Post by ravenwithoutcause on Feb 3, 2005 14:44:36 GMT -5
I'm sitting here trying to think of something to which I can compare Excel Saga, and I honestly can't think of anything. The show, a 26-episode series originally aired in 1999, is a roiling, frothing mixture of sight gags, bad puns, anime references, miscellaneous cultural references, the vague underpinnings of a story, and an almost frightening amount of sheer comedy. It seems like ADV have been "sitting on" this show for years, but it's really just that Excel Saga a one-of-a-kind show; it's created an addiction in its fans that absolutely demands to be fed. Watching it, I think I can sympathize.
Excel Excel (Excel for short) is a member of ACROSS, a secret organization dedicated to conquering and unifying the world, in the process wiping out the worst of humanity and creating a utopia. This seems like pretty typical fare, until the viewer realizes that Excel is the only member of ACROSS, and that the leader, Ilpalazzo ("the palace" in Italian-- whatever), has lofty ideals but lacks the concentration or even interest to pursue them. Excel is a teenaged girl living in the City of F, located in the Prefecture of F, located in Japan. F is a pretty interesting place-- not only does Excel have a trio of loud, conflicted neighbors (one of whom is a scowling, bespectacled man who speaks only in subtitles), her neighborhood is about to be invaded by the most adorable little vicious aliens you've ever seen, and she keeps crossing paths with a seeming action hero who dresses a whole lot like Lupin III.
This alone is ample starting material for comedy, but Excel herself is the best part. It's been said that the character was designed specifically for original seiyuu Kotono Mitsuishi, and it isn't hard to believe this-- Excel is a constant blur of frantic motion, perpetually screaming and babbling at the top of her lungs, singing, mumbling, stuttering, vibrating-- she just doesn't stop. Excel is the perfect central character for this sort of show, and both Japanese seiyuu Mitsuishi and American voice actor Jessica Calvello do a perfect job giving voice to the character-- but more on that later.
Ilpalazzo deals with Excel's craziness in a very theraputic way-- when she gets on his nerves, he kills her. In fact, Excel dies at least once in almost every episode, usually quite horribly. Other characters die, as well, or have even worse things happen to them-- but it's all okay, because the Great Will of the Macrocosm (a flirtatious space-time vortex with slim, feminine arms) is ready to step in and put the story back on track if it gets derailed.
Anyway, as the series progresses, Ilpalazzo gives Excel a series of menial tasks that are supposed to bring ACROSS closer to their goal of total world domination. The first task? Assassinating Koshi Rikdo, the real-life Excel Saga creator (who appears in the show mumbling constantly about how manga artists are worthless scum). There's plenty of ways to screw up this easy assignment, and Excel manages to cover most of them, including getting completely sidetracked into a construction job. This introduces the viewers to Pedro, an earnest Latino immigrant worker with a lovable son and a sexy wife (of which he reminds the viewers constantly). Pedro is the pregnant dog of Excel Saga-- while Excel only has to die horribly every episode, Pedro is subject to a constantly escalating run of bad luck, which results in him letting out a blood-curdling "NOOOOOOOOO!" just about every episode. It's very satisfying.
There's also Nabeshin, a Lupin III lookalike with a fluffy afro, who happens to be the actual real-life director of the show. He's an entertainingly typical action hero, with weapons stored in implausible places, gun-toting enemies around every corner, and old buddies from his shadowy past in every episode. There's Menchi ("meat"), Excel's depressed, horrified dog, whom Excel only keeps around as a backup food supply. There's the Puchuus, an invading race of cute little aliens armed with futon beaters and stewarded by a space butler (name: Space Butler). Excel is even eventually joined by Hyatt, a mysterious partner who would be extremely competent if she could only stop vomiting blood and fainting every few minutes.
And it doesn't stop there. Excel Saga has a different parody for every episode-- the first episode is a parody of manga, the second a parody of sci-fi movies, the third is a war movie spoof, the fourth is a hilariously dead-on take on Japanese dating video games, and episode five is a parody of Japanese drama TV series. Along with that, there's an unending barrage of side jokes-- characters break the fourth wall constantly, weird stuff is hidden in the background, bits of dialogue are lifted directly from classic shows-- watching Excel Saga is at times comparable to watching two or three Zucker Brothers movies at once. There's that much going on.
I've had problems with some of ADV's dubs in the past, but if there's one thing they do right, it's comedy. They bring out their best here-- Jessica Calvello is a perfect match for original Excel seiyuu Kotono Mitsuishi, ably spouting Excel's nonsensical, mile-a-minute dialogue. Jason Douglas gives Ilpalazzo the absolute correct air of pomposity (see also the fine Takehito Koyasu in the Japanese version, who's always good at this sort of character), and Monica Rial makes for a competently-sickly Hyatt. The cast is rounded out by the always-entertaining Brett Weaver as Nabeshin (who's actually voiced by series director Shinichi Watanabe in the original), Kelly Manison as the Great Will of the Macrocosm, and Rob Mungle as Pedro. I do have to admit that, while Mungle does a good job, I kinda prefer Takashi Nagasako's agonized exclamations.
