I’m a bit late to the party when it comes to Excel Saga. The anime was what I intended to be the first anime DVD I would buy. However, I didn’t have enough money at the time. It just kept getting put off until last month, when I found it cheap on eBay (and yes, it’s legit; I even bought it from an unnamed-but-prominent member of the anime community). So far, I’ve watched up to episode 21, and loved it so far.

As for the manga, while I couldn’t afford the DVD’s, I had the money for the manga when it was released by Viz over here. I loved the manga, and it’s dry wit really appealed to my taste. However, I learned that many American Excel Saga fans dislike the manga. For a while, I was baffled, but I couldn’t really say much due to my never seeing the anime.

Now that I’ve had a taste of both, I now understand why fans seem to be disappointed with the manga. The anime was released in the US before the manga. The anime version included many characters that were exclusive to the anime. The anime was far more energetic that the manga, and I think that was what turned many American fans away from the manga. The manga relied on much more subtle humor, which gave it a lot of charm.

I really like both. The anime has some great gags, and it usually stays funny. Where as the manga really has some great jokes…if you pay attention that is.