Rating: 
Summary: This Anime is too much to handle...even for sane people.
Review: When I first saw a couple episodes in this series at the Anime Central convention in Chicago, I wanted to know when it would come to DVD so that I could purchase it myself. I remember nearly falling out of a chair the first time I watched episodes in the Excel Saga series because I was laughing so hard. What I found to be the craziest, and most inane anime, soon became the one that I was anticipating more than the End of Evangelion. This Anime series parodies alot. It also destroys the whole powerful heroine thing by making a character who dies several times in one day. The lead character is killed twice in the first episode, and the animator who created the Manga for the series is even killed in the series. This series even contains an "emergency food supply", consisting of a dog tied to the main character's head. Once you read the back cover of the DVD case and the card contained inside, you will already realize what you have gotten yourself into. This series looks to be a great one...and a ridiculous one at that.
Rating:
Summary: Ilpallazo warns you to watch this, or be purged!
Review: Excel Saga is one of the funniest animes you'll ever see. Let's thank ADV for bringing this to America. The first thing about this is that this has one of the best English dubs that I have ever seen. The actress who plays Excel is so energetic, you may actually need the subtitles to get everything. The presentation of the DVD is excellent. It surrounds you in the bizarro world of Excel Saga right from the copyright warning. The episodes themselves are quite humorous. From excel dying / being killed numerous times through the five episodes, to the great parody of the text rpgs which are popular in Japan, to the ending theme of the dog Menchi singing while an interpreter translates to Japanese. These episodes are very entertaining start to finish, and you'll be watching them over and over. The extras are nothing to cheer about, but you do get previews of other ADV films. Overall, you will not be disapointed if you pick this one up, and I strongly recommend it for fans of anime.
Rating: 
Summary: Perfect for Experienced Anime Fans Who Love Slapstick.
Review: To really enjoy this series, I think you'd have to be an experienced anime fan (to understand all of the parodies) and have a strong liking for slapstick comedy. The reason I say this is because about 99% of the comedy that compiles Excel Saga is parodying and heavy slapstick. Having seen a nominal amount of anime, I was unable to perceive most of the parodies. Some of the slapstick was funny, however, most of it was just too grotesquely wacky to be humorous.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible...
Review: This has to be one of the funniest shows ever, and definatley the funniest anime ever.
It is so random and insane and bizarre, but also extremley well done. Great animation and character design.
I think it's rather stupid to give away huge peices of the show like most of the reviewers seem to do, so I won't say anything about it except this:
If you don't know much at all about anime, this will not be very funny at all to you. The more you know about anime and japanese culture, the better this is. It is also NOT FOR KIDS. I can't stress this enough, what with all the...parents out there buying anime for their little kids because they don't know what anime can be like and how appropriate it is for what age groups. But anyway, I love it. It's my favorite anime.
Rating: 
Summary: Okay, but not for young kids
Review: I got this DVD to try out some anime. I'm reviewing it from the perspective of someone that was not an anime fan.
Just make sure that your really young kids are not watching. This is a comedy for adults, its got a lot of twisted humor. As I watch it I think: Is Menchi really a dog or is she a cat? Why is Excel's neighbor always followed by his two friends? Poor Pedro....tormented by the happiness of his sexy wife and his son.
This DVD is definately for adult anime fans. The story starts out that Illapallazo is going to take over a city (not the world) and Excel is for some reason the agent he picks for the job fresh out of school after she was run over and had flash backs of her life and then floated into some cosmos which is somehow a woman, she gets put into Illapallazo's basement to start her work as an Across agent. From there the storyline goes everywhere.
Rating:
Summary: Good series, but the dub destroys its charm.
Review: Normally, I can deal with a bad dub and still love the series or movie (Ghost in the Shell, Eva, Slayers), but I just couldn't watch this a second time. Jessica Calvello, you have made an enemy. If the people at pioneer had the rights to this anime, it would be cool and funny. I can't recommend this to everyone, or anyone at that matter. Go get GTO or Trigun instead.
Rating:
Summary: You won't find a funnier anime than this
Review: This is probably the best comedy anime I have seen since Nadesico and, frankly, it even tops that show. Here is a good run down of the first five episodes. Episode 1: Excel takes on the task of killing a manga artist and helping her co-worker, Pedro.
Parodies: Yu Yu Hakusho, Excel Saga manga, Cowboy Bebop. Episode 2: Aliens come to Earth and it's up to Excel and Nabeshi to stop them.
