith Thompson provided illustrations for Westerfeld‘s original Leviathan novel, which debuted on October 6, 2009. The story takes place 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.
Source: Press release
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