Aka: Ekuseru Sāga / Quack Experimental Anime Excel Saga / Heppoko Jikken Animêshon Excel Saga /
エクセル・サーガ,Writer: Rikdo Koshi
Volumes: 22 (ongoing)
Release date: 1996
Language: English
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Mature 18+, Romance, Sci-Fi
Synopsis:Excel works for Across: an organization bent on world domination to create a better society. She ain't exactly great at her job but she definitely tries hard. And with her new partner from outer space she ain't giving up.
Meanwhile 3 roommates get a job with a weird government agency, a foreign construction worker is forced to be the love slave to the embodiment of the universe (a vortex with slender womanly arms) and a man with an afro gets into all sorts of weird messes that remain unexplained.
(Credit: Imdb)
Characters:
Excel:
The fast-talking, wise-cracking heroine, who was initially the sole minion of ACROSS, joining immediately after graduating from high school, dying, and being resurrected several times. Excel approaches her work with an excess of determination and enthusiasm, but an utter dearth of foresight and understanding. She is in quick succession impossibly lucky and impossibly unlucky, but she never manages to complete a mission without help, and even her successes are usually attained by happenstance. She has a tendency to speak extremely quickly, and in the anime, interject English words into her dialog. She displays a schoolgirl crush towards Ilpalazzo that borders on fanatic obsession, even going as far as to converse with a picture of him while home alone. For an extended period of time in later volumes of the manga, Excel suffers from memory loss, and lives with the Shiouji family under the assumed name, Teriha Shiouji, while a robot duplicate takes her place in the ACROSS ranks. Other pseudonyms: Excel Excel, Hanako Dosukoi, Slammin' Flower Child, Pseudonym Undercover, Sue Donym (a pun on the term pseudonym).
Hyatt:
Excel's frail junior officer, with a strange penchant for dropping dead and suddenly springing back to life in quick succession. In the original manga, Hyatt joins across by simply answering an advert placed by IlPalazzo; the anime, meanwhile, she is a mysterious princess from space with a connection to the Puuchuus and Space Butler. Her curious medical condition is never explained, although later volumes of the manga hint that Il Palazzo has implanted something in her body that is causing it. In both the anime and the manga, she is noticeably Il Palazzo's favorite officer, usually receiving lighter punishment and higher promotions than Excel. Pseudonyms: Chihaya Ayasugi, Convoy Butterfly.
Illpalazzo:
The leader of ACROSS, Lord Ilpalazzo often prefaces his orders and speeches by proclaiming, "The world is corrupt!" He has little patience for Excel, often assigning complex operations to Hyatt. While presented as a mostly dark and serious character in the original manga, the anime lightens the tone with the recurring gag that, despite all his scheming, Ilpalazzo really has nothing to do while Excel and Hyatt are out on missions: he is often seen pursuing surprisingly ordinary hobbies like learning to play the guitar and arranging domino blocks. These foibles notwithstanding, Ilpalazzo is no ordinary human being, as testify his yellow, cat-like eyes and seemingly supernatural powers exhibited in episode twenty-five; the manga would later reveal him to be a survivor of the ancient lost civilization of Solaria. Discrepancies between the two media aside, both manga and anime make it clear that Lord Ilpalazzo suffers from severe psychological disorders, most notably multiple personality disorder.
Menchi:
Although the manga and anime differ in regards to her origins, both agree that Excel captures Menchi with an intent to eat her, sooner or later. Despite numerous threats, Excel comes to care for her after a fashion. Hyatt, though, more intently views Menchi as a ration. In the manga, Menchi gains an apparent ally in Elgâla, who nevertheless views her as an emergency food supply. Several anime and manga plots, notably episodes ten and nineteen, revolve to some extent around Menchi, her past, and her quest to escape Excel. Her breed, though not stated in the anime or manga, appears to be a small Shiba Inu, a baby Akita Inu, or a Hokkaido.
Elgala:
Appearing only in the manga, Elgala is the third agent of ACROSS in seniority and Excel's rival for Ilpalazzo's affections. She is cursed with the inability to maintain an internal monologue, constantly (though not deliberately) speaking aloud her innermost thoughts and feelings. Since Elgala is a snob who thinks nearly everyone is below her, these thoughts are often of the disparaging variety and frequently irritate Excel. Elgala has refined, and expensive tastes, which does not suit the austerity demanded by ACROSS and Excel, leading to frequent conflict. Adding to tension with Excel is the secrecy surrounding both Elgala's missions for Ilpalazzo. Pseudonym: Kasumi Munakata.
Norikuni Iwata:
Brash, self-centered, and noisily infatuated with Matsuya and Ropponmatsu Unit 1, Iwata is generally disliked but tolerated by his neighbors and co-workers. His tendency to make inappropriate statements towards women and his rivalry with Ropponmatsu Unit 2 often lead to his being physically assaulted. In volume eight of the manga, Iwata suddenly dies of colon cancer, but is promptly resurrected as a cyborg, with his brain placed into an android replica of his normal body, as created by Shioji.
Misaki Matsuya:
The attractive and intelligent recruit to the Department of City Security, Matsuya is pragmatic and fiercely independent. She is also talented and vicious at repelling Iwata's frequent leers and advances. The manga reveals that she and Iwata were college classmates and that, to her embarrassment, she bears him some genuine affection. She grows closer to Iwata as the series progresses, striking him far less frequently than normal. The only time she seems to feel the need to do so is when Iwata is being idiotic even by his standards, such as trying to track down Excel by telling a young woman that he's looking for "Naked women". She is also one of the few people in the series that has any sense at all.
Review:
I didn't read this manga yet so I can't make a review but if you did please let us know what you think :)
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Volume 01
Volume 02
Volume 03
Volume 04
Volume 05
Volume 06
Volume 07
Volume 08
Volume 09
Volume 10
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