manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

Yoshihiro Togashi is a Japanese manga artist. He began drawing manga at an early age, before being recognized for his talent by the publishing company Shueisha while attending college. Togashi has authored several different manga series in different Literary ge ...

Hunter × Hunter ''Hunter × Hunter'' (pronounced "hunter hunter") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi. It has been serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since March 1998, although the man ...

Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...

Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump (magazine line), Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many Action (fiction), action scenes and a fair ...

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

Pierrot Pierrot ( , ; ), a stock character of pantomime and commedia dell'arte, has his origins in the late 17th-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne. The name is a hypocorism, diminutive of ''Pierr ...

David Production is a Japanese animation studio founded in September 2007 by former Gonzo producers Kōji Kajita and Taito Okiura, and is based in Nishitōkyō, Tokyo. Notable works from the studio include '' JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'', '' Cells at Work!'', t ...

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network. :The effeminate-looking first prince of the planet Dogura. He has an exceptionally high IQ and has little interest other than using it to torment those around him for his own amusement. His real name is , but everybody refers to him solely as Prince or Prince Baka. ; : :High school student and the Prince's roommate. Plays baseball. A former punk. ; : :Yukitaka's next door neighbor and school mate. Miho's father is a researcher studying alien life on Earth. Has been taught to notice hidden cameras, tracking devices and secret guards. ; : :Captain of the Royal Guard Army. He is in his tenth year. His top priority is that of the Prince Baka's bodyguard. Fifth year guard, Sado, and first year guard, Colin, work under him.

Production

''Level E'' was written and illustrated by

Yoshihiro Togashi is a Japanese manga artist. He began drawing manga at an early age, before being recognized for his talent by the publishing company Shueisha while attending college. Togashi has authored several different manga series in different Literary ge ...

, who had established himself as a prominent manga artist with his popular action series ''

YuYu Hakusho is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi. It tells the story of Yusuke Urameshi, a teenage delinquent who is struck and killed by a car while saving a child's life. After several tests presented to him ...

''. When the decision was made to serialize ''Level E'', Togashi had only created the first chapter. Because the story involved the protagonist as an alien changing each chapter, he titled the manga "Alien Crises". He quickly changed it to its final name after being told the former title was too explicit. After renting a videotape called '' Level 4'', he affirmed to himself that he should name the series using the first

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

letter of the word "alien". He was informed that the first letter was "A" and not "E", but he replied that he always associated the term with '' E.T.''. Togashi has stated that he is a fan of the horror genre of films and has cited visual effects designer

H. R. Giger Hans Ruedi Giger ( ; ; 5 February 1940 – 12 May 2014) was a Swiss artist best known for his airbrushed images that blended human physiques with machines, an art style known as " biomechanical". He was part of the special effects team that won ...

(of the '' Alien'' franchise) as a major influence. Togashi based the setting of ''Level E'' on his own hometown of Yamagata with close attention to detail. For the humor, Togashi took inspiration from the gag manga ''Gaki Deka''.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by

Yoshihiro Togashi is a Japanese manga artist. He began drawing manga at an early age, before being recognized for his talent by the publishing company Shueisha while attending college. Togashi has authored several different manga series in different Literary ge ...

, ''Level E'' was serialized in

Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...

's manga magazine ''

Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump (magazine line), Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many Action (fiction), action scenes and a fair ...

'' from October 2, 1995, to January 15, 1997. A total of sixteen chapters were collected into three volumes . The first was released on March 4, 1996, the second on October 3, 1996, and the third on May 1, 1997. In addition, ''Level E'' was re-released as part of the ''Shueisha Jump Remix'' series of magazine-style books, with two volumes being released in 2009. It was also re-published by Shueisha into two volumes released on September 17, and October 15, 2010. ''Level E'' has been translated into Chinese, serialized in the magazine ''Formosa Youth'', and released in volume format by

Tong Li Publishing Tongli Publishing Co. ( Chinese: 東立出版社, Hanyu Pinyin: ''Dōng Lì Chūbǎnshè''), most known as Tong Li Comics, is a publishing company which distributes a variety of domestic and imported comics in Taiwan. History Tong Li was found ...

in the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

(Taiwan). It was also published in Brazil by Editora JBC, in France by Kazé, and Spain by Planeta DeAgostini Comics.

