Surrounded by the forbidden territories of powerful dark beasts, humanity has carved out five kingdoms for itself, but constantly crave to push the boundaries of their world. When the king of the Hiden nation armed thirteen heroes with Regalia that only a Hiden royal can forge, they set out to defeat one of the four legendary beasts, Clevatess—and fail.
After a brutal defeat, Clevatess destroys the Kingdom of Hiden, but gets talked into absconding with the newborn prince and heir to the throne. After reviving Alicia Glenfall, one of the fallen heroes, to help keep it alive, the dark beast decides to use this child to shape the human world through his rule in the shadows.
Finally, some good fucking dark fantasy anime. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like Clevatess, head on down below.
Anime Like Clevatess
For Fans of Dark Kingdom Intrigue

Ragna Crimson
Humans live in constant fear of dragon attack, the species that really rules the world with overwhelming power. To keep human populations safe, a number of hunters track and kill dragons as their job. Ragna was one such dragon hunter, though as weak as he is, he is often carried by the prodigal talent of his companion, Leonica.
One day, Ragna gains an influx of power that came from his fallen future self. He learns that after Leonica’s brutal death in the future, Ragna’s future self labored for years hunting dragons in revenge, losing comrade after comrade and building his strength ever higher.
While his new body struggles to hold all the power he gained, his future self tells him that the key to finally killing all dragons, including the Dragon God, lies in him finding Crimson, a Dragon Lord who also seeks to end their entire species.
Similarities Between Clevatess and Ragna Crimson
- Human kingdoms are threatened by creatures, but the creatures aren’t the only monsters
- The main character trained as a warrior, and still died miserably
- The main character is given another chance at life, with their old power intact and augmented
- Allying with monsters to defeat monsters who are morally gray, but pragmatic
- The world is bleak and will remain so for all involved
Differences Between Clevatess and Ragna Crimson
- Ragna Crimson is about humanity pushed to the brink by dragons. So they are under active attack unlike in Clevatess where they unwisely poke monsters who are just minding their own business.
- Ragna Crimson features a main character reaching the pinnacle of his strength, dying, and then gets to redo his life with the same amount of power as when he died.

Helck
While humanity is celebrating the defeat of the Demon Lord at the hands of a lone human hero, the Demon Realm is preparing for the contest of a lifetime where they will decide the next Demon Lord.
Demons from around the realm show up to test their might, but among them marches one lone human – Helck.
Although Helck shows his indomitable might in the three months of tournament fights, he also shows his compassion to his opponents while proudly proclaiming his hatred for humans, winning over the crowd.
As Helck becomes the favorite to become the next Demon Lord, things don’t sit well with Red Vermilio, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Realm. She believes that Helck has other motives and decides to uncover what he is plotting. However, something sinister is building in the Human Kingdoms…
Similarities Between Clevatess and Helck
- A kingdom is under attack, but they may have provoked it.
- Demon kingdoms fighting for their own reasons, and showing that humans are also monsters in their own ways.
- Indomitable, slightly quirky man paired with a girl who is strong, can’t believe his antics, but comes to admire him.
- Human political intrigue threatens the world
Differences Between Clevatess and Helck
- Helck often seems like a comedy, particularly in the beginning, but that hides a surprisingly dark story that it embraces more as the series goes on.
- Helck is about a comically nice and likable Hercules-type trying to become Demon King because humanity has turned evil.
- The demons are less sinister in Helck.

The Kingdoms of Ruin
With the help of witches blessed upon humanity by the goddess, human civilization flourished for generations. However, as humanity adapted more independence from the magic of witches through innovations in science and technology, they began to violently persecute witches.
Leading the persecution and execution of witches is the ruthless Redia Empire. Adonis, a human boy, is forced to watch the brutal public execution of the kind witch who raised him and granted him access to use magic.
After years of isolation and imprisonment, Adonis is freed and begins his bloody vengeance on the empire.
Similarities Between Clevatess and The Kingdoms of Ruin
- A kingdom targets a certain group of people for attack, then is shocked when those people attack them brutally back.
- The world is bleak, and will remain so for everyone involved.
- Kingdom intrigue leads to violence and plot
- Does not shy away from gruesome violence and people being terrible to each other.
- A character has died, and is revived to be a lackey for another
Differences Between Clevatess and The Kingdoms of Ruin
- Kingdoms of Ruin is about witch genocide, and the lone boy witch that took the brutal murder of his mentor personally.
- Kingdoms of Ruin features a colder, more revenge-focused main character
- Clevatess destroys a kingdom in the first episode, so great is his power. Kingdoms of Ruin is about the main character’s journey to destroy a kingdom and why he is doing so.

Ubel Blatt
When the Wischtech threatened Szaalanden, the Emperor dispatched fourteen warriors to fight against the scourge. While three fell in battle, Seven Heroes halted the invasion, even taking out the four traitors from among the ranks of the original fourteen, labeling them forever as the Traitorous Lances.
Decades later, a boy wielding a black sword with a scar over his eye named Koinzell with a mysterious connection to the Traitorous Lances has started targeting the aging Seven Heroes who rule realms throughout Szaalanden.
Similarities Between Clevatess and Ubel Blatt
- A group of warriors were dispatched to fight an evil, and only a handful returned
- Heroes of old are not such good guys, it seems.
- A non-human and their companions challenging powerful figures in a kingdom.
- Bleak dark fantasy and shall remain so for everyone involved.
Differences Between Clevatess and Ubel Blatt
- Ubel Blatt is a Kill Bill-style revenge story where the main character is hunting down the people that betrayed him and left him for dead.
- There are no illusions that everyone in power is bad in Ubel Blatt. Clevatess features some actual noble heroes.

