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Type:         Anime
Year:         1997
Distributor:  AIC
Feature:      3/5
DVD:          1/5

"Burn-Up Excess" is a follow-to Burn-Up W. Actually not so much a sequel as starting over but with more episodes, reminiscent of "Bubblegum Crisis" in that way. This is a 13-episode half-hour series showcasing the exploits of Team Warrior and focusing on Rio Kinezono (voice of Amanda Winn).

It's the same cast of characters as in Burn-Up W: Rio who is forever looking for wealth and a rich husband and getting into one scrape after another, Maya (voice of Lani Minella) the gunbunny who never seems to get to shoot much, Lilica (voice of Kimberly Yates) the computer wizard, Nanvel (voice of Allison Keith) the robotics wizard, Yuji (voice of Jason Lee) the token guy who is a pervert, and Maki (voice of Beth Wernick) their leader.The difference is Yuji who isn't quite as useless as in Burn-Up W.

The tone of the series is comedy and juvenile comedy at that. And it's very much a "watch the breasts bouncing and girls in underwear" sort of show, which is good but taken to a comedic level is kind of annoying. Still, there is an overall plot to the series and the characters, when not being pushed too far into their stereotypes, are interesting.

DVD extras consist of a few production sketches on each of the four DVDs. You know, with 13 episodes this could have been put into 3 DVDs instead of 4. There are also clean (no credits) versions of the title and ending themes.

Episode Breakdown

01. Team Warrior Goes Into Action -- A band of mercenaries hijacks the new Neo-Tokyo Tower. Important plot point revealed in the last episode. Recurring villain Ruby (voice of Paula Tiso) is introduced. I think Ruby appears in every episode, usually behind the scenes.
02. Undies, Go! -- Rio goes after an ladies underwear pervert. Meanwhile there is a series of robberies done while burning down the targeted establishments.

 03. From the Desert With Love! -- Team Warrior is assigned to bodyguard a rich Middle Eastern prince who is a pervert.

04. Rogue Father -- A Maya episode. She goes home and helps her father and his underworld gang fight off a hostile takeover.

05. An Idol Never Sleeps! -- Rio is assigned as bodyguard to a singer idol.

06. Short Vacation -- We get a bit of Maki's past as she goes on vacation. Meanwhile a series of crimes are commited in Police Town.

07. Rambo! Bravo! Rio Bimbo -- I don't remember this episode.

08. Nanvel Kidnapped! -- Nanvel (and Rio) are kidnapped. She is forced to create a robot and helps the kidnappers commit robberies.

09 and 10. Slam Tank -- Rio is lost in the desert with an intelligent super tank. She has to reach friendly territory before the bad guys capture her and the tank. Reminiscent of Tank Girl, these are my favorite two episodes of the series as Rio actually shows some feeling for someone (or at least something) else.

11. Watch Out for the Mecha Cop! -- The prototype Mecha Cops can do everything the police do but better. Just when the police look to be obsolete, the Mecha Cops go berserk.

12. Invitation From the Past -- Following up from the last episode, Team Warrior investigates the Mecha Cop factory. Maki gets an invitation from an unexpected source.

13. The Last Stage of Goodbye -- The big villain is revealed, as are his army of killer robots. While Maki goes through personal issues Team Warrior has to break into Neo-Tokyo Tower to stop the robots.
Copyright (c) 2004 Kevin C. Wong
Page Created: November 28, 2004
Page Last Updated: November 28, 2004