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Excel Saga is a comedy anime directed by Shinichi Watanabe and based on a manga series written by Rikdo Koshi. The complete Japanese title is へっぽこ実験アニメーション エクセル・サーガ
, translated as Quack Experimental Anime Excel Saga.
Excel Saga is a television show which originally aired on TV Tokyo from August 7, 1999 to March 30, 2000. There are 26 episodes, but only the first 25 were aired (Episode 26, Going Too Far, was intentionally made to be too controversial to show on TV, even down to the show's opening and closing animation.)
The Excel Saga manga is published in English by Viz Communications.The anime is available in the U.S. from ADV Films.
Lord Ilpalazzo, head of the secret organization "ACROSS", wants to rid the world of corruption, starting with just one city ("Conquering one city is a reasonable plan that allows some leeway for setbacks"). Trouble is, "ACROSS" consists in its entirety of himself and Agent Excel, an airheaded blonde who never stops talking. (The situation doesn't improve noticeably when Excel gains a sidekick in the second episode; Agent Hyatt is quite a bit smarter than Excel but has an unfortunate tendency to keep dying for no readily apparent reason.) The city in question is referred to as "F City, F Prefecture" in the anime; this is short for Fukuoka, Fukuoka.
The show relentlessly parodies various films, games, dramas, and other works of anime, including but by no means limited to Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, Superman, Doraemon, Fist of the North Star, Biohazard, Mickey Mouse, Lupin III, Mobile Suit Gundam, Captain Harlock, Space Battleship Yamato and Star Wars. It is also very self-aware and features appearances from the writer, the director and the singers of the theme tune (the Excel♥Girls).
The writer of the comic, Rikdo Koshi, is killed in the first episode by Excel, with a big Chinese sword. In a parody of many manga-to-anime translations (including Sailor Moon), Excel Saga the anime has very little to do with Excel Saga the manga (in fact, they knowingly skip sections from the manga).
The Japanese voice actor of Excel, Kotono Mitsuishi, is same as Misato in Neon Genesis Evangelion and Tsukino Usagi, the central character of Sailor Moon.
Excel Saga comics are originally based on the dojinshi comic Municipal Force Daitenzin, also written by Koshi Rikdo.
There is also an (even wackier) OVA spinoff called Puni Puni Poemi.
Characters
ACROSS
- Excel Excel, aka Hanako Dosukoi: Fast talking, wise-cracking heroine. Initially the sole minion within ACROSS. Excel normally completes/screws up the mission with a combination of extreme determination, overenthusiasm and complete lack of understanding on how to finish the objective. She's hopelessly in love with Ilpalazzo and will do almost anything for him -- even if he doesn't want her to.
- Lord Ilpalazzo: Typical evildoer, Excel and Hyatt's boss. His obligatory catchphrase: "This world is becoming rotten!" Ilpalazzo doesn't have much patience for Excel's antics, and drops her down "the pit" whenever she's too hyper for his taste. Despite all his scheming, he seems to be an ordinary man obsessed with the little things of life, like games, music, or arranging domino blocks.
- Menchi: Excel's pet dog and emergency food supply. She was sent away by her caring owner who hoped she would have a better life that he could provide; unfortunately for her, Excel found Menchi first. Despite numerous threats, Excel never does get the courage to eat Menchi, and actually begins to care for her (in a twisted sort of way) as the series progresses; Excel even has Iz-chan do a reset on her in the middle of one episode.
- Hyatt, aka Chihaya Ayasugi: Discovered on an alien space ship and saved from the clutches of the excessively cute Puchuus. Dies all the time, but always revives soon thereafter, even if medically pronounced dead; when she's not dead, she's noticeably anemic, and often has to crawl to get around. (This aspect of her character parodies an anime tradition of attractive heroines with weak constitutions. Another less extreme parody of the same thing can be seen in Mutsumi Otohime from Love Hina, who Hyatt not coincidentally physically resembles.) Hyatt seems to have suffered a chronic disease that involves coughing up blood, and this 'killed' her most of the time. Most low level lifeforms (particularly grass) and ambient energies in items tend to degenerate or die around her, giving unnatural or dangerous results if consumed or used. This could be from her disease spreading, or from Hyatt absorbing the energy of her environment to stay alive or come back to life; the phenomenon is not explained in any further detail in the anime.
- Elgâla, aka Kasumi Mukanaka: Only in the manga, Elgala is the third ACROSS girl -- Excel's rival for Ilpalazzo's 'affection,' Elgala is a strange girl with the bad habit of speaking every thought that comes into her head aloud. She often goes on secret missions that she is not allowed to talk about (or think about) with the other girls, and seems to like Menchi as an actual dog -- not (gasp!) food. She is always being bossed around by Excel, and shares Excel's habit of being dropped down the pit on occassion.
