Excel Saga

I bought the first Excel Saga DVD based on the rather humorous description on the back of the package ("Contents may be hazardous to your sanity"). What I discovered was the first five episodes of the most insane, most hilarious, and most enjoyable anime series of all time! A wonderful parody of all things anime and a good number of Western movies, everybody and everything is a satire of something.

This is the story of Excel, the typical over-exuberant, love-sick teenage girl who is employed by Ilpalazzo, the typical enigmatic, white-haired villain and the object of Excel's affection. Together they are the secret ideological organization ACROSS, bent on taking over the world, but starting in the place where global takeovers always do in anime: urban Japan. They are soon joined by Hyatt, the typical overly-feminine, overly-frail, beautiful anime girl, always falling over from some ailment or another.

Other characters include Excel's neighbors (three jobless, lecherous ronin), Nabeshin (the everpresent action hero with a wicked afro), Pedro (a dead immigrant worker who keeps seeing visions of his family), the puuchuu (dangerously cute aliens intent on taking over the galaxy with futon beaters), and Menchi, Excel's dog/emergency food supply.

Excel Saga has a madcap, anarchic energy that is sure to cause vast amounts of head-scratching and laughter, usually at the same time. Multiple viewing is recommended to catch all the gags, especially since on the Reigon 1 DVDs, you can enable a "pop-up video" type of commentary that explains jokes specific to the Japanese dialogue.

Excel Saga is not for everyone, however. Casual anime viewers (i. e., those who aren't die-hard fanboys) won't get many of the jokes, and many people have expressed dismay over Menchi, who is in a constant state of being THIS CLOSE to being eaten by the ever-hungry Excel. In fact, the closing theme (which is one of the funniest parts of the series), features Menchi singing a mournful ballad in dog speak (translated by a woman in the corner), begging Excel not to eat him even as she sprinkles spices on him.

However, if you don't mind being subjected to what may be the funniest anime series of all time, I STRONGLY recommend that you watch this show!

Right from the start this series sets itself into a league of it's own. The intro music is every bit as catchy as the show itself. Excel's uber-cute look in the first few minutes is so dang... well, cute! And the constant switching between normal and super deformed characters is a hilarious staple of insane comedy anime.

The jokes in this show are just plain outrageously funny. You name it, they've done it. The director of the anime and the author of the manga are featured in just about every episode doing the most ridiculous things you can think of. Every episode carries an "experimental" theme they try out, from sports to horror, which greatly helps to keep things fresh.

What really keeps this series going for 26 episodes isn't just the over the top insane humor, it's the wonderful characters and story that keeps you watching and wanting to know what happens next. I particularly love the ending episodes where things get serious and wrap up well. It's one of them series where once you finish it, it will seem like you've known it forever.

• Rirath_com

And what I mean by T.A.T is Typical Anime Trash (you know, the repetitive clichéd crap), and Excel Saga pounds all of those titles in to the ground. And probably the best parody/satire show I have seen, even better than IMO South Park (Which SP can be good at times, a lot of times can be annoying too).

Excel works for Illpalazzo of Across, an organization based on taking over the world. She may be a loser, but at least she "tries" to do her job. And with her new partner from outer space, the constantly vomiting and coughing Hyatt, she ain't giving up. Meanwhile 3 roommates get a job with a secretive government agency, a Brazilian construction worker is forced to be the love slave to the embodiment of the universe, which is (yes, it is true!) a vortex with slender womanly arms(!) and a man with an afro gets into so much trouble for reasons unknown. And I just only scratched the surface of the series.

The only downside of this series is that it ended in 2000. But luckily, there still is the Manga that is still being published to this day, I think.

But if you are tired of the Typical Anime Trash shows, Excel Saga is one to check out. The parodies and satires in the show are PRICELESS!

A word has yet to be invented to describe this superbly made anime. It being one of the first ones I bought a few days back, it serves as a brilliant start to my collection.

There are many reasons why I like it. It is funny, fast-paced, intentionally controversial and has a good mix of characters and personalities, particularly the highly energetic main character Excel and her love and sheer willingness to serve Ilpalazzo. The storyline is sort of all over the place, but it serves as a good element to further improve the overall craziness and parody. The way various gags and stories string alongside each other simultaneously can also be extremely baffling and confusing at times, but comedy values once again rise closer towards perfection. I recommend that anyone who enjoys either anime or comedy (or ideally both) to take the time to find and/or watch this gem.

I have to say this is the weirdest animation I've ever witness from anime world. From the very first episode the world weird comes in five minutes where the character Excel dies about 3 times from the very start of the program. Then again later in the show. It's all about her being an across agency trying to take over the world but her love for Master Iraparatzo is out of control. He doesn't love her obviously. Then a girl comes from outer space called Hyatt who has to have breathing problems because she coughs up blood. Damn. Even more weird is that the show becomes more on nudity at the end of the series 1 and scares me a bit. On the whole it is entertaining and funny but the explicit nature of it is a reason why cartoons are not always for kids.