Level E

Level E (レベル E) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi. The plot follows the misadventures of alien Prince Baka Ki El Dogra, who crash-lands on Earth and forcibly begins living with high school student and baseball player Yukitaka Tsutsui. However, Prince Baka gradually realizes that he is targeted by aliens from other planets, and he uses his clever wits to somehow maintain world peace each time. Along with its short length and more realistic art style, the story of Level E focuses much more heavily on humor than Togashi's more famous series Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter × Hunter.

Level E was serialized for sixteen chapters in Shueisha's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1995 to 1997 and collected in three volumes. A 13-episode anime television series adaptation, directed by Toshiyuki Katō and produced by Pierrot and David Production, aired on TV Tokyo in 2011.

Plot

Earth has been populated by thousands of aliens from all over the galaxy. While all the other aliens are aware of their presence, it is a secret only from the Earthlings. Baka, the prince of the planet Dogra, crash lands on Earth and loses his memory. He forcibly moves in with Yukitaka Tsutsui, a first year high school student who had just moved out on his own.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi, Level E was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from October 2, 1995, to January 15, 1997.[5] 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.[6][7][8] 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.[9][10] It was also re-published by Shueisha into two volumes released on September 17, and October 15, 2010.[11][12] Level E has been translated into Chinese, serialized in the magazine Formosa Youth, and released in volume format by Tong Li Publishing in the Republic of China (Taiwan).[13] It was also published in Brazil by Editora JBC,[14] in France by Kazé,[15] and Spain by Planeta DeAgostini Comics.[16]

Anime

A 13-episode anime adaptation of Level E was produced by TV Tokyo, Pierrot and David Production and directed by Toshiyuki Katō, with Jukki Hanada handling series scripts, Itsuko Takeda designing the characters and Yang Bang-ean composing the music.[17] The series originally aired on Japan's TV Tokyo from January 11, 2011, to April 5, 2011.[18][19] The show's opening theme, "Cold Finger Girl" (コールドフィンガーガール), is performed by Chiaki Kuriyama, and its ending theme, "(Yume) ~Mugennokanata~" (｢夢｣〜ムゲンノカナタ〜), is performed by ViViD.[20] Crunchyroll has simulcast the series on their streaming website in other parts of the world one hour after each initial TV Tokyo airing.

Merchandise

Several pieces of merchandise that tie into the anime have been released. These include CD singles for the opening and closing themes, apparel, and towels.[25] Aniplex released Level E on DVD 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.[26]

Plot

Characters

Production

Media

Manga

Anime

Merchandise

Reception

External links

References

type	tv series
director	Toshiyuki Katō
producer	Hatsuo Nara Ken Hagino Kōji Kajita
writer	Jukki Hanada
music	Yang Bang-ean
studio	Pierrot David Production
network	TV Tokyo
first	January 11, 2011
last	April 5, 2011
episodes	13