Forum - View topicREVIEW: Level E Episodes 1-6 Streaming
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Saturn
 Posts: 513 |
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Have to agree with all of this. Level E was, once, my early favourite of the season. Now I'm to the point of "oh, a new episode is out? ... I'll check it out later." I can appreciate how bold and clever the storytelling is (to say nothing of the amazing, ultra-stylish animation and often wonderful voicework), but as Carl said: that doesn't mean it's very fun :\
Actually, it kind of makes it worse, like a cake that looks really really delicious but was made with sweet-n-low and tastes like chemicals. |
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Brack
 Posts: 291 Location: UK |
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Pretty much everything cited as a negative in the review is why I love this show. I'd much rather have abrasive comedies filled with gags than shows that are trying make you like the characters over being funny. It's a comedy, if the characters are funny, that's enough to make me like them.
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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The first arc is an incredibly funny three episode joke. It is undeniably the funniest and most cleverly crafted of the lot thus far. I disagree that the ending is a cop-out, as the video that the Prince made shows the level of planning that went into his scheme.
Oh, and doesn't this review have like MAJOR spoilers in it? I hope everyone who read it has watched at least the first three episodes or they will have been spoiled on one of the funniest Anime events in years. |
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kgw
 Posts: 1181 Location: Spain, EU |
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Level E having worse story than "Zombie"...? Now, that's a joke.
Of course, making a show from several independent stories may affect to the overall development of the series' characters, since the only ones we really know is the Prince and his "clique". As for the Prince, he's the same jerk from the first episode to the last (#6 in this review). But I fail to see how the overall stories of Level E are inferior to some overdone fan-service show. |
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Raneth
Posts: 271 |
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This is the first negative review of the show I've read-it sounds a lot like not liking the main character ruined the whole show for you, so its hard to make a decision off of that on whether or not its worth watching. I'm hoping I'll be more forgiving of Prince, because if not it sounds like the show is just frustrating.
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vashthekaizoku
 Posts: 261 Location: The House of Rat |
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See, I think the Prince is hilarious. He's basically Ashton Kutcher from Punk'd on a galactic scale. And the fact that he gets away with all the crap he pulls because a) he's a prince and b) he's a genius is priceless. He's like the ultimate troll...This series could only come from the creator of popular anime asshole Yusuke Urameshi. It's just too good!
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prabb
 Posts: 86 |
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I can't help but to disagree. While Prince Baka (pretty sure that name is canon) may not be a likeable character, his shenanigans are so cleverly derived it's easy to forgive him. His recurring obsession with videogames also helps to add to his character and link the separate story arcs together. (Come on! His spaceship looks like an old Super Famicom cartridge! What's not to love?)
If you give this series the three episode test you'll more than likely be rewarded when you get to the best of the story arcs--HERE COME COLOR RANGER! |
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UltimaLuminaire
Posts: 18 |
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I've heard this same complaint from individuals, about the series being unappealing because of the constant shift in characters and the linear progression of the Prince's character. I cannot stress how much injustice this point of view does to the show or the manga. It is a 1995 replication of those serial pulp sci-fi shenanigans that many older people grew up with. It's an acquired taste, but effing a, anime like this hasn't come out in a damned long time; consistently animated, consistently written, and consistently presented. Plain and simple, these 3 things alone make it a gem in a season filled with unbalanced directing and writing, of loss potential and bitter self-defeat.
Another gripe is what this reviewer is biased towards. The reviewer may have brushed up on knowledge of how screenwriting should be for single movies and linear serializations, and this review format would have fit perfectly for them, but this is not a movie or a linear serialization. This is an anime based on a manga that presents multiple short story arcs to create the world of Level E. Series like these are afforded extra leeway, much like their live-action counterparts. Yet not in this review, and not in the eyes of the youth of today, sadly. |
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Saturn
Posts: 513 |
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While I appreciate being referred to as "the youth of today" for being one who agrees with the review (I'm not being snarky; as old as I am in comparison to most anime fans I come across, anyone calling me young is delightful), old people and young alike can have a hard time caring about characters that will abruptly be done away with-- aside from Prince Baka, who has that abrasive personality (honestly I don't dislike him-- when he's actually IN the show, it's hilarious. When it's a story that features perhaps 10 seconds of him, I start dozing off). That might be about to change spoiler[as the Color Rangers appear to be on the docket for the upcoming episode, since that dreadfully dull arc just ended], but we'll see. Honestly the problem I have with the show is that it's NOT consistent: it's not funny enough to be comedy, it's not scary enough to be horror, it's not dramatic enough to be drama. It sits neatly in the intersection of every genre, but doesn't draw enough from any to be consistently entertaining. Also, calling out a reviewer for having a bias is like calling out a pizza for having sauce. Of course reviewers have biases, and of course that will flavor their reviews, since reviews are opinion pieces. Take out the opinion and all you have is a synopsis. |
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Dorcas_Aurelia
 Posts: 5344 Location: Philly |
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While I do miss Yukitaka, I vehemently disagree with the analysis of how the plot twist of episode 3 changes one's appreciation of the Prince for the worse. Whereas before that reveal, he seems to be a somewhat oblivious jerk, from that point on, there is nothing to hide, and he can not just revel, but wallow in his assholeishness. While he may endanger random strangers for his own amusement, one of his directives from episode 4 onward is to protect Earth, and no humans are ever harmed by aliens on his watch. He gets beat up enough that I wouldn't say he avoids his comeuppance. spoiler[He even saves the species from extinction] in episode 9.
