Directed by Shinichiro Kimura and airing in Japan between 1997 to 1998, and dubbed by ADV Films (R.I.P.) back in 2002, Burn Up Excess tells the tale of Team Warrior and their premier member, Rio Kinezono. Now, if you recognize the just mentioned names from my Burn Up W review a few months ago, you wouldn't be wrong, but I'll deal with that later.
As I was saying, this show tells the tale of Team Warrior, and their crime-fighting exploits within Neo-Tokyo. All is not well, as a rash of crimes spring up, calling the team into action within the city, and outside it's confines. There's a villain working behind the scenes, and it's going to take the entirety of Team Warrior to take him down...in a rather sexy manner, might I add.
Burn Up Excess has some good positives within it, and two interesting ones that I'll start off with. If you watch Burn Up W and Burn Up Excess side by side, you'd swear that they look exactly the same. The truth is very simple to understand: Both were created by the same studio (AIC), but W was done back in 1996, while Excess was done in 1997. Because of that, the two shows look just about the same, although Excess (in my opinion) looks and feels slightly smoother than W, but not by much. The other interesting thing about Excess is that it has the exact same voice cast: All of Team Warrior have the exact same voices, but some of the other characters, whether minor & major, may have had their voices changed (I didn't pay much attention to most of the other characters).
Burn Up Excess also has some standard positives, including availability and price. Despite it's age (more on that later), copies of the individual volumes are fairly easy to find. Over on Amazon, used copies are in plentiful supply, and new copies are also in supply, but on a smaller level. The pricing of these DvDs are also quite fair: new copies range from a little over 7 dollars, and go as high as 15 dollars, while used DvDs range from close to 3 dollars to 7 dollars. The new copies might be a little too much for some penny pinchers, but the used copes are very easy on the wallet.
Like the other Burn Up series before it, Excess has the right mix of comedy, fanservice, action, sci-fi, and a few touches of drama. Some episodes concentrate on certain aspects more than others, but the shows manages to keeps the themes as even as possible.
Another one of Burn Up Excess's positives, at least for some people, is the fanservice. Unlike Burn Up or Burn Up W, Excess supplements the sci-fi portions of the show with a healthy dose of panty shots, boob shots, and seeing the main cast of the show in their undergarments at certain points within some of the episodes. Personally, I don't have a problem with this, but others may, and I'll get to that point in a little bit.
Now, onto Excess's negatives, and they're big ones. Like I mentioned earlier, this show looks almost like it's predecessor, and it sounds like the exact same thing. To me, this is a cheap tactic. It's not that I have a problem with similar looking or sounding shows, it's just that I have a problem with animes that look almost the same (more so with older series), and have the same english voice actors. Very lazy, if you ask me.
Secondly, Burn Up Excess is an old show, as far as dubs in this country are concerned. It'll be 10 years old sometime this year, and most anime fans who are into mainstream shows more than likely never have heard of this series. On top of that, the full set of Burn Up Excess is hard as hell to find. As I'm typing this, there are only 8 copies on Amazon: 4 new & 4 used. The new copies start at a whopping 126 dollars, while the used copes start at a much lower, yet still wallet breaking, 85 dollars. If you're absolutely desperate for the series all together, then buy used. Otherwise, you'll probably rip out a kidney trying to pay for a new copy.
Third negative is the fanservice. Like I said, I don't have a problem with seeing panties, boobs, and girls standing around in undergarments or in the nude. For the fans who have enjoyed the original Burn Up, and even Burn Up W, the fanservice at times is a bit overwhelming. Some scenes pour on the fanservice a lot, and that'll probably push some prospective fans away.
Fourth and final negative of Burn Up Excess is the story. I understand not touching on the original story, as that was a bit on the dark side, but I can't forgive them for not even at least touching up on Burn Up W's storyline. Instead, Excess is a completely new story, and it doesn't touch up on W's story at all. On top of that, some of the sidestories sometimes cover up the main story, confusing anyone that is watching.
Burn Up Excess gets a 6.5 to 7 out of 10. It looks and sounds just about the same as the previous show, is very easy to find and the price isn't terrible, the various themes are fairly balanced, and seeing girls in their skivvies is always pleasing to the eyes for some of us, but the same looks and voice dubs is a cheap tactic, is rather old, the fanservice won't be for everybody, and it doesn't go back to W's original story.
Until next time, stay Otaku!
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