Anime

A 13-episode

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

adaptation of ''Level E'' was produced by

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.Pierrot Pierrot ( , ; ), a stock character of pantomime and commedia dell'arte, has his origins in the late 17th-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne. The name is a hypocorism, diminutive of ''Pierr ...

and

David Production is a Japanese animation studio founded in September 2007 by former Gonzo producers Kōji Kajita and Taito Okiura, and is based in Nishitōkyō, Tokyo. Notable works from the studio include '' JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'', '' Cells at Work!'', t ...

and directed by Toshiyuki Katō, with Jukki Hanada handling series scripts, Itsuko Takeda designing the characters and Yang Bang-ean composing the music. The series originally aired on Japan's

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network. The show's opening theme, , is performed by

Chiaki Kuriyama is a Japanese actress, singer, and model. She played Takako Chigusa in Kinji Fukasaku's 2000 film '' Battle Royale'', Gogo Yubari in Quentin Tarantino's 2003 film '' Kill Bill: Volume 1'', and Yuko Mizushima in Sion Sono's 2007 film ''Exte''. ...

, and its ending theme, , is performed by ViViD.

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...

has simulcast the series on their streaming website in other parts of the world one hour after each initial TV Tokyo airing. As stated by Kun Geo, the website's CEO, “TV Tokyo's streaming of ''Level E'' shows their commitment to bringing anime to a global audience. We are honored to be able to present this title from one of the greatest manga creators of all-time, and to be able to say that Crunchyroll's streaming of this title will directly contribute to the financial viability of all parties involved in the production, from broadcaster to animator to creator.”

Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...

has announced that they have licensed the TV series at Katsucon 2012. The anime sets the story in the modern era, with flat-screen TVs and smartphones, which were not available when the original manga was released, appearing in the story. All chapters except for the final chapter of the manga, "Honeymoon...!", have been adapted. The narration was done by Fumihiko Tachiki.

Merchandise

Several pieces of merchandise that tie into the anime have been released. These include

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

s for the opening and closing themes, apparel, and towels.

Aniplex Aniplex, Inc. (株式会社アニプレックス, ''Kabushiki-gaisha Anipurekkusu'') is a Japanese entertainment company and a subsidiary of Sony, Sony Group Corporation, founded in September 1995 by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The company fo ...

released ''Level E'' on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in Japan beginning on February 23, 2011, concluding with the sixth volume on July 27, 2011. It included as between two and three episodes apiece, as well as extra features.

Reception

Carl Kimlinger of the

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

gave an average grade to the first six episodes of the series, though he found that the artwork, animation, and music were good, and that its writing was "undeniably clever, even audacious". However, the reviewer felt the series to be less and less endearing to watch, particularly after the first three episodes, the absence of character Yukitaka Tsutsui, and the use of mini-story arcs. "There's a quixotic dignity in its use of entire story-arcs to set up single gags and a laudable courage in its willingness to experiment (check out the aged atmosphere created by episode four's thick lines and faded colors)," Kimlinger summarized. "That doesn't make it fun to watch, however. In fact, each successive episode leaves one feeling emptier and less charitable towards Prince than the last." Erin Finnegan of the same website made similar comments regarding the narrative progression of ''Level E''. Finnegan stated, "Maybe it's just me. I can't get attached to characters who are only going to be around for a few episodes unless they make an incredible impression, otherwise it's very hard to write loveable characters that will only last for three or four episodes. ../nowiki> In ''Level E'', it's hard to get attached to the Prince, who doesn't appear at all in some episodes, and in other episodes he gets very little screen time. Plus he's such a jerk, it's hard to like him or care about his shenanigans."

References

External links

* * * * {{David Production 2011 Japanese television series endings Aniplex Comedy anime and manga Comics about alien invasions David Production Extraterrestrials in anime and manga Funimation Pierrot (company) Science fiction anime and manga Shueisha franchises Shueisha manga Shōnen manga TV Tokyo original programming Yoshihiro Togashi