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Excel Saga
File:Excel Saga vol 13.jpg
Agents extraordinaire:
Excel (front), Hyatt (right), Elgala (left).
GenreAction, Comedy, Parody, Shounen, Science Fiction
Manga
Written byKoushi Rikudou
Published byJapan Shonen Gahosha
Canada United States VIZ Media
France Kabuto
Italy Dynit
Anime
Directed byShinichi Watanabe
StudioJ.C. Staff

Excel Saga (エクセル・サーガ, Ekuseru Sāga) is a manga series by Koushi Rikudou,[1] and a TV anime series based on it and directed by Shinichi Watanabe.[2] Both the anime and the manga are absurdist comedies detailing the attempts of the "secret ideological organisation" ACROSS, of which the the title character Excel is a key member, to conquer the city of Fukuoka as a first step towards world domination.

The manga focuses on the development of its principal characters by means of satirizing life and culture in Japan: Rikudou notes that Excel Saga developed out of his earlier dojinshi comic Municipal Force Daitenzin as a way both to "laugh off" economic problems of the time and to explore Excel's character, which he felt he had neglected in Daitenzin.[3] [4] While the anime maintains much of the satire, it is more gag-based and self-referential, featuring animated representations of the Rikudou, Watanabe, and other members of the production staff. It also relies more than the manga on parodies of popular Japanese works, including Super Sentai, Space Battleship Yamato, and Fist of the North Star. The English-language reception of the Excel Saga anime was generally positive, likening the humor in nature and quality to the works of Tex Avery and Monty Python.[5] Nevertheless, many reviewers were dissatisfied with later episodes,[6] [7] and some censured the series for frequent references to obscure aspects of Japanese culture.[5] [8]

The Excel Saga manga began publication in Japan in the mid-1990s, serialized in Shonen Gahosha's Young King Ours, and as of June 2006 fifteen collected volumes have been published. The TV adaptation was animated by J.C.STAFF and produced by Victor Entertainment. TV Tokyo broadcast the series, beginning 1999-10-07, on Thursdays at 1:45 a.m. Japan Standard Time. Although twenty-six episodes were made, the last one was intentionally made too violent and obscene for public broadcast and did not air in Japan.[9] Several international editions of both media have been made, with the manga released in English, French and Italian, and the anime in these languages and Spanish and Portuguese.

Characters and plot

Template:Spoiler

Main article: [[:Characters of Excel Saga and List of Excel Saga media]]

Both the manga and the anime follow the trials and tribulations of ACROSS, a self-styled "secret ideological organization", in its quest to conquer the world and rid it of corruption. Its leader, Lord Ilpalazzo,[10], plans to begin with just one city: Fukuoka, Fukuoka, in the manga and "F City, F Prefecture," in the anime. He justifies this strategy by saying that conquering one city allows leeway for setbacks, and that the people of the world would not be ready for immediate unification. Working to counter ACROSS and defend the city are Dr. Kabapu and his Department of City Security, also known as the masked fighting force Municipal Force Daitenzin.[11] Most of the storyline in both the manga and anime revolves around this conflict, although each medium features unique subplots. The manga's are tightly tied to the main plot, focusing on the origins and natures of several main characters, especially Kabapu and Ilpalazzo. In contrast, the anime adds a side story mostly independent of the main plot, which focuses on the ghost of Pedro (an immigrant construction worker), Nabeshin (the director's alter ego), and That Man, a villain introduced in later episodes.[12]

ACROSS

File:ACROSS (Excel Saga).jpg
ACROSS: Ilpalazzo (center), Hyatt (left), and Excel (right). Not pictured: Elgala and Menchi.

