Anime's answer to surrealism and Dada art.Having nothing to do with Microsoft Excel (although the software makes a brief appearance in episode 5), Quack Experimental Anime Excel Saga tells the story of recent high school graduate Excel Excel. She's a small-brained but highly energetic Genki Girl who finds her ideal job serving as a minion to the mysterious Lord Il Palazzo, leader of the subversive yet ineffective fascist organization ACROSS.As she undertakes missions intended to unravel the fabric of Japanese society (so that ACROSS can step in and take over), Excel pines for her impressively bishonen, and impressively eccentric, boss (who spends most of his time when his minions are out on missions sitting around his headquartersplaying dating sims or practicing on his guitar). Il Palazzo, on the other hand, views Excel as a necessary annoyance who is to be killed as required, or at least dropped through a Trap Door into an oubliette, when she gets out of hand. If it weren't for the frequent interventions of the Great Will of the Macrocosm, Ilpalazzo would be going through minions like Kleenex.Excel's partner is Hyatt, a frail, beautiful alien girl given to bouts of coughing up horribly poisonous blood and frequent, brief attacks of death. Together with their dog/backup meal source Menchi, Excel blasts her way though a series of adventures with gleeful incompetence and a hysterically rapidfire stream of dialogue that makes, at best, only minimal sense.At the same time, a city official, the mysterious Dr. Kabapu, has hired Excel's next door neighbors to form a counter-insurgency team that will inevitably come into conflict with the forces of ACROSS. Meanwhile, on yet a third plot thread, immigrant laborer Pedro, who dreams of earning enough money to leave Japan and return to his wife and child, dies in a terrible construction accident caused by Excel. He must now roam the world alone as a ghost, at least until the Great Will of the Macrocosm encounters him and decides he's cute. Interleaved into all three plotlines and running along on a fourth one of its own are the adventures of Nabeshin, the Marty Stu / Parody Sue and self-insert character of director Watanabe Shinichi, who can best be described as Shaft reincarnated as an Asian guy wearing a Lupin III costume.The series is adapted from the original manga by Koshi Rikdo, but only very loosely: indeed, this is actually the core gag of the anime, with pre-title sequences that feature Rikdo giving (or being violently coerced into giving) his permission for his creation to be warped, twisted and re-imagined into a completely different genre every episode. As a result, each episode it dedicated to skewering a particular genre of anime or manga, inverting and demolishing its cliches and conventions while leaving behind a trail of sight gags, puns and the just plain bizarre. Incredibly, it manages to tell something approaching a coherent storyline at the same time. Hilariously funny and at the same time mind-warpingly strange. As one member of the fan community has said: "Excel Saga — when crack is not enough."Of course, a lot of the jokes and sight gags are very Japanese puns that only the Japanese would get. To the rest of the world, it's just plain random. Then again, the series is just plain random.
Excel Saga: The Manga
This world, is corrupt!
—Lord Il Palazzo, opening line
Originally written as a way to mock the recession Japan was going through, the manga had many of the same storylines that were later used in the anime, but did not parody media genres as much as it focused on the unusual characters and social satire. Excel and Hyatt would try to fit ACROSS' world domination schemes in between their minimum wage part time jobs and fail miserably. Meanwhile, Dr. Kabapu's team would investigate, sometimes inadvertently, ACROSS and not make any progress while trying to cope with the bizarre demands of their own lousy government jobs.The plot has thickened greatly since the beginning, with the introduction of several new characters such as Elgala, the third member of ACROSS, and Miwa and Umi, the mother and cousin (respectively) of resident Lolicon roboticist Dr. Shiouji. Il Palazzo has grown dangerously more competent in his world domination plans, while Kabapu has become more desperate as he loses influence in Fukuoka. And there is an increasingly important and involved backstory involving the origins of Excel, the Shiouji family, and an apparent lost civilization that Kabapu and Il Palazzo both belong to. It is still a humorous manga, but it is less wacky and somewhat dark at times.
Ascended Extra: "Mr. Manager", who only appeared once in the anime but became a recurring character in the manga. In reverse, Pedro went from one panel in the manga (maybe two) to being The Chew Toy in the anime and ends up becoming important in the end.
