So, after a few days of watching (few days due to several distractions), I've finally finished watching Level E. The picture on BakaBT was not alluring at all, although the description made me curious (and the little I allowed myself to read on Wikipedia added to it). After watching the first episode, I was seriously hooked.
Pearz warned me that others had reviewed this anime badly, saying it started off well but died down around ep6. With this in mind, I was prepared to be let down - but, surprisingly, I actually really, really enjoyed this anime. When ep12 (the last one I had) ended in a cliffhanger, I went into a rage-filled confusion...and then found out that I had forgotten to get ep13. I think it's safe to say that my interest hadn't died down by the time I got to the final episodes.
(As always, this "review" won't have any ratings. I just can't scale things properly...)
Animation
Despite what that picture up there looks like, the animation for this was actually really solid. It was crisp and clean (given this was a Winter 2010 anime, that's to be expected), without any disturbing character images. There were no strange hairstyles (like Shiki), distorted proportions (like Kujibiki Unbalance), or J Cup breasts (...do I really need to exemplify this?). Overall, I was really pleased with the quality of animation.
Story (non-plot)
(I stole this heading from Pearz.) I was pretty happy that there wasn't too much outrageous sci-fi in this anime - I'm thinking the insanity that was Serial Experiments Lain. The presentation was pretty down-to-earth (pun intended; the story pretty much took place on Earth, after all) and direct. It slightly bothered me how all of the aliens were humanoids. From an evolutionary perspective, it doesn't make much sense. I could understand the concept that they could wear high-tech and detailed costumes, but we saw them as humanoids even when in their "natural elements", sometimes. It was a little annoying. On another note, there was no fanservice and there were deformed expressions (i.e. extreme tears, chibi forms, etc) at times; it was, overall, a pretty good mix.
Story (plot)
Perhaps I liked this the best, out of everything in this anime. I was waiting for my interest to fall, as I had been pre-warned, but it never did. Despite the first 2-3 episodes presenting an amnesiac Prince Baka, creating the idea that the rest of this series will be about an alien adjusting to life on Earth, it led to nothing of the sort. The stories were much more arc-based rather than being character-based, since the main characters changed for some of the arcs with Prince Baka (and co) only showing up in support roles. I rolled with the punch; after ep4 had characters other than Prince Baka (and etc) as the mains, I figured that that would continue onwards and acclimatized. This anime was much more about Prince Baka (from behind the scenes) causing situations and the episodes covering them; I really enjoyed it until the end (and wanted it to continue).
Characters
There wasn't a lot of character growth; then again, in an anime that's based on themes and situations, that's to be expected. The persona portrayed by Prince Baka is absolutely my favourite type, though; an intelligent character that manipulates for his own entertainment (I'd have preferred some confirmation that he had emotions that also drove his actions at times, instead of just insinuation, but oh well). I also really liked that he wasn't perfect (his AI program in the 3rd arc surpassed his control and he did get manipulated - kind of - in the last arc), and that he wasn't just spoiled (for better or worse, he saw that he wasn't best-fit for King of Dogura, and tried to pass it off to his brother). I can see how this kind of character can be entirely unrealistic, but maybe I overlooked it because I just love this type.
Final Words
I wasn't disappointed at all, least of all in the ways that Pearz warned me about. I didn't feel that the jokes got stale; even when I realized that story twists were to be expected, I only eagerly waited for it. If I had to choose something that I disliked, as a whole, then perhaps more characterization would have been nice. I'm aware that it's difficult to do that in 13 episodes, so it would have to be longer for that to be achieved. As far as classifying this anime: sci-fi is a reach; comedy is a better match, with some serious issues (like the self-loathing aliens in the second arc, solely in ep4, and the growth of AI into sentience, looked at in the third arc) presented but not delved into too deeply.
~Aaro off
 |
| If anything, this image was a solid reason to NOT watch, all on its own. |
Pearz warned me that others had reviewed this anime badly, saying it started off well but died down around ep6. With this in mind, I was prepared to be let down - but, surprisingly, I actually really, really enjoyed this anime. When ep12 (the last one I had) ended in a cliffhanger, I went into a rage-filled confusion...and then found out that I had forgotten to get ep13. I think it's safe to say that my interest hadn't died down by the time I got to the final episodes.
(As always, this "review" won't have any ratings. I just can't scale things properly...)
Animation
Despite what that picture up there looks like, the animation for this was actually really solid. It was crisp and clean (given this was a Winter 2010 anime, that's to be expected), without any disturbing character images. There were no strange hairstyles (like Shiki), distorted proportions (like Kujibiki Unbalance), or J Cup breasts (...do I really need to exemplify this?). Overall, I was really pleased with the quality of animation.
 |
| Prince Baka cosplays regardless of gender. +1 |
Story (non-plot)
(I stole this heading from Pearz.) I was pretty happy that there wasn't too much outrageous sci-fi in this anime - I'm thinking the insanity that was Serial Experiments Lain. The presentation was pretty down-to-earth (pun intended; the story pretty much took place on Earth, after all) and direct. It slightly bothered me how all of the aliens were humanoids. From an evolutionary perspective, it doesn't make much sense. I could understand the concept that they could wear high-tech and detailed costumes, but we saw them as humanoids even when in their "natural elements", sometimes. It was a little annoying. On another note, there was no fanservice and there were deformed expressions (i.e. extreme tears, chibi forms, etc) at times; it was, overall, a pretty good mix.
 |
| The AI needing to learn about sex was one of the best scenes of the entire anime. |
Story (plot)
Perhaps I liked this the best, out of everything in this anime. I was waiting for my interest to fall, as I had been pre-warned, but it never did. Despite the first 2-3 episodes presenting an amnesiac Prince Baka, creating the idea that the rest of this series will be about an alien adjusting to life on Earth, it led to nothing of the sort. The stories were much more arc-based rather than being character-based, since the main characters changed for some of the arcs with Prince Baka (and co) only showing up in support roles. I rolled with the punch; after ep4 had characters other than Prince Baka (and etc) as the mains, I figured that that would continue onwards and acclimatized. This anime was much more about Prince Baka (from behind the scenes) causing situations and the episodes covering them; I really enjoyed it until the end (and wanted it to continue).
 |
| Ah, porno gaijin... xD |
Characters
There wasn't a lot of character growth; then again, in an anime that's based on themes and situations, that's to be expected. The persona portrayed by Prince Baka is absolutely my favourite type, though; an intelligent character that manipulates for his own entertainment (I'd have preferred some confirmation that he had emotions that also drove his actions at times, instead of just insinuation, but oh well). I also really liked that he wasn't perfect (his AI program in the 3rd arc surpassed his control and he did get manipulated - kind of - in the last arc), and that he wasn't just spoiled (for better or worse, he saw that he wasn't best-fit for King of Dogura, and tried to pass it off to his brother). I can see how this kind of character can be entirely unrealistic, but maybe I overlooked it because I just love this type.
 |
| And now Earth knows about aliens. Second season...?! |
Final Words
I wasn't disappointed at all, least of all in the ways that Pearz warned me about. I didn't feel that the jokes got stale; even when I realized that story twists were to be expected, I only eagerly waited for it. If I had to choose something that I disliked, as a whole, then perhaps more characterization would have been nice. I'm aware that it's difficult to do that in 13 episodes, so it would have to be longer for that to be achieved. As far as classifying this anime: sci-fi is a reach; comedy is a better match, with some serious issues (like the self-loathing aliens in the second arc, solely in ep4, and the growth of AI into sentience, looked at in the third arc) presented but not delved into too deeply.
~Aaro off
