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Studio : J.C. STAFF
Licenced by : ADV Films
Length : 26 Episodes
Year : 1999
Genre : Science-Fiction - Comedy - Adventure
Synopsis :
From the first 5 min of episode 1: Excel is girl with high hopes for her future. We see her graduating from high school skipping to her new job and career. Unfortunately when she skips across the road just in front of the school... she gets hit by a truck and dies. Yep, it is a story about World Domination. Make sense? Neither will the series... Just pure craziness!
Added : 2002-08-14
Synopsis by : Kaiser
Last update : 2008-01-28
Last update details : Modify info
Score : 8.52
Number of reviews : 31
Song(s) :
Opening #1 : Excel Girls - Ai ( Chuuseishin ) / Love ( Loyalty )
Ending #1 : Excel Girls - Menchi Aishou no Bolero / Menchi's Bolero of Grief
Ending #2 : Excel Girls - Menchi Aishou no Bolero (Gyakuna)
Release(s) :
There are no release available for this anime.
Hits : 23286
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Posted by : Terentius 
Posted on : 2008-04-22 
The ADV DVD cover sleeves and the opening credits sums up quite accurately the type of experience that will be awaiting you…Excel Saga is quite simply a "Quack Experimental Anime". Was it too experimental for my tastes though?
Animation
For a show fast approaching ten years old, Excel Saga still looks great. J.C. Staff managed to cram so much into nearly every frame. If it weren’t for the excellent ADV DVD extras, I would have missed them completely. I liked all of the character designs, especially of Excel and Hyatt.
Story
There was no cohesive plot and a non-existent main story (bar the final two to three episodes). The only thing that resembled anything of a continuous story involved Pedro and his desire to head home to his ‘beautiful wife.’ Full of parodies and jokes galore, Excel Saga truly was experimental in throwing everything (concerning a discernible story) out the window. If you are looking for anything remotely serious or sensible, sorry…you’re looking in the wrong place!
Characters
To describe the characters as ‘absolutely insane’ would be an understatement. Even the supposedly serious leader of ACROSS is suffering from some major split personality disorders. Much like Cromartie High School, the most intelligent character in the show was an animal (Menchi). Excel Saga was truly the first anime I’ve encountered to have a complete ensemble of weirdness throughout its entire cast. The end result = fun, laughter and stupidity!
Music
Aside from the very weird OP and ED, there wasn’t anything that really stood out from the show.
Summary
Well, Excel Saga really was experimental back in the day. There were a lot of anime and otaku references in the show that would confuse most fans. This is where I would like to praise ADV for the highly informative extra features in their DVD release that would allow an average/newer fan an insight into some of the more obscure jokes. However, in terms of the sheer randomness and irrelevance of jokes/parodies, Seto no Hanayome has probably superseded it. Excel Saga would be suitable for an experienced/hardcore fan…until then I wouldn’t recommend this to someone new. Rather, you’d be better off developing an extensive personal collection before even attempting to watch this. Excel Saga is still an entertaining watch and would be deserving of a space in your (hopefully large) catalogue.
If you’ve been around and seen a number of ‘weird’ titles, this deserves 4.5 stars. If watching a more normal anime is your cup of tea, then this would be a 3.5 star rating.
So on reflection, this is a very deserving 4 stars.
Posted by : jajajajaja07
Posted on : 2007-07-05 
Excel Saga; like most people, I've only heard good things about this series. Like most people, I have really enjoyed this series!
I've laughed at nearly every insane episode in this series; the parodies, Pedro's story, and Excel herself making me laugh the most; however, there were some episodes that were a miss to me (Menchi based episodes; they're just not funny to me).
This series is not a comedy entirely, however; there's one tiny part in this series that surprised me at how depressing it was; probably not as depressing as some other anime series that revolve around depressing scenarios (NANA for example), but it seemed very sad since it was unexpected (I'm talking about the end of episode 23).
Overall, although there were some episodes I did not find very funny, most of the time I couldn't help myself but laugh! Recommended.
Posted by : holyflame2
Posted on : 2007-04-15 
Storyline: 1
Excel is our heroine in this story, and she belongs to the Secret Ideological Society known as ACROSS. She basically goes there, does what her lord Ilpalazzo wishes, and occasionally goes on to her part-time jobs, while doing crazy things, like dying several times. Along for the ride are Hyatt, who seems to be always fatally sick, Watanabe, a guy who has a crush on Hyatt, Iwata, a guy who has an as-yet unknown role, Sumiyoshi, a guy that speaks in floating written words, Pedro, immigrant worker with bad luck, Menchi, the dog that Excel plans on eating and also sings the ending theme song, and Nabeshin, overall cool-guy action hero with a 'fro that is "based on" the directer, Shinichi Watanabe. Plus the Great Will of the Macrocosm, who exists only to reset the story if things get out of hand. No real storyline at the beginning, but who cares?
