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Tetsujin 28 Volume 1
Holy Freaking Catfish! This is NOT your father's Gigantor, this is a deeper, darker, dramatic, compelling, kick-ass version of Gigantor. Taking place just ten years after the end of World War II, Tesujin 28 tells the story of desperate times calling for desperate measures and how good intentions gone awry can lead to more suffering. Shotaro questions his father's motives, questions the wanton destruction in the name of progress and ultimately he must question himself. The situation gets more dangerous as the secrets of the Tetsujin project unfold.
 Taking the playbook from Giant Robo, it's classic 60's era designs with a high-tech glossy treatment. The animation is movie-quality, even using letterboxing to make it look like film-screen ratio. The quality of the production holds nothing back, it looks amazing, sounds astounding — basically, this is easily one of the best DVD's we've seen in quite some time. Wow!
Reviewed by Brian Cirulnick
Kyo Kara Maoh!: God(?) Save Our King!
Yuri fancied himself an ordinary Japanese lad trying to make it through school. That all changed when some bullies dunked his head into a ladies room toilet. Yuri was whisked (should we say "Flushed"?) into a strange new world full of medieval castles and flying skeletons. Apparently, Yuri bares the sole of the long awaited (and long feared) Demon King. An army of handsome young men are sworn to protect this comically pretty boy from supernatural forces conspiring against their kingdom. Can Yuri stand to be fawned over? What is he expected to do now that he's magical royalty?
 Kyo Kara Maoh!: God(?) Save Our King! is a bishonen fantasy series in the tradition of Escalfowne. Adapted from the Kadokawa manga, it sports action, adventure, and cute anime guys with big swords. Now that you've been down a well with Kagume and InuYasha, try going down the toilet with young, Demon King Yuri? Does it swirl clockwise or counter-clockwise?
Reviewed by Lawrence Sufrin
Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo
The classic novel The Count of Monte Cristo has been adapted to the screen many times. Now it's getting a futuristic spin and a splashy gothic look in this anime series helmed by internationally-acclaimed director Mahiro Maeda (The Animatrix, Kill Bill). Gankutsuou is supposed to mean "Ruler of the Caves". If that's intended to impress, it succeeds.
 Costume designer Anna Sui provides the enigmatic count with a galaxy of flashy outfits as he prowls the streets of a decadent city built on the surface of the moon. There, the mysterious gentleman meets the young and impressionable viscount Albert Mondego, and sucks him into his world of depravity and revenge. Hidenori Matsubara provides character designs that give a nod to Anne Rice as well as Alexandre Dumas. (Are those fangs the count is sporting?) Who will go down for the Count? Check it out if you dare!
Reviewed by Lawrence Sufrin
Aeon Flux - The Complete Animated Collection
For animation fans, this DVD set is worth getting for the pencil tests "extra" alone. Nevertheless, we're big fans of Peter Chung, and Aeon Flux was one of his most inspired creations (and by the time you read this, the live action film will have been a blockbuster or a flop).
 Getting its start on MTV's Liquid Television this amazingly hyperviolent and bizarrely imaginative series looks both like anime and Moebius all at the same time. The original shorts told an entire story without a speck of dialog — an outstanding achievement considering the complexity of the plot. With tons of extras peppering the DVD set, this is a must-buy, must-have, must-study insider-animation extravaganza!
Reviewed by Brian Cirulnick
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Puffy AmiYumi, Yumi Doll, Ami Doll
Anime Toy Review
Here's a great find for collectors, fans, and those who admire a good fashion doll when they see it (we still have our JEM dolls!). Puffy AmiYumi have come to American shores via these wonderful Mattel dolls. Fully poseable, they are adorably sculpted and... get this... they speak in Japanese and English, and when they hold hands, they sing!
 Each doll comes with an abundance of accessories (from hats with braids to guitars and purses) and they have killer-hip fashions. Needless to say, if you're a fan, this is about as close as you're ever going to get to having the real ladies in your bedroom. Pose 'em and have 'em sing for you! Hi Hi!
Reviewed by Brian Cirulnick
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RizelMine
Yukiru Sugisaki is known for works like DNAngel, Candidate for Goddess, and Brain Power. Her manga, RizelMine, carries on the traditions of greats like Urusei Yatsura and FLCL. Follow the exploits of Iwaki Tomonori, a nerdish 15-year-old with a thing for older women. The government needs him to marry their experiment, a bio-engineered cutie named Rizel. She's cheerful and they mean to keep her that way. (Heaven help you if you make her cranky.) She has fallen in love with Iwaki and there's nothing anyone can do about it.
 So what's a schoolboy to do in a pre-arranged marriage to a super-powered 12-year-old? Can he go against the authorities and risk dire consequences? Will he fall under the spell of little miss perky. Will his classmates stop giving him that funny look? The hilarity comes to you courtesy of TokyoPop. Check it out.
Reviewed by Lawrence Sufrin
Drawing Cutting Edge Fusion
Manga is eclipsing everything from the traditional comics industry to newspaper strips. More and more American artists are plying their trade in the manga realm. Christopher Hart's amazing book illustrates in vivid detail the combination of two styles - American comics and manga - into the new comic art form known as fusion.
 Hart shows the reader the basics of fusion through numerous illustrations that help to convey the dynamic, exciting nature of this artistic style. This book is certain to get the creative juices flowing. Don't miss out on this new art form that is the rage in comics today. Pick up a copy of Drawing Cutting Edge Fusion, and expand your horizons as a comic book artist!
Reviewed by Saul Trabal
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Film Music of Akira Kurosawa
A must-have for fans of the god of Japanese cinema and one of the most influential film-makers of all time. Covering the themes of some of his most well-known and most-loved films, it features such obvious entries as "Seven Samurai", but also some you may not have heard of such as "Sanjuro". The only glaring omission is no track from Rashomon, but we are willing to forgive.
Nevertheless, the collection is a good one, with a range that will impress as well as give you insight into the mind of the master. We are particularly keen to the traditional flute as heard in "Throne of Blood".
Reviewed by Brian Cirulnick
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