Excel is the hyperactive protagonist and title character, who approaches her work with abundant determination, but little foresight. Her mission is to further ACROSS' city conquest, but her personal desire is to win Ilpalazzo's praise. Despite being his most senior officer, Excel frequently finds herself out of the loop or passed over for promotion. Ilpalazzo, in contrast, is cold, reserved and calculating, but clearly has severe mental problems: he frequently suffers memory loss, hears voices, and sometimes manifests a different persona. He shows very little patience with Excel, frequently endangering her bodily well-being by dropping her down an oubliette (the principal running gag in Excel Saga) or otherwise punishing her. Ilpalazzo soon hires a second agent, Hyatt, a demure and frail woman with a penchant for suddenly dying and reviving in quick succession who soon becomes Ilpalazzo's favorite. Hyatt, however, seems unaware of his favor and holds her senior in high regard. The two agents of ACROSS keep the dog Menchi[13] as both a pet and "emergency food supply"—but although Excel and Hyatt often plan to cook and eat Menchi, they never do so for various reasons. In the manga, a third agent called Elgala joins ACROSS. She proves to be a source of great frustration to Excel, mainly due to her insubordinate attitude, expensive tastes, and seeming inability to keep her numerous opinions to herself.

File:Daitenzin.jpg
The Daitenzin ride to battle ACROSS for the fate of the city.

Department of City Security

Paralleling Ilpalazzo's ACROSS is Kabapu's Department of City Security. Kabapu himself occupies a position of inscrutable power in the city, and is able to bend its political establishment to his will. Despite his power, he is an object of ridicule among most of his subordinates due to his appearance, mannerisms, and seeming disregard for lives and laws. Unfazed by this, he eventually informs the six members of the Department that they are to assume the role of the Daitenzin, a sentai fighting force. One Daitenzin is Tooru Watanabe, who pins his hopes for a romantic relationship with Hyatt on his position in the civil service but grows despondent as the nature of his employment becomes clear. Another is Daimaru Sumiyoshi, who is a voice of reason in the Department and is represented as communicating through free-floating text.[14] The third, Norikuni Iwata, is generally disliked for his lechery but tolerated by his co-workers. Misaki Matsuya, the fourth, is an attractive but ruthless young woman who provides much of the group's leadership. The final Daitenzin are two android bomb-disposal experts called Ropponmatsu Unit 1 and Ropponmatsu Unit 2. Other associates of the Department are Kabapu's assistant Ms. Momochi, and the lolita complex-stricken Gojo Shioji, designer of the Ropponmatsus.

Other characters

That Man (center) prepares to counter the Afro-warriors (top to bottom: Nabeshin, Pedro, and Sandora), as the Great Will and Pedro's Sexy Wife look on in terror.

In addition to the main cast, Excel Saga features a wide array of secondary characters. Of those, among the most important are the anime's Nabeshin and the Great Will of the Macrocosm. These two have the power to alter or reset the storyline, and Excel and others often appeal for them to do so. Other cast additions in the anime include the Puchuus, a race of insidiously cute aliens competing with ACROSS for world conquest, Pedro and his son Sandora, who both suffer cruel turns of fate and become Nabeshin's students in the fight against That Man, a shadowy character who attempts to become a god by seducing the Great Will and Pedro's "Sexy Wife." Dr. Sekifumi Iwata (a cousin of the Daitenzin Norikuni Iwata, although that is only explicitely stated in the manga) and his associate, Nurse Shiki Fukuya, provide some comedic interludes in the anime but make more substantial appearances in the manga. Finally, in the manga Rikudou dedicates several chapters to introducing other members of the Iwata, Sumiyoshi and Shioji families. Particularly notable is Shioji's mother Miwa Rengaya, whom Kabapu views as key to finding Shioji's mysteriously vanished father Tenmangu.

Notable differences

Apart from certain characters' presence or absence, the circumstances of some of them differ markedly between the two media. For instance, episode two of the anime presents Hyatt as being a Martian princess with some sort of relationship with the Puchuus and Nabeshin, making her induction into ACROSS seem almost like an accident. Volume one of the manga, however, shows her joining ACROSS after submitting an application and being interviewed by Ilpalazzo. The two media also differ markedly in the nature of ACROSS and the Ropponmatsus. Ilpalazzo and his followers are all there is of ACROSS as of volume fourteen of the manga, but in the anime they form only one branch of the organization: above them are Headquarters, including That Man and his fellow members of the ACROSS Six.[15] Finally, the Ropponmatsus are depicted in the anime as distinct entities working together, whereas in the manga only one is active at any given time, since they have to share a unique "Ropponmatsu core".[16]