Kabapu counts as well by this point. His frequent freak-outs, horrible gestures, bizarre expressions and calm willingness to bomb large portions of the city (while delivering gifts to children) as well as his plan to become sole ruler of Fukuoka make it quite clear he's lost it.
And Excel and Matsuya and Watanabe and Shiouji and Dr. Iwata and Il Palazzo...and it would probably easier to list the characters who don't fit the description at some point in the manga.
Well, there's Umi, Sumiyoshi...and that's it.
In the first episode, Excel ends up getting away with "Manslaughter due to Professional Negligence."
Justified in that for Hyatt, death is a temporary condition.
Tends to be less clean in the manga, where blood tends to spurt from Hyatt at the smallest provocation.
Deadpan Snarker: Many characters demonstrate this tendency, but none as strongly as Misaki Matsuya, who has managed to send Iwata and Watanabe to fits of spastic laughter with a single well-aimed line. She seems to be doing this very deliberately, contrasting to her serious exterior.
And Iwata's. Now that he's a cyborg it doesn't matter what happens to him so long as his brain remains intact.
Eat The Dog: One of two reasons for Menchi/Mince's presence, and the inspiration for the name of the trope. Possibly also making fun of Koreans eating dog meat.
Excel's high school, Inu-nabe, translates literally to 'Dog-pot'. So that's where she learned it from.
Il Palazzo: "Ahh, Excel. Wastefully cheerful as always, I see."
Gonk: Sumiyoshi and the Puchuus. The Puchuus change instantly from disarmingly cute to disturbingly ugly (resembling Golgo 13) when injured, usually shouting out something crude in Kansai gangster talk or else some kind of surreal Gratuitous English gibberish as they die.
The one time that Sumiyoshi is turned into a Bishōnen in the anime, he is deeply disturbed by it and wants to transform back into Gonk form.
Good Angel, Bad Angel: Not just subverted but demolished. Watanabe's angel is actually his evil side, and his good side is dressed like Jotaro Kujo.
Then there's Excel's. Her good angel shoots the bad one in cold blood ("The bullet of justice caps evil's ass!") and later in the episode she's arrested for the murder of the bad angel.
Hearing Voices: Il Palazzo has this problem until they take over his mind.
Hellish Pupils: Il Palazzo's yellow cat eyes. Kabapu is revealed to have these in the manga, as well.
The manga on the other hand goes on to explain he's not a lolicon at all. As a child his father disappeared which causes a massive behavioral shift in his mother. She began smothering him with affection and becoming overly sexual around him. When he met his young cousin and future assistant/intern Umi, his distorted image of women was shattered and he was inspired by her purity and innocence. Now that she's 18 in the present day, he adjusts his attention to other young girls as he seeks to recapture that same inspiring purity and innocence once again.
Motor Mouth: Excel, so much so that her first English voice actor had to pull out after straining her vocal chords.
She would have been fine to record the 2nd season if she had been given some time to recover, but the fans demanded for ADV to not postpone its release.
She would have been fine if she knew the difference between "talking fast" and "screaming."
Mysterious Past: Aside from his being the director, we have no clue who or what Nabeshin is — but most of the one-shot supporting characters seem to know him very well.
Also Kabapu and Il Palazzo. They're either two immortals locked in combat since they became the last survivors of an ancient pre-human civilization, two people playing some twisted game with the city as the game board and their employees as the pieces, or just two men with severe mental health disorders and delusional fantasies. There's evidence for all three interpretations and that's before you get into the really weird theories on who the Hell these two are (including one suggesting that Kabapu and Il Palazzo are God and the Devil, duking it out on the mortal plane).
Also Excel, Hyatt and Elgala to various degrees. Hyatt has been hinted to be Solarian royalty and is apparently a trained marksman. She's also indestructible, immortal and able to return from death on a regular basis. Elgala just kind of...appeared and her past is a total mystery. And Excel...well, the theories about Excel would fill a page all on their own.
Near Death Clairvoyance: Pedro as the ghost, though Iwata technically counts too. He's dead in every sense except the mental one (which is the opposite of how he was in life) and has been compared to a temp worker in that Kabapu considers him "No longer human!"
Only Sane Man: Watanabe, and even then, in the anime he's still a little crazy.
