Reddit reviews Excel Saga - The Imperfect Collection

I would wait on Excel Saga. It's not bad, but you are correct in that it relies heavily on parody for humor. This will be a problem not only because you're just getting into anime, but also because all of the references will be at least thirteen years old. The Imperfect Collection had a subtitle track that explained all of them, but even if you are able find it I would suggest waiting on this one.