Excel Saga

Publisher
ADV
Director
Shinichi Watanabe
Production
J.C.Staff, TV Tokyo, Victor Entertainment
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
26 episodes
Year
2000

Excel Saga Volume 5: Secrets and lies!

By John Huxley
28th Apr 04

When most series reach their penultimate volume you can expect plot developments to reach boiling point in anticipation for the inevitable climax, central characters to realise their true destiny and maybe even the resolution of a few sub-plots. Never one to play by the book, Excel Saga does none of these things, preferring instead to concentrate wholly on its unique brand of irrelevance. Anyhow, it's not as if it had a plot to develop in the first place.

After watching the preview at the end of the last volume, I was quite excited about the first episode on this disc. The preview promised, for perhaps the first time in history, an adaptation of the original doujinshi upon which Excel Saga was based (doujinshi are similar to underground comics in the west), Municipal Forces Daitenjin. If, like me, you were expecting a retelling of the Excel Saga story from the ground up then you couldn't be more wrong. What we have instead is a broad parody of live-action costumed heroes such as Ultraman and the Power Rangers, with everyone's favourite SAA team members dressed in suitably silly attire. Under orders to rid the streets of at least ten crimes before they can be free of their ridiculous costumes, Ropponmatsu and the rest of the gang soon realise that just wandering around waiting for some nefarious bank robbers to round the corner isn't the most efficient use of their time. Eager to be rid of the embarrassing costumes they set about punishing citizens for each and every crime they commit, no matter how insignificant, punishable by a variety of silly (and highly dangerous) special attacks. Although it was not quite what I was expecting, this episode was nonetheless a pleasant surprise with plenty of snide pokes at a genre that undoubtedly deserves such treatment.

By comparison the next two episodes were slightly disappointing. The first is a return to the all-animal episode a couple of volumes back which features none other than the adorable canine/emergency food supply Menchi. Freed from his horrible captivity at the hands of the evil Excel and Hyatt once again, Menchi embarks (eh? eh? geddit? - shame on me) on a round-the-world trip with a surprisingly adept young girl who claims to be the heir to a vast fortune. Though it's not nearly as tiresome as the previous all-animal effort (partially because this episode features at least a few humans), this is still a weak episode with only a few memorable moments and far too much barking canine for 25 minutes of animation.

Astonishingly, the next episode manages to stoop to new lows - it's another recap episode! And it's not half as entertaining as the first, proper recap episode, either. I don't think I've made much mention of the Pedro character and his side story because he's not exactly at the top of my list of my most liked Excel Saga characters. Introduced during the first few episodes of the series, his story tells of his awful bad luck in losing his job, his life, his kid and his sexy wife to his ex-friend Gomez. Finding solace in the great Will of the Macrocosm (a walking, talking galaxy who constantly revives Haytt from the brink of death) and Nabeshin (a pseudonym of the director SHINichi WataNABE), he plots his revenge in an effort win back his sexy wife and happy family life. Well, this is a recap of that entire story, told in exactly the same order with little or no alterations. While it serves as a neat reminder for the more forgetful among us (me), it really won't hold much interest for the majority. The intermitting dialogue between Excel and Hyatt is entertaining but still no recompense for what is an otherwise boring episode. I wouldn't blame you for skipping a couple of chapters.

The last episode on this disc goes someway to redressing the damage done by the previous two. An attractive young messenger from the ACROSS headquarters (they have a HQ?) arrives with an important message for the venerable lord Ilpalazzo. Unfortunately he can only express his message via the medium of song, and even more unfortunately he will only sing such important words when his soul feels complete. This character, a pretty boy dressed in a revealing and stylish leather outfit and brandishing a flashy guitar would feel more at home in a bishounen (pretty boy) anime, and Excel Saga pulls no punches when it comes to illustrating this fact. Some of this may be lost on an audience not familiar with the likes of Graviation or Chicago, but the same could be said of each and every Excel Saga episode.

This volume is easily the weakest of the bunch so far. The inclusion of yet another recap episode is a disappointment to those who quite rightly expect new material. Hopefully this will be no more than a slight stumble for this series - the last volume is just around the corner and, God willing, it will be every bit as funny, entertaining and down right bizarre as the rest of Excel Saga.

R2 DVD Notes

Features: English & Japanese 2.0 audio, English subtitles, AD Vid-notes, Watanabe's Puni Puni Poemy interview, Puni Puni Poemy staff interview, Puni Puni Poemy character designs, Daitenzin commercial, interview with Koshi Rikdo, production sketches, ADV previews.

Release information: UK release date: 19th January 2004, ADV

Notes: Continuing the joke from the last volume, this set of extras sees several more additions to the roster of Puni Puni Poemy promotional material, including a couple of interviews and a few character design illustrations. I hope they release a poster so we can all hang it up on our walls in anticipation of this exciting new OVA! The rest of the extras include a Daitenzin commercial (watch the first episode for an explanation of this), a text interview with Koshi Rikdo and some production sketches from random episodes. The AD Vid-notes are present and correct and as welcome as they ever were. Another great Excel Saga DVD.

-- John Huxley 28th Apr 04

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