But it's not just that he's biased, it's that he's severely downgrading the series based on a single character, and based on the presumed morality of the show as a result of the characters actions. Edit: fixed misquote Last edited by Dorcas_Aurelia on Sat Mar 12, 2011 3:02 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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utawoutau
 Posts: 209 |
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I totally agree with this review. I basically had to stop watching it because I hate the Prince that much.
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Dojiko
Posts: 2 |
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Although I have to admit that the end to the first arc was disappointing in some ways, it really does set the tone for the rest of the series. Despite the prince's pranks being the reason for most of the conflict in the show, for some reason those conflicts aren't any less tense or dramatic.
Prince appears to be one of those characters who comes up with schemes that seem really awful at first, but then turn out to be benign or even beneficial in the end. He's a trickster. Sure Prince caused a lot of trouble for Yukitaka and Miho, but Yukitaka's "I like cats" line turns out to be pretty loaded. Yukitaka's new "cat" may be a high-maintenance bastard, but he still keeps it around. The Color Rangers arc is another example of a benign trickster's work. Prince forces five children to play a "life-threatening" game with him, a game that after a while they really begin to enjoy. The high point of this arc was probably the dialogue between the Prince and Demon King on their "Wedding Night." In this episode, the Prince's trickster tomfoolery takes on an almost Bugs Bunny like quality - cross-dressing and sexual tension inclusive. Although I agree it could be a stronger series, I can understand why Togashi didn't continue on the serious Yukitaka-Prince-Miho track. Prince and Yukitaka may have made a great tsukomi-boke combo, but Yukitaka was beginning to resemble Yusuke Urameshi far too much. Togashi had just gotten finished with a long-running "serious" series, and he probably didn't want to dive right back into another one, especially not with a character that so closely resembles his previous protagonist. This isn't my favorite series this season (nothing beats Madoka Magica), but I always look forward to the next episode. I adore tricksters! |
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Anton Chigurh
 Posts: 257 Location: Guam |
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I haven't seen the series - Zac's praise, at least initially, raised my interest a bit, but I don't feel I am missing much TBH. But considering I couldn't enjoy Death Note fully because of my disdain for it's main character, I am not feeling so good about it now. Ah, and...
[quote="Dojiko"]This isn't my favorite series this season (nothing beats Madoka Magica), !/] Effin', Frakkin', A. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Hmm, may I ask Keonyn what was wrong with my previous post?
Anyway, as I already said, I thought the end of the first arc was hilarious and not a cop-out at all. If you look at some of the details you can see that there had been foreshadowing; spoiler[aliens are not allowed to attack humans and yet one supposedly did in broad daylight (we learn that this was all a ruse).] And also, there are some fairly major spoilers in this review, ones which will ruin the entire first arc (and possibly beyond) for those who haven't watched the show yet. The twist in episode three may still be funny, but it won't be nearly as surprising or funny as it otherwise would be, and that's a crying shame. |
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poonk
 Posts: 1490 Location: In the Library with Philip |
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I just don't know how to feel about Level E myself. I liked the first handful of episodes but found the recent Color Rangers arc dull, save for when the Prince briefly shows his face and does something nasty and/or ridiculous. I preferred seeing him interact with his new roommate-- whatever happened to him, or the neighbor for that matter?-- and Craft, who's constantly fighting the urge to murder him (being voiced by Takehito Koyasu doesn't hurt either). Now it seems like the Prince is just used as a constant, in order to string together otherwise mostly unrelated stories. I'm still interested enough to keep watching but I seem to anticipate each new episode less & less. Maybe it'll turn around a bit with this spoiler["alien queen mating"] arc.
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