Still, Excel Saga's dub is a rare one indeed. Matt Greenfield's pulled off a very seamless adaptation-- there are actually a few American jokes and references in the dub, but it's so fast-paced and dialogue-heavy that you'll have to watch very carefully to catch them. Both versions of Excel Saga are so entertaining that I would urge any viewers who don't have any particular bias towards sub or dub to watch both and compare them, because they're both excellent, and both quite nuanced. This is definitely a good thing, because it effectively doubles the entertainment value of the show.
Excel Saga also looks a bit better than usual for a TV series-- Watanabe's direction is good, and he's well-supported by a great screenplay by Yosuke Kuroda (who also brought us the lower-key but still subversively funny Magical Project S) and distinctive, hard-to-forget character designs by Satoshi Ishino. All I can tell you about the DVD's video quality is that it's perfect-- if there are flaws, I simply can't see them. Some fans have rightfully raised concerns about the subtitles for Excel Saga, because there's a lot of onscreen text. Well, those fans can rest easy, because Excel Saga is completely soft-subtitled. The original Japanese text was integrated into the animation, so it's still there, of course, but every single English subtitle is removable, whether it's song or dialogue translation or onscreen text.
The extras included on the DVD are substantial-- there's an original Japanese anti-piracy message, clean versions of both the opening and ending, a Japanese trailer, a raft of production sketches... and AD vid-notes. What are AD vid-notes, you ask? Well, they're a bit like VH-1's Pop-up video (so much so, in fact, that I'm a little worried that Viacom might take offense), except they're a DVD feature that can be turned on and off on the fly. They can be enabled, complete with 'pop' sound effect, at any time during the show, and they play the role of liner notes, pointing out references to other shows, explaining puns and language tricks, and even cracking little jokes. They're a wonderful feature that no other release really has yet (ADV's David Williams has told me that Plastic Little's "jiggle counter" was really just a field test for this feature), and they're so entertaining that it actually gets difficult to watch the series without them, at least on the first time around. Given all of this, the DVD packaging is outstanding.
There are a handful of series, movies, and OVAs seeing release this summer that are worth seeing. But in the final analysis, if there's only one single series you can spend your money on, Excel Saga would probably be the one. There's something in the show's brand of humor that will entertain almost anyone, and the DVDs are just packed with episodes and features. But most of all, Excel Saga is great because it aggressively refuses to adhere to any standard anime cliches, unless it's to make fun of them. Anime fans will like it best, but there's enough physical comedy and plain old weirdness to keep even neophytes engrossed. Excel Saga is weird, hip, and savagely, insanely funny.
Bottom line, 9.5/10
Excel Excel (Excel for short) is a member of ACROSS, a secret organization dedicated to conquering and unifying the world, in the process wiping out the worst of humanity and creating a utopia. This seems like pretty typical fare, until the viewer realizes that Excel is the only member of ACROSS, and that the leader, Ilpalazzo ("the palace" in Italian-- whatever), has lofty ideals but lacks the concentration or even interest to pursue them. Excel is a teenaged girl living in the City of F, located in the Prefecture of F, located in Japan. F is a pretty interesting place-- not only does Excel have a trio of loud, conflicted neighbors (one of whom is a scowling, bespectacled man who speaks only in subtitles), her neighborhood is about to be invaded by the most adorable little vicious aliens you've ever seen, and she keeps crossing paths with a seeming action hero who dresses a whole lot like Lupin III.
This alone is ample starting material for comedy, but Excel herself is the best part. It's been said that the character was designed specifically for original seiyuu Kotono Mitsuishi, and it isn't hard to believe this-- Excel is a constant blur of frantic motion, perpetually screaming and babbling at the top of her lungs, singing, mumbling, stuttering, vibrating-- she just doesn't stop. Excel is the perfect central character for this sort of show, and both Japanese seiyuu Mitsuishi and American voice actor Jessica Calvello do a perfect job giving voice to the character-- but more on that later.
Ilpalazzo deals with Excel's craziness in a very theraputic way-- when she gets on his nerves, he kills her. In fact, Excel dies at least once in almost every episode, usually quite horribly. Other characters die, as well, or have even worse things happen to them-- but it's all okay, because the Great Will of the Macrocosm (a flirtatious space-time vortex with slim, feminine arms) is ready to step in and put the story back on track if it gets derailed.
Anyway, as the series progresses, Ilpalazzo gives Excel a series of menial tasks that are supposed to bring ACROSS closer to their goal of total world domination. The first task? Assassinating Koshi Rikdo, the real-life Excel Saga creator (who appears in the show mumbling constantly about how manga artists are worthless scum). There's plenty of ways to screw up this easy assignment, and Excel manages to cover most of them, including getting completely sidetracked into a construction job. This introduces the viewers to Pedro, an earnest Latino immigrant worker with a lovable son and a sexy wife (of which he reminds the viewers constantly). Pedro is the pregnant dog of Excel Saga-- while Excel only has to die horribly every episode, Pedro is subject to a constantly escalating run of bad luck, which results in him letting out a blood-curdling "NOOOOOOOOO!" just about every episode. It's very satisfying.