Storylines

The manga focuses on the various missions Ilpalazzo's agents undertake as a part of their city conquest, the exploits of the Department and its members, and sometimes explores an individual character. Beginning with volume nine, Excel and her comrades repeatedly attempt to make appeals directly to the people of Fukuoka, leading to inconclusive confrontations with the Daitenzin. Ilpalazzo, however, personally reveals ACROSS' existence and intentions to the citizens of Fukuoka in volume thirteen. In volume fourteen, the cover of ACROSS' agents is blown, ultimately leading to Hyatt's capture. That volume ends with Hyatt in captivity and suffering amnesia, Watanabe trying to quit the Department in order to marry her, and Excel and Elgala being held in an immigration detention center. The manga also contains two notable subplots closely related to the main storyline: the first explores the origins of Kabapu and Ilpalazzo, as well as Ilplazzo's mental state. The second, which begins in volume twelve, concerns mysteries surrounding Shioji's parents, notably his mother's behavior and his father's disappearance.

Throughout most of the anime, ACROSS and the Daitenzin interact either indirectly or at arms-length. Like early in the manga, each episode focuses on a particular training or preparatory mission assigned by Ilpalazzo or Kabapu to their subordinates. The anime also follows the attempts of Pedro to regain his life and to avenge himself on That Man. This subplot is reviewed and expanded upon in episode eighteen, which reveals that the Great Will of the Macrocosm and Pedro's "Sexy Wife" are in fact one being, and that Pedro and Sandora are destined to become Nabeshin's students and to confront That Man. There is only modest continuity between most episodes—each being "a parody of a different genre"[17]—but episodes twenty-two through twenty-five "scrape together all of the disparate story elements into something resembling a plot,"[18] culminating in the battle for F City between ACROSS and the Daitenzin, and Pedro's final confrontation with That Man. Template:Endspoiler

Manga origins and source material

File:Excel Saga vol 09.jpg
The Daitenzin (left to right). Foreground: Matsuya and Ropponmatsu Units 2 and 1. Background: Iwata, Watanabe, Sumiyoshi.

Rikudou notes that Excel Saga, the manga, developed from a dojinshi he had started during his school days, Municipal Force Daitenzin. A motivation for the change to Excel Saga was a desire to better develop Excel's character, which he felt remained "undigested" in Daitenzin. Also influential was the state of the world economy at the time, which he describes as "depressed, [with] a pessimistic view of life." According to Rikudou, he wrote Excel Saga as a way "to laugh off that view."[3] The manga draws mainly from common aspects of Japanese life, from major issues such as troubles in the labor market, the state of health-care, political corruption, and gender equality, to more mundane concerns such as office relations, the hanami flower-viewing custom, and neighborhood trash collection days. Rikudou also heavily references his hometown of Fukuoka by inserting local sayings "here and there,"[19] and by naming many of his characters after landmarks in the city. The Daitenzin as a group are named after Fukuoka's downtown, the Tenjin district, their codenames deriving from department stores and other establishments in the district,[20] and their surnames from neighborhoods around the city.[21] (Sources differ on the codenames "Excel," "Ilpalazzo," and "Hyatt:" VIZ claims they originate from hotels in Fukuoka,[19] whereas ADV claims hotels in Tokyo as the source.[22]) The character Elgala is named after the Fukuoka Elgala Hall,[23] and ACROSS itself derives its name from the city's ACROS Building.[21] In contrast, Kabapu is named after not a landmark but the mascot of the 1989 Asia-Pacific Expo, held in Fukuoka to celebrate the centennial of the city's Meiji-era charter.[24] The manga contains only modest amounts of outright parody; Kabapu's organization is a take on the sentai genre, and Sekifumi Iwata, the womanizing and medically incompetent doctor, is a spoof of Ozamu Tezuka's Black Jack.[19]

