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While there are plenty of anime parodies out there, I have yet to see one that is as enduring, and as insane as Excel Saga.

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EXCEL SAGA

The Weirdness has begun

Review by Matthew Anderson

28 Episode TV Series

Company: ADV Films

Running Time: 125 minutes (5 episodes)

Region: 1

Rating: R (Graphic Violence and Adult situations)

EXTERNAL EXAM

In the city of F, there exists a group of people whose mission is to take over the world for Lord Ilpalazzo. The group is called ACROSS.

ACROSS is by far the most inept team of nutcases ever put together. There is Excel, the wastefully cheerful minion, who harbors a crush on her moody lord. There is also Hayatt, the ever faithful, occasionally dead, visitor from Mars. There is also a soy sauce pump and a dummy as well, but don't worry about them.

While ACROSS goes about it's business, they find themselves wrapped up in accidental murder, manga author assassination, and traffic jams. They also meet a man with a big afro, poor and unemployed neighbors, and a strange looking dog. All of this in the first episode!

At the same time, a mysterious man is enacting his plan to "save" the city by any means necessary. Using greed and corruption to his own advantage, his plans run afoul of ACROSS, totally by accident. Now the stage is set for a battle between an inept strike team, and a devious man with a fake mustache.

The world will survive, thankfully.

DVD VISION TEST

VIDEO:Another Beautiful Job by ADV. There were no pixels, distortion, color bleeds or noticeable image enhancements. Quality is the name of the game here.

AUDIO: Good solid sound on the English track. Occasionally, the sound effects overpowered the dialogue, but not so much as to decrease our enjoyment. The same goes for the Japanese track. However, the Japanese track is a little sharper than the English. There are also two other tracks, but they only contain the "pop up noise" to coincide with the pop-up trivia bits.

EDITS: The Japanese opening and closing credits use the clean open and close. No other edits have been noticed.

EXTRAS:Plenty. The most on any AD Vision release. There is the ad-vid option, which contains trivia information, clean open and close segments, Japanese open and close, the original Japanese video piracy warning, original trailers, and production sketches.

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

STORY:Excel Saga is perhaps on of the cleverest anime parodies ever. With his staff of writers, director Shinichi Watanabe has done a great job of taking the different scripts and combining them into a frantic, insane, and down right funny anime.

ACTING: Another great dub from ADV. The entire cast of Excel Saga should be given an award for their acting. Jessica Cavello is amazing. Her Excel perfect, at times surpassing her Japanese counterpart in maniac energy. How she can cram in so many words in to one sentence is truly a mystery.

The Japanese voice actors do a fantastic job as well. For most anime purist, they will find this the best way to watch the series. The voices do well to match the characters and work well. However, some of the voice are younger sounding that the others, but that is because the voices represent maturity, not age. Also, some of the cultural references make more sense in Japanese.

FAN SERVICE: Nothing really in the nude or panty shot category. If you want references to every form of pop culture, both Japanese and English, you will find it here. In fact, there is so much, you will have to watch Excel Saga over and over again to catch them all.

FINAL EXAM

While there are plenty of anime parodies out there, I have yet to see one that is as enduring, and as insane as Excel Saga. From the minute the opening theme starts you find yourself chuckling. As the first episode continues on, you can't help but sit, dumbfounded at the totally bizarre and strange events that go on in Excels world. From shoulder angels with florescent light bulb halos to bombs in dating games, it's all down right funny.

What makes it so funny is the acting. While the situations are inherently funny, it is the vocal talents of both the Japanese and the English cast that make the scripts come to hilarious life.

It is very hard to decide which does a better job at playing Excel, Kotono Mitsuishi, or Jessica Calvello. While Kotono Mitsushi is an experienced voice actress, with great comedic timing, Jessica Calvello's mile-a-minute sputtering of lines puts makes her an even match. The version you prefer will depend on your preferences for sub or dub.

In a rare acknowledgment (at least on this page) we must say that Matt Greensfield's ADR script is sheer genius. He fully understands the hilarity of this series and runs with it. Like Shinichi Watanabe with with the Japanese script, Mr. Greenfield peppers this anime with plenty of English cultural references (the "Well, it's a fair cop." line from 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' is a great example).

This is by far the best release AD Vision has ever put out. I hope that this is the way AD Vision will go for all future releases. With a great looking transfer, excellent extras, and great sound, you will get your money's worth.

While knowledge of anime will help, Excel Saga is an anime that all can enjoy, be they new or otaku.

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