There's also Nabeshin, a Lupin III lookalike with a fluffy afro, who happens to be the actual real-life director of the show. He's an entertainingly typical action hero, with weapons stored in implausible places, gun-toting enemies around every corner, and old buddies from his shadowy past in every episode. There's Menchi ("meat"), Excel's depressed, horrified dog, whom Excel only keeps around as a backup food supply. There's the Puchuus, an invading race of cute little aliens armed with futon beaters and stewarded by a space butler (name: Space Butler). Excel is even eventually joined by Hyatt, a mysterious partner who would be extremely competent if she could only stop vomiting blood and fainting every few minutes.
And it doesn't stop there. Excel Saga has a different parody for every episode-- the first episode is a parody of manga, the second a parody of sci-fi movies, the third is a war movie spoof, the fourth is a hilariously dead-on take on Japanese dating video games, and episode five is a parody of Japanese drama TV series. Along with that, there's an unending barrage of side jokes-- characters break the fourth wall constantly, weird stuff is hidden in the background, bits of dialogue are lifted directly from classic shows-- watching Excel Saga is at times comparable to watching two or three Zucker Brothers movies at once. There's that much going on.
I've had problems with some of ADV's dubs in the past, but if there's one thing they do right, it's comedy. They bring out their best here-- Jessica Calvello is a perfect match for original Excel seiyuu Kotono Mitsuishi, ably spouting Excel's nonsensical, mile-a-minute dialogue. Jason Douglas gives Ilpalazzo the absolute correct air of pomposity (see also the fine Takehito Koyasu in the Japanese version, who's always good at this sort of character), and Monica Rial makes for a competently-sickly Hyatt. The cast is rounded out by the always-entertaining Brett Weaver as Nabeshin (who's actually voiced by series director Shinichi Watanabe in the original), Kelly Manison as the Great Will of the Macrocosm, and Rob Mungle as Pedro. I do have to admit that, while Mungle does a good job, I kinda prefer Takashi Nagasako's agonized exclamations.
Still, Excel Saga's dub is a rare one indeed. Matt Greenfield's pulled off a very seamless adaptation-- there are actually a few American jokes and references in the dub, but it's so fast-paced and dialogue-heavy that you'll have to watch very carefully to catch them. Both versions of Excel Saga are so entertaining that I would urge any viewers who don't have any particular bias towards sub or dub to watch both and compare them, because they're both excellent, and both quite nuanced. This is definitely a good thing, because it effectively doubles the entertainment value of the show.
Excel Saga also looks a bit better than usual for a TV series-- Watanabe's direction is good, and he's well-supported by a great screenplay by Yosuke Kuroda (who also brought us the lower-key but still subversively funny Magical Project S) and distinctive, hard-to-forget character designs by Satoshi Ishino. All I can tell you about the DVD's video quality is that it's perfect-- if there are flaws, I simply can't see them. Some fans have rightfully raised concerns about the subtitles for Excel Saga, because there's a lot of onscreen text. Well, those fans can rest easy, because Excel Saga is completely soft-subtitled. The original Japanese text was integrated into the animation, so it's still there, of course, but every single English subtitle is removable, whether it's song or dialogue translation or onscreen text.
The extras included on the DVD are substantial-- there's an original Japanese anti-piracy message, clean versions of both the opening and ending, a Japanese trailer, a raft of production sketches... and AD vid-notes. What are AD vid-notes, you ask? Well, they're a bit like VH-1's Pop-up video (so much so, in fact, that I'm a little worried that Viacom might take offense), except they're a DVD feature that can be turned on and off on the fly. They can be enabled, complete with 'pop' sound effect, at any time during the show, and they play the role of liner notes, pointing out references to other shows, explaining puns and language tricks, and even cracking little jokes. They're a wonderful feature that no other release really has yet (ADV's David Williams has told me that Plastic Little's "jiggle counter" was really just a field test for this feature), and they're so entertaining that it actually gets difficult to watch the series without them, at least on the first time around. Given all of this, the DVD packaging is outstanding.
There are a handful of series, movies, and OVAs seeing release this summer that are worth seeing. But in the final analysis, if there's only one single series you can spend your money on, Excel Saga would probably be the one. There's something in the show's brand of humor that will entertain almost anyone, and the DVDs are just packed with episodes and features. But most of all, Excel Saga is great because it aggressively refuses to adhere to any standard anime cliches, unless it's to make fun of them. Anime fans will like it best, but there's enough physical comedy and plain old weirdness to keep even neophytes engrossed. Excel Saga is weird, hip, and savagely, insanely funny.
Bottom line, 9.5/10