If anyone has perused my bio here even a little, they will know that I am a fan of anime and manga – Japanese cartoons and comics, typically of a more adult nature. And not “dirty” adult, but grown-up focused instead. One such series, a favorite of mine since 2002 when I first noticed it, has been a small-market series called Excel Saga, created by Japanese mangaka Rikudo Koshi. Excel Saga might be familiar to some reading this, but not in the context I am writing about today. The most well-known iteration of Excel Saga is the anime version, released in 1999, produced by J.C. Staff and directed by the highly eccentric Shinichi Watanabe. The anime was known for its frenetic insanity and scattergun approach to gags and spoofs, riffing on the entirety of the anime and manga industry, along with some socio-economic pokes at Japan itself. However, the anime tends to be focused on hardcore anime fans, otherwise many of the gags miss broader audiences. I won’t even go into the English dub version, which keeps many curious folks away. On the whole the anime was well received and is regularly ranked as one of, if not the, weirdest anime in history.

Excel Saga, Volume 1, Viz Media English Translation

As with most anime, Excel Saga was based on a manga version, but in this case only very loosely. When I first read the Excel Saga manga, I was expecting more of the same, but I was pleased to find that the original source material was quite a bit different than its anime variant. Now mind you I found the anime amusing (as long as I could get around Jessica Calvello’s ear-splitting rendition of Excel in the dub version, which was very hard to do), but the manga is truly a different animal all together.

The basic plot is this: The clandestine organization ACROSS, led by the enigmatic Il Palazzo, pursues their ultimate goal of revealing to the ignorant masses that the world is utterly corrupt, and that it would do well with ACROSS leading the way. However, since world domination is a messy and time consuming process, ACROSS has chosen to start small, and is attempting to take control of the city of Fukuoka, Japan as a jumping-off point (Rikudo Koshi’s home city). To aid him in his mission, his two (later, three) agents, codenamed Excel and Hyatt (later adding Elgala) are sent forth to secure the way for their Lord’s inevitable ascendancy by spreading his message. The major problem with this plan is that the entirety of the organization is made of Il Palazzo, his two-to-three henchwomen, and a small dog, Menchi/Mince kept by Excel as an emergency food supply. While enthusiastic for their mission, the ACROSS girls are also hopelessly incompetent and in the early part of the manga mostly get stuck working a number of menial, low-paying temp jobs to finance their march to conquest while Il Palazzo does… whatever he does.

Municipal Force Daitenzin, Kabapu's pet obsession

Meanwhile, ACROSS is opposed by Dr. Kabapu, the director of the City Environmental Security Agency and his four employees, Watanabe, Iwata, Sumiyoshi, and Matsuya. Unfortunately for these four normal, everyday people simply looking for normal, everyday government work, they are roped into the Super Sentai (super hero group) fantasy of their mentally deranged boss, and are forced to combat this mysterious ACROSS organization, often in rather embarrassing Power Ranger-style costumes.

The focus of the story from the beginning is largely a forum for Rikudo-san to riff on different elements of Japanese society, politics, and culture, as well as the anime/manga industry, by showing what happens when normal people try to act like manga characters in real life. Dan Kanemitsu, a well-known translator and Japanese cultural consultant, once described Excel Saga as if “Michael Moore had directed the Power Rangers.” Yeah, it’s unusual stuff. The series is surprisingly deep in its range of humor, and in addition to being uproariously funny, the reader also has the opportunity to learn a number of things about the culture in which the manga is written.

An annoyed Lord Il Palazzo, about to send Excel on a short trip down a deep hole.

Viz Media editor Carl Horn, Jr. assists the non-Japanese reader with in-depth notes in the back of each volume in a section called the “Oubliette,” named for the pit that Il Palazzo forces Excel down with a pull of his rope whenever she becomes too frantic and screwy during their meetings. It’s very interesting stuff, educational while also being entertaining. But the style of humor in the manga is much more adult-focused than the anime, which focused far more on the slapstick gags rather than socio-political humor, which are both equally represented in the manga. The prime age-range of Excel Saga fans lies in the 18-24 range, but with a fairly even representation of fans in the 14-18 and 25-30+ brackets as well, since its humor appeals to a very large range of readers. It is generally defined as a seinen (young man) manga – one focused on the college-age bracket and above (including businessmen in their 30’s and 40’s), as opposed to shonen (young boy) titles like Bleach and Naruto, or shojo (young girl) titles like Ciao and Nakayoshi.

Vol. 20, featuring Excel, Elgala, and Mince, from left to right.

Admittedly the first three volumes are the weakest of the series and might keep some fans away, as these first steps are on the much sillier side of the humor spectrum. The art style was still rough, compared to Rikudo-san’s far more refined work later in the series, but the first Excel Saga stories were originally nothing more than doujin (independent comics, typically of adult-orientation. This is where “dirty” adult can often be applied, but not always). However, the commercial success of these early volumes encouraged Rikudo-san to more fully develop the plot, which has become a highly satisfying mystery combined with an irreverent sense of humor.

I highly recommend the series, which is still on-going at 21 volumes, and so far is expected to continue for the next couple of years at the least. Speculation on the Excel Saga forums guesstimates the series will be complete at vol. 24-25 based on present trends in the story, but it may exceed even this. English translations, which have been caught-up to their Japanese counterparts for the past several volumes, are published once or twice a year as they are compiled from Excel Saga’s monthly publication in Young King Ours, and translated by Mr. Horn and published through Viz Media. The volumes typically sell for $9.99 MSRP, except for the two rarer volumes, 7 and 8, which have been out of print for a while and the supply of which was much smaller than normal. Getting a hold of vol. 8 in particular is tricky, as Viz downsized their publication run of Excel Saga at that time since it is, admittedly, not their biggest seller. Scans may be available since it does not appear that Viz Media will be republishing it any time soon, and it sells on sites like Ebay for $40-50. An unfortunate situation, since it is such an important volume in the series, as it fully introduces the third ACROSS member, Elgala, who acts as Excel’s foil for much of the series from then on.

Nevertheless, it is a series worth pursuing, as it combines bizzaro humor and socio-political wit in a compelling mix that is rarely seen in any one work, be it a book, comic, or film/TV series. The characters are very engaging, and they grow and develop throughout the series (in often very strange and interesting ways, I might add), and the mystery of the story is genuinely compelling, as fans still speculate on the truth behind the series. Those who wish to learn more should visit Excel Saga’s “unofficially official” English-translation fan site, excelsagaforum.com, and check out the community there. Mr. Horn has directed would-be fans to this privately owned and operated site for years, as there is no official company-bound site for the series. It is a small board, of which I am a member, but it is a great source for information and news concerning the series, and members there are willing to look out for the rarer volumes for new fans who have been unable to find certain volumes. Happy reading, everyone, and I hope you give this series a shot and enjoy it as much as I do, because it is really worth the effort.