Parodies: Star Wars, Space Adventure Cobra, Cowboy Bebop, Space Battleship Yamato. Episode 3: Excel is captured by a bunch of army guys in the jungle and now Hyatt must attempt to save Excel. And Nabeshi must once again do all the work.
Parodies: Patlabor 2, jungle warfare movies, Tekkaman Blade, Getter Robo, Leiji Matsumoto art, Yakuza films. Episode 4: Lord Illpalzo becomes occupied with a dating game which gets in the way of the mission, but produces some funny results.
Parodies: Season of Sakura game, Golgo 13, Star Wars (again). Episode 5: Excel and Hyatt must stop a corrupt company from cheating employees. And Excel makes a new enemy.
Parodies: Salaryman manga, Resident Evil, Excel Saga singers. The extras provide ADVid Notes to help tell the jokes, textless openings and closings, Japanese openings and closings, Japanese video piracy warning (nothing real special) and original trailers that almost make you take the show seriously. The menus are a tad bit slow, but still pretty fun. Check out the extras menu for a hand squashing PuuChuus. Also included in the package is a special ACROSS membership card (just for laughs). Overall, Excel Saga is the funniest anime you will watch that takes each level to the highest point of anime comedy. Highly recommended to all anime fans.
Rating:
Summary: Mean-spirited, Uninspired Parody
Review: Excel Saga is perhaps the most over-hyped anime in US anime fandom. While hype alone is not a problem, there simply isn't anything in Excel Saga beyond that. All this show contains is a constant stream of parodies of anime series (from the very recent to quite old). There is no story holding this together (or if there is, it doesn't emerge in this first disc). The characters barely exist--only one of the minor characters, constantly trying to escape his roommates, has any hint of substance. To the extent they do exist, the characters are unlikeable--particularly the spastic, amoral Excel. The unthinking, murderous streak in Excel's actions (and this is not hyperbole) highlights a second problem: what humor there is, is mean-spirited. There is no light humor here--the jokes pretty much all depend on significant pain (or death) being inflicted on someone. Note that it's not offensive in any way; rather, it made me wonder why I should spend my time watching it. Even if you get all the jokes (and unless you've watched a lot of anime, including things never released in the US, you won't), it's more tiring than funny. Excel Saga demonstrates one thing: it's apparently easier to parody a genre than come up with something new or interesting. If mean-spirited, uninspired parody floats your boat, pick this up. If not, save your cash.
Rating:
Summary: Puuchuu...Puuchuu!!!
Review: By far, this was the craziest thing I've ever seen. Having seen the ending was more than enough insentive to buy the first volume, which was full of guys with afros, an emergercy food source dog that looks like a cat and cute litte aliens pent on taking over the world with the limited vocabulary of 'puuchuu puuchuu.' Never a dull moment and by far one of the greatest animes I've ever seen.
Rating:
Summary: Sacred Anime Cows will be Sacrificed
Review: Fair warning beforehand: Either you will love this anime or you will hate it. There is no middle ground. Excel Saga is a parody of the Japanese and Anime, and has no problems with going over the top. The title character, Excel, is a just-graduated high-schooler who is working for a top secret organization called A.C.R.O.S.S. which has a total of two members. However, Excel has three distinguising characteristics: the ability to speak a mile a second, will do anything to please Il Palazzo whom she loves, and is a basic ditz. Il Palazzo is the leader of A.C.R.O.S.S., whose goal is to conquer the city of "F", but is easily distracted. Hyatt (who is introduced in episode 2) is anemic and faints a lot. And then, there's Menchi, Excel's stray dog/emergency food supply who even sings the closing theme (with translation). Other characters include Pedro, next door neighbors (one of whom speaks only in subtitles), and Will of the Microcosmos. Just how wierd is this anime? In the first episode, Excel dies about six times (including once in the first 30 seconds), but the series Deus Ex Machina, the Will Of The Microcosmos, sets things straight. Excel's mission is to kill the Koshi Rikdo, the manga artist who happens to draw the original Excel Manga. Other episodes include a space battle, B-movie, Japanese love-dating video game, and newspaper story. BTW: The original Japanese voice of Excel is the same person who did the role of Usagi/Sailor Moon in the Sailor Moon series. (The role was tailor made for her.) Jessica Calvello did the English Excel, which put a real strain on her voice. One bonus feature of the DVD is a "pop-up" notes which explain some of the in-jokes for us Americans. Today's experiment...... failed.
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