raymundo.oconnell - 2015-07-23 10:37:00

(I try to keep my reviews short and sweet and straight to the point without giving away spoilers with that said lets get this show on the road)

This anime is totally different from the cliche predictable ones. No heart stoppers or tears here just straight comedy

This anime has

1. Comedy (Comedy is probably the biggest focus in this anime)

2. No Blood (Nothing major a couple splats here there)

3. Action ( A little piece in each episode)

4. Romance (Nothing huge not the main focus of the anime)

Overall 12+ can watch this anime pretty good Good anime to watch to pass the time by. Or just to watch something different. Nothing huge or little its just in the middle. 

berenice77 - 2015-04-27 00:11:20

LevelE Review

            I’lladmit, this show pulled a fast one on me. It’s ironic really, considering thefact that this show is basically all about pulling fast ones. The only things Ireally knew before starting it were that it was basically a science fictioncomedy with a premise that was quite often associated with Men in Black. It’sappropriate, considering that it basically is the same concept. Hundreds ofalien species visit Earth, and they've disguised themselves to blend in withsociety because humanity doesn't need to know any better.

            I’mglad, too. Humanity would be far worse off knowing it were being toyed with bythe hands of a madman. I am of course referring to Prince Baka. Anextraterrestrial being with a knack for causing absolute mayhem for the peoplearound him and sometimes himself. He is part of what makes Level E so special.The show flows at the pace that he dictates, even when he is seemingly notaround. If you’re looking for a defining element in the show, it wouldundoubtedly be him. That’s not such a bad thing, since the show’s plot is basedupon just how far his whimsy will take him.

            Theplot structure in Level E could be best described with story arcs, but it isepisodic as a whole. All except for the first arc, which lead me to believethat the story would take place over one cohesive narrative. Baka was playingme for a fool, of course, and things didn't end up this way. If anything, thefirst arc is a great example of what lengths Baka will go to cause the misfortuneof others for his enjoyment. The rest of the anime takes a somewhat monster ofthe week type of approach where we are introduced to new species of aliens anda little about how they work. The important thing to remember though, is thatPrince Baka is almost always at the helm in the scheme of things, and eventhough the revelations may seem to be a bit repetitive, the result is at leastclever and different each time. The variety of the aliens was prettycommendable too given the show’s really short length of 13 episodes. Thestructure makes everything feel a bit disjointed, though, and sometimes itfeels pointless to be introduced to some of them that never make any sort ofrecurrence. At least the comedy benefits from the lack of any linearity, aseach episode manages to basically be one huge joke. The ending does tieeverything together in a nice little box, which maintains the theme of the showand leaves you wanting more. Everything does feel contained though, and it’sprobably all you could ask for from a show of this stature.

            Asfar as characters go there isn't a lot of room for development due to theshow’s design being centric to our male lead. There are, however, a fewrecurring characters that make the experience a bit more enjoyable. Someone hasto respond to Prince Baka’s assault on the mind, right? To name a few, there’sYukitaka, a highschool student that plays baseball, and his female schoolmate,who probably play the biggest portion of relevance in the more “plot heavy”bits of the show. There are also some recurring alien species and multipleappearances of The Primary Color Rangers (Yes, you read that correctly).Despite its length, Level E makes sure that the most prominent characters atleast get substantial screentime, if not sacrificing development in theprocess. Character development isn’t what you’ll be watching this show for,though, so the best thing would be to not expect it. Characterizationdefinitely takes precedence amongst the varied cast, and it’s thosepersonalities that’ll keep you coming back.

            Onthe animation side, Level E does a great job. It’s mostly consistent, barringepisode 4 which undergoes a huge stylistic change for seemingly no reason.Perhaps it is to break us from the shock of the first arc, but it’s an odddecision. It’s completely different than the rest of the show. There’s alsosome CGI that really sticks out in the series. It’s not too bad, but when it’sthere, you definitely notice it. Sometimes when it is used for some of the morescience fiction set pieces it’s cool because it makes the object feel a bit…alien. Other than those snags, it’s great. A lot of attention was placed intothe character design. Particularly the faces, general expressions and movement.All of which made Level E very pleasant to look at. No one looked the same, andeven more detail was put into the aliens even if they only showed up for oneparticular episode.

            Ifyou’re going to watch Level E, I recommend the English dub. Mostly because the Englishdub doesn’t do anything really wrong, and Vic Mignogna has his own flair add tothe prince’s high and mighty attitude. Not to mention, he did a great jobsinging The Primary Color Rangers theme song. The rest of the cast iscontinually solid, and no one was so annoying that it was unbearable. The restof the soundtrack is effective. A bit on the subtle side, but there were just afew memorable ones that added to the atmosphere of the series. On that note,the opening and ending themes are amazing and part of why I decided to pick upthe show, but they don’t fit the show thematically at all, and were probablyjust other representations of the show’s off-brand humor. The sound effects arealso nice, providing us with some cliché but well utilized sci-fi sounds to add to thehumor of the show.

