Father Geek here with another of Scott's great columns on the worlds of Manga & Anime, and once again its loaded with all the info you could want on Anime and its related fields, soooooo prepare to be amazed at all thats within...

AnimAICN...

by Scott Green

Anime Spotlight: Infinite Ryvius Volume 2: Vital Guarder Volume 3: Tension

Released by Bandai

Half way through its run, Infinite Ryvius has gelled into a surprisingly engaging poli-sci/sci-fi.It is still teen entertainment, without the backbone to sit on the shelf with Orwell, and Frank Herbert never employed cute ferrets, but at its core is a interesting political progression, and some characters worthy of thought.

Eighty years after a giant solar flare devastated the population of Earth, humanity has harnessed the sea like Geduld plasma field to expand into outposts through the solar system. A sabotage attack sends the Liebe Delta Astronaut Training Center into the Geduld, killing the installation’s adult staff, and leaving 487 teenage trainees without supervision.

The situation invites comparisons to Lord of the Flies, or more recently Battle Royale, yet beyond the lack of true isolation, the students are at the mercy of other actively pursued agendas, the teens go wild aspect is largely absent. In practice, Ryvius is closer to Animal Farm, minus the initial revolution. There's a scramble for cliques and individuals to fill the power vacuum, and hierarchy in crisis. Other than contentious factions at the top, the general populous is rather herd like. There is growing discontent, and activities which could be classified as crime, but never a flowing anarchy or abandonment of constraints that the characters would have otherwise operated under.

The fact that Ryvius's cast is comprised of teenagers can't effectively be extenuated. They're teenagers, with the priorities and views of teenagers, seeking to gain the approval of parents, fussing over first kisses and the like, but, there are so many anime series with teenagers in roles of command and responsibility that one in which a mass number have to rely on themselves isn't exceptional. While the population is inexperienced, they possess the needed skills to survive and take care of themselves.

An absence of adults does factor into the decisions and philosophies of some characters, but not enough to shade the work in a medium, and in a genre of that medium where teenagers routinely save the world/universe, participate in and lead military operations, and have access to the edge of technology.

The political progression is the real mental hook to Ryvius. After the disaster, the students of the Liebe Delta Astronaut Training Center found themselves in the installation’s hidden battleship, the Black Ryvius. Command initially fell upon the elite Zwei cadets who controlled the ships bridge. The Zwei briefly attempted to maintain control by withholding situational information. Airs Blue, a cold, intelligent and charismatic gang leader ended Zwei's hold on the ship with a coup, which eventually led to a committee with an armed Blue and his loyalists at its head, Zwei continuing to hold bridge and command function, and a number of significant outsiders, including the series' hero filling other key roles. The result is a strange (or strangely real) mélange of privilege, usurpership/criminality and merit without pure divisions. Merit is neither uniform or absent in the Zwei, or Blue's gang.

Soon every action is adding weight to the precarious supports. Once the system begins getting battered by waves of external pressure and internal tension, Ryvius starts to get riveting. The institution of monetary system is views as forced labor, fostering resentment of elites' self exemption from restrictions, policing turning into a Stanford Prison Experiment. The hero can't even organize a party without it turning into a rally. The number of toppling personalities and issues invites every conversation and action to be scrutinized.

Anime Spotlight Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi Volume 2: It's a Mad, Mad Mad Alternate World

Released by ADV

When Gainax, the creators of Evangelion, Gunbuster, Wings of Honneamise, and the KareKano anime, released their entry into the high energy genre parody craze, the expectation was for something more than a well crafted Excel Saga alternative. In the second volume of Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, the expectation is delivered upon as the series sidesteps out of the episodic genre parody format, and with the big reveal recasts itself as how a geek, who has tapped into a little mysticism deals with uncertainty, grief, and life encroaching on his neat order. While previously it was entertaining, and in many ways well crafted, examining philosophies of desire as they play themselves out over landscape of anime has made Abenobashi something worth considering and mulling over.

The Abenobashi shopping district is being torn down for a urban renovation. Sashi returns home to find that not only has he been moved into a smaller apartment, without his accumulation of geek tchotchkes and where he has to share a room with his sister, but his childhood friend Arumi is moving away in order for her father to take a job as chef of a distant resort hotel. The next morning Sashi and Arumi wake up to find themselves in the first of a string of Abenobashi's warped to fit the rules of some pop culture template. In each, they must find a premise central goblin (oni) who will transport them home, only to land in a new variant.

