Yoshihiro Togashi
"Level E" was written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi, who had established himself as a prominent manga artist with his popular action series "YuYu Hakusho". 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 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 (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 .