Not in the manga anymore he isn't, after Il Palazzo takes Hyatt away from him. Sumiyoshi and Matsuya are probably the only ones left who could qualify as sane.
Well, Matsuya has given up hope of living in a sane universe, given that her possible Love Interest is a cyborg, two of her coworkers are robots and her boss is an immortal. So it's just poor Sumiyoshi, all on his own, providing the voice of reason. Sadly for him it's rarely listened to.
Perhaps Menchi qualifies, always just trying to survive and escape Excel's ravenous ambitions for one... more... day....
Overly-Long Gag: In the bowling episode (episode 9), during the commercial break, Excel is chased by the bowling master's minions... about four times. By the end, they're begging to stop.
Six, to be exact. In the last one, they had lost her.
Perpetual Poverty: A recurring theme, since the whole thing was supposed to satirize the recession. Working for ACROSS doesn't pay the bills, so the girls repeatedly get temp jobs, which they always lose or run away from when they destroy the place. Meanwhile, Watanabe tries to get more steady work as a civil servant and ends up getting in over his head.
Romantic Two-Girl Friendship: Subverted and played for comedy in episode 16: "Take Back Love!", in that the characters in question are also Robot Girls, and showed no such emotions in previous (or future) episodes.
While it might stretch the definition of the word "Friendship" it's hinted that this is how Elgala sees her and Excel's relationship, from her delusional flashbacks in volume 18 of the manga.
Though she is not above imagining getting Excel killed so she can have Il Palazzo all to herself.
Scary Shiny Glasses: Il Palazzo, Dr. Kabapu, and sometimes Koshi Rikdo. Shiouji too at times, but they're the least scary thing about that guy.
One of the more uncomfortable ones is the whole "human bombs" Shout Out to Zambot 3. It's still funny, but, for those who know what happens in the show, leaves something of a bad taste.
The manga spent an entire chapter parodying medical dramas while throwing in references to Black Jack and Resident Evil. It was AWESOME.
Elgala is the subject of a Fatal Frame parody in volume 20.
Nabeshin and his disciples can use an attack called the Name-hame-ha!
When Elgala starts living with Excel and Hyatt, she sleeps with a giant stuffed Popka doll straight out of Klonoa 2.
Elgala wants her short name to be Eh-chan. Excel is already using that. Elgala is designated El-chan. "Why can't you be Ex-chan?" "Some guy on another job is Ex-chan!
Super Sentai: Subverted when we are introduced to the team in episode 6, then played more or less straight in episodes 22-25.
In the manga Iwata constantly thinks of himself as a Sentai hero, in and out of the super suits they wear. It only gets worse when he becomes a cyborg and then gets a device that remotely summons the suit.
I, Elgala, cannot believe that I, Elgala, have not been mentioned in this trope yet!
Verbal Tic: I, Elgala, do not know why this is here! I, Elgala, know of no one possessing such a thing!
Villain Protagonist: Excel frequently states that the organization she so willingly serves is working towards conquering the world and bringing it under the sway of their "ideology".
What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: Excel's enthusiasm for everything and Watanabe's enthusiasm for Hyatt means pretty much everything becomes Awesome.
Achilles in His Tent: Binbou, the Delinquent with the 3 meter pompadour and top pitcher of his high school baseball team.
Adaptation Decay: Very much intentional with Koshi Rikdo's Author Avatar getting killed at the end of the first episode, then brought back to life, then forced to give his ever more reluctant approval to change the story's very genre between each episode. It culminates with an all out battle with the director'sAuthor Avatar, who was the one responsible for "ruining his life's work". The whole thing is a parody of the internal struggling associated with most adaptations. In fact the goal was never to make a fateful adaptation, as much as it was to see how far they could push the whacky "experimental anime" format until it imploded. The result was a bigger success than expected and even eclipsed the original in popularity by far. Even so, Koshi Rikdo still admits he's happy with the way it turned out.
Adaptation Dye Job: Hyatt has brown hair in the manga (seen above), and purple in the anime.
Affectionate Parody: Of lots and lots and lots of other anime; one long scene in episode 3 and then all of episode 22 are devoted to gentle send-ups of Leiji Matsumoto's work, for instance.
