Anime: Level E

Do not be deterred by the overly sci-fi looking title, image or OP, Level E is first and foremost a unique comedy focusing on the crazy antics of a mischievous and brilliant alien prince and those unfortunate enough to be his targets. This series stands out from the crowd by having a truly unpredictable plot without losing the viewer, and by having very unique characters that are entertaining to watch.

This series is for those who like guessing how the story will resolve (if you predicted 40%+ of the twists you beat me...) and for those who are okay with over half the dialogue being shouting (mostly in response to Prince Baka's antics). This is truly a hilarious ride that will take you around the galaxy and back, and keep you guessing all the way through the last episode.

Animation:
Level E has a nice balance of colors and finds a decent balance in character design (though it seems all aliens still appear to be somewhat humanoid). Facial expressions seem to be a highlight in this series as everyone expresses displeasure at Baka's antics. Details are good and the animation is in general fluid. There are some CGI scenes that are distracting, but luckily these are relatively rare in the series. This series has a few tiny fights and involves no fan service/ecchi shots. Overall it is up to par with standards at release time.

Sound:
The OP is a fair rock piece, but not one to put on my mp3 player. The ED is a bit more interesting, having a catchy tune and being sung by a guy with ridiculous vibrato. The BGM is nice with one specific brass track that is used to especially good effect.

The VAs do a great job. Prince Baka sounds composed at all times, while still sounding somewhat crazy at times. The other supporting actors, especially the VAs for Kraft and Tsutsui Yukitaka give their characters a lot of personality; they both act and sound like they've had previous gang experience, with the former sometimes going completely berserk.

Story:
Level E is told in multiple arcs, with later arcs building up on/utilizing characters and former sub-plots. Certain arcs stand out more than others (the first arc, the ant-girl arc, and the final arc are my picks) in execution and presentation. Personally, I found the Chromatic Rangers episodes a bit corny, but they still intertwined well with the general theme.

As mentioned before, this is a joyride of a plot sequence. I was completely caught off guard by the boldness of the plot twists and the cunning of Prince Baka. These lead to hilarious progressions and galactic-wide repercussions in the story. This is definitely not a series to be taken seriously, just sit back and enjoy. Because of all of the unexpected twists, it is also a great show to rewatch to see if there were any missed foreshadowings.

Despite the arc-based storyline, the last arc successfully ties the entire preceding arcs together in a very satisfying conclusion. There are some plot holes in this show, one would think, but the show does a great job of surprising the viewer (at some later point in time) with a rather good explanation.

Character:
While completely lacking in background information for most characters, this show entices viewers purely through the character personalities. Kraft, poor dude..., and Tsutsui Yukitaka are particularly entertaining to watch as the put up with (or try to put down) Prince Baka. A masterful character usage is employed in the final arc, though I won't spoil why here. Suffice to say, the cast in this show is sure to entertain.

Value:
Level E was one of the surprises in its season. It delivers a compelling story with a good dose of humor, and does so, refreshingly, without relying on ecchi and other fan service.

Level E is basically a troll comedy around the farces of an alien prince. As long as you dig his obnoxious personality then the comedy factor will work on you. I must say myself that the first arc was highly entertaining since I had no idea what is going on with the setting; it felt very mysterious, scary and humorous at the same time in a way that reminded me of Men In Black. Yet as soon as it was over I was more prepared to see something similar in later arcs and thus the rest did not feel as amazingly funny as the initial episodes. Also, the prince trolls different people each time, none of which are as interesting as those in the first arc, thus you are left to stare at a cast you don’t care about much. It was only in the finale, when the prince again goes back to his first victims that the comedy factor went high again and even offered a cool and unexpected finale.

The type of humor the show uses feels very different from other comedies of its era, since it is based on a manga from over a decade ago, when otaku jokes and clichés hadn’t crawled in all shows yet. This helps to get something uncommon from it that sets it apart from the numerous slapsticks and satires of today.

The story aspect is weak and mostly underplayed for random actions the prince plays on his victims. Although each arc can work as a separate fully told story, there is little to no continuity amongst characters of different arcs, a thing which makes the whole plot to feel nothing much to care about.

The cast is basically separated into the Prince and All The Rest. He alone is very memorable and funny, simply because he is obnoxious and sadistic to his subordinates and victims. All the storylines start and end from his uncontrolled desire to play tricks on people; even those who care about him. All the rest are basically character archetypes who are being constantly trolled by him. Passive and constantly in amok, they are mostly a parody of their respective molds, yet they never become memorable in the long run. The baseball player and the alien researcher’s daughter from the first and last arcs are by far the most interesting ones, followed by the Prince’s unfortunate bodyguards. Character development is close to zero and it is mostly colorization all you should expect from them.

The production values are awesome! Comedies are notorious for their cheap animation and overuse of deformity yet Level E offers consistent proportions and detailed colors and backgrounds almost all the time as means to fool you it is all serious. Even the soundtrack is made of pieces more fitting to an action / adventure than a comedy, still part of the same joke. I must say I liked them a lot and didn’t expect such a good overall from a minor studio such as David Production. I guess that is part of the troll jokes. And so is the director Katou Toshiyuki, who has a thing for directing shws with the single letter E in their title. He also did a fine job in Looking for the Full Moon so he is good when he wants to.

Being unorthodox and with a highly memorable lead character, Level E is easily becoming entertaining. It still has very few chances of rewatching it, since the troll jokes work only once and there is no overall story or many interesting characters.

And now for some excused scorings.
[/spoiler]

'Level E' is based on a short SF comedy manga by Togashi Yoshihiro, the author of 'Yuu Yuu Hakusho', and 'Hunter X Hunter' manga series. The first episode was a perfect introduction to the series. The story begins with sudden appearance of a self-proclaimed alien in the form of a flamboyant soft-spoken blond young man. Baka prince has a strange sense of humor, and everyone around him get dragged into troublesome situations because of his selfish and often reckless actions.

The story development in this series is characterized by its spontaneity. One event naturally leads to another as the premise and character personalities are subtly exposed. Great storytelling is capable of conveying messages without blatantly spelling them out, and this is exactly what happens throughout the series. The smooth storytelling gradually paint the world of 'Level E' by introducing the other alien races present on Earth through the prince and his team's activities, slowly developing the prince's character and his troublemaker ways.

You never know what will happen next, the series never ceases to amaze with crazy plot twists in every episode. The scrupulous delivery of comedy in this series will leave you laughing throughout each episode. Story aside, the hilarious humor is enough to keep you watching.

The high quality of animation is apparent with unobtrusive 3D-CGI, detailed background, interesting camera angles and movement, and realistic-looking character designs. Not only that, the quality of art and animation stays consistent throughout the series.

Everyone sound like they should, and especially the prince's soothing voice was done extremely well, jovial yet emotional. The BGM is used very efficiently, played only to change the mood, which made the rapid pace of unfolding of the events viable.
The OP is the biggest surprise of the series. Written by former BLANKET JET CITY guitarist Asai Kenichi and vocal by... Kuriyama Chiaki! What?! In case the name doesn't ring a bell, she's a semi-A-list actress who played the tsundere chick in 'Battle Royale' (2000) and high school girl with mace in 'Kill Bill Vol.1' (2003). OP is a unique rock song that's rather dark. While ED is a generic but catchy visual-kei song, the way it meshed with the ending animation was brilliant.

I feel it would have been better if 'Level E' followed a single story with Yukitaka instead of fragmented arcs and fillers, but everything was summarized brilliantly in the end for a very satisfying conclusion to a roller coaster joyride of a adventure by the carefree prince.