Anime adaptation

Development

According to Rikudou, Victor Entertainment solicited Shonen Gahosha and the two companies approached him about an anime adaptation.[3] He agreed, but asked that the anime have a different story line from the manga, which was and remains on-going. Rikudo states he is very pleased with the adaptation, and that he sees "much appeal in the anime world." Shinichi Watanabe, the director, was for his part surprised to learn that he was specifically requested by Yosuke Kuroda, one of the show's writers. He adds that his first thought on looking at Rikudou's material was, "Wow, there's so much here that can't be broadcast on TV."[25] To balance the removal of Rikudou's original material, Watanabe added his own alter ego, Nabeshin, and expanded several elements, including Pedro and the Great Will. He says that the Great Will in the manga was "conveyed just as words,"[9] and he himself developed its appearance, eventually settling on the "swirling, talking cosmos." He also increased Pedro's role in the story from a single frame in the manga. Watanabe says he was pleased with his work on Pedro, noting that "Pedro's situation was considered unsuitable for broadcast in Japan." Victor Entertainment's Shigeru Kitayama explains that Pedro's role was "a bit dicey" because it could have been interpreted "that foreign workers are looked down upon."[26] Nevertheless, Watanabe made it a mission in doing Excel Saga "to find the borderline when things got too much," for TV Tokyo.

In contrast to the manga, the anime draws from and lampoons many different genres and specific works. For instance, although the sentai genre is more frequently mocked, Fist of the North Star and the works of Leiji Matsumoto each receive an episode's worth of parody, while Aliens, Gundam, Rose of Versailles, Dragon Ball, and Sailor Moon all are lampooned in extended sequences. Although Watanabe feels fans of these works were "really happy" at Excel Saga's parodies, Kitayama notes that the creators of the works "certainly got mad."[9] [27] Puni Puni Poemy, an OVA in which the director reprises his role as Nabeshin, is referenced in several episodes. A running, metafictional gag is the show's pre-title "authorization scenes," in which an animated representation of Rikudou gives or is forced to give permission for the episode's experiments. In later episodes, the author and director eventually come to blows over plot and character development in what one reviewer calls a "knowing satire on the real-life struggles that often arise between writer and director."[28] The vocal cast includes several prominent voice actors, such as Kotono Mitsuishi as Excel, Takehito Koyasu as Ilpalazzo, and Satsuki Yukino as Ropponmatsu Unit 1. Rikudou recalls that he was "wired up" to see his favorite voice actors and actresses read lines of his work in front of him.[3] Despite this, he was unprepared for hearing Excel's voice the first time, and found it an uncomfortable experience. Watanabe himself was impressed with Mitsuishi's rapid delivery of her lines, saying that "she really pushed herself to the limit and beyond."[9] He also says, "at times she was too fast, and there was plenty of time left to [match the lip-synch]" (insertion in the original). In such cases, either he would add new material or Mitsuishi would ad-lib.

Music

File:Menchi (ending).jpg
Menchi, being seasoned for cooking, performs the "Bolero," as the woman translates.

In addition to providing overall production for the series, Victor Entertainment also produced the music of Excel Saga, which was composed and arranged by Toshio Masuda,[29] and directed by Keiichi Nozaki. Director Shinichi Watanabe wrote the lyrics for the opening and closing themes, which were performed by the "Excel♥Girls" (Yumiko Kobayashi and Mikako Takahashi). The opening theme, "Love (Loyalty)" (「愛（忠誠心）」, "Ai (Chūseishin)"), consists of the singers speculating on the nature of love. One reviewer calls "a dead-on parody of J-pop bubblegum tripe."[5] The closing theme "Menchi's Bolero of Sorrow" (「メンチの哀愁のボレロ」, "Menchi no Aishū no Borero") presents Menchi, limelit, singing alone while being prepared for cooking. Her barks are rendered in Japanese by a female translator inset lower in the screen. Watanabe wrote the opening theme's lyrics "on the train, five minutes before the deadline" — he'd hoped to have the ending theme consist entirely of barks, but felt the music industry would not accept it.[9] The standard opening and closing themes, an extended version of the closing theme, and other tracks were released in two soundtracks by Geneon.

File:Excel (Yarisugi).jpg
Excel's rage in episode twenty-six, gone too far.