Aliens and Monsters: The impossibly cute, yet violent and imperialistic, Puchuus.
Art Shift: Episode 17, "Animation USA". To prove a point to a group of black market thugs the benefits of Western Animation and Anime, Excel shows off the tropes of both sides, where the art style shifts to superhero comic book style, and then to something resembling a Walt Disney cartoon.
There's a lot of Art Shift in Excel Saga. Usually it drifts in the direction of whatever's being parodied this week.
In the preview for the Shoujo episode they say something along the lines of: "Turn up the contrast! Make the eyes 40% bigger! Add the bloom effect and bubbles!"
Episode 9 interspersed footage of actual bowling alongside animated bowling, and also included instances of 3D animation and overlaying animation over actual footage of a cliff.
Author Avatar: Two: Nabeshin and manga artist Koshi Rikdo.
Balloon Belly: Excel during the all-girls episode and episode 23.
Cerebus Ending: The final couple minutes of episode 23, all of episode 24 (actually approved as a joke-free episode by Koshi Rikdo), and most of episode 25 are pretty serious, especially in comparison to the rest of the series. Though episode 25 does end on an upbeat note. And of course, episode 26 features a complete Snap Back and the wacky comedy the series is known for, but storywise it's not meant to be canonical.
Cuteness Proximity: The Puchuu have this effect on people. Oddly, it seems to only work on males. Then again, the only females we see resisting the Puchuu are Cloudcuckoolander Excel and Sugar And Ice Girl Matsuya.
The third option is always "Put it in." Later decision trees were even less subtle.
-Have sex
-Have sex
-Put it in
The Danza: Nabeshin. The anime also stars two Excel and Hyatt lookalikes named Kobayashi and Mikako, who are played by Yumiko Kobayashi and Mikako Takahashi.
Delinquents: Parodied in episode 11, "Butt Out, Youth!"
Desert Punk: The aftermath of the destruction of the city in episodes 23-25.
Eagleland: Played for laughs in one episode that takes place in an obviously exaggerated version of America.
Engaging Conversation: Iwata's immediate reaction when he realizes the detective in episode 12 is, in fact, a woman. Also his reaction when meeting Ropponmatsu. Iwata is very quick on the marriage proposals in general.
Eye Catch: The "Excel Saga" logo on a hardwood background while a brief snippet of "Ai (Chuuseishin)" plays. Characters frequently run in front of the eyecatch as well.
Fanservice: Episode 8: "Increase Ratings Week", also several sequences in episode 26, "Going Too Far", which quickly cross into Fan Disservice.
Fan Service With A Smile: Lampshaded in episode 21, when Hyatt and Excel are commissioned to work at a nightclub as waitresses:
Hyatt: "Um, Excel...is it just me, or does this outfit rather emphasize the breasts?"
Flashback: Lots and lots, usually subverted for gag value, but played straight in episode 24.
Freeze Frame Bonus: Humorous add-ons in the credits. In addition to the staff and actors, there are funny little blurbs such as "Fun things to make with paper" (spitballs, airplanes, pirate hats, very ineffective condoms) "Sex!!!! (Subliminal Message)", and comments on the episode ("Sorry, no gags this time"). The ending of Episode 25 had the credits in Spanish, also.
Fridge Horror: When Ropponmatsu II starts acting rather intrusive towards Excel, we see Hyatt watching the two before the Relax-o-Vision starts. After that, we return to the same shot, with Hyatt sitting in the exact same position, apparently having watched as Excel lost "... a bunch of things".
When you realize that everybody who was knocked unconscious was left to DIE when the ship explodes.
Fridge Logic: In-story example: in one scene, Sumiyoshi uses one hand to push his glasses up his nose, while shown in the previous shot with his hands stuck. Watanabe initially wonders where that third hand came from, but immediately drops the question.
Gag Boobs: Cosette (who has the body of a little girl and somehow hides her breasts under her clothing).
Gainax Ending: Goes from silly to serious and then back to zany.
Gaussian Girl: Every single one that appears in episode 8.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: invoked Evidently the Puni Puni PoemyShow Within a Show is very popular in America — Excel and Hyatt are saved from being beaten by gang members when animation cels miraculously fall from the sky, causing the bangers to desperately scramble for them.