Type: Pure Comedy / Parody
Ch. Development: Who the hell cares?
I'd give it a 2
Sexuality: 6 (8 for Ep. 26)
Some pretty perverted jokes here and there, but no nudity... yet... or ever, since this is a TV show. (And yet, Ep. 26 breaks all such barriers... it isn't titled "Going Too Far" for nothing.
Romance: 5
There's Excel's crush on Ilpalazzo, Watanabe's crush on Hyatt, and Ilpalazzo's crush on Hyatt. All pretty basic, and it sounds like a requirement.
Drama: 5
The basic problems that occur like government issues and bombs that need to be deactivated, but thanks to the Great Will of the Macrocosm, if anything goes wrong, it's all reset. It picks up big time near the end, but I feel that's another form of anime parody.
Action: 4
Hey, there really isn't much of it, but there is the occasional gunplay, and Nabeshin.
Comedy: 10
Are you kidding? With every other category getting low marks and a high overall grade, you were expecting this, weren't you?
Dub
Dub Voices: 9
They work out fine, but Excel's character is done a little too loud and harsh.
Dub Music: N/A
Dub Lines: 10
Nothing wrong here... except maybe episode 17
Excel Saga is a horrible anime. That is, if it were serious it would be horrible, but it's not. Instead it's a comedy that spares no insult when referencing other movies and anime, and never ceases the insanity. How insane is it you ask? Well, in the first episode (and occasionally in other episodes) Excel dies six times. Our hero helps to take over the world (starting off in F City, F Prefecture, and possibly never moving on), and Nabeshin is always around to add some action into the mix... unless he's on vacation at a beach drinking juice and singing about his afro. Excel's partner Hyatt is constantly dying of an unknown sickness, and Ilpalazzo Spends most of his time just sitting around ACROSS HQ. Also, some eps don't have anything to do with consistency at all. Excel Saga is unpredictable and is highly reccomended to anyone who likes to laugh and is planning on doing so until they die. Unless of course you are as unemotional as I am, in which case you won't be laughing that hard, but hard enough for you to notice. ^_^
Posted by : Myrah
Posted on : 2007-01-05
Sorry fellas, This is gotta be the worst -experimental- anime ever made.
Guess I am one of those people who DIDN'T get the joke? It seems that the repeated same gags and rather disgusting side of funnies died down even before the first episode ended for me.
I remember watching the whole thing, 2-3 episodes a day, forced myself to watch it after skipping some parts that I just couldn't continue watching without killing myself to find a good point about this anime. I failed to find any, or maybe I missed it between right after the main heroine opened her mouth till she stopped talking, which is basically the whole 20 something episodes.
I just watch Excel saga whenever I need to take a break from anime. It sends me chills and shiver down my spine and makes me spend next 5 days in denial looking for some other hobby.
Posted by : Knightmare
Posted on : 2006-10-09
When I first heard about Excel Saga, I was not at all skeptical about dishing out $30+ for the first volume DVD. all the previous reviews I had read had nothing but great things to say about the first of this anime series. Upon watching all five episodes, I gladly would have given my next two paychecks to watch all of the series.
Unfortunately, that day will have to wait. But for the moment, Excel Saga Volume 1 is all I ever wanted in a comedy anime. I have to say that it may not be for everyone but so far, everyone I've shown it to has shown the same kind of admiration for the series as I have.
Excel is your average blindly optimistic, destructive teenage girl working for ACROSS, your average big business whose purpose is none other than world domination. In a nut shell, that is the story of Excel Saga. It's definetly not your average anime story, but then again, neither is this anime.This summary only scratches the surface of Excel Saga's appeal.
Being the pessimist I am, I'll start off with the bad news(what little there is). First of all, Excel Saga is wierd(as you can tell from the summary), actualy that's putting it mildly. Excel Saga has got to be the strangest anime I have ever seen and probably ever will see. It may turn some people off but it definetly didn't do that to me(although I did grow up on Monty Python). Secondly, the plot is a little shallow but this still ties into the wierd factor.Thirdly, there is barely any character development at all, but when you buy a comedy anime, you shouldn't exactly be expecting a serious-as-hell Gundam.