"Going Too Far"

The twenty-sixth episode, "Going Too Far," never aired in Excel Saga's original run on TV Tokyo because it was purposely too explicit for broadcast.[9] The opening sequence is altered to contain pixelated nudity and more blood, and the closing presents the translator on fours, wearing a collar, and singing the "Bolero,", while Menchi provides the translation. The episode itself, in addition to much more violence, blood, and gore, features graphic sexual situations involving nudity, lesbianism, soaplands, and a love hotel—and instances of all of these involve minors. The director himself remarks that it "felt good to go past the limits of a TV series," although he thinks it "is not something that you should do too often."[25]

International versions

As of June 2006, eleven volumes of the manga have been translated into Italian by Dynit, four into French by Kabuto, and fourteen into English by VIZ Media. VIZ have announced a December 2006 release for the translation of the fifteenth volume.[30] Each volume of the English edition includes a section called "Oubliette," which consists of a "sound effects guide" and notes by the editor and translator. Since its August 2003 release in North America, Excel Saga has been one of the 100 top-selling graphic novels on several occasions.[31]

ADV Films produced the English-language version of the anime and released it on DVD. Anime Network later broadcast it in the United States. The English adaptation initially starred Jessica Calvello, with Larissa Wolcott taking over the role after episode thirteen after Calvello had damaged her voice during production. The ADV release features interview transcripts, games, and "Vid-Notes" as commentary. It is distributed in in Australia by Madman Entertainment.[32] A French edition of the anime was distributed by Dybex, starring Pascale Duchemin as the voice of Excel. From November 2004 onwards, it was broadcast daily in France by Canal+ in the program La Kaz. "Going Too Far," titled "Allant Trop Loin," aired on 2004-12-30, but at 1:00 a.m. out of content considerations. An Italian version starring Federica De Bortoli was produced by Dynit and shown on MTV Italy. Excel Saga was also broadcast in Brazil in Portuguese, subtitled on Animax Latin America and in a dubbed version by Álamo starring Luciana Baroli on Animax Brazil. Rebeca Aponte leads in Estudios Lain's Spanish adaptation.

Reception

The English-language reviews of Excel Saga were broadly positive and even enthusiastic. Mike Crandol of Anime News Network puts it in the same class as Airplane!, National Lampoon, Tex Avery, and Monty Python,[5] adding that the "combination of character-based humor, outrageous slapstick farce, and a plot that is engaging if only for how weird it is make for a thoroughly enjoyable comedic experience." Serdar Yegulalp at TheGline says it succeeds both as "a brutally savage parody of every conceivable anime genre and convention, and as the kind of post-modern self-criticism found in the works of Takashi Miike, Thornton Wilder, Pirandello" (emphasis in the original).[7] A contrary opinion is expressed by Joel Pearce from DVD Verdict, who says the series is "occasionally clever and funny," but that "much of it is gratingly obnoxious."[17] Many reviewers express displeasure with middle and later episodes, saying they were "more of the same,"[17] that they had "stale" humor,[33] that they were "tiresome,"[7] or even "painfully unfunny."[6] Episodes fourteen through sixteen, starring the Ropponmatsus, bear the brunt of this criticism, but several reviewers consider episode seventeen, "Animation USA," to be one of the best.[6] [34] [35] [17] Reviewers also agree that the series suffers from too much "filler" in its later episodes, with Crandol describing the show as "spinning its wheels."[36] The production staff's reliance on a second summary episode—recapping the Pedro-Nabeshin subplot—particularly displeases reviewers.[37] [33] [17] Crandol alone seems to have enjoyed it, calling the episode "delightfully stupid" and one of the "most entertaining installments."[36]

Another concern several reviewers express is that the quantity of obscure jokes and cultural references might limit the show's appeal.[7] [8] [37] Yegulalp, however, reserves harshest words for the unaired "Going Too Far," calling it "pure, idiotic, wretched excess."[7] He goes on to say that the episode has "the feeling of trying to deliberately enrage the audience by resorting to the only tactics left: genuinely offensive subject matter." Joel Cunningham at Digitally Obsessed disagrees, saying that the episode succeeds just in time, "with one of the series' funnier sight gags,"[18] and Anime Boredom's John Huxley considers it "too light hearted to take offense" and "a complete success."[38]