Excel, Ilpalazzo, and Hyatt are named after Tokyo's three largest hotels. Early on in the manga series, a photograph of the Fukuoka Elgâla Hall is used as a background image. In the original manga series, these are codenames; the real names of the members of ACROSS are never revealed.
Department of City Security
- Kabapu: Officious leader. Has a handlebar moustache which can spin around and even fall off (though his mouth is never shown).
- Tooru Watanabe: Excel and Hyatt's neighbor, he lives in an apartment with Iwata and Sumiyoshi, but he's fed up with them, all the time. He falls in love with Hyatt.
- Norikuni Iwata: A really stupid guy. He falls in love with Misaki. And Ropponmatsu #1. And Excel. And any other cute girl he sees (except Ropponmatsu #2). Unfortunately for him, he always ends up slammed into a wall, drenched or otherwise beaten up.
- Daimaru Sumiyoshi: The only really intelligent male in the group, Sumiyoshi is a fat guy who speaks only in subtitles, using the Kansai dialect (in the manga, he has an Okayama accent, which is translated in the English language Manga as the Geordie dialect of England).
- Misaki Matsuya: Attractive and intelligent female recruit. Very dedicated to task, but also very good at repelling Iwata's frequent advances (not to mention telling the camera off for leering at her).
- Ropponmatsu: A beautiful bomb-disposal expert who happens to be a robot. Rebuilt after an explosion in two forms; as herself, and as a perky young cat-girl.
Other Citizens of F
- Nabeshin: A strange guy with an afro, who dresses like Lupin III. The name comes from Watanabe Shinichi, the voice actor's name in Japanese order. (This is the same Shinichi Watanabe who directs the anime.) Being the director, he is the personified deus ex machina. Also, as a parody of the struggle manga artists often find themselves in with anime adaptations of their work, Nabeshin and Rikdo are often at each other's throat throughout the series.
- Pedro: The unluckiest man on Earth. Died while working on a construction project alongside Excel. Keeps referring to his wife in the English translation as his "sexy wife", and always ends his appearance in an episode with a teary face and a loud "NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"
- Daiuchuu no Ooinaru Ishi: The Great Will of the Macrocosm. Appearing in the form of galaxy with arms, she acts kind of a reset button to revive Excel when she dies (she dies a lot in Episode 1). She falls in love with Pedro. Usually called "Iz-chan," an abbreviation of her name in Japanese. Strangely, she and Pedro's former wife have the same voice...
- That Man: Pedro's archnemesis, who masquerades as a friend and seduces both Pedro's wife and his lover. The characters never learn his real name and therefore refer to him simply as "That Man" (with the official reason for his lack of a name being that he was not originally intended to be anything but a walk-on character in one episode).
- Sandora: Pedro's first son, who has a thing for anime. Sandora moves to America and starts selling his drawings, not knowing that the pictures are being sold to the Mafia. Eventually he comes back home at the end of the series.
- Puchu-puchu: Aliens from outer space that came to Earth to invade. Puchuus have an extremely cute, teddy bear-like appearance that few can resist. However, when killed, they reveal their true 'not-so-cute' form. The interesting thing is when they are not pre-occupied with invading the Earth, they live with humans either as pets or as helpers (like maids; they even come with their own futon beaters).
- Gojou Shioji: Shioji is the creator of the Ropponmatsus; he also has a serious lolicon (he leers at little girls at a playground in one episode, and has a favorite robot "daughter" that's about the size and apparent age of a toddler). In the final episode he ends up in a love hotel with the young girl assassin Cosette; luckily for the audience, a certain plot twist keeps it from (as the title suggests) going way too far.
Episode Guide
- 01. The Koshi Rikdo Assassination Plot
Excel joins up with ACROSS. Her first task is to kill Rikdo Koshi. Excel keeps on messing the job up, usually dying in the process.
Hyatt arrives on the scene. However, the aliens transporting her to earth have the usual world-domination plans. This parodies western Sci-Fi movies, especially Star Wars (Puchu's ship resembles the Star Destroyer)
- 03. The Sacrificial Lamb of the Venomous Great Escape of Hell
The episode resembles a war B-movie. Excel is trapped in the jungle, alongside some very manly mercenaries, who also happen to have some unfinished business with Nabeshin. But some of them have a very soft side for her dog Menchi. The androgynous prisoner in an iron mask complicates the situation.
"Love Puny" is a romantic comedy spoof. Watanabe sets his sights on Hyatt, but he is actually under the control of a dating game Ilpalazzo is playing, causing hilarity to ensue. The pun in title of this episode can unfortunately not survive translation - in Japanese, "puny" is "henachoko," which is shortened to "hena," making the title "Love Hena" - a reference to "Love Hina", a popular romantic anime and manga. The dating game is played on what appears to be a Game Boy Advance.
- 05. The Interesting Giant Tower
Excel and Hyatt set out to infiltrate the government of F City. It turns out that the officials are even more incompetent than the heroines.
