History Manga / ExcelSaga

* YearX: The show's ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' parody starts off with a narrator declaring the date as 199X before a chorus of people cut him off by pointing out that "199X" has already come and gone (the episode first aired in 2000.) The next time the narrator declares the year he retcons it to "The year 2000...er, X!"

* SuperSentai: Parodied with Department of City Security employees. Kabapu gives them Sentai uniforms and names the team Daitenzin, but they are not trained to handle the power of the suits, and often end up as a group of [[DestructiveSavior Destructive Saviors]].

* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: Whenever Excel tries to revive Hyatt in this manner. Justified in that for Hyatt, death is a temporary condition. [[spoiler:When Excel disappers, Egala works out an actual routine very quickly.]]

* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: Whenever Excel tries to revive Hyatt in this manner. Justified in that for Hyatt, death is a temporary condition.

* VictoryIsBoring: Kabapu was suffering from this when we first met him. He had covertly seized power over the city and was actually desperate for someone to be trying to conquer or otherwise harm the city, just for some excitement. When Il Palazzo takes over Fukuoka he finds this out too.

* InformedAbility: Supposedly, Elgala and Hyatt are a master swordsman and marksman respectively. Elgala has been seen holding a sword on the cover of volume 10, brings a stick to a possible fight and brandishes it like an IaijutsuPractitioner, and claims to have found gold on a real-life ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' adventure. Hyatt once offered to throw a rock at a suspicious repairman and died in the process. That neither of these two have (so far) actually ''shown'' these abilities is remarked upon be Excel.
** [[spoiler:Ha-chan finally gets her chance with a sniper rifle in the final mission, where she repeatedly drills Watanabe from long range. Fortunately, Watanabe was wearing his uniform, so he's fine.]]
* KissOfLife: Subverted in volume 21. Excel and Elgala are trapped in a flood. Excel looks like she is going to do that thing where they share oxygen. Instead Excel sucks all the air out of Elgala "like an aqualung", and leaves her to die.

* {{Meganekko}}: Miwa for the MILF lovers, and Kanal — Sumiyoshi's little sister — for the {{Lolicon}} crowd (read: Shiouji).

->''This world...is corrupt!''

* FiveManBand: The government anti-insurgent team: Daitenzin.
** TheLeader: Matsuya
** TheLancer: Watanabe
** TheSmartGuy: Sumiyoshi
** TheBigGuy: Ropponmatsu I/Ropponmatsu II, depending on which one is operational at the time.
** TheChick: Iwata

''Excel Saga'' has never had a large fanbase outside of Japan. Thanks to the sheer number of jokes and references it makes (and for fear of copyright lawsuits since it ''is'' licensed), no one has ever wanted to do a serious fan translation. The official translation by Viz, which has an entire section in each book dedicated to the many untranslatable references and jokes they had to change, slowed down in 2008 to one volume a year, and quietly ended in January of 2014.

The manga was adapted into a twenty-six episode {{Anime}} in 1999 directed by [[Creator/ShinichiWatanabe Nabeshin]]. Since the anime's storyline was only loosely based on a scant five volumes of the manga[[note]] The two diverge at the point where Ropponmatsu II (Nishiki) is introduced.[[/note]], it changed several things, [[Anime/ExcelSaga it has its own page]], '''and tropes that only happened in the anime should go there.''' Because the anime diverged from the manga so early, many of the characters introduced later—most notably Elgala and Shiouji's family—do not appear in the anime at all.

* TheBigDamnKiss: [[spoiler: In the penultimate chapter, after it is revealed that Iwata is in fact alive in every sense of the word, Matsuya gives him one of these... before proceeding to pummel him in true Matsuya style.]]

** Iwata, due to being a cyborg and because of [[WeCanRebuildHim experimental technology]], though Dr. Shiouji does not appreciate all the time he wastes fixing Iwata's ''male'' body... down to every last detail. [[spoiler: Although it is revealed in the last volume, by Watanabe, that Shiouji is not obligated in any way to reconstruct the cybrog with "hairy man parts," but does it because he's that much of a perfectionist.]]

