Surely, we have all heard many theories about aliens and how they have visited Earth. You may believe these tales of mystery or you may think it's all just a ruse. But what happens when they are actually living amongst us in disguise? Level E is an anime of it's own kind; combining elements of suspense, comedy, and sci-fi.
Watched on – Crunchyroll
Licensed by -
Funimation
Original Release
Date - January 11, 2011
Director – Toshiyuki
Katou
Production Studio –
Studio Pierrot & David Production
Video Review: Here
Video Review: Here
Our main character, Prince Baka, is a prankster who
lives for tricking people. He’s very playful, light-hearted, and not too very
bright. He’s also quite annoying at times. His poor loyal henchmen must have
such a hard time always having to be by his side. They often play the victim of
his antics and are all fun to watch. Tsutusi, the baseball star, has a
love/hate relationship with Prince Baka and it’s great to see their
interactions. The entire cast of this show were portrayed wonderfully.
Music – The music was fairly weak for this series, unfortunately. There were a couple of suspenseful songs used for some serious moments, but otherwise there wasn’t anything extraordinary. The only memorable song was the jazzy opening, sang by Chiaki Kuriyama,
Level E also has a fantastic sense of humor, as it actually made me burst out laughing pretty frequently. The material used was spot-on and had perfect timing. Tsutsui and Prince Baka actually reminded me of a manzai duo; with Tsutsui being the tsukkomi and Prince Baka as the boke. They constantly had epic interactions and their “fighting” was more hilarious than anything else! Seeing them argue back and forth with each other was very amusing to watch. Although the humor can be slightly random in some episodes (Prince Baka appearing out of nowhere was random in itself!), the comedy can be at its best when you are least expecting it.
Another downfall is that Tsutsui disappears for a
few episodes. His interactions with Prince Baka were priceless and that is
where the best comedic moments stood. The lack of his presence
was very risky and the anime felt like it was missing something. The anime
still had funny scenes, but they just weren’t as amusing. Plus, I really
enjoyed seeing Prince Baka getting punched and kicked around.
Overall - Level E is definitely something I haven't seen any
anime do in a while! It’s not everyday that I see a comedy mixed with some
drama and sci-fi, so that’s pretty awesome. It wasn’t a perfect anime, but
after the last episode, I was kind of seeking more. Too bad the manga is only 3
volumes long. Prince Baka may have won a spot in my list of “Most Annoying
Anime Characters”, but Level E’s comedy
and storytelling were spot on.Rating - 7.5/10
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