About
Cleaning Levi (Japanese: お掃除兵長, Osouji Heicho; lit. Captain of Cleaning) refers to the cleaner mode of Levi (リヴァイ)[1], the most powerful soldier in mankind in the Japanese manga/anime Attack on Titan. Levi’s cleaning scene has earned a much of popularity among fans despite of its quite short appearance in the story, and hence it has been featured in many of fan works and parodies for this franchise.
Origin
“Cleaning Levi” appeared in the scene where Levi and his Special Op Squad began cleaning the old recon corps headquarter that had been abandoned for a long time. This scene representing Levi’s “clean freak” nature is included in the 20th episode printed in the volume 5 of comic book series (shown below, left), and the 15th episode in the TV anime series titled “Special Operations Squad: Prelude to the Counterattack, Part 2”. It was aired on June 20th, 2013 (shown below, right).
Spread
The moment of Levi in the cleaner mode popping out from the window caught a much attention among viewers and fans due to its surrealistic lulz. Levi in this scene became to be dubbed “Cleaning Levi” or “Captain of Cleaning”, and introduced as another subject of fan works for Levi in the creators communities Nico Nico Douga (NND)[2], pixiv[3], Nico Nico Seiga[4] as well as deviantART in the English-speaking web. And many of them are reprinted onto Tumblr.[5]
In particular, Cleaning Levi has been often utilized in female otakus favorite style of fan works, tracing existing movies by hand-drawn animation or Miku Miku DanceCGI characters, since it looked so cute to a vast amount of female fans addicted to Levi. The most succeeded instance of Cleaning Levi fan works/parodies is an opening credits parody uploaded by a female NND user Mary (マリィ)[6] on July 24th, 2013.[8] This video on NND had earned over 1 million views within its first month, and covered its popularity by an online news.[9]
【ニコニコ動画】【進撃の巨人】進撃のリヴァイ兵長【手書きトレス】
In addition, a Japanese cosplay event “Japan Cosplay Festival” recreated the window for Cleaning Levi cosplayers at their event held on October 26th and 27th.[10]
Cleaning Levi in Official Merchandise
Cleaning Levi has been also featured in the official merchandise. Cleaning Levi was included in the official button collection released by a Japanese anime goods retailer Animate in July 2013[11], and in the rubber strap collection as a purchase bonus in Kotobukiya’s official online store.[12] Moreover, a Japanese doll maker Sentinel announced that the special limited edition of Levi’s “Osouji version” doll will be limited released in January 2014.[13]
Left: Button | Center: Rubber Strap | Right: Doll
Notable Examples
Videos
【ニコニコ動画】リヴァイ兵長が 吹 っ 切 れ た【ニコニコ動画】リヴァイリヴァイ【進撃の巨人MAD】
Left: Fukkireta | Right: Mayim Mayim
【ニコニコ動画】城のホコリ共に完全勝利したリヴァイ兵長UC【ニコニコ動画】【進撃のMMD】お掃除兵長でCall Me Maybe
Left: Slow Loris' Victory Pose with UC | Right: Call Me MaybeMMD Dacne Edition
Illustrations & Cosplays
Search Interest
External References
Editor’s Note: Registration is needed to browse the original videos listed in this section.
[1]Shingeki no Kyojin Wiki – Levi
[2]niconico Video – Search results for リヴァイ
[3]pixiv – Search results for リヴァイ 兵長
[4]Nico Nico Seiga – Search results for リヴァイ
[5]deviantART – Search results for cleaning levi
[6]Tumblr – Search results for cleaning levi
[7]niconico – アーク＆マリィ’s user page
[8]niconico Video – 【進撃の巨人】進撃のリヴァイ兵長【手書きトレス】 / Posted on 07-24-2013
[9]ITmedia Netlab – 「進撃の巨人」リヴァイ兵長版OPをファンが制作 お掃除モードでエレンにダイナミック躾！ / 07-28-2013 (Japanese)
[10]crunchroll – “Attack On Titan” “Cleaning Levi” Window Recreated In Japanese Amusement Park / 10-22-2013
[11]Animate – 『アニ☆カプ』アニメイトでしか買えないオリジナルカプセルトイ (Japanese)
[12]KOTOBUKIYA– ラバーストラップコレクション 進撃の巨人 (Japanese)
[13]Sentinel – 【Special Limited】「1/8 Levi （Osouji ver.)