Another anime I need to watch is Excel Saga. Arguably the best anime next to FLCL, with its irrelevant and obscene scenarios. I got into Excel Saga at Anime Central in 2004 after seeing so many Nabeshin cosplayers, and since Nabeshin (Shinichi Watanabe—not to be confused with Shinichiro Watanabe of Cowboy Bebop) himself was the Guest of Honor at ACEN ’04—though I didn’t get a chance to meet him since we were there for one day.

I do own a few DVD of the series—Volumes 1, 4, and 5. I found DVDs 4 and 5 on clearance at a comic book store I used to frequent in Calumet City, IL before I moved to Tennessee. So far I have watched three episodes, but I refuse to watch more of it until I get volume two, or the whole series. ADV released a Thinpak of the whole series a while back, but I don’t want to buy it right now. Amazon.com has very few of the individual DVDs left—for $25 a pop. ADV…What did we do to you? That’s too high for a series like this! Sure, hardcore anime enthusiasts are willing to spend top dollar for some anime series, but I think Excel Saga—at least the original DVDs—need to come down in price, especially those who haven’t been able to watch the series.

Anyway…Excel Saga is about…Well, it’s self explanatory if you’re familiar with FLCL. Only a few things come to mind: Two girls; one is annoying, the other coughs up blood. Three guys; One is annoying, one is a mute…I forget what the other guy’s story is. Finally, there’s the Japanese guy with an Afro (Nabeshin). I haven’t watch this show since 2004, so I don’t remember much of what happened. If I saw the whole series now, it would still be hard to explain the plot. I guess I’ll have to buy the Thinpak. So much for getting the DVDs I got on clearance for $8 each…