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El Cazador de La Bruja
Anime DVD Review by Carolyn Whu
 No, you haven't read wrong; the title of this anime is REALLY in Spanish. The guys at Funimation did not make a mistake or decide to use a foreign language so it sounds cool, ok? El Cazador de La Bruja: The Hunter of the Witch is the "Thelma and Louise" of the animated world with an aura of Trigun surrounding it and a dash of Death Note complexity and maybe a bit of Elven Lied. This might sound like too much but it's really a simple story about two girls that become friends and travel on a journey together. Don't worry about sappiness; with all the bullets and punches flying around and a bit of blood squirting here and there, El Cazador doesn't leave room for any Ya-Ya Sisterhood pants sharing or giggle-giggle fawning over cute boys. Read More...
Bamboo Blade
Anime DVD Review by Laura Aira
 Bamboo Blade is definitely a must see anime for all the Kendo lovers out there. And if you do not know about Kendo you will certainly learn a lot from watching Bamboo Blade. There's a lot of high energy team spirit, hard-core training, and some highs and lows; circumstances that every team in any sport must eventually come to face.
This anime series is about a Kendo team whose backs are against the wall when they are faced with a team suspension, their coach on the verge of being fired and the team splitting up. In short, they are desperate, and just when it seems that all hope has abandoned them, along comes Tamaki Kawazoe, a Kendo prodigy... now if the team could just pull her away from all the anime she's watching and actually fight for the team... Read More...
Lupin the 3rd Movie Pack: First Haul
DVD Review by Brian Cirulnick
 I wasn't aware that Funimation had acquired Lupin, but I guess when they absorbed ADV, which had absorbed Geneon, which had been Pioneer, which had the rights at the time... well, it gets complicated...
And complicated is what you get in this incredible and awesome Lupin movie pack. Not so much machine guns and explosions, Lupin is more for those of us that like the old-style "James Bond: 007" movies with cold-war era cat-and-mouse antics. It's more about Lupin using his brain to outwit his enemies and make off with the cash before anyone is wiser. Read More...
Japanese Anime Classic Collection
Anime DVD Review by Brian Cirulnick
 If you're a student of classic anime, and by classic I mean PRE-Tezuka, this is a DVD set you can't live without. Spread over 4 DVDs, there's 355 minutes of really old-school animation from the silent film era (Japan's golden age of the 1920's and 30's).
With unprecedented multilingual translation, this collection is the first to offer international audiences many of these classic anime as they were originally experienced by Japanese viewers, with accompanying benshi narration. Entertaining, exciting, and startling, the collection will be treasured by enthusiasts and researchers as a valuable tool for retracing Japanese animation from its earliest roots. Read More...
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 Reni Sakura CD
J-pop Review by Brian Cirulnick
 Reni Mimura specializes in Akihabara style performance, a genre that emphasizes the cute look of Japanese pop-culture with the hip appeal of Japanese animation. Reni offers the most fun and authentic Japanese pop experience in NY without ever having to travel to Tokyo. She is quickly winning over the hearts of many new local fans thanks to her pretty stage costumes, upbeat personality, and talented singing ability. Read More...
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Dance in the
Vampire Bund
Manga Review by Laurence Sufrin
 Best! Vampire! Manga! Ever! Fans of the genre rejoice. You now have your masterpiece. Nozomu Tamaki's Dance in the Vampire Bund is the top dog. The big cheese. The Rolls Royce of vampire manga. The most ferociously original vampire saga in decades.
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Pixie
Manga Review
by Laura Aira
 Pixie is graphic novel about a young prince named Ael, who fantasizes about going on great adventures far, far away from the confines of his castle home. Ael is a very extraordinary child because he has the ability to bring dreams to existence. One night he is kidnapped by a thief named Pixie, who was instructed to steal the golden bracelet on the prince's wrist. When he struggles and fails to get the bracelet off of the sleeping prince's wrist, he quickly decides to stuff Ael in a bag and slip off into the night. Read More...
Avatar: The Last Airbender (The Art of the Animated Series)
Book Review
by Brian Cirulnick
 I'm a sucker for a good cartoon art-book and this has got to be one of the best there is, thanks to being based on one of the best animated series we've seen in a good long time. Dripping with asian-inspired design and anime-esque technique, it is the pinnacle of how to design a cartoon series with a rich world and a wide variety of environments (George Lucas, take note that habitable planets are not just one niche ecosystem). Read More...
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