By Rikdo Koshi. Released in Japan by Shonen Gahosha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Young King OURS. Released in North America by Viz.

There’s a lot going on in this volume, which lays out a lot of the questions regarding Il Palazzo and Excel’s past. Questions which, I note, are still unanswered in the current run 13 years later. Though we at least have a few more ideas…

The first chapter wraps up the sewer infiltration arc from Volume 3, showing that Excel is still a bit of an idiot when it comes to actually listening to people, and we first see Matsuya’s desperate attempts to avoid falling further into the batshit insaneness that her life has become, as she lies point blank to Kabapu about having seen anyone down there. We also have Watanabe trying to figure out if he actually saw Hyatt/Ayasugi-san down there, and a wonderful moment where Matsuya rips into him for being passive.

The next chapter was, I believe, also adapted for the anime. Hyatt is accidentally kidnapped by two Yakuza wannabes, and Excel has to go chasing off after her on a bike. It’s hard to top Hyatt’s trail of dead animals for pure comedy fun, I will admit, and we note that Excel is starting to get used to Hyatt’s occasional deaths. There was one thing I disliked about this chapter, though, one of the few issues I have with the translation. At one point, the elder yakuza wanna be shouts ‘kono amaa zettai!’ at Hyatt. It’s apparently very strong Japanese, and Carl and Dan translated it as ‘you cunt!’. This is a T-rated series, not an M one. I think they could have found another way to put it.

The funniest chapter in the volume is the one where Excel has a toothache, and goes to see the dentist. Of course, this series only has one doctor, and he’s now doing dentistry. It’s very amusing to see Excel as the sarcastic snarker and (mostly) straight man, and almost a foreshadowing of the sort of person she’d become when Elgala was introduced. The doctor, meanwhile, just wants to start yankin’ out teeth, regardless of whether they may need it or not.

Dr. Kabapu’s secretary, Momochi is introduced here. She continues to appear through the series, but we still know next to nothing about her. The very definition of a cool, competent secretary (and she hasn’t opened her eyes either. We also start to see Matsuya spying to get more info on Kabapu, and she definitely finds something – pictures of him in an album looking much the same as he does now, but standing in a Fukuoka with no skyscrapers.

The swimming chapter that follows was very loosely adapted for the anime. It should be noted that the manga version does actually show its male characters. :) Watanabe finds that you should never drink from anything Hyatt has already sipped from, and Matsuya finds that she may have been a national-finals swimmer in high school, but that’s nothing against someone like Excel. (Matsuya still doesn’t recognize Excel, and Watanabe has not put two and two together either.)

And then we have the two-parter where Excel is hit by a car. This was a stunner when it came out in Japan, mostly as it has the series’ first semi-serious cliffhanger. Excel’s accident is short and brutal, and Hyatt, standing there trying to take it all in (complete with a math equation!), faints. When she wakes Excel is gone, having woken and wandered off with no memories of who she is. There are flashes of recognition – notably, when desperate, she wants to cry out to a ‘Lord’ somebody. She then walks by the hospital, where Dr. Not-Blackjack has just tossed a syringe out of an upper-story window. It doesn’t hit her, but she looks up to see it coming at her point-first and has flashes of memory that seems far older than what we’re used to. “Something sharp… something scary… it hurt, it was hard, it was scary…”. Accompanying this are shadowy drawings of Excel being stabbed in the head by something, and her hands covered in gore, followed by Il Palazzo with his head lowered into one hand. Excel comes back to reality to find that she’s crying, and isn’t sure why. Chapter break.

The second chapter features Excel trying to get herself out of the crying jag by slamming her head against a wall, which only increases her injuries. Dazed, she walks randomly through the city, finally collapsing in the arms of what she feels is Il Palazzo. Ironically (BOY, is it ironic – see later volumes), it’s Kabapu, who was on his way to see Watanabe, hospitalized after drinking Hyatt’s drug-laced cocktail in the swimming chapter. They get Excel tended to… and then leave her on a bench. In passing, Momochi asks if Kabapu knows Excel, and he replies that “she bears some resemblance to an old acquaintance of mine.” Finally, Excel runs into Hyatt, who unfortunately dies in front of her so is no help at all. Excel then tears off after Menchi, who is panicking, and ends up leaping into a canal. Falling into water is exactly what her brain needed. She comes to, murmuring about how she wants to follow Il Palazzo forever and begging for forgiveness… and then snaps back to the Excel we know.

There’s one more chapter, dealing with Watanabe leaving the hospital and getting revenge on Iwata, who wrote on his face in permanent marker. But the highlight of the volume is definitely that 2-parter beforehand. We’d seen hints that Rikdo had more going on here than just ‘wacky schtick’, but this is where we start to get a lot of the series’ mythology. It’s completely opaque, and 17 volumes later we still don’t know a hell of a lot more about Excel’s past, but it keeps the fans speculating. Next volume we see the intro of two of the more important cast members, Dr. Shioji and Ropponmatsu.