            That’sjust about it, really. Level E is pretty much all you want from a comedy likethis. It’s varied, charming, witty, and clever with a fantastic cast and amadman in the driver’s seat. It didn’t blow me away on an aesthetic level andit’s a tad short, but it’s far from cliché and well worth picking up. I’mgiving this one a silver medal with the hope that you watch this series. PrinceBaka just may invade even the most remote recesses of your mind in the process.

kelsi.harber - 2015-03-13 23:14:01

Hi anyone reading this 

I don´t think a Review is a place for spoilers so I´ll say it´s better than you think. and a comedy, I say comedy but the creators did´t just put in whatever makes you laugh           so you can watch it as mystery (that goes against reason)

cummerata.ettie - 2014-11-01 04:40:39

[Old review is old.]

I find it rare to find shows I regarded in poor light in the past are able to rise up to the level of something really special. Not to say that it hasn’t happened ever, but usually the case is that when you watch more things, the shows you once thought were good tend to get old or loose something overtime. It’s a special case to find shows getting significantly better as time goes by. For me at least, Level E was one of those pleasant surprises.

Level E is a comedy sci-fi show made up of many different stories revolving around Prince Baka, an alien from the planet Dogra who visits earth with the sole intention of messing around with other people. The show takes viewers on a trip to see the many pranks and mayhems that he ends up inflicting upon the poor victims of planet earth, each with their own completed stories and well rounded casts.

The stories themselves take up the span of either a few episodes or just one, and each and every one of them provide just enough content and material for the time they set aside for them. The stories are very well crafted and entertaining, with hilarious situations and smart, amusing twists. All of them are tied together using the main cast, which consists of the Prince and his bodyguards, but work extremely well as standalone plots as well, which is something I liked a lot about the show. Each small story arc had a great resolution after the intriguing developments so that any viewer can feel satisfied after the completion of whatever part they were on. It isn’t something that shows do often, and it’s done very well in this short little series. The only complaint I had was that the show uses a lot of talking heads to explain the plot and the developments for a bit of the time. It wasn’t most of the time, though, and even though some of the arcs may seem slow, the show still doesn’t waste time telling what it wants to, which results in a ton of great short stories.

Level E boasts a solid overall cast, with each character getting the exact right amount of focus they needed in the entire anime. With each new plot comes another new cast that proves to be funny and interesting as the show progresses. Everyone got the perfect amount of development in order to suit the presentation, and ended up being entertaining and odd to match the overall mood. The main man that brings everything together is Prince Baka himself, who I have to admit is one of my personal favorite characters. Baka is a space oddity who is able to swiftly and expertly change moods and appearances in order to further his diabolical plans of being the biggest annoyance to those he decided to mess around with for fun. The way he nonchalantly gives everyone around him a higher form of hell for every passing minute makes him unforgettable, and his ingenious plans provide for some clever ways to screw around with humanity. The other special character I’ll mention is Captain Kraft, a bodyguard for the Prince who is, quite frankly, done with his shit. His overreactions (though appropriate at times) only amplify the ridiculousness of the Prince’s desires to mess around, and he was a wonderful complement to an insane main character.

Animation for Level e was done by Studio Pierrot, who also give some solid animation to the show. The overall style is carried through fine and whenever the show divulges into a completely new look, the animation is executed perfectly every time. Occasionally, however, there were appearances of some very out of place 3D animation. A couple times is blended in with everything, but for the most part it stuck out very prominently and awkwardly. For the most part, there wasn’t anything wrong with the animation, so aside from a few jarring bits of CGI, the anime looked pretty darn good.

The soundtrack has a wide range of catchy and memorable tracks, mainly because it repeats a lot of them throughout the anime, but they never got to a point where they felt old or overused. If anything, the background music brought forward specific theme tunes that gave a great mood and identity to the type of anime it was trying to be. Aside from these few great repeated tracks, however, there wasn't anything too outstanding from the rest of the music. There wasn’t anything downright awful, it’s just that not a whole lot was memorable. It works fine as complimentary tracks, but standalone wouldn’t have a big effect on many listeners. The opening for the show is also one of my personal favorites, supplying an insane amount of eye popping visuals and vibrant colors that would make even Redline run for cover. Add in an energetic, kickass song and the result is a high quality gem that the show proudly displays. The English dub, aside from Vic Mignogna who is having a blast creating a zany and entertaining prince, didn’t have many surprises in it, even though I would still consider it pretty solid.

For the most part, the biggest strength and weakness that Level E has is that it’s a mystery in itself. It offers such a fresh, unique blend of science fiction storytelling and interesting comedy that it becomes its own entity, almost indefinable. There isn’t a specific genre I would be able to put it under, and because of that and the way it presents itself at first, it may be a little odd to watch. It pulls very unexpected turns and changes the entire mood of situations in a heartbeat, which turns out to be jarring for those watching for the first time. But on the other hand, it’s something new that’s playing around with comedy and genres, and by the end of the show you’ll find that it’s pulled some very impressive stunts in its short run.

Even though it’s an oddball show in itself, Level E is one of the most entertainingly intriguing shows I’ve seen (and given anime as a medium, that’s saying something). Nothing has really come close to matching it’s style as well as it was able to do, and even though it seems like just your average anime on the outside, there are way too many little things that it gets right for me to ignore them. Some of my favorite factors in anime come from this little show, like the Prince and the opening, and there’s many more little things inside that will surprise viewers.

I give this anime a score of 7.0/10 (3.5 stars) and a Recommended rating.