"I, Rikdo Koshi, hereby authorize Excel Saga be made into a survivor show!" ACROSS plans to set up a laser in the mountains. Of course, they become stranded again.
- 07. Melody of the Underground Passage
The Puchus from Ep 2 seem to have infiltrated F City's sewers. Since it's a horror-movie spoof, an Aliens-style cleanup action is necessary, pitting the Department of Security against ACROSS for the first time.
- 08. Increase Ratings Week
Everybody chills out in the pool, and the males are never on-camera (except for one single man). This episode is pure fanservice.
This episode has to do with bowling. ACROSS is not the only nefarious organization to get that idea. The title of this episode in Japanese ("Bowling Musume") is an oblique reference to the Japanese girl-band Morning Musume (essentially, a Japanese female version of Menudo).
One of the first animal anime spoofs. Menchi has had enough of her role as emergency food supply and runs away. Soon she meets up with some other strays.
Excel temps as a substitute teacher/baseball coach. Parodies Great Teacher Onizuka and "spring time youth drama" in general.
This Police-story spoof has no part one, by the way. The Department of City Security gets to tag along with a very strange police detective for a day, while Hyatt is taken hostage by some extremely incompetent bankrobbers.
- 13. The New Year's-End Party Hidden Talent Contest
A recap of all previous episodes, in the form of a game show.
The Department of City Security gets a new member: Ropponmatsu, robotic bomb disposal expert. Just in time, because ACROSS is now trying its luck with bombs.
Ropponmatsu is back, and so is her updated sister model, Ropponmatsu.
The two Ropponmatsus fall madly in love with Excel and Hyatt. In the episode, it seems like having a near-indestructible combat robot fall madly in love with one is not all it's cracked up to be. Again, the title cannot survive translation - in Japanese, "love" is "ai", used in the title with a double meaning: as the literal meaning, and as the acronym for Artificial Intelligence, referring to the Ropponmatsus.
Excel and Hyatt are on a reconnaissance mission to the United States. Somehow, their wackiness seems even more inappropriate there. The episode contains the ultimate showdown between US and Japanese animation.
The Department of City Security is outfitted with Sentai suits to stop crime even more effectively. They now are able to blow up anything, and of course they do. This episode is a reference to a doujinshi Koshi Rikdo drew, which carried the same name and is what Excel Saga based on.
- 19. Menchi's Great Adventure 2: Around the World in 80 Hours
Another Menchi detour, she makes a trip around the world with a young industry magnate who is hunted by her evil uncle.
- 20. The Best of Mr. Pedro
Another recap, featuring all Pedro happenings up to this point and even some new ones.
Seems like there is such a thing as ACROSS HQ, and it sends a messenger - Key, a typical J-Rock star. He does not blend in well with his coworkers....and there's something about his guitar's shadow that just doesn't seem right. The title is a spoof on the term Visual kei.
The Puchuus are back, and now they're invading for real. This leads to an epic space opera in the vein of Gundam and the works of Leiji Matsumoto - complete with Puchuu versions of Captain Harlock and Char Aznable, among other characters. They "puchuized" the RX-78-2 Gundam down to the core fighter, as well as the Zeong, and ripped the final battle of Mobile Suit Gundam-not to mention the fact that the debris that was dropped looks suspiciously like a space colony. Also, it was the first episode that actually upset audiences.
- 23. Legend of the End of the Century Conqueror
The space battle of the last episode didn't go so well, so now the City of F has some dire problems. Gangs roam the deserted wastelands. There is one person standing up against them; that person is Excel. This episode directly parodies Fist of the North Star.
Further exploring the "wastelands" storyline, the Department of City Security has survived having a city-sized space cruiser dropped onto their heads. Now they try to reclaim their city. This is the only "serious" episode in the series, as per Rikdo's edict at the start of the episode.
- 25. We Will Not Be Held Responsible
The episode begins with the politically incorrect super robot that appeared from the Daitenzin doujinshi. It leads to a group of fights: Pedro vs. That Man, the Daitenzin vs. Ilpalazzo vs. Excel, Hyatt vs. Watanabe (Hyatt's gun looks familiar). Also, while there are gags, it still retained some of the seriousness from the last episode. They purposely made it resemble an end-of-series episode, or so they say...
This episode was not aired on TV Tokyo because it intentionally contains a lot of things that cannot be shown on Japanese television. The episode is completely detached from what little storyline Excel Saga managed to build up over the last episodes, and it features mostly sex (including one case of underage uncensored nudity), violence (overflowing of blood and shooting sprees), and explosions (Nabeshin: "You can count on me! Anime is all about explosions!"). According to Nabeshin, they wanted to see how far they'd have to go to piss people off, to take things too far. Aside from content, they went "too far" by going overtime, one minute longer than normal.
Opening and Ending
- Opening: Ai (Chuuseishin) - Love (Loyalty)
- Ending: Menchi no Bolero - Menchi's Bolero of Sorrow (So You Are Going To Eat Me...)
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