Generic Graffiti: in America! in Episode 17, "Animation U.S.A.!"
Gratuitous English: Used for comedy in Episodes 13 and 17. Apparently in episode 17, it's intentionally used by the Americans. IN THE DUB.
Grotesque Cute: The Puchuus, especially after they're physically assaulted.
Happy Ending: Not counting Episode 26, which is non-canon (its entire existence is a huge joke as to how far the production team could go, hence its title "Going Too Far".)
Also, the voice actress for Excel in the Japanese version is none other than Kotono Mitsuishi, the voice behind such characters as Usagi Tsukino and Misato Katsuragi.
High Pressure Blood: Parodied in episode 26, as Hyatt coughs up enough blood to drown the entire planet.
Humongous Mecha: Played semi-straight in episode 25: the Cool, but Inefficient mecha is shaped like a cartoon dinosaur, and it is rather ineffectual in the climactic battle, but it was just a decoy anyway.
Hurricane of Puns: Excel, frequently. Since they're translated directly instead of trying to change them to an equivalent pun, the odds'n'ends special feature on the DVD, aside from pointing out other things of interest, spends a lot of time explaining how what Excel just said is an elaborate pun in Japanese.
Hyperspace Arsenal: Nabeshin carries all manner of weaponry hidden in his afro, up to and including a bazooka.
Excel: "Man, that is some SERIOUS dandruff!"
Indirect Kiss: Watanabe is ecstatic that by sharing a soda with Hyatt, he is essentially getting an indirect kiss.
In the Name of the Moon: Parodied in episode 17, and combined with an obvious Shout Out to Sailor Moon — "In the name of the Moon, I shall spank you!" ("In the name of the toons, I will punish you!" in the North American dub.) If you know that the Japanese voices of Excel and Sailor Moon were performed by the same voice actress, it's even funnier.
Excel: "I was doing good with this stuff until just a couple years back!"
Or, in the dub: "I wanted that role, but they went and did the dub in Canada!" (Note that Sailor Moon was dubbed in Vancouver, while Excel Saga was dubbed in Houston.)
Intimate Healing: Parodied in episode 6, when Excel tries to thaw Hyatt from a block of ice with "shared bodily warmth", but winds up nearly killing herself because there's so much to unfreeze.
Mood Whiplash: Episodes 22-25 have less and less slapstick humor and more and more dramatic content; episode 24 is described in the introduction as "gag-free". "Gag-free" is, of course, somewhat relative.
The Musical: Episode 26... but only the The Teaser, wherein Excel says that's what it's going to be, Nabeshin argues that musicals are too expensive (hmm...), and Hyatt politely points out that they've been singing the entire time. (On a rewatch, you may notice that the tunes are all short snippets that played ad nauseam over the course of the show.)
Mutually Fictional: Just as Puni Puni Poemi is a show in the Excel Saga universe, Excel Saga is a show within the Puni Puni Poemi universe.
Nerd Glasses: "Professor" in the "animal story" episode.
No Fourth Wall: The only time there's a fourth wall is if it improves the joke.
No Swastikas: Averted in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment in the first episode where Excel goes Motor Mouth. Her eyes temporarily turn into Swastikas.
Ocular Gushers: Pedro's tears, which flow like waterfalls.
One Scene, Two Monologues: In Episode 6, Matsuya asks Dr. Kabapu about their training, while Watanabe mumbles to himself about how crappy a day he's having. Eventually, they both simultaneously complain about their guns looking "like a toy from a fair booth".
It happens fairly often that Excel monologues in gibberish while other people continue their conversation.
Orcus on His Throne: Il Palazzo, in the anime at least. When he finally decides to do things on his own, he not only manages to conquer most of F City, but singlehandedly takes on and destroys an army of Ropponomatsus.
The Other Darrin: Larissa Wolcott took over for Jessica Calvello as the English voice of Excel from episode 14 onward after Jessica strained her vocal chords doing the role. Which, when you think about it, is pretty insane.
Punny Name: Binbō got his name for beanballing (beanball is "binbōru" in Japanese phonetics). It also means "poor" as in "destitute" (ironically, he is actually rich).