In technical terms, the series received high marks for its style and art. Although Cunningham feels the animation is "flat-out gorgeous,"[39] Crandol considers it merely above average: in his opinion, it wanes as the series progresses and increasingly relies on super-deforming the characters for comedic effect.[6] ADV's release earned praise for the quality of the video transfer and the DVD extras (particularly the Vid-Notes).[5] [18] Reviewers especially appreciated the English voice acting: Crandol calls it "brilliant,"[5] and several note that Calvello and Wolcott were each able to capture Mitsuishi's Excel.[6] [7] [35] Pearce, in contrast, find the English cast to be "pretty bad" and its Excel to be "dental drill" shrill.[17] With regards to the manga, Akadot's reviewer writes that "some of the strange events go on a little too long and do not have the impact that they do animated," but that Rikudou's Excel Saga is "graced with fantastic visuals and a hilarious story," and that the English edition is "a masterpiece of the translator's skill."[40] Barb Lien-Cooper from Comic World News concurs that the manga cannot keep pace with the anime, but she finds Excel herself to be wittier in the manga and that the manga's plots "make more sense" than the anime's.[41] A reviewer of the French edition also praises Rikudou's work, noting that it is an "…easy read without problems of clarity."[42]

Notes and references

  1. ^ Note that while ADV and VIZ transliterate his given name as "Koshi" and his surname as "Rikdo," the author himself uses under "Koushi" (神士, Kōshi) and "Rikudou" (六道, Rikudō), respectively. See Template:Ja icon "Rikudou_Koushi Official Homepage". Retrieved 2006-06-02.
  2. ^ The anime is most generally known as Excel Saga just like the manga, and that name is used on all DVD covers; however, its full title as used in the title sequence is actually Quack Experimental Animation Excel Saga (へっぽこ実験アニメーション　エクセル・サーガ, Heppoko Jikken Animēshon Ekuseru Sāga).
  3. ^ a b c d "Interview with Rikdo Koshi". Excel Saga DVD Volume 5. ADV Films. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  4. ^ In addition to the Excel Saga manga and the original Daitenzin dojinshi, Rikudou has published a number of dojinshi, artbooks and sketchbooks featuring Excel Saga, some of them erotic in nature. They include 'Excellency' (dojonshi, 1999), 'Firth' (artbook, 2001) and 'Fourth' (sketchbook). As with many other popular series in Japan, there are also various fan-made dojinshi.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Crandol, Mike (2002-06-17). "Review - Excel Saga DVD 1". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2006-06-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ a b c d e Crandol, Mike (2003-01-14). "Review - Excel Saga DVD 4". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2006-06-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ a b c d e f Yegulalp, Serdar. "DVD of the Week (07-31-03): Excel Saga". TheGline.com. Retrieved 2006-06-03.
  8. ^ a b "Excel Saga". The Anime Critic. 2004-01-14. Retrieved 2006-06-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ a b c d e f Unattributed (2002). "Interview with Excel Saga director Shinichi Watanabe". Newtype USA. 1 (1): 84–8. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  10. ^ This is the form employed by ADV for the anime. VIZ adopted the transliteration "Il Palazzo" in the North American manga release.
  11. ^ "Daitenzin" and "Department of City Security" are terms used by ADV in the anime. VIZ has not used "Daitenzin" as of volume fourteen, and translates the group's civilian name as "City Environmental Security Administration."
  12. ^ For more detail, see Johnston, Chris. "Excel Saga quack experimental episode guide". Newtype USA. 3 (7): 78–83. See also Yegulalp's review of the anime at TheGline.com, supra, paragraphs six through nine. Other material in this section is drawn from elsewhere as noted, or from the manga and anime themselves if no other source is given.
  13. ^ Literally meaning "minced meat," ADV retained the Japanese form of her name, but VIZ adopted "Mince."
  14. ^ This is as opposed to other characters' bubbled text in the manga and actual speech in the anime.