Anyway, the good news is that the anime is a work of genius. You'll be hard pressed not to wet yourself laughing, (I sure was). The comedy style parodies many recent animes as well as other things (I loved episode 4). Every character has a humorous aura about them and it's so very easy to love them all. The animation is smooth and fluid, and is part of the hilarity.
All in all, Excel Saga Volume 1 is a must buy for anyone looking for a good old time and then some. It may turn off alot of those serious, I-can't-watch-an-anime-that-doesn't-have-any-universal-themes type persons. But you can't please them all. I couldn't stop watching it and I've already pre-oredered Volumes 1 and 2. Just watch out for those darn Puchuus!
Posted by : AzumangaDeathMetal
Posted on : 2006-09-21
Excel Saga is one of the funniest animes that I've seen. It stars Excel, a woman who talks and moves at the speed of light. Excel's voice is one of the funniest things about the anime. You'll have a hard time keeping up with the subtitles, but you're not really supposed to catch all of it anyway. Her partner is a Hyatt, who always passes out and gets nosebleeds. She serves Lord Ilpalazzo, leader of an organization known as Across who is trying to take over the world. Every episode involves him giving Excel a task and Excel failing miserably at it. Each episode parodies a different genre of anime or tv. It pretty much just involves random hilarity which is related to the genre it's parodying. Excel Saga is a funny and bizarre anime which should appeal to anyone with a sense of humor.
Posted by : MrSentimental
Posted on : 2005-11-25
Kooky, Enjoyable Stuff!!! How the Heck did the voice actress keep up Excel's hyper Hyper HYPER dialogue!!! YEOWWW!!! I heard that the English voice actress who tried to copy this burnt out her voice or something. I can believe it!!!
Lots of things are bringing smirks to my face as I'm writing this: Lord Ilpalazzo's theme song; Hyatt's soft-spoken, likeable manner as she keels over once again; Menchi's terror!; the Puchuu invaders; that baseball guy's hair; the tons of parodies: etc. etc. etc. I can go on and on!!!
Of course, like most series, some episodes were more entertaining than others. The last episode is definitely not for the younger crowd, with lots of sexual stuff, and a good amount of "comedic" blood. Even though it's "comedic", it's still lots of blood, none the less. I also never liked the references to kids as sex objects, which is parodied in a few episodes, but still not-so-good.
The artwork was well done. Appealingly drawn when needed, and crazed when needed. The music also was good, as it followed suit by also being appealing or crazed when needed. The story line? Well,... It's Appropriately Nutty, as one would expect! We're talking no less than WORLD DOMINATION here!!!
This is probably not suited for everyone's taste, but I had a blast. Definitely worth a one-shot! Enjoy! 8 out of 10 rating. 4 STARS.
Posted by : MothMan
Posted on : 2005-10-24
Most Exagerated Anime I ever saw.
When I picked up Excel Saga two years ago, the marketing department from ADV had me pumped up into believing that I was about to watch some CRAZY and WACKY show. I was not stupid enough to simply believe ads by ADV (truthfully, their ads turned me away from this series), there was actually a strong amount of hype for Excel Saga over the internet most of it agreeing that Excel Saga was the best comedy to ever be released. After seeing it, I will try now to put down what the average viewer would call an outright lie.
Firstly: The actual title is Quack Experimental Anime, Excel Saga not Excel Saga: Extremely Weird Anime. This kind of delusional thought of this series being wierd is offensive. It's odd at times, but I would never even once call it wierd. The show is not really over the top in any fashion with the exception of the last episode, and that episode is not exactly what I would call over the top unless this reviewer still 11. And that's probably the worst of it, by reading other reviews, it sounds like the things others find actually funny are idiotic and or trivial i/e the concept of eating the pet dog, or the powerpuff girl reference. Excel Saga is not intended to be wacky until episode 26, and when it gets to that it fails horribly.
Excel Saga is actually random Slap-Stick/Parody. The creators of this series were doing something more original then 90% of the current Anime being released, but was doing so while parodizing genres. The true humor of excel saga was lost on most fans living state side because their is a general lack of knowledge concerning a large amount of Excel Saga's content. I know that a lot was lost on others, because their was a lot of stuff I had no clue as to what they were referencing.
The animation of Excel Saga is another supposed high point of this series. How can a Level of disinformation this great be accepted generally as fact?!! The animationg of Excel Saga Is only Mediocre at it's best. And truly crap at its worst, using a large blend of stills and repeating animations. How anyone can review this and call the animation top quality flew so far over my head that it smacked God right across the face.
