"Heppoko jikken animêshon excel saga" (1999) TV series 1999-2000

Director:

Shinichi Watanabe

Writers:

Hideyuki Kurata (writer)
Yôsuke Kuroda (writer)

Seasons:

1

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

This is one crack team of special agents that might be doing better if they actually were on crack. [Region 1 DVD #2]

Plot:

Ilpalazzo wants one thing: to rule world so he can better it. Excel just wants to help. Too bad she sucks at her job.

Plot Keywords:

World Domination | Returning Character Killed Off | Dog | Cartoon Nudity | Absurd Humor

Cast

Rebeca Aponte	...	Excel (26 episodes, 1999-2001)
Ledner Belisario	...	Koshi Rikdo (26 episodes, 1999-2001)
Carmelo Fernández	...	Pedro (26 episodes, 1999-2001)
Maythe Guedes	...	Hyatt (25 episodes, 1999-2001)
Lileana Chacón	...	Menchi (25 episodes, 1999-2000)
Manuel Bastos	...	Il Palazzo (24 episodes, 1999-2001)
Eder La Barrera	...	Additional Voices / ... (24 episodes, 1999-2000)
Takehito Koyasu	...	Il Palazzo (23 episodes, 1999-2000)
Juan Guzmán	...	Nabeshin (23 episodes, 1999-2001)
Jason Douglas	...	Il Palazzo (23 episodes, 1999-2000)
Jhaidy Barboza	...	Cossete Sara / ... (21 episodes, 1999-2001)
Maite Bolívar	...	Great Will of Macrocossm (20 episodes, 1999-2001)
Héctor Indriago	...	Watanabe (19 episodes, 1999-2001)
Rubén León	...	Aquel Hombre (16 episodes, 1999-2001)
Ezequiel Serrano	...	Iwata (16 episodes, 1999-2000)
Guillermo Martínez	...	Kabapu (15 episodes, 1999-2000)
José Manuel Vieira	...	Sumiyoshi (15 episodes, 1999-2000)
Nahir Borges	...	Sexy Wife (12 episodes, 1999-2001)
Melanie Henriquez	...	Misaki Matsuya (12 episodes, 1999-2000)

Also Known As:

Excel Saga (USA)
Excel saga (Japan) (short title)
Quack Experimental Anime Excel Saga (International: English title)

Runtime:

Japan:30 min (26 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:TV-14 | Spain:15 (one episode) | Australia:PG | Spain:13 | UK:12 (some episodes) | UK:15 (some episodes)

Company:

J.C. Staff

Trivia:

"Menchi" is Japanese for "minced meat".

Quotes:

Ilpalazzo: Are you the messenger from HQ? Why are you late? Let us hear your reasons for that first.
Key: My name is Key. I am a key.
[to Excel]
Key: And could you perhaps be... my keyhole?
Excel: [shouts] Excel heat overload! Excel isn't used to such lovie-dovie attacks but what about her Ilpalazzo? Excel's so confused.
Ilpalazzo: [internally towards Key] Damn you. Just because you're a visually appealing little bastard doesn't make you cool. You're stupid! Stupid! Stupid! I'll kill you, you poser! I'll definitely make you die!

Movie Connections:

Spin off Puni puni poemi (2001) (V)

Soundtrack:

Ai (Chûseishin)

Demented, silly, over-the-top. A "Weird Anime" indeed!

After watching Dragon Half, Elf Princess Rane, and Kodomo no Omocha, one would think the Japanese couldn't possibly produce something crazier than those series. Excel Saga not only proved me wrong, but proved just how completely inadequate words can be when you're trying to describe an animated feature.

From the opening credits (a rather odd spoof of Japanese pop videos that includes the two main characters lipsynching to the opening song while in strange backdrops (like men's communal baths) to the ending song, where Menchi the dog sings (with a human interpreter in a little square in the corner) while various condiments are sprinkled over her, this series lampoons just about anything and everything.

While it's not always coherent, it's energetic and funny, and there's nothing like watching a series that tries to off its own creator (in this case the original comic writer) at least twice an episode. (And the main character dies at least twice as often as that!) If maybe not quite as creative as FLCL, it certainly pulls everything off a lot cleaner.

Excel Saga is an anime beyond words ... a "Weird Anime" indeed.