  15. ^ In episode two, Ilpalazzo regards Hyatt as "reinforcement from Headquarters;" in episode twenty-one, orders composed by "ACROSS Headquarters" spur Ilpalazzo to action; and in episode twenty-four, Ilpalazzo addresses That Man as "Your Excellency," and the latter then boasts of the progress ACROSS is making.
  16. ^ ADV Vid-Notes, contained in Shinichi Watanabe (Director). "More! Prop memorial". Excel Saga.
  17. ^ a b c d e f Pearce, Joel (2004-09-02). "Review - Excel Saga: Imperfect Collection". DVD Verdict. Retrieved 2006-06-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ a b c Cunningham, Joel (2003-04-08). "Excel Saga #6: Going Way Too Far (2000)". Digitally Obsessed. Retrieved 2006-06-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ a b c "Oubliette," contained in Rikdo Koshi (w, a). Excel Saga, vol. 1 (2003-08-13). VIZ Media, ISBN 156931988X.
  20. ^ ADV Vid-Notes, contained in Shinichi Watanabe (Director). "Municipal Force Daitenzin". Excel Saga.
  21. ^ a b "Trivia for "Heppoko jikken animēshom excel saga"". Retrieved 2006-06-03.
  22. ^ ADV Vid-Notes, contained in Shinichi Watanabe (Director). "The Koshi Rikdo Assassination Plot". Excel Saga.
  23. ^ "Oubliette," contained in Rikdo Koshi (w, a). Excel Saga, vol. 2 (2003-09-03). VIZ Media, ISBN 1569319898.
  24. ^ "Oubliette," contained in Rikdo Koshi (w, a). Excel Saga, vol. 5 (2004-03-03). VIZ Media, ISBN 1591161363.
  25. ^ a b "Interview with Shinichi Watanabe". Excel Saga DVD Volume 3. ADV Films. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  26. ^ Kitayama was an executive producer for Excel Saga and attended Watanabe's interview with Newtype USA.
  27. ^ Newtype USA censored most of Kitayama's response to the question "Who had the biggest complaint?"
  28. ^ "Excel Saga Review". theOtaku.com. 2005-05-28. Retrieved 2006-06-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  29. ^ Note that sources disagree as to his given name: Anime News Network renders it as shown, as do the opening credits in ADV's English edition, but the ending credits render it as "Toshiro."
  30. ^ "Releases - Upcoming titles - Excel Saga". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2006-06-01. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  31. ^ See "Top 50 Graphic Novels" for October 2003 and December 2003, as well as "Top 100 Graphic Novels Actual" for February 2004, April 2004, August 2004, November 2004, January 2005, and May 2005. ICv2. Retrieved on 2006-06-13
  32. ^ "Excel Saga (TV)". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2006-06-02. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  33. ^ a b Cunningham, Joel (2003-02-24). "Excel Saga #5: Secrets and Lies (2000)". Digitally Obsessed. Retrieved 2006-06-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  34. ^ Arnold, Adam (February 2003). "Animefringe Reviews: Excel Saga Vol.4: Doing Whatever It Takes". Animefringe. Retrieved 2006-06-12.
  35. ^ a b Cunningham, Joel (2003-01-13). "Excel Saga #4: Doing Whatever It Takes (2000)". Digitally Obsessed. Retrieved 2006-06-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  36. ^ a b Crandol, Mike (2003-03-10). "Review - Excel Saga DVD 5". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2006-06-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  37. ^ a b Huxley, John (2004-04-28). "Excel Saga Volume 5: Secrets and lies!". Anime Boredom. Retrieved 2006-07-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Cite error: The named reference "animeboredome" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  38. ^ Huxley, John (2004-04-28). "Excel Saga Volume 6: Going way too far!". Anime Boredom. Retrieved 2006-06-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  39. ^ Cunningham, Joel (2002-11-14). "Excel Saga #1: The Weirdness Begins (1999)". Digitally Obsessed. Retrieved 2006-06-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  40. ^ "Excel Saga". Akadot. 2003-09-16. Retrieved 2006-06-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  41. ^ Lien-Cooper, Barb. "Excel Saga Volume 3". Comic World News. Retrieved 2006-06-29.
  42. ^ Full quotation Template:Fr icon: "En ce qui concerne la mise en page, celle-ci est particulièrement dynamique avec un enchaînement impressionnant de cases les unes sur les autres et qui laissent, malgré le nombre, une lecture facile et sans problèm de clarté." "Critique de Excel Saga". SciFi-Universe. Retrieved 2006-06-08.

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