Level E: Extraterrestrials being Epic, Excellent, Entertaining, and... "Evil"

Level E

By Yoshihiro Togashi

Blonde: Who are you?
Yukitaka: I would like to ask the same thing.
Blonde: I have amnesia, so I can't remember.
Yukitaka: .......
Blonde: I'm an alien from outer space.
Yukitaka: Riiiight.... get out of MY apartment.
Blonde: I'm not joking, look at the TV! My spaceship's over there.
Yukitaka: Prove to me.
Blonde: * hands over a device* I think that controls the spaceship.
Yukitaka: Really? *presses something*
*There was suddenly an explosion featured on the TV*
Blonde: Looks like you pressed the self-destruct button.
Yukitaka: No way....

RATING: A (EPIC! One of the decent few~)
FAVORITISM: 4.5 Hearts ---> ADDICTION

(Some those who are watching the anime but haven't read the manga might end up seeing this... so for those who are scared of spoilers, I made this post as spoiler-free as possible [or at least, would be vague when talking about spoilery events])

This is quite mild to be seinen, but also too good for a shounen. It's no ordinary shounen in so many ways.

You can already tell that it's not the usual shounen from the art style alone. It's not that appealling to those who are used to the common "well drawn shounen" art style. Ah well, I'm one of those few individuals who finds the artwork very amazing:

Ahahaha.... yeah, there are scenes in this series that are pretty macabre. Cool, isn't it? Hehe. (Someone: You just have weird aesthetic tastes, Pyro!) Oh shut up. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder T_T

Anyway, though the art style makes it seem more like a seinen series, there are characters who are drawn in a "shounen" way, like this kid for instance:

Heck, he'll even pass to be in a shoujo series, hehe. A cutie, isn't he? =3 I won't be surprised if this kid will have some fangirls, hehe (If only they knew that a character like him exists in the series. But most fangirls tend to ignore this series because of its general art style =_=)

There had been a lot of manga (no matter what demographic) with aliens, but most of their plot goes with something like this: "Earth is about to be destroyed by bad aliens so it's upto the good aliens to save mankind." Don't worry, Level E doesn't use overused plots... though at times it would might make you worry that it'll be heading to that direction. The series is full of amazing twists. Just when you think you already solved the mystery, it will surprise you with another twist... and then with another one... and yet another before the infamous cliffhanger.

Its story is filled with interesting ideas. And its topics aren't only limited to intergalactic stuff; from aliens it goes to RPG games to human subconscious mind to baseball. There's a huge amount of dialogue on this (yeah, lots of reading) and they;re not only intellectual, but hilarious even!

I love this series' sense of humor. What made me laugh the most is the Color Rangers arc (yes, there's a sentai team complete with colored spandex suits and superpowers... bwahahahah!). Level E is so fantastic with its parodies... they are cool and crazy at the same time!

Not only is the series intellectual, psychological, and freakin' hilarious, but it had really cool action stuff as well! Yay to cool alien punks! Hehe~ Even the stereotypical shounen moves were epic (Golden Hammer!!!!). It had nice drama too... the mermaid arc was the most touching. And believe it or not, there's romance in this series! And no, it's not gay =P (Our main character is straight even though he looks so feminine and even crossdressed). The relationships are canon even:

I really really really love this pairing. Their story's romantic... though in a strange way, hehe. Both of them have something wrong on their heads, haha! (Someone: Pft! It's only because you like shipping weirdoes, Pyro!) *ehem* Oh, the girl in the image is my favorite among the females~ You can't underestimate females in this series~

In fact, all women in this series are awesome in their own way~ You don't need to have fighting females to have cool women in a shonen series. And of course, the guys in this series are terrific too. No matter what race or age, they're all cool! This series has such an amazing cast.

My favorite's the bodyguard: Kraft. His guts on insulting his superior and his wishes of having his superior gone for good greatly amused me, haha! But of course, the most amazing character is none other than the leading character. He's a genius, but he's not the usual shounen hero either.... for he is very very malicious. Haha! And he doesn't deny it.

Kid: You're an asshole!
Leading Character: Apparently, I am.

The main character's such a psycho... but despite his abnormality, he's also brilliant. But even if he's so smart, he can be outsmarted. I'm so pleased that all characters, including the main one, have both strengths and weaknesses.

Of course, the series has its flaws (I'd like to think that it's mainly because it was forced to ended in three volumes). There are still things unexplained... (the biggest mystery wasn't revealed until the end).  It would've also been nice if there had been more background and development on some parts. Despite that, the series is too awesome that the little mistakes are ignorable~ Ohohohohoho! It's not often for one to find shounen series as terrific as this~

Though I'm not sure if this is really aimed to young audiences... because it's full of bad influence =P Haha! It even has some mature themes (masturbation, homosexuality, gore, etc.) though they're not that extreme or explicit (or didn't happen at all.... or not shown at least).

Overall, Level E is a very well-written series. It's one of the most entertaining manga I've ever read. The author's such a genius for coming up with something like this~ Highly recommended to all those who want to see something very unique and fun.