The volume's first two episodes take the pair, and their fellow Abenobashi variant hoppers, the large chested Mune-Mune, and the blue haired wizard Eutus, to the prehistorical cave men and dinosaurs Abenobashi, and to one that leverage both hard boiled detective cinema, and police anime.

The humor in the series can be a little hit or miss. Many of the jokes fall into general wrongness with a predisposion to taking sexual jokes too far, and there is an increasing tendency to sputter too long on a joke. A sister as the S&M queen to her father, grandfather and brother is basically silly, and would have been amusing had it not been over used, but it's a little inappropriate to have a jokes involving a 12 year old girl getting ogled, or grabbing her chest and crotch.

Where humor fails, quality presentation succeeds. Between crisp animation from the always impressive Madhouse, sharp dialog, and quality voice acting, Abenobashi really has to run a joke into the ground before becoming tiresome.

A crack opens when in the volume second episode Arumi learns why she and Sashi keep jumping to alternate Abenobashi's rather than their own. The reason may be taking aim the appeal, especially the escapist appeal of anime, and certainly has an air of self examination on the part of the creators.

The volume's third episode nearly literally maps the series. In an almost self contained story the episode tells how a turning point in Arumi's grandfather Musa's life didn't come about, and how the event defined the transition between the post World War II Abenobashi and Arumi and Sashi's Abenobashi.

Musa's story is one of anime's greatest short works. Though it only chronicles a short time in Musa's life, and objectively very little ultimately happens, it encapsulates Musa's life, and the Abenobashi experience. It's a mundane depiction of human life and desire in a strange reverse reflection of Arumi's "Bein’ human, havin’ your health is what’s most important", in a moment that projects forward the bitter sweet passages of time. Sometime the world changes, not always for the better or for the worse, just changes.

The episode sits at the antipathous of the escapism the series has been parodying, but also lets a spark of wonder glint through the cracks. Musa receives a look at the mystical foundations of locale Abenobashi in a micro-scale version of Alan Moore's original From Hell comic's secret history of London. The world's magic profound, but small. It contents with human desire and despair, and with institutions such as banks.

In terms of intraseries revolvations, the episode also unmasks the identities of Mune-Mune and Eutus, or at least who they are based on. The answer doesn't lie in the law of conservation of character, or typical anime logistical leaps. There are plenty of issues that still haven't been explicitly spelled out, and undoubtedly there are still surprises that will be unveiled, but now there is a general notion of the what it all means.

Rather then being incisive about the subject matters it has been lampooning, Abenobashi has shown itself incisive about the human heart, and geek heart in particular. "Gainax Does Excel Saga" is still Abenobashi's star attraction, but in practice, while the approach has yeeld visual diversity to an impressively well animated show, the number of points to connect jokes to their sources suggests that injoke wells quickly run dry (S&M cavemen was because the welts were used for horoscopes to predict disasters, and movie cavemen of always predicting volcanoes, or meteor strikes).

Like Musa, Sashi is facing the intractable problem of a changing world, and his limited control of those changes. Musa lusted after a woman, and wanted to start his own buisness. One proved allusive and the other took years to achieve. Sashi wants the Abenobashi he grew up in, and he especially doesn't want Arumi to leave. The predicament not solved by returning to his Abenobashi, or expressing his feeling towards Arumi. If Musa's story is any hint, the experience will leave scars and echoes, but everyone will continue to move on their own path.

Manga Spotlight: Record of Lodoss War: The Lady of Pharis Book 2 By Ryo Mizuno and Akihiro Yamada

Released by CPM Manga

Lady of Pharis seems to be an attempt to do something different in swords and secrecy fantasy. It is the prequel to other Lodoss works: Grey Witch, Chronicles of the Heroic Knight, ect, which are fantasy that is just about perfectly by the book. Rather than the cannon of Tolkien, and Dungeons and Dragons, Lady of Pharis is from the schools of the Conan (Howard's and Milius'), the Illiad, Metamorposis, Celtic legend and post Roman history,and for good measure a bit of Ridley Scott's Legend.

In the second and concluding volume of Lady of Pharis a group of heroes including the men who will become the good king, evil emperor, and sage wizard of the later Lodoss tales, recover from the initial brushes with divinity, and a legendary cadre of seven, lead a small army against an demon goddess who has holes herself up in their world.