Not so ironic anymore when, at the end of the episode, his butler rushes in and informs him that his family went broke.
The Great Will of the Macrocosm forces herself on Pedro multiple times. He can't escape.
Ratings Stunt: Parodied mercilessly in chapter 8, called "Increase-the-Rating Week".
Reality Warper: Pedro's flashback of his family in the first episode actually happens at the construction site. Another worker nearly falls to his death because he was suddenly no longer standing on solid ground.
Refuge in Audacity: Dr. Shiouji, for example, is able to kidnap children via helicopter and get away with only a scolding.
Relax-o-Vision: Scenes of ocean waves and kittens playing over the sounds of Koshi Rikdo being killed, and scenes of Puchuus goofing around playing over the sounds of Ropponmatsu II violating Excel.
Repeat Cut: Excel Surprise Triple Take! in episode 7.
Reset Button: Actually embodied in a character — The Great Will of the Macrocosm, though the last portion of the series, except for episode 26, does have some semblance of actual continuity.
One of the biggest differences between the manga and the anime is that this character only exists in the anime. In the manga, the characters actually have to deal with the consequences of their actions.
Rule Of Cool: Ruthlessly and relentlessly deconstructed. Every little, mundane thing can be made AWESOME! (...and so very impractical).
Running Gag: Every episode begins with a disclaimer from Koshi Rikdo, absolving himself of responsibility for any genre or content. In the first show he explicitly left all responsibility with his staff, which may be why they chose Excel's first mission to be an assassination of a manga/animation artist named Koshi Rikdo.
Excel dropped through a trapdoor by Il Palazzo pulling a rope. Lampshaded by Excel every time he pulls a rope that doesn't open a trapdoor under her, and by a sign on one rope marked 'Obligatory'.
Samus Is a Girl: Tetsuko, the iron-masked prisoner in episode 3. Parodied because she has plenty of lines before the reveal, which she speaks with a baritone voice.
Also, she keeps speaking in that voice after the reveal!
Schizo Tech: In the Desert Punk arc, ACROSS is trying to conquer central Japan, and the forces at its disposal include not only legions of Mad Max-ish club-wielding mohawk'd punk-rock-looking goons but also a gigantic flying saucer. Yes, really.
The Scream: In one episode, Pedro's Big "NO!" morphs into Edvard Munch's painting of the same name.
Shaggy Dog Story: Pedro works very hard so that his wife can live her dream of "Sitting around and doing nothing all day", which she does anyway.
Too Soon: The Japanese television networks refused to air episode 26 — as per the director's intention — and one of the many reasons for this was that one of the first gags in it is a joke about the Sarin nerve gas attacks in the Tokyo subways just a year or two before. Firmly steeped into Canon Discontinuity, as the anime ended definitively at 25.
This was not a problem for the UK broadcast, which went out free-to-air at 8PM.
Air Vent Passageway: Justified in Kabapu's underground base as Dr. Shiouji pointed out they have to be big in order for any sort of air to move though such a large place underground.
Author Appeal: It started out chaste enough, but as the series went on Rikdo let his old history of drawing adult doujin start to seep in. Dude loves drawing women's butt in tight pants.
Clark Kenting: Matusya 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.
Disappeared Dad: Dr. Shioji's father, the even more brilliant Tenmangu Shioji, disappeared without a trace when Shioji was four. Right before he disappeared he had discovered something about Kabapu and the technology he owned, and his disappearence is allegedly the reason Miwa became a My Beloved Smother mother.
Evil Versus Evil: At this point in the manga, Dr. Kabapu and Il Palazzo are both trying to take over Fukuoka using very illicit means, like espionage, mind control, and explosives the size of city blocks.
Freak Out: Watanabe suffers one of these after being dumped by Hyatt.
Mince had one after seeing Excel again. It was a two page spread of just her horrified face.
Kabapu has been getting several lately. His expression in volume nineteen as he explains how he's not going to be a dictator...he's going to be MORE than a dictator to his terrified employees, is a thing of horror.
Gag Boobs: The manga's art originally kept things modest, then came Elgala, then Umi, then Miwa.
Gecko Ending: The still-running manga is so far from the anime that it's shifted into a whole different genre, along with massively shifted characterization and the completely different plot that it takes to make an anime qualify as a Gecko Ending in the first place.