** Ropponmatsu I also becomes a deconstruction of the DoAnythingRobot, being packed so full of gadgets that she weighs a ton and there isn't much room left over for a personality.

* GagBoobs: Rikdo's art originally kept things modest, then came [[AlphaBitch Elgala]], [[CosplayOtakuGirl Umi]], and [[MyBelovedSmother Miwa]].
* GainaxEnding[[spoiler:/GoldenEnding/TheBadGuyWins]]: [[WidgetSeries Fittingly]]. [[spoiler: ACROSS and the Department of City Security team up to get Excel and Il Palazzo back to normal and kick out Il Palazzo's second personality, which turns out to be Dr. Shiouji's father. ACROSS forces Shiouji's father to build an entire army of Excels, which ACROSS uses to successfully take over Fukuoka and force the Department of City Security to surrender. Then ACROSS takes over the entire world ''in a week''. Having accomplished their goal, Excel and Il Palazzo remove their presence from the world and AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence, but not before leaving Hyatt and Elgala on Earth with their memories wiped and their physical and mental impairments fixed so they can lead normal lives.]]

** [[spoiler: Ha-chan finally gets her chance with a sniper rifle in the final mission, where she repeatedly drills Watanabe from long range. Fortunately, Watanabe was wearing his uniform, so he's fine.]]

* LivingWithTheVillain: [[spoiler: Excel lives with Dr. Shiouji and Umi for a while after losing her memory and becoming Teriha.]]

* {{Meganekko}}: Miwa for the MILF lovers, and Kanal—Sumiyoshi's little sister—for the {{Lolicon}} crowd (read: Shiouji).

* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: The girls in this series find this out the hard way. Hyatt, despite her frequent deaths, is actually handled quite gently by the rest of the cast; [[ButtMonkey Elgala is not so lucky]]. This is particularly apparent in Volume 23, when El is hurled from a cart at high speeds and lay bleeding on the ground. When others point out Excel's callousness in ignoring her, she realizes El is actually dying and wraps her entire face and arms in bandages to save face.

* SuperSentai: Parodied with Department of City Security employees. Kabapu gives them SuperSentai uniforms and names the team Daitenzin, but they are not trained to handle the power of the suits, and often end up as a group of [[DestructiveSavior Destructive Saviors]].

* TrapDoor: Il Palazzo's favourite way of punishing Excel for her failures is dropping her through a trap door in his throne room into a pit filled with different dangerous things. In the anime it's simply called "the pit", and in the manga it's called "the oubliette" (which is where the translator's note section in the English edition got its name). Excel does not mind though, and is finds the experience comfortable whenever she is separated from Il Palazzo.

* WeCanRebuildHim: Iwata dies of colon cancer and gets his brain put in a robot body. He is repaired many times due to his carelessness. Also invoked by Second, whom Shiouji has built more than one of, packed with different tools for different forms of espionage or combat.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Il Palazzo [[spoiler:abandons Excel to die on a desert island, and throws Elgala out on the street once she reveals she knows Competent!Excel is an imposter. She then uses a corpse-like Hyatt's authorization to regain access to the base, a long while later]].

''Excel Saga'' is a 27 volume manga written by Koshi Rikdo that ran from 1996 to 2011 in Young King Ours magazine as a way to mock the recession Japan was going through. The manga's title character, Excel, was based on a character from one of Rikdo's earlier works, ''Municipal Force Daitenzin'', which was [[NotSafeForWork definitely not for kids]]. He was interested in expanding on the character and created Excel Saga as a spinoff of sorts. The Daitenzin themselves mostly carry over from that doujin as well, opposing Excel.

''Excel Saga'' tells the story of the group ACROSS and their attempts to take over Fukuoka City as a first step towards WorldDomination. ACROSS's only minions, Excel and Hyatt, try to pay for food and rent while fulfilling the goals of their glorious leader Il Palazzo. Both girls are fiercely loyal to Il Palazzo, [[IgnoredEnamoredUnderling especially Excel, who is deeply in love with Il Palazzo]]. Unfortunately for Il Palazzo, while Excel is a near-indestructible force of nature, with innumerable skills, especially in adaptation and survival, she is also extremely [[GenkiGirl hyperactive]] and incompetent. Hyatt meanwhile [[IllGirl tends to die and revive at the drop of a hat]].

