The inspiration for the outrageous hit anime series, the anime's director told ANIMERICA magazine that the manga contains scenes he knew he'd never get away with! EXCEL SAGA is a charm offensive that's guaranteed to offend. Today the city--tomorrow, the world! That's the plan of Il Palazzo, the haughty, pretty-boy leader of ACROSS, a secret society based somewhere deep beneath the streets and sewers of Fukuoka, Japan. It's a good thing he's starting small, because ACROSS begins its bid for global domination with just two members--Il Palazzo and Excel, the teenaged girl smitten with him. After setting up house in a cheap apartment, Il Palazzo explains that the budget for world conquest and the budget for room and board must regrettably be kept separate. Their neighbors are a trio of regular guys, whom they hope will all overlook the irregularities of their comings and goings; not to mention the sound of screams, struggles, and gasoline explosions!

Earnest young girls Excel and Hyatt (both codenames) hold down minimum-wage jobs to support their true avocation: trying to conquer the city of Fukuoka for the secret organization ACROSS and its dreamy dictator, Il Palazzo--a man whose dignity is such that he could never acknowledge that ACROSS consists of himself, a leaky basement, two unpaid teenage interns, and a stray dog. But society is all to blame, as creator Rikdo Koshi takes aim at everything from organized religion to public television, in a manga that makes reindeer spit blood and puts puppies on the dinner menu. Find out why translator Dan Kanemitsu compares Excel Saga to "Michael Moore (Bowling for Columbine) directing Power Rangers"!

200 pages

There's always an election coming up, and the city of Fukuoka won't be spared either. But what petty party stooge is this so-called "candidate for Mayor"--who dares presume to take control of a town Lord Il Palazzo has already stamped "Property of ACROSS"? Excel and Hyatt go undercover by volunteering for the campaign, and discover that democracy Japanese-style will have you begging for hanging chads. Vol. 03 of Excel Saga stays strong on the issues like health care reform, which must be why the girls have dressed up like nurses and snuck into the local hospital--where awaits everyone's favorite butcher, I mean, lecher: I mean, Doctor Iwata, M.D. Then: Not a dream! Not an imaginary story! One night, when the whole apartment's asleep, enter a place where even Freud would fear to read: the REM state of our characters! Refreshed, Excel Saga's neighbors get up and go to work as their secret alter egos: yes, in this issue! the good guys and bad girls (DISCLAIMER Designations "Good" and "Bad" subject to the requirements of public policy) make dim first contact in the city sewers. Will it end senselessly in a waste of human life, or just in human waste?

208 pages

There could be no return address for Hyatt when she's taken hostage in a post-office holdup! But the threat of death means squat to someone who already dies several times in any given working day--and in any case seems largely unaware why she's been tied up and taken on an impromptu road trip. Excels' teeth-clenching rescue leads to a visit from--The Clones of Dr. Iwata?!? When she disguises herself as her blood-spouting buddy in order to scam free dental care, she falls under the drill (and questing fingers) of a lustful, bungling dentist who looks remarkably like the lustful, bungling surgeon of fame. But who's going to lose more teeth in the encounter? Meanwhile, as Il Palazzo continues to ponder the ominous voices (?) inside (?) his head, and little latchkey puppy Mince, chisel in maw, labors on an apartment jailbreak worthy of Escape From Alcatraz, everyone's heading for the obligatory swimsuit scene at the public pool. Ordinarily, it would be the obligatory nude scene at the hot springs resort, but of course no one in Excel Saga can afford a vacation like that.

216 pages

Steak--it's what's for dinner, if Excel and Hyatt's latest sizzler of a job can last. They want beef, but intead end up having it, because that spunky schizoid Ropponmatsu II has moved in to brighten everyone's lives. And when the girls try to find some quiet outside, they run smack into Lolita Orphan Annie: little lost Hiyoko-chan, object of the scientific affection of the admittedly even-prettier Dr. Shiouji. The tragic duty of getting Excel Saga's story moving again must then fall to Ropponmatsu I. When the proxy of Kabapu lays hands on the flunky of Il Palazzo, Excel discovers that sometimes when they touch, the honesty is, frankly, far too much. Oshii what happens as ghosts in the rattlin' shell that is our characters' lives appear, and a little-girl persona challenges their very perception of reality. That's not too much of a loss, when you stop to think about it.

