Excel Saga

—by John Yung

An anime about the spreadsheet software from Microsoft? Stranger things have been known to happen, and there's a good chance that some of these strange occurrences happen in EXCEL SAGA. No, EXCEL SAGA is not about spreadsheets. It is, as a friend describes it, a half-hour each week where they let Mitsuishi Kotono go crazy and leave it to the animators to create whatever visuals their demented minds could think of to match her antics.
That description doesn't seem to be too far from the truth. Mitsuishi (EVANGELION's Misato and SAILOR MOON's Tsukino Usagi) has expressed enjoyment in playing silly roles, and the lead role of Excel has got to be the silliest one so far. From the bits and pieces that I could gather while I wasn't laughing at the show, Excel is the indestructible agent of the mysterious ACROSS organization. Her job is to do the bidding of her leader, the handsome Ilbarazzo. Until the arrival of Hyatt, the dark-haired Ifurita look-alike, Excel was the only minion of ACROSS. And there's Menchi, Excel's poor dog, who sings the ending song for the show about how her owner's always abusing her and threatening to eat her (with the aid of subtitles and a Japanese interpreter).
Then there are the recurring characters, most of whom are just as whacky as the main characters. Matsuya, Iwata and the silent guy are the next-door neighbors. Matsuya's the high-strung one who's always complaining; Iwata's the easy-going one; and the silent guy...well, the silent guy speaks with Japanese subtitles. If I get the names correct, Watanabe is the series' fictional director who appears as a guy sporting a red jacket and an afro hairstyle. Even the creator of the EXCEL SAGA manga, Rokudou Hoshi, gets a part on the show as a lanky dude with glasses. Unfortunate Pedro gets the most bizarre part of the show; his story arc seems like non sequiturs because they have no bearing on the episode or the other characters, and yet Pedro's sequences have continuity!
Since this is a late night show, the staff must have thought they could unleash their creativity and get away with it because the ratings are going to be low anyway, and the target fanboy audience is going to watch the show regardless of content weirdness. The results are hilarious because the staff fool around with every cinematic convention under the sun. The series harks back to the original PROJECT A-KO OVAs where parody after parody waited around every corner.
Each episode of EXCEL SAGA starts off with a irreverent teaser that looks dramatic, but also which flippantly admits that it has no real point except that it looks cool to the director. Then follows the chunkiest anime opening sequence to air on TV. (For the definition of "chunkiest" in this context, check out Chad Kime's RIAP column from EX 4.8.) Excel and Hyatt are given an assignment from Ilbarazzo. Menchi escapes from Excel. Some guest character appears, and then Watanabe shows up. It's revealed that he and the guest are some long-lost lovers, war-buddies, etc., but it's not long before they are separated again (with the guest dying). Before the episode ends, Excel is reunited with Menchi (much to the dog's despair). Thrown into the episode at random are clips from Pedro's saga of returning home after an encounter with a dimensional portal.
When the above episode recipe is mixed with ingredients from various sources, you get a bizarre mixture that appeals to fanboys. There are numerous references to well-known movies like STAR WARS, RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II and ALIENS that most everybody can get. Then there are the references that only viewers of Japanese TV and OVAs would recognize, like the Matsumoto Leiji, GIANT ROBO and WEATHER BREAK parodies. What really drives the casual viewers away are the jokes that seem to have no references, like the very cute Pujuu alien invaders and Mitsuishi's tangents.
The animation is excellently directed. It isn't always well done—and that happens on purpose. The sudden changes in animation style and quality are part of the visual humor in the series, and it adds quite a surreal flavor. The production company behind the show, J.C. Staff, has a lot of experience in producing surreal anime, such as SHOUJO KAKUMEI UTENA and UCHUUSENKAN YAMAMOTO YOHKO, so they're no strangers to animation that defies common sense.
EXCEL SAGA is currently serialized in YOUNG KING OURS, the same magazine that serializes TRIGUN MAXIMUM and GEOBREEDERS. How much of the anime version resembles the manga version is not known, but it would be a surprise if the anime were a faithful adaptation because the animated jokes work so well, it's hard to believe that they originated in print form at first. However, as the series demonstrates, nothing is impossible.
EXCEL SAGA is definitely not for everybody. It is so way out there that most viewers are overwhelmed by the sheer weirdness of it all. If you consider yourself well versed in Japanese entertainment references, or have a very twisted sense of humor, you might get a good laugh or two out of the series. If you're a Mitsuishi Kotono fan, you'll love this series because she gets a lot of air time. For the rest of you who value your sanity, run away as fast as you can before ACROSS takes over the world.

Currently on the air in Japan
TV Tokyo
1:15-1:45 AM Thursday