Flaus, the titular Lady of Pharis, is Joan of Arc, if Joan had become the companion of Conan the Barbarian, played here by Beld, already prophesized towards kingship. She is the first hero introduced. After the read is shown a human raising the demon goddess, she is introduced to slay demons, save a mother and child and proclaim "I am the servant who holds the sword of the supreme god Pharis. I am Flaus leader of the warrior priests! In the name of divinity, I have come to annihilate all evil knowledge and power!" Yet she gravitates towards Beld, rather than the holy knight Fahn "his silver light no demon blood could ever stain". She tries to civilize Beld, teach him politics, and shape him for kingship, but she is also entranced by his connection to the ancient roots of humanity. Beld fight demons for money, they are another foe whose defeat can bring him money, food, and happiness. As Flaus considers this, the battle against the demon becomes something more existential. Her role in the final showdown takes a surprising rout, and shatters concepts of fantasy and its heroes in a rejection of the accepted roles of humans and gods.

Lady of Pharis delivers a killer heroes' war. The mechanics of the campaign of a small army is given surprising thoroughness. Not only is there plenty of single combat, and opportunities for skills or personalities to complement of conflict, but there are plenty of instances of touches of realism in the fantasy: council meetings, supply lines, and their mystic projections, such cutting rations after food is cursed by the enemy.

There is some difficultly in the series’ weighing widening its canvas against making the story compressible. The story benefits from knowledge of the later careers of the heroes, especially Beld, Farn and Karla, but familiarity with the Lodoss Wars works isn't a perquisite. Instead, the Lady of Pharis may have gone too far in adding kingdoms and heroes, including a new entry in strange reference file (along with last week's appearance by the tanker ship George Clinton in Full Metal Panic), an odd apparent reference to Marvel Comic's Daredevil. They add a richness to the world, but at times, there are too many faces who don't substantially contribute to the story. A refresher on the first volume's preface is also beneficial in straightening out Lodoss's mythology. The pantheons, and their Titans/Olympians lineage are easy to mix up, and Pharis' role of Supreme God of Light and his iconography adds some extra kick to the series.

Lady of Pharis is literally wondrously illustrated. There are instances where its story telling isn't as clear as would be desired, and its complexity if thins blur on which glances but the images frequently paint unique tableaus, often visualizes what is typically left to the imagination such a bodies turning themselves inside out, or god inspired visions, beasts pulled from nightmare inspiration rather than the standard menagerie, and what exactly a demon goddess might do to her fallen comrades. The demons are particularly brilliant. In fitting with the stories cosmology they appear almost divinely otherworldly, and almost visibly struggle with their material existence.

Playing in Japan: Mezzo Episode 1 -4

Though anime has a reputation for mindless violence, it is difficult to think of many recent, well constructed examples to live up to the hype or criticism.

Yasuomi Umetsu is know for both porn (a segment of the infamous Cool Devices anthology), and artistry (a segment of the revered Robot Carnival anthology), has ridden a wave of popularity into creating a universe of glintingly slick violence.

Yasuomi Umetsu's Mezzo DSA is the last branch in his Kite universe tree. The initial two episode series Kite was Leon/the Professional if Gary Oldman's police officer had raised (and slept with) the killer orphen girl with gut busting tragedy and gleeful big Hollywood implausibility to the action. Its popularity lead to the second two episode Mezzo Forte, a cameo linked tangent with the sadism of its processor, but which, discounting two scenes of out place egregious sexual violence, recasts the violence into a more slapstick role. Sadism is rampant, but in a blood spouting Three Stooges sort of way. (For completeness sake: links, at least thematic ones, have been drawn between Kite, and Umetsu's hentai/adult work in the Yellow Star segement of Cool Devices).

The direct to video Mezzo Forte launched the television Mezzo DSA, a high octane, bubble punk take on the private investigator show. Mikura is anime's ultimate pulp star, a pink hair chick in an orange singlet with the moves of Bruce Lee, and the shot of Chow Yun Fat in a John Woo movie. Together with Sex Pistols styled technician Harada, and cooly uncool goofy/hard boiled ex-cop Kurokawa, the Danger Service Agency (DSA) track down people, protect people, o a little courier work, and a little spying. They live in a converted double decker bus, cruise around in a pink beetle, and hang out/get jobs and information from a criminal mastermind barber. From time to time they "Repo Man" style stumbling into something grandly unusual: alien invasions and deadly virus and the like.

