"You used to be a good woof-woof!"
(3 of 3 Found this Helpful)
April 10, 2004
The ideological organization ACROSS continues it's plan to conquer the world one city at a time. But it's a little hard what with government agencies bent on killing insurgent dogs, underdog baseball teams, incompetant kidnappers, and New Years specials.
If you've enjoyed the past two DVD's, you won't mind taking out the greens to add this to your collection. If you're hoping the plot develops some where, best to look else-where. Silly you...trying to find plot! Bah! I got all the plot I need when Excel tries to take down a baseball team made up entirely of monkeys! While I'll admit the 3rd episode on this DVD was lacking to me (except for the "Castle of Cagliostro" reference with Koshi Reikdo) the other episodes were still entertaining. Menchi fans take note - an entire episode is dedicated to the hapless pooch! I won't give away too much, but let me just say that I never knew dogs were so well armed with explosives.
One thing I was depressed this round was the Menchi help that usually gives you info on Japanese culture or references to other anime or films. There were times in this DVD when I KNEW they were making fun of some thing or were making a cultural reference, but there was no Menchi head to confirm me. They must have cut the Menchi head budget or some thing...
Gfah, I digress. Buy this DVD. That is today's mission. No seriously, stop reading this review and do it. I don't care if you already bought the DVD, do it again...
Not So Impressed
(2 of 3 Found this Helpful)
March 23, 2003
I wasn't very satisfied with this volume.Don't get me wrong,I love this series.I currently own the first four volumes,but this one just didn't cut it.The stories weren't appealing.Hardly any comedy at all.But it was still overall okay.I still recommend the series because voulme four gets the story back in line.It is a very fun series.
I love this series!
March 6, 2003
My god, this series is great! This is by far the best comedy anime ever made! The only anime I like more than this one is Eva, nothing else can compare to the two of them! Excel is just so freakin' funny!
ACROSS is insane, but who say's it's a bad thing?
(6 of 6 Found this Helpful)
December 27, 2002
The third DVD has the best DVD menu I've ever seen. When it starts up, you get a clip from the final ep of the DVD (The review episode) of an audience full of Excels and Hyatts (The Hyatts are almost all sick) and if you don't push any buttons, Excel and Hyatt have a small conversation that ends with Hyatt saying "trickle trickle" a lot (It doesn't make sense or sound funny out of context, but it's so darn cute the way she says it!) There is another conversation that is just wierd.
The show gets even wierder in this set of episodes. There are more parodies, including Excel moving like a mobile suit from Gundam and Hyatt dying a lot. I still don't know if she actually dies or not, but it makes me feel so darn sorry for her. She became my favorite character quickly.
If you are a fan of the show, you'll pick up small threads of a plot connecting all these random episodes, but they're not easy to find. There's plenty of hilarity and Excel getting dropped (often on the slightest pretext) into a pit by Ilpalazzo. And the Excel Girls, who are apparently the anime-ized versions of the women who sing the opening song of the show (note that they look like, and are dressed like, Excel and Hyatt) appear some more and then make ilpalazzo angry by messing with his dominoes (Don't ask). Nabeshin, as usual, shows up everywhere, and he's quite the entertaining character.
If you like Excel Saga volumes 1 and 2, get this one too!
Contains A Very Funny Episode!
(3 of 4 Found this Helpful)
November 28, 2002
My standard complaints with ADV translations of "Excel Saga" still stand here, especially with episode 11. The Japanese phrase "What the...?!" is translated "What the heck was that?" It may seem like a small thing, but it was funnier with Excel just saying "What the...?!". But I digress...
Compaints aside, the 3rd DVD for "Excel Saga" is the best yet, especially if you've been following the series. By now, you see tiny threads of continuity (if you hadn't noticed them before) as well as enjoying all of the various characters. But the reason I couldn't wait to get this DVD was episode 11 (who's title eludes me). This is a parody on Japanese baseball (at the high school level). That's not so funny as is the coach of the team who has a "unique" anal disease! *lol* I won't say any more except that you've GOT to see this. No matter how many times I've seen it (and I've seen it a lot), I laugh so hard during this episode. The Japanese version is funniest primarily because the star pitcher who doesn't want to play any more due to an unfortunate bean ball incident. The Japanese pronounce his name in a way so that it sounds like "bean ball". The English dub version fails to capitalize on this humor.
OK, quickly going on, there are four episodes in this DVD (#10-#13) as well as the standard pop-up extras (explaining or pointing out things you might miss) if you like, Japanese and English vocals, and other standard extras from ADV. One extra I liked that is unique to this DVD is a text interview with series director Shinichi Watanabe, known as Nabeshin in the series. That was enjoyable and funny and he explains why he put himself into the show.
Bottom line: this DVD contains the funniest episode to date. While my standard minor complaints on translation liberties (especially with profanity) persist, they weren't enough to keep me from rating this 5-stars!
