Level C
Reviewer: LN Tora [email]Overall Rating: C+
Media Reviewed: DVD
Creator: Futaba Aoi
U.S. Licensed: Yes
Released by: Media Blasters / Kitty Media
Run time: 30 minutes
BL Content: Hard (sexual situations, nudity)
Genre: Romance
Other media: English-licensed manga [review]
According to the summary on the back of the DVD, popular male fashion model is wanted by president of another company, so she gets her brother to seduce the guy over to their side, only somewhere along the way, the two wind up falling in love.
Having said that, I must insist you get that image out of your head right now, because that is not what Level-C is about. The teaser on the DVD implies a plot. The short and sweet summary should just read "gay anime porn," because that's about what this work adds up to.
The aforementioned male model is nineteen year-old Shinohara Mizuki, a young man working under Shinohara Minoru, his elder half-brother. Mizuki decides to walk home one night after finishing up a photo shoot, where he runs into Honjo Kazuomi, a love-flighty corporate salesman that jumps from place to place, staying with whoever he sleeps with until they kick him out or he leaves, (usually the former). Kazuomi actually spots Mizuki on the street first. After thinking how 'cute' Mizuki is, Kazuomi chases after him and after a brief exchange, (probably for thin plot's sake), boldly asked if he could stay the night at Mizuki's place. In return, Kazuomi declares that for rent, he'll make Mizuki feel "out of this world."
The action jumps almost straight away into the much overly warned of sex. (Trust me, you'd have to see the disclaimers on the DVD to believe it.) At this point I would like to comment on is the way the genitalia is handled. It's transparent. Not there, not at all. Only the copious amount of body fluid outlining where a penis should be will give the viewer any hint that the characters are in fact male, (especially in Mizuki's case).
At this point in the story, Kazuomi hits a snag. Turns out Mizuki is a very shy virgin. So Kazuomi decides to play the gentleman and leave rather than see Mizuki cry. Of course, Mizuki protests (we wouldn't have much left for the other 20 minutes if he didn't). This predictably leads to Kazuomi more or less staying with Mizuki.
A very thin attempt at a plot is made involving Kazuomi's twin sister, Yoroi Haruna. However, it's so cliched that the viewer should see it coming ten miles away. The plot, for lack of a better word, isn't helped by the fact that Level-C is only thirty minutes long. I believe Wiggle mentioned the plot (what little there is of it) being somewhat unrealistic. In my opinion, I feel Wiggle was being very kind. It's painfully unrealistic. Granted, I don't know as much as I'd like about the social culture of Japan, but I do not think you let a stranger you just met on the street into your home, no matter what the proposition. If nothing else, this doesn't say much for the level of common sense on behalf of the character.
The artwork is acceptable, clean and straightforward. With the exception of Mizuki, the character designs are solid. And nothing distracts the viewers from the characters themselves as far as the background art is concerned. However, the same can't be said for the music, which only serves to make what could be a light-hearted romp into a bad porn piece.
Personally speaking, while I like a moderately effeminate, submissive partner along with the next fangirl, I have my limits. And Mizuki far surpasses them. Between eyelashes better than any of the female characters and a voice that sounds as though it should be coming from a schoolgirl, Mizuki is two steps away from just being a woman. If one were to compare him with Jun'ya from Boku no Sexual Harassment, it's easy to say Jun'ya is just spineless and overly naive, but there's no mistaking him for anything but a guy. The same can't be said for Mizuki, especially with the overly whimpered cries during the three-step sex scenes.
One large complaint stems from the subtitled script itself. While I'm no expert with the language, I know enough to tell that in many occasions, the script takes liberties with the actual dialogue. I don't mind this so much in a dub, as there's lip synching to consider, but with subtitles, I feel the script should stick as close to the original lines as possible.
In closing, if you like plot, more 'manly' characters, and proper drawings of anatomy with your yaoi, skip this. But if you can live without any of that, then by all means, go ahead and give Level-C a try. It really is a yaoi piece, after all.