Even before its blistering pop opening credits , culminating with Mikura in a master of disguise sequence, of outfits, including anime fetishes: Chinese waitress, school girl, nurse with enema administer the first episode starts two young grade school girls harshly, interlaced by a criminal transaction between a thug and some comic book uniformed henchmen. Both are interrupted by Mikura's arrival and the subsequent ass-kicking, involving anime's most memorable testicle crushing scene.

Though Mezzo is unabashed pulp, it benefits from the constraints of television. The uncut version of the Mezzo Forte OAV was marred by scenes of hard core pornography, which felt inserted, and out of place. There's exploitation distastefulness, and then there's hard core sexual violence which doesn't even fit in the work's large context.

This Week's Releases

Anime

• Android Kikaider - Silent Journey (Vol. 4)
• Cyborg 009 - Good vs. Evil
• Cyborg 009 - The Battle Begins
• Cyborg 009 - The Battle Begins / Good vs. Evil
• Our Price: $34.27 You Save: $14.68
• Cyborg 009 - Uncut & Unedited
• Dbgt:Vol 11:Evolution
• Dbgt:Vol 12:Revolution
• Happy Lesson - Mom-ageddon (Vol. 1)
• Heat Guy J - Hidden Fangs (Vol. 4)
• Infinite Ryvius - Tension (Vol. 3)
• Inu-Yasha - Wind & Void (Vol. 14)
• Last Exile- Positional Play (Vol. 2)
• SD Gundam Force - New Allies (Vol. 2)
• SD Gundam Force - The Hero Arrives (Vol. 1)
• Space Pirate Captain Herlock - The Legend Returns (Vol. 1)

Manga

• Ai Love You Vol 1 Gn (Of 9)
• Alien Nine Emulators Vol 1 Gn
• Boys Over Flowers Vol 4 Tp Hana Yori Dango
• Demon Palace Babylon Manga Vol 2 Tp
• Digimon Zero Two Vol 2 Gn (Of 2)
• Fruits Basket Vol 1 Gn (Of 11)
• Get Backers Vol 1 Gn (Of 21)
• Gravitation Vol 4 Gn (Of 12)
• Happy Mania Vol 6 Gn (Of 11)
• Initial D Vol 10 Gn (Of 23)
• Inu Yasha Ani Manga Vol 1
• Kindaichi Case Files Vol 5 Gn Treasure Isle (Of 10)
• Magic Knight Rayearth Ii Vol 1 Gn (Of 3)
• Para Para Vol 1 Tp
• Planet Ladder Vol 6 Gn (Of 7)
• Raijin Comics #42
• Rave Master Vol 7 Gn (Of 18)
• Rebound Vol 6 Gn (Of 11)
• Rurouni Kenshin Vol 3 Gn
• Samurai Deeper Kyo Vol 5 Gn (Of 18)
• Shonen Jump Vol 2 #3 Mar 2004
• Suki Vol 1 Gn (Of 3)
• Super Manga Blast #38
• Yu Yu Hakusho Vol 3 Tp

New Wolve's Rain on Schedule

Anime News Network reports volumes 9 and 10 of the Japanese release are of Wolf's Rain are being released on time. Previous indications suggested that they would be delayed. Volume has has been released, and 10 is due February 25th. Volumes 9 and 10 will feature four new episodes (27-30), which will constitute a new ending to the series.

Last Exile on Tech TV

After contradictions were raised to initial reports that Last Exile would be appearing on Tech TV, the network revealed on their site that the first 13 episode of the series will episode will then be aired March 8th through 13th and run as a marathon on March 14th.

Anime News Network has confirmed that Tech TV will acquire episodes 14 to 26 for broadcast in early 2005.

Marmalade Boy Trailer

JaggedTeam points out that TOKYOPOP has posted a trailer for the English dub of Marmalade Boy here

Live Action Casshern Trailer

A teaser for the live action adpation of Shinzo Ningen Casshern/Casshan - Robot Hunter can be seen her e

A trailer for the live action adaptation of Go Nagai's Kekko Kamen can be seen here

t.A.T.u Paragate Update

Natsume Maya reports that Paragate, the anime movie staring Russian pop due t.A.T.u has been budgeted production costs for the 100 minute movie will be 500 million yen. To be released theatrically in Japan, Europe and Russia in November 2004.

