Excel Saga is an anime adaptation of the manga by Koshi Rikudo. The series was produced by J.C.Staff and directed by Shinichi Watanabe. It aired on TV Tokyo from October 7, 1999, to March 30, 2000 for 26 episodes. At the publisher's request, the anime series follows a different storyline from the manga; Rikdo was pleased with the adaptation. To balance the removal of Rikudou's original material, Watanabe added his own alter ego, Nabeshin, and expanded several elements, including increasing Pedro's role and expanding on the concept of the Great Will. The twenty-sixth episode, "Going Too Far", never aired in Excel Saga's original run on TV Tokyo because it was purposefully too violent and obscene for broadcast in Japan.