Another point of Excel Saga that people rave about is the music used in the series. The most popular element of the music is the ending theme which is performed by the dog character singing as a dog. People laugh at this and go on and on about how funny this is. I will tell anyone as a warning that this is not only not nice to listen to and it's humor is novelty at best and becomes worn out after the first episode. Other music played through-out the series is usually good but the tune that seems to go with situations that are odd in the worst way just bugged me. The opening theme was fun and the ending redone with actual lyrics being performed was actually a nice song.
The side story concerning the now (in)famous Pedro was something better left out of the entire series. Pedro himself was funny at times and at first his story and return home was great but just kinda wore on and was used to fill in time.
Now despite the harsh tone of the review, I am giving Excel Saga a 7 out of 10. The harshness of the write up was because of how very sick I have become about people raving about the crap that small children might find humorous. Also, no series of only 26 episodes should have two recap episodes.
Posted by : Gaia1
Posted on : 2005-10-22
I really regret buying this anime, after the first episode I was disappointed because the whole story is pointless. I know that the anime is trying to be funny, but it's just not, only random things happen where people talk and yell - so annoying. I don't get why so many people like this anime. It's pointless and is not even funny. I think the good part of the anime are the graphics. Everything else is just crap, until I painfully got to episodes 24 where it actually made some sense, but from my point of view this has the worst anime plot ever.
Posted by : Phantom14
Posted on : 2005-10-19
This anime, I have to consider the best in my ever growing stack of anime in my shelf. Although it is assumed to have almost no storyline till the 24, and 25th episode, its comedic greatness is show in every episode. Episode 26 is a type that is more for showing off, and an insult to the censorships. Although it can be said that there was no story line from episodes 1 -24, in a way they are all interconnected. The missions that Lord Ilpalazzo sends Excel and Hyatt have an impact on them in later episodes 22-26.
Throughout the missions that Ilpalazzo sends Excel and Hyatt to do (such as find out what the youth of today like, kill the original manga creator/artist and so on, eventually the this will help the goal of concurring the City of F and then the world) they encounter people that somehow manage to stop them from completing their missions (that is if they can
Posted by : KKSlover9
Posted on : 2005-09-19
The anime Excel Saga is extremely weird and makes almost no sense. The episodes do not connect except for the 24th and 25th. It is a story about world domination which starts with a city. Over and over, Excel and her co worker, Hyatt, travel around the city they are located at and attempt to carry out missions that end up unsuccessful each time. Due to there failure, Excel and Hyatt have basically no money and food thus they are always attempting to cook their 'pet' dog/cat Menchi. This show is extremely funny and is a must see.
Posted by : JSephiroth
Posted on : 2005-09-08
Ahhh Excel Saga, You'll laugh , you'll cr.... actually you will just laugh, and laugh and laugh through this whole series.
This is an anime about absolutely nothing, I mean seriously there is no plot until episode 22 and even then it is vague. This series has warped my reality and will make you lose a great deal of intelligence and have the sudden craving to eat your own emergency food supply. This series will stunt you learning curve. Excel Saga is for the most part a parody of every single anime you have already seen and more. The number one rule when watching this is "don't think." Seriously, it will just rise more questions then there are answers. Also beware of episode 26, it is the one that breaks rules and morals and it should offend you in one way or another... or not, if you didn't have any ones to begin with.
Also check out the Mock Piracy warning. So watch this and you too will shout out at the top of your lungs, "Hail Ilpalazzo!!"
Posted by : glidedream
Posted on : 2005-08-08
This show left me sitting in my chair vegetating, feeling like I had lost all sense of reality and in general kind of similar to how I felt after watching FLCL. In short, the imperfections of this show are all in the slow parts primarily in the first half due to the weirdness going a little overboard for me. I like to think that Excel Saga thinks nothing is sacred. This show makes fun of everything, including itself and its own manga creator. When it is at its best, I was laughing every other frame; but when it seemingly tried too hard, all I could do was kind of chuckle and feel somewhat amused. I'll say straight up that Mitsuishi Kotono is absolutely brilliant in her role of Excel, outdoing herself, and this for the highly accomplished seiyuu best known for voicing Sailor Moon and Misato Katsuragi. Excel's voice is probably what I'll remember from this show the most. Explaining the rest of Excel saga is kind of like explaining a sense (sight, sound) to a person who doesn't have it. Koshidi Rikdo gives permission to make the show a parody of something else every episode, and so some episodes are really memorable like the sports one, the one with Key the guitar player, and the Gundam parody episode. It's also really amusing that every character has self-perception. Slayers has this to an extent, with the characters understanding that they are in a show, but Excel Saga takes this to a whole new level with characters complaining about screen time, admitting that the producers ran out of ideas, knowing which episode they're on, among other amusing things.