4Kids Picks Up Mew Mew

Animation World Magazine reports that 4Kids, who localized Pokemn, YuGiOh and Shaman King, will be producing a translation of Tokyo Mew Mew, retitled Hollywood Mew Mew for Fox's 2004 lineup. The manga version of the series has been released by TOKYOPOP.

Gundam Seed on Cartoon Network

Cartoon Network has schedule Gundam Seed to debut April 17th.

Voices of the Distant Star Manga

Natsume Maya reports that Shinkai Makoto's independant anime Hoshi no Koe (Voices of a Distant Star) will be adapted into a manga series by Sahara MizuTokyo Godfathers Video Release

Anime on DVD reports Columbia Tri-Star will be releasing Satoshi Kon's Tokyo Godfathers on April 13th for $26.96.

Gantz Anime Series

Natsume Maya reports that Oku Hiroya's violent sci-fi/horror manga serie Gantz will be adapted into a televised anime series. From manga publisher Young Jump's English description of the series:

Mysterious experiences of Kurono and friends, people who have died once- Once-dead people are locked up in an apartment and are controlled by an ominous Black Ball they call GANTZ. GANTZ's orders are unchallengeable, and it forces them to battle against hostile aliens. It has to power to destroy them if they try to run away. Can Kurono and friends survive this reality no matter how unrealistic it seems?

BAAF Trouble

Anime News Network reports that the Big Apple Anime Fest (BAAF) is experiencing scheduling conflicts with the 2004 Republican National Convention. Security restrictions and lack of available hotels have caused the convention to consider rescheduling, moving or canceling the event.

Viz Names New Vice Chairman & CFO

Manga and anime distributor Viz has announced that Hidemi Fukuhara, formerly of Merrill Lynch has been named the new vice chairman and chief financial officer (CFO). Mr. Fukahara replaces Mr. Satoru Fujii, who is retiring from day-to-day operations, but will remain on the VIZ Board of Directors.

In his new capacity, Mr. Fukahara will direct and oversee all financial and operational concerns of the company. He will be responsible for the company’s domestic and foreign financial and fiscal management policies, provide guidance to senior-level management and help to direct the daily operation of the company. In addition, Mr. Fukahara will develop and supervise the implementation of VIZ’s strategic business roadmap, programs and systems as well as represent the company externally to the media, investment community and the general public.

Heat Guy J On MTV 2

Heat Guy J will be appearing on MTV as "The City Guy" Fridays starting February 6th.

The schedule can be seen here

Chinese Animated Moebius Work

Icv2 reports that post production work has begun on "Thru the Moebius Strip" a 3-D CGI animated filmed film by French comic artist Jean "Moebius" Giraud. The feature was in planned by an Los Angeles base team headed by Giraud before going into production in China in 2001.

Based on an original Moebius story rather than one of his graphic novels, the film tells the story of a young boy who travels to an alien world populated by giants in a quest to find his father and prove himself.

The English language version will feature voice work by Mark Hamill, Michael Dorn, Kellie Martin, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Jean Simmons. Senator International will handle worldwide sales rights for the film. More than 150 Chinese animators worked on this interstellar version of Jack and the Beanstalk at a studio in Shenzhen. Moebius created more than 400 full color drawings that form the basis for the film, which has a budget of some $8 million.

Images can be seen here.

Digital Manga Licenses "Worst"

Digital Manga, whose Berserk, Trigun and the Ring are currently being distributed by Dark Horse Comics, has licensed Hiroshi Takahashi's gang manga "Worst". The first collection is due to be released in July.

Game News

Sega of America has announced that they will be working with Sony Pictures Consumer Products to release Astro Boy games for the GameBoy Advance and Playstation 2 in the US.

Bandai will release a new PS2 action RPG Saiyuki: Reload in Japan on March 18, for 6800 yen.

The official Gunslinger Girl website states that a Playstation 2 game will be released in the spring of 2004.

New screen shots from Magic Box include: Inuyasha: Juso no Kamen ("Cursed Mask") RPG

Dororo (Blood Will Tell: Osamu Tezuka's Dororo)

SD Gundam G Generation Seed

Not an anime game, but samurai fans may note Playstation 2 game Sengoku Musou (Samurai Warriors, which will feature Date Masamune, Ishikawa Goemon, Nouhime and Oda Nobunaga as playable characters.

Innocense Soundtrack Site

JVC Music has posted a soundtrack page for the Ghost in the Shell Innocence movie

Samurai Champloo Trailer

A trailer for Cowboy