Ishura
The Demon King has been slain, but no one knows who was capable of taking out a man who made the world tremble under his might. Leaving a large power void behind, a series of warriors called Shura who all possess the might that could have rivaled the Demon King can effectively do what they want with the world now.
Some wander looking for powerful foes to fight, some delve into dungeons looking for powerful artifacts, and some have their eyes on conquest.
With the Demon King gone and no champion to crown for his defeat, the Shura begin to spark conflict among themselves to determine who is the True Hero, the strongest power who can stand against all others.
Similarities Between Clevatess and Ishura
- Kingdom intrigue throwing the world into chaos
- Monstrously powerful fighters pouring out of the woodwork to fight each other
- Slowly unraveling intrigue taking place in the large, interestingly built world
- Discrimination among the fantasy peoples
Differences Between Clevatess and Ishura
- Clevatess is a linear, single story. There are multiple tales going on in Ishura and no singular main character. This also means the plot can change as well.
- While Clevatess may have more brutal darkness, Ishura tells the more mature and intricate story.
- Ishura is more focused on showing you that there are a handful of very powerful warriors in the world, and really implies that they are all going to clash over the course of the series to decide who gets to fill the power void left after the defeat of the demon king.

Akame ga Kill
Tatsumi is a naive boy from a rural village that makes the trip to the city in order to join the military and help his hometown.
However, after he is rejected, he ends up joining Night Raid, a group of assassins part of a revolutionary movement to overthrow the government.
From there, he must fight a brutal and increasingly bloody shadow war.
Similarities Between Clevatess and Akame ga Kill
- Kingdom intrigue means suffering for all
- Humans are empowered by unique weapons that are rare in the world.
- A group of uniquely armed warriors set out to do a task, and few of them will return.
- Brutal violence in a bleak world where heroes occasionally fail.
Differences Between Clevatess and Akame ga Kill
- Akame ga Kill is about freedom fighters trying to overthrow the government, but they actually struggle and die along the way instead of heroically winning all the time.
- The kingdom they are fighting against in Akame ga Kill is evil and why they are evil is not explored in great detail. Clevatess creates more nuanced, morally gray kingdoms.
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For Fans of Grimdark Fantasy

Berserk
Gutts has been a mercenary for as long as he can remember, caring for nothing but moving to the next battle.
One fateful battle puts him at odds with the rapidly rising mercenary group, the Band of the Hawk. Their charismatic, idealistic leader Griffith soon makes him join by force, but the bond he forms with the Band of the Hawk may very well mean the end of the world.
Similarities Between Clevatess and Berserk
- Things are bleak, and will remain bleak for all characters involved.
- Intrigue in the human world threatens to destroy everything
- Brutality and suffering throughout the world for all who are forced to live in it.
Differences Between Clevatess and Berserk
- Clevatess still believes in heroes in the world, Berserk paints everyone as flawed and anyone that tries to be a hero will suffer for it.
- Berserk doesn’t start with a robust demon element. It builds up to it.
- Berserk is about mercenaries, so no one is really trying to save anyone or anything other than their own lives.

Claymore
The world is overcome with demons called Yoma that constantly plague humanity.
After Raki’s parents were killed by Yoma, he teams up with Claire, a Claymore, an order of powerful half-human, half-Yoma women that are shunned by society but fight to rid the world of Yoma.
Together, each learns more about the each other and work towards their own goals.
Similarities Between Clevatess and Claymore
- Things are bleak, and will remain bleak for all characters involved.
- A powerful being gains a humanizing companion as they travel
- Girl is combined with demon essence for power.
- Brutality and suffering throughout the world for all who are forced to live in it.
Differences Between Clevatess and Claymore
- Clevatess makes being a hero sometimes rewarding for Alicia. The same cannot be said in Claymore. Slaying demons is a thankless job and the main character in Claymore is rewarded with human disgust for her efforts.
- Claymore follows an order of demon-slaying warriors who will eventually be corrupted and turned into demons.
- Claymore enjoys far more bleakness in the world.

Goblin Slayer
A young priestess fresh out of the temple is excited to start her life as an adventurer. On her first day, she joins an adventuring party to go slay some goblins.
However, like so many young adventure parties before them, they underestimate the goblins. It ends with two dead, one viciously raped, and the priestess saved from fate by a man whose only mission in life is to slay all the goblins.
Similarities Between Clevatess and Goblin Slayer
- The world is bleak and shall remain that way for everyone involved
- Dark, brutal start, but tempers the brutality with plot as it goes on.
Differences Between Clevatess and Goblin Slayer
- Goblin Slayer is about a man who slays goblins. It is an anime about slaying goblins in various ways and forms. So the plot isn’t especially full of intrigue.
- Goblin Slayer features a revenge-muted main character with a limited, more realistic amount of power.

Guin Saga
The kingdom of Parros has been invaded. The king and queen have been slain, but their twin children have been spirited away by a strange device in the palace.
Lost in the Roodwood, they are rescued from invading soldiers by a strange amnesiac leopard-headed man named Guin.
Similarities Between Clevatess and Guin Saga
- The world is bleak and will remain so for everyone involved
- The kingdom was attacked, and the heir to the throne was spirited away to be raised by a… not-strictly-human entity.
- Slowly unraveling kingdom intrigue
Differences Between Clevatess and Guin Saga
- Guin Saga features a man cursed to have a leopard’s head becoming the bodyguard of a twin prince and princess who were recently chased from the capital after a coup.
- Guin Saga has two stories. The story about the kingdom coup and unraveling why the main character has a leopard head and no memories. It explores them with varying focus.
- Guin Saga isn’t quite as brutal with the story, but is still very much dark fantasy.
Do you have more anime recommendations like Clevatess? Let fans know in the comments section below.



