Excel Saga Genre: Comedy Frank's Overall Score: 8.5

Reviewer: Frank
Type of Review: General

In all sorts of stories, and not just in anime, there's a thing called the "fourth wall". This is basically the barrier between story immersion and the author's own machinations. Technically, you can chalk everything that happens in a story up to the author's own whims, but to be entertained, we suspend our belief and disregard the author's thoughts, preferring instead to let the characters themselves be the motivation by which we understand them. Usually, this "fourth wall" is completely untouchable...but with the irreverent (yet very funny) Excel Saga, anything is fair game.

The story of Excel Saga revolves around the title character, Excel, and her endeavor to do a good job for Across, an evil organization bent on taking over the world...starting in Japan, of course. Across is led by an evil mastermind named Ilparratzo, who finds his servant Excel annoying, especially since she's completely head over heels in love with him and is willing to do just about anything for him. Unfortunately, Excel tends to either unknowingly screw up or do something ridiculous that messes up her job. Excel later gets a partner named Hyatt, a quiet and reserved girl who has such a weak constitution that she is known to have fainting and coughing-up-blood spells every few minutes. Together, they attempt to do the various "evil" jobs that Ilparratzo assigns them.

The "story", such as it is, ends there, as Excel Saga becomes a potpourri of inside jokes, gags, and random craziness that could only be best described as chaotic. Excel Saga's complete disregard for things such as the "fourth wall" and other such "normal" conventions seen in anime is one of its greatest weaknesses, but also one of its greatest strengths (as the hilarity that ensues from such situations is very entertaining to watch). The purposeful haphazardness of the stories of Excel Saga may turn some people away, as completely unrealistic and unrelated things happen in each episode. For example, Excel dies at least 5 times in the first episode, but is somehow always resurrected by the "will of the universe" - and it is this same "will" that ends up torturing a poor migrant worker by the name of Pedro (who also dies in the first episode, but who is not as lucky as Excel) by treating him like a plaything. There are also characters such as three random stereotypical "poor students" next door to Excel's apartment, and an afro-wearing man named Nabeshin who somehow finds his way into every episode. In this way, Excel Saga's character development, such as it is, follows none of the same rules (except when it's making fun of them).

Excel Saga's irreverent nature makes for some very funny jokes. Excel, for example, is ordered to kill a manga artist in the first episode. Unfortunately, it turns out that the manga artist she murders is her own creator (who makes quite a few appearances himself in the course of the story, mostly in unflattering situations). Another episode features Nabeshin and a masked friend running from an enemy in the jungles. When the masked friend is inevitably fatally wounded, the scene plays out a blatant parody of the Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader final scene from "Return of the Jedi" (and this isn't the first time that Excel steals from other movies, media, and even aspects of other anime). It is things like this that will make you roll off your seat laughing at every turn. With Excel's strange format, it's no wonder that the animation is pretty solid as well, as the visual gags and even the opening and closing songs all have a unique look to them and play out very nicely in appearance. Though there isn't anything particularly ground-breaking, there are nice bits that are nicely done, such as some of the action scenes and the funnier gags.

All in all, Excel Saga is definitely not something you would want if you are looking for something with deep themes and a meaningful story. However, if you want a break from all the serious dramas and sometimes depressing action of other anime series, you will definitely want to check out Excel Saga - if for nothing else, to hear the only closing song made up entirely of a dog barking a song - complete with dog translator ^_-. It's things like that that make Excel Saga worth a watch.