Informed Ability: 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 Iaijutsu Practitioner, and claims to have found gold on a real-life The Legend of Zelda adventure. Hyatt once offered to throw a rock at a suspicious repairman and died in the process.
Kiss of Life: 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 (and give off more Les Yay vibes). Instead Excel sucks all the air out of Elgala "like an aqualung", and leaves her to die.
Laser-Guided Amnesia: Manga vol. 4, when Excel is accidentally struck by a speeding car. She finds herself acting out her usual mannerisms, calling for "what's-her-name-chan" and hailing Lord Il Palazzo, but not remembering their names or faces. About a chapter later, Menchi suffers a bump on her head, too, forgetting that she's supposed to be Excel and Hyatt's emergency food supply, and willingly goes with them to ACROSS HQ.
This happens AGAIN in volumes 15 on, when Umi Rengaya finds Excel washed up on a beach with amnesia (even her former personality is forgotten), resulting in her being adopted into the Shiouji household. As of this posting, 'Teriha' is beginning to recall bits and pieces, but has yet to make a full recovery.
She's apparently recovered her memory in volume 20.
Not to mention Hyatt's bout of amnesia (a volume or so before Excel's second one) wherein she forgets everyone and everything except Watanabe and therefore ends up living with him and then becoming engaged to him, though she deserts him as soon as Il Palazzo comes for her and her memory returns.
It's implied that Excel's "normal" state is amnesiac in itself. It's still unclear why she fears needles and why Dr. Kabapu seemed to recognise her. At one point Lord Il Palazzo seems dissapointed that her whole memory still hadn't returned after a more recent amnesiac episode.
Les Yay: Excel and Hyatt, obviously. Also, Elgala gets very touchy-feely with Excel when she's drunk, even though her "innermost thoughts" claims that she does not swing that way. Excel invariably retaliates with violence.
Lost Technology: Il Palazzo and Kabapu both have access to technology from the lost civilization of Solaria. Kabapu is allegedly trying to destroy the last of it to prevent a disaster.
Meganekko: Miwa for the MILF lovers, and Kanal Sumiyoshi's little sister for the Lolicon crowd.
Personality Swap: Il Palazzo is now running Fukuoka by bribing city officials and using corrupt business practices while Kabapu and his team are trying to conquer the city from his underground base.
Ropponmatsu, in a strange way. In the manga both Ropponmatsu 1 and Ropponmatsu 2 are the same processor/operating system/whatever being switched between two different bodies as the situation warrants, but the personality differences from the anime (where the two are different robots entirely, and actually meet at least once) are still apparent. This is eventually revealed to be because the Ropponmatsu 1 chassis is so heavy and unstable that the lion's share of Ropponmatsu's processing power is taken up just keeping her upright, while the Ropponmatsu 2 chassis is much lighter and better-balanced, leaving her processor free to be loud and obnoxious.
Precursors: In the manga, it's implied that at least Kabapu and Il Pallazzo are survivors of "Solaria", battling over its Lost Technology.
Scenery Porn: Beautiful shots of Fukuoka landmarks are drawn all the time.
Ship Tease: A big (and barring general Tsundere tendencies, the only) one in volume eleven between Matsuya and Iwata, where Matsuya admits she is thankful that Iwata got her to be more social while they were in college.
Soft Water: Averted by Iwata when he fell 50 stories and landed in the ocean, which as Dr. Shiouji put it, "May as well be cement." Thankfully he was already a cyborg by then.
Victory Is Boring: Kabapu was suffering from this when we first met him. He had covertly seized power over the city, much as Il Palazzo has done now, and was actually desperate for someone to be trying to conquer or otherwise harm the city, just for some excitement. When Il Palazzo took over Fukuoka he found this out too.
Visual Pun: In the opening, Excel briefly does "the Monkey" after eating a bunch of bananas.
We Can Rebuild Him: Iwata died of colon cancer and got his brain put in a robot body. He has since been repaired many times due to his carelessness.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness (such as it was): Il Palazzo abandoning Excel to die on a desert island. And pretty much throwing Elgala out on the street once she revealed she knew Competent!Excel was an impostor.
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