When I started reading the manga first because of the franchise's popularity, I really didn't like it that much because I felt it was too weird and if it was making fun of something I didn't understand, I was missing out on too much. The anime introduces the Pedro character, which is the missing link that makes the anime a lot easier to follor and more interesting to boot. His story is mostly separate from Excel's but is actually linear and gives the show another dimension in fun. Sometimes I think they really could have made a movie out him.
The intro song is really addictive, and the ending song is hilarious in many ways, especially in the last episode when a girl sings it and the lyrics mean so much more (eat me before the meat gets hard). I kind of think the 25th episode could have been the end, but the 26th episode was decent despite not being necessary. Overall, for those who don't take everything seriously and expect seriousness, this show is very entertaining at times and always weird. It definitely doesn't shipai (fail) in my book.
Posted by : Waffleman
Posted on : 2005-08-06
Review in a single phrase: This series is awesomely hilarious. Excel Saga keeps the laughs coming through all twenty-six episodes of its run. Director Shinichi Watanabe knows where it's at.
If you're looking for the most insanely funny anime you've ever watched, look no further. If you're looking for a sitcom-style anime, you may be in the wrong place. Excel Saga's purpose is to drive home as many jokes as they feel possible to get away with. Whether it's something like Nabeshin pulling a shotgun out of his afro or Il Palazzo playing a hand-held dating sim that's effectively controlling another man's mind, this anime decides that anything even remotely funny deserves its turn.
Each episode is a parody of some genre of movie or anime style. Many famous anime are parodied, (most notably Space Battleship Yamato and Fist of the North Star) as well as a few movies (such as Alien). They hit on everything: The B-Movie Action Flick, the Romantic Comedy, even a Boost Ratings Week; it's all hilarious. Even their No Gags episode was funny in its own right.
The characters are wacky, lovable, hatable, realistic, unrealistic, etc. but they're at least consistent.
The Verdict
Animation: 10 / 10 (as much activity as there is in every scene, they still manage to pull it off; the subtleties they throw in are also extremely good)
Music: 9 / 10 (it often goes unnoticed due to the rest of the show, but it still accomplishes what it sets out to do)
Characters: 10 / 10 (how can you not love watching these people?)
Plot: N/A (this show decides at the beginning that plots are boring; if you really pay attention, you can draw one out, but that only dampens the experience)
Action: N/A (one could argue that there's enough action for me to rate it, but all of the action is just parodies of other things, so I'm not going to)
Comedy: 18 / 10 (if this show doesn't have you laughing three minutes into episode one, you should be reading War and Peace or something)
Posted by : CGY
Posted on : 2005-07-20
Excel Saga: Extremely Weird Anime
Rate: 9/10
LOL! This anime series is just way to weird and funny! Can't stop laughing!
Story:
There is all sorts of people here, but unfortunately, none of them seem to be normal. There is always energetic Excel, the always-and-never dying Hyatt, the cool and mad Lord Ilpalazzo, who's dream is to conquer the planet - the world has gone crazy, when Excel and Hyatt are working their butts off to fulfill their master Lord Ilpalazzo's dream. Find all the laughter and craziness by yourself!
Good sides:
-Great character designs.
-Jokes, laughters, funny stuffs, you'll never run out of them in this show!
Bad sides:
-The storyline is a bit weird. (Well, on the DVD case, it actually printed out the words "Hazardous to your sanity!")
Based on the popular manga of the same name, Excel Saga is one of the weirdest and the funnist show ever! Meet all the crazy men in the series, and you might turn one yourself! LOL! (Just kidding!)
Anyway, the story has certain great points. For the mostpart, it's great jokes and all the funny stuffs are just the best! You just can't stop laughing when you are watching. Some of the things, like the Hyatt, who is always dying and bleeding, and the energetic Excel, who is plain stupid but full of energy, are just way too funny, and keep the audiences occupied with their laughing. The character designs also boost this, for some of the characters, you can just tell by their weird and funny look, that they aren't normal, but some weridos! Funny, very funny!
As for its bad sides, well, I guess the storyline itself needs a bit of improvement. It's quite weird, and may be a bit confusing when you first watch it. I guess making it a bit clear, or change the first few episodes a bit would be great.
Anyway, this is a great anime series. I do enjoyed it a lot, of course, mainly due to its great jokes, and the weird but funny things. I recommend this show to all of the anime fans. But be warned, for it is "Hazardous to your sanity!"! LOL!
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