208 pages

"Fukuoka 911!" Perhaps the stress of the hobo lifestyle has led Excel Saga's characters to crack and imagine themselves cast in a badly edited retrospective on Japanese cop shows. But back in The Real World--no, not the MTV version, but the one with all the poverty, squalor, and filth--life brings surprising new fortune to Hyatt, Excel, and Elgâla, as they are mysteriously led to new digs equipped with--dig!--CABLE! Yet even that mercy packed syringe known as the remote cannot long keep them from their responsibilities, as both sides in the battle for the city and their shadow war to fight it out in the streets with lots of guns and lots of robots! Will the cynical masses respond to this awesome demonstration of power, or will they assume it's just violent guerilla marketing for the next Power Rangers sequel?

208 pages

Finding a ready (and willing!) audience at a small-town retail outlet, Excel preaches the word of ACROSS. She's a smash success (as a performance artist), until Iwata and gang arrive in robotic attire. Poor Excel...does she have what it takes to right the wrongs of society--or will the elegantly military El Gala take her glory away? In a crisis of faith, Excel strikes out on her own--leaving a note behind for her beloved Il Palazzo. Meanwhile--who knew?--Sumoyoshi's tasty little sister comes to town on a visit. Then, if there wasn't already enough isolation and despair in the world, the whole group is transported back to High School Daze (remember, this book is rated "T" for teen!).

Yes, head-master Kabapu, we like beach volleyball, especially when the gorgeous girls of ACROSS are involved...saving the world, one bikini at a time.

200 pages

Hard cash is the theme of the day, as the women of ACROSS discover the promise of domestic peace to be a gold brick--literally. Nor do public-spirited paupers like Watanabe receive all that many of your tax dollars, which could seal the tomb on his nearly-necrophilic affection for Hyatt. It seems that for someone so closely beckoned by the spirit world, Hyatt can be a remarkably material girl--that must be why she and Watanabe are on a romantic date down to the local ATM. Will their cold, still love hang upon his balance?

216 pages

Sitting on a park bench…no, it's not Aqualung, but Dr. Shiouji, whose view of the slides and swing sets is being blocked by a beautiful girl--tall, voluptuous, just turned eighteen…in other words, not his type. But who is the mysterious Miss Umi, and why is she trying to get the Doctor's attention, pandering to him and the readers alike by dressing in a nurse's outfit, a maid's outfit, and yes, in desperation, a schoolgirl's outfit? Meanwhile, Watanabe is lost at sea with a dead albatross named Ha-chan around his neck. Will he give into the Coleridge-like temptation?

208 pages

In this volume, the saga of Excel Saga veers dangerously close to plot development, as the underground battle for Fukuoka rises to street level and the reader is treated to startling revelations of varying degrees of plausibility. Eager to convert the ignorant masses to the worship of Il Palazzo, the girls of ACROSS make their television debut, only to be upstaged by a skyscraper-sized manifestation of their Lord himself. Dr. Kabapu finally confesses his secret history to his perpetually bewildered lackeys, proving himself in the process to have drifted farther from the shores of sanity than they could ever have imagined. And the refined Dr. Shiouji crumbles as the unimpeachable walls of his laboratory are breached by the most fearsome, yet mysterious, entity in the Excel Saga universe: his mother.

208 pages

Q: What happens when you try to act like an anime character in real life?
A: EXCEL SAGA.

Two groups of neighbors in an apartment building lead secret lives. One thinks they're trying to take over the city of Fukuoka. The other thinks they're trying to defend it. Only their bosses, would-be conqueror Lord Il Palazzo, and obsessed bureaucrat Dr. Kabapu, know the truth behind this increasingly dangerous private game... too bad neither will let their underlings in on it!