->''This world... is corrupt!''
->--'''Lord Il Palazzo''', opening line

** It's implied that Excel's "normal" state is amnesiac in itself. It's unclear why she fears needles and why Doctor Kabapu seemed to recognize her. At one point Lord Il Palazzo is disappointed that her whole memory still hadn't returned after a more recent amnesiac episode. According to the final volume, [[spoiler: Excel herself is a by-product of the cosmic artefact known as The Core, which holds, according to Dr. Shiouji, "countless personalities." Her default state being an amnesiac is commented on by the awakened core, which states (while wearing Excel's body) that the shell it inhabits was "empty to begin with.")

** It's implied that Excel's "normal" state is amnesiac in itself. It's unclear why she fears needles and why Doctor Kabapu seemed to recognize her. At one point Lord Il Palazzo is disappointed that her whole memory still hadn't returned after a more recent amnesiac episode.

** Iwata, due to being a cyborg and because of [[WeCanRebuildHim experimental technology]], though Dr. Shiouji does not appreciate all the time he wastes fixing Iwata's ''male'' body... down to every last detail.

''Excel Saga'' has never had a large fanbase outside of Japan. Thanks to the sheer number of jokes and references it makes (and for fear of copyright lawsuits since it ''is'' licensed), no one has ever wanted to do a serious fan translation. The official translation by Viz, which has an entire section in each book dedicated to the sheer amount of untranslatable references and jokes they had to change, slowed down in 2008 to one volume a year. However, with the release of Volume 23 in April 2012, and the 24th slated for November, hopes are high that this may indicate a speedier release schedule to finish off the 27 volume series.

** In fact Hyatt had to pay the electricity bill for ACROSS [[spoiler: by selling the hide of a yeti that rescued them from the snow.]].

* FootFocus: While the manga usually refers to this trope for a case of BarefootPoverty, there is the occasional, FetishFuel-like prison segment, and the occasional just what-the-hell.

The manga was adapted into a twenty-six episode {{Anime}} in 1999 directed by [[ShinichiWatanabe Nabeshin]]. Since the anime's storyline was only loosely based on a scant five volumes of the manga[[note]] The two diverge at the point where Ropponmatsu II (Nishiki) is introduced.[[/note]], it changed several things, [[Anime/ExcelSaga it has its own page]], '''and tropes that only happened in the anime should go there.''' Because the anime diverged from the manga so early, many of the characters introduced later—most notably Elgala and Shiouji's family—do not appear in the anime at all.

The manga was adapted into a twenty-six episode {{Anime}} in 1999 directed by [[ShinichiWatanabe Nabeshin]]. Since the anime's storyline was only loosely based on a scant five volumes of the manga[[hottip:*: The two diverge at the point where Ropponmatsu II (Nishiki) is introduced.]], it changed several things, [[Anime/ExcelSaga it has its own page]], '''and tropes that only happened in the anime should go there.''' Because the anime diverged from the manga so early, many of the characters introduced later—most notably Elgala and Shiouji's family—do not appear in the anime at all.

** Mince had one after seeing Excel again. It was a two page spread of just [[NightmareFuel her horrified face]].

* ClarkKenting: Played with. Matsuya undoes her ponytail and puts on a pair of glasses when she sneaks into a ILL Electronics store to look at the merchandise. Sumiyoshi spots her immediately.

''Excel Saga'' tells the story of the group ACROSS and their attempts to take over Fukuoka City as a first step towards WorldDomination. ACROSS's only minions, Excel and Hyatt, try to pay for food and rent while fulfilling the goals of their glorious leader Il Palazzo. Both girls are fiercely loyal to Il Palazzo, especially Excel, who is deeply in love with Il Palazzo. Unfortunately for Il Palazzo, while Excel is a near-indestructible force of nature, with innumerable skills, especially in adaptation and survival, she is also extremely [[GenkiGirl hyperactive]] and incompetent. Hyatt meanwhile [[IllGirl tends to die and revive at the drop of a hat]].