Other Reviews
This section will feature reviews and short descriptions of other anime series and movies. I will try not to give too much of spoilers for them. Back to Other Reviews Main
 |
Excel Saga Directed by: Shinichi Watanabe The first DVD of this series contains 5 episodes. The basic storyline follows the journeys of ACROSS (total membership: 2) whose goal is to conquer the city of F. Excel Excel (or just Excel for short) is the main character of the series. She wants the attention of Ilpalazzo, the leader of ACROSS. Another member of ACROSS that comes in the second episode is a Martian Princess, called Princess Hyatt. Excel also finds a dog that is her emergency food supply. The first five episodes include afro-wearing action heroes, mysterious governmental agencies, space butlers, deranged comic book authors, androgynous prisoners in iron masks, annoying roommates, removable mustaches, and adorably cute aliens bent on domination. There is a rise of another organization of civil servants who might get in the way of ACROSS. The DVD features the very helpful AD Vid-notes, which pop up throughout the shows explaining some cultural references and references to other anime. It also contains a clean opening and closing, original Japanese opening and closing, original Japanese video piracy warning, original Japanese trailer, production sketches, an ACROSS I.D. card, and ADV previews. The second DVD has four episodes and once again has the helpful AD Vid-notes. It also contains Japanese TV spots, Japanese CD single spots, Japanese CD soundtrack spots, production sketches, a poster, and ADV previews. It also has original Menchi advertisements. There are many folders on different parts of the menus, by choosing one you will see an animation of sorts or an advertisement such as Menchi soup (one of the things is a skull and not a folder). The third DVD contains the next four episodes, another collection of AD Vid-notes, and an interview with Director Shinchi Watanabe, production sketches, and previews. It also has Menchi recipes, full recipes with instructions and ingredients listed. In the DVD case is a 'tapping sumo set' game and on the DVD is a Find the Mint game, like the game where you find a stone under a cup. The fourth DVD has 4 episodes and has the "make a face game" in the DVD case where you have different mouths and eyes to put on a picture of Excel. There are more AD Vid-notes, previews, production sketches, opening credits first cut, opening credits timing sequence (there isn't much of a difference), a Puni Puni Poemi OVA preview (Puni Puni Poemi is a spin-off from Excel Saga), and an interview with Japanese voice actress Yumiko Kobayashi who dubs the main character in Puni Puni Poemi. The fifth DVD has another four episodes with AD Vid-notes, a Puni Puni Poemy (they changed the spelling) interview with Watanabe, a Puni Puni Poemy staff interview, Puni Puni Poemy character designs, a text interview with Koshi Ridko, production sketches, a Daitenzin commercial, and previews. The DVD also contains a board game and on the extra menus there is a special classifieds section and continuation of the article on the main extra page. The sixth DVD has five episodes, more AD Vid-notes, an episode 25 clean close, clean opening and closing for episode 26, production sketches, Puni Puni Poemy latest info, previews, and a postcard in the DVD case. Final Verdict: Excel Saga is hilarious. Each episode is filled with many laughs. This series is definitely worth checking out. It is somewhat odd but that adds to the hilarity. Some episodes may not be as funny as others but all of them are good. On the fourth DVD the English dub voice of Excel is replaced because the previous actress hurt her voice doing the part of Excel (I wonder why). It is rather upsetting when the voices change in the middle of the series, which may sadden some viewers of the dub. |
Home