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I felt that the seriousness of the OVA distracted me from the plot a bit. Dirty Pair shouldn't be this serious, although it was quite a bit more lighthearted than the previous OVA. However, the plot was neither rushed, nor dragged along, with convincing plot twists to keep me interested. Additionally, the plot was very hard to read.

The visuals were pleasing, living up to the crisp animation quality of the series. This OVA was a bit more fearless about pushing the limits of the characters' bodies, going so far as to, at least to me, imply that Kei dreamed about getting tentacle raped, a ... scene I found rather disturbing. However, one scene rarely hurts the image of an entire feature.

Overall, the feature was definitely better than Flight 005 Conspiracy, addressing most everything I mentioned in my review of that OVA. The way Yuri was portrayed (very serious, and a bit of an action girl) made me wonder what happened after that mission that made her so girly. Crisp animation, deep dialogue, and Mughi actually being useful (sort of) made for a good watch. I would recommend this OVA to even casual Dirty Pair fans.

I can't say I loved this particular installment in the franchise. While it had the action (and property damage) that I've come to expect, it was far too dark and serious to be worth re-watching. Also, the OVA spent far too much time getting Kei and Yuri into place to advance the plot along. Overall, though, the animation was decent (for 1990, anyway.), and the original voice actors came back for this one.


Taking everything into consideration, I'd rate this a 6/10. As I mentioned, too dark and serious to merit rewatching. As much as I like Dirty Pair, this was likely the low point for ... the franchise. At least, before Dirty Pair Flash. Makes me wonder what to expect from Affair of Nolandia...

Where to begin....

Excel Saga starts by pretending to kill off the main character Excel. Very random. Fortunately for the plot, there's a reset button. That's where the real fun starts.
Excel belongs to a secret ideological organization ACROSS, led by Il Palazzo. ACROSS's alleged mission is to conquer F City in F Prefecture.

Each episode began with Rikdo Koshi, the original author, approving whatever genre would be parodied in that episode. This "approval" scene parodies the clashing of ideas that writers and the author tend to fall into.

One part I liked was Pedro's sidestory, which by itself played out like ... a soap opera mixed with a "save the girl" story. However, the Pedro plot was intregrated into the main story by way of Pedro being one of Excel's former coworkers.

Another enjoyable aspect was the "once an episode" gags. These include Hyatt "dying," Menchi being Excel lunch, and Pedro's misfortunes with That Man.

Overall, Excel Saga was very random, but still got to the point. This show, however, is NOT for the faint of heart, or those who are easily offended.

There were so many negative points here. No plot until chapter 8, the 3rd-to-last chapter. What gives? I pick up a sequel series, I expect a good plot, not some magical girl-slice of life mishmash. Thee poor attempt at a romance sidestory didn't help. Losing Rieko Yoshida was definitely a big blow to the writers. I would not reread this at all. The only real positive thing was maintaining the art style from the first series. This series was lucky to be rated a 6.