Excel Saga is one of the most famous gag anime of all time, a template for every series that followed, but being the first to do something may not have been such a good thing as I shall now explain.

Excel Saga is about Excel, a loyal servant to Lord Ilpalazzo who is trying and failing each episode to takeover the world, each taking place in a certain genre of anime popular at the time. Other stories within this wacky universe include, the mishaps of three civil servants, a Mexican foreign worker's brush with the afterlife and the misadventures of the Director Nabeshin appearing for the first time in animated form. Excel is later joined by Hyatt, a very sickly woman from space and Menchi, a stray dog that becomes an emergency food supply.
Every episode is packed full of gags and reference jokes, except one episode which was purposely made serious. So why the big problem?
It's made in 1999, which is 15 years ago and nearly every relevant joke is lost on today's audience; I am glad that DVD releases carry video notes to explain the references but it's more rewarding to find out yourself.
For example, while some references are easy to point out, like the Fan Service episode and the American episode, there's another ten that won't be, such as the Baseball episode and the Rich Traveling Girl episode.
That's not to say the show is bad, it's actually one of the funniest anime shows of all time and massive respect to the dub actors for the hard work they put in, especially Jessica Calvello who nearly destroyed her voice doing Excel. But sadly this show is lost on today's audience, as it's now become too old to make any sense to the current generation of anime fans.
Excel Saga is in serious need of a reboot and in this era where even Sailor Moon can come back, it's worth looking at again.
Final Verdict: It's a fantastically funny show and deserves a watch, however in this era, it's horribly dated and the gags will be lost on the current Generation of Anime fans.