What a long, strange trip it’s been.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Rikdo Koshi
Translation: Kyoko Kondo
Adaptation: Carl Gustav Horn
What They Say
The final volume is here! Excel, who had seemed back to her old self, is now a stranger once more after making contact with something—or someone—beyond the forbidden portal. Will she be the captive in the end of a tragedy that happened so long ago? There is but one power that can prevail over all the mysteries of human knowledge—namely, the power of Excel’s ego. You didn’t think she’d ever forgotten about world conquest…did you? The ignorant masses will kneel at last before the spectacular conclusion of the aptly named…Excel Saga!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
There were some big questions which every Excel Saga reader was asking themselves going into this final volume. What exactly are these ‘cores?’ Was Kabapu’s Atlantis backstory actually legit? Who is really in charge? Will Excel get her man?
I’m happy to report that many of these questions get some sort of resolution. It may not be easily explainable, and I’m not even sure about the details of some of these moments, but the ending feels right. In fact this whole volume is the entirety of Excel Saga distilled down to it’s core elements. Speaking of which…
We shall start with the cores, because that’s the hardest part of this whole situation to work out. We get an explanation which reads more like a creation myth, about a good core and a bad core and how the good core sealed the bad core away. However, the truth is far more complicated than that. In fact, I want to just wave my hand and say it’s all beyond human comprehension.
The important parts of note are that there are four major personalities here, Tenmangu, Il Palazzo, broken/evil core, and Excel. Through Tenmangu’s interactions, and the actions of the rest of the cast, the ‘evil core’ was made whole again. The evil core isn’t necessarily evil, it just wants to do the other core’s will. This all fits in with Excel, and the others, because apparently people can merge with the cores and vice-versa, and you know what? If you can work out how all these pieces and personalities mesh, and who was in whose body at any given time, you’re way better at this than I. As frustrating as the haziness of all this mumbo-jumbo is, I’m not sure I would have wanted a simple and clear cut backstory. It would’ve taken away some of the mystique and there’s no way it would’ve been able to adequately answered all of this.
Don’t feel bad, because the cast doesn’t have any clue what’s going on either. They say so, many times. All that they know is that a destructive force which had taken over Excel stood down, and chaos has been avoided and everyone is all right in the end. Or are they?
There’s a fantastic wrap up the Misaki and Iwata relationship, complete with a surprise revelation about Iwata that makes perfect sense and I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. Likewise, there is closure to the Hyatt and Watanabe romance that goes far to restore some of Watanabe’s lost dignity.
As for Excel, she doesn’t just rally at the climax of this volume, she soars. Restored from her introspective arguments she reclaims her body and does the impossible. Not only does she manage to win back her body, she sets ACROSS back toward their goal to take over the world. She even lures her former enemies over to her side, because if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. (Let’s overlook the fact that had Tenmangu not been involved they probably wouldn’t have been able to pull off the impossible.) She’s Excel through and through until the very last lines of the volume.
The ending of this volume is wish fulfillment of the highest order and quickest pace, combined with a punchline which is so appropriate to this series that I wouldn’t want it any other way. Weirdly enough, it doesn’t feel cheap to me, though I could see why some might view it that way. There are robots and fanservice, and a flood of pent up emotions breaking free. Elgala is humiliated a few last times, Hyatt vomits blood for old times sake. I don’t want to give away too many details, but even characters which we haven’t seen in some time make a return for one last scene before everyone moves on with their lives. Even Mince isn’t forgotten about in the tumult. Sure, some of these characters ended up with endings they probably didn’t deserve, like Dr. Shouji and his father. For the rest though, its perfect.
And closing out the volume is the very last sound effect glossary and oubliette for the series.
In Conclusion:
So ends the saga of Excel. A property which, once upon a time long, long, ago gained notoriety as a madcap anime which parodied itself and had so much screaming that it forced Excel’s original English dub voice actress to give up the role. Time heals all wounds, and it also causes many to forget and move on. There have been crazier anime which have overshadowed Excel’s legacy, and fewer and fewer curious minds seeking the out the manga which spawned it. I’m sure there are plenty of teenagers now who have never heard of this series and might be overlooking the lone volume sitting on a Barnes and Noble shelf in their hunt for the latest Attack on Titan volume.
However, here we are, at the end of the road. We made it, and by we I’m talking about the few, the proud, the long time Excel Saga fans. It was touch and go for a while there, right around the end of the manga boom when Excel Saga found itself on the dreaded ‘once a year’ release schedule. Certain volumes had gone out of print with no rescue and no future in sight. Luckily, news came in from Japan the series was wrapping up and Viz stuck out the dwindling sales, for which I must thank them for. Manga went digital, and you can now purchase all of Excel Saga for your e-book reader of choice, things which didn’t exist when this series started coming out. So, the big question for those of you who never gave Excel the time of day, is it worth the purchase?
My old lecture for Excel Saga anime fans who thought about picking up the manga went something like this, and it still applies: Excel Saga the anime was a parody. The anime was only a fraction of the story, a shadow of it, a very different animal. The manga is am absurdist social satire which, eventually, has an ongoing science fiction plot which is deeper than it appears at first glance. It’s surprisingly smart and self aware, and the characters are far less annoying when on the printed page than they were on screen.
I have to give all credit for the quality of this series in English to Mr. Carl Gustav Horn, who remained the editor and adapter of the series from start to finish. He interacted with fans on the only forum that cared about the series, and included their fan letters and art in the book, along with his exhaustively researched editor’s notes and a sound effect glossary which I’m certain no one actually used. Even though I could never make out what Sumiyoshi was saying, the quality of the translation and writing in this series blows away every other manga I’ve ever read.
Is Excel Saga perfect? No, it’s not. The first few volumes are rough, with crude art and a questionable direction which certainly must have turned off a few readers once upon a time. It was easy to loose the plot over the years, given it’s drawn out release cycle and especially considering it never let’s the readers in on any of what’s really going on. But…. but…
I adored these characters and their trials and tribulations. I became engrossed in ACROSS’ quest for world conquest, one city at a time, and the government employees charged with trying to stop them. I lost count of the times that I lost count of who was inside of which robot, and grinned wildly at every line of word play and inane video game reference. It was whip-smart and deviously clever, and forced me to endure the long waits for the next volume. There will never be another manga heroine quite like Excel, or one with whom I identify as much. Identify? Well, maybe wish I could be more like. Uncompromising, unstopable, and perhaps godlike…
Hail Il Palazzo!
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: A +
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: January 14th, 2014
MSRP: $9.99
it was criminally underappreciated