Last volume, ACROSS tried and failed to capture a member of the City Environmental Security Agency. This time, Dr. Kabapu tries to capture a member of ACROSS - and succeeds! Vol. 14 of EXCEL SAGA not only proudly offers further plot development - never to be taken for granted, as in lesser manga - but shamelessly panders to base reader instincts with a romantic date, a muddy catfight, and two lavish bath scenes, one of which unfortunately involves Dr. Kabapu.

232 pages

It's a non-stop neurotic cabaret as Excel/Teriha is targeted for assassination and kidnapping--in that order! As Umi attempts to find her amnesiac friend safe employment in a maid café, two things are beginning to return: her memory, and Dr. Kabapu's health. But just as "Teriha"'s past is coming back to her in strange bits and pieces, the Doctor is no longer the ruthless man he once was, but a kindly old gent who's discovered the true meaning of--and that's all the spoilers we have time for now.

Length: 208 pages

In Fukuoka, first you get the money, then you get the power, then you get the women — unless you're Il Palazzo, in which case you get the women first, and then proceed from there!

SC, 5x7, 240pgs, B&W

Usually Elgala knows too little...but now she knows too much! Forsaken by her Lord, and a fugitive on the streets of Fukuoka, the poor purple-haired girl is back to the kind of homeless lifestyle she used to whine about with Seniors Excel and Hyatt--but now, she's all alone...except for, awww, a small white doggy. Somewhere on those same streets is the person Elgala insists exists...the real Excel. But Excel doesn't know who she is--and is she becoming so much a part of the Shiouji family that contentment will trump conquest?

SC, 5x7, 208pgs, B&W

Guess who's back…back again…Excel's back…tell a friend! But of course, there are still two Excels…and still two bombs rigged to blow ILL headquarters sky-high! Even though her memory of her old self has returned, Excel's recollection of her time as "Teriha" remains unclear…yet contains clues she and Elgala will need as they target the impostor. Plus there's no welcome back for either of them--just the same pursuit and poverty. Fortunately, if there's one thing ACROSS agents know how to do, it's hustle for cash--with a gig as shrine maidens that's simply sacrilicious!

Length: 208 pages

It's oo-er in the sewer as Excel and Elgala make their stealthy, stinky way beneath Fukuoka, determined to return to base at last! But when Excel fulfills her dream of reaching out to touch her Lord, it seems he's not quite there... but unfortunately, a certain sprightly robot is! And speaking of mechanical menaces, why should Iwata be allowed to create chaos in just one body, when there's so much more he could inflict with three? Sent by Shiouji to infiltrate the underground sanctum, there's only one thing now that can prevent the professor from learning all of ACROSS's secrets--the fact Iwata is extremely dumb.

Length: 216 pages

Under the clear, unambiguous orders (you can never be too sure of that in Excel Saga) once more of Lord Il Palazzo, Excel sneaks into the very place that figures in her half-remembered visions: Shiouji's lab! Knocked out and captured once inside, Excel is interrogated by Matsuya, but she'll never talk! Never! Well, knowing her, maybe she'll talk a little. Meanwhile, Dr. Kabapu, finally realizing that the flaw in using Iwata as an agent of justice is Iwata, decides to take direct personal control of his super-powered suit! Oh my God, this is starting to sound like an anime!

SC, 5x7, 232pgs, B&W

They were always hassling Number Six about why he resigned, but when your boss is Dr. Kabapu, there should be no mystery that the younger and still human members of the City Environmental Security Administration have just given notice. But their mass walkout from the office is about to collide with the massive presence(s) coming in, known as Miwa Rengaya. Will this noted motivational speaker help Kabapu's employees face what could be the greatest challenge of their careers--namely, actually doing their supposed job... to face down ACROSS in mortal combat?

SC, 5x7, 240pgs, B&W

Stories the director himself said they didn't dare put in the anime!

Q: What happens when you try to act like an anime character in real life?
A: EXCEL SAGA. Two groups of neighbors in an apartment building lead secret lives. One thinks they're trying to take over the city of Fukuoka. The other thinks they're trying to defend it. Only their bosses, would-be conqueror Lord Il Palazzo and obsessed bureaucrat Dr. Kabapu, know the truth behind this increasingly dangerous private game... Too bad neither will let their underlings in on it!

SC, 5x7, 200pgs, B&W