Excel Saga is such a bizarre anime that it will always defy
explanation. You can achieve a similar effect at home by drinking
a gallon of coffee/Red Bull/caffeinated stimulant of choice and
watching eight different films on fast-forward, all at once. If
this sounds like a nightmare then read no further, Excel Saga is
probably not the anime for you. If, however, that kind of
hyperactive escapade sounds like fun to you then you may well have just
discovered your anime of choice.
Frenetic high-school graduate
Excel devotes her time and effort entirely to the “secret ideological
organisation” of Across and their endeavours to conquer the
world. Led by the less-than-sinister Lord Ilpalazzo, with whom
Excel is fanatically besotted, she carries out a series of ill-fated
operations in an attempt to realise the organisation’s goal.
It
sounds like an entirely innocuous premise, at least in principle.
In reality the series is a non-stop assault on the viewer’s
sensibilities, culminating in an episode too violent, obscene and
generally offensive to be aired on Japanese television. Although
the preceding twenty-five episodes are not quite as extreme as the last
one (which was a deliberate attempt by Watanabe, the director, to
“break the limits of a television series”), you can still expect a
rollercoaster ride of mindless violence, crass jokes, and fast-paced
hilarity.
The humour of Excel Saga is very much based on
parody and satire. There are frequent jokes centring around
Western media, but the vast majority of the gags revolve around aspects
of Japanese media and culture: other anime series, the otaku lifestyle,
attitudes towards employment, dating simulators, love hotels, and so
forth. In this respect, Excel Saga is ideal for more seasoned
anime fans who are likely to pick up on the satirical references; those
less familiar with Japanese media and culture are likely to miss out on
a high proportion of the jokes.
I have only two major criticisms for the
series. The first is the voice acting, which could be considered
as much of a plus as a minus: in the dub, Jessica Calvello’s voice for
Excel becomes excruciating after a couple of episodes. It is
integral to Excel’s character that she speaks very, very quickly,
loudly, and most of all obnoxiously- after all, Excel is meant to be at
least as irritating as she is endearing. Calvello’s rapid
shrieking certainly fulfils this requirement, but it does often make
the series difficult to watch. The subtitled version has plenty
of problems as well; although Kotono Mitsuishi’s voice is significantly
less grating while still retaining the necessary rapidity of dialogue,
following the subtitles at this speed can prove equally difficult.
My second complaint is the deterioration of quality in
the later episodes. The first half of the series is a cavalcade
of bizarre entertainment, but towards the end the jokes start to
dissipate only to be replaced with what feels like an artificial
attempt to bring the plot together. The problem with this is that
there is very little in the way of an overarching plot preceding this, and that is what makes
for the highly successful comedy. Each episode adopts a
different genre, through which other shows falling under that genre are
mocked: it is stunning just how little some need to be adapted to be
side-splittingly funny.
For instance episode four, “Love Puny”,
presents the storyline in the format of a Japanese dating
simulator. It is a hilariously absurd instalment, but at the same
time so true to the formula used to produce dating simulators that it
could almost be one. Excel Saga is an unconventional anime in that the
‘story’, if you can justify calling it that, radiates from the
characters and their random escapades rather than a single linear
plotline. The feeling is that, towards the end of the series, the
writers have attempted to insert one for some indiscernible reason-
even worse, at the expense of the humour. Perhaps this is why
they finished up with an episode entitled “Going Too Far”, which is in
many ways an exaggerated parody of all the best parts of the series
itself.
For all the flaws, I find Excel Saga very enjoyable, and
have re-watched it again and again over the course of the last few
years. It is most definitely not an anime for those with delicate
sensibilities, a refined sense of humour, or a heart condition.
It is, however, something deeply original and exciting for the anime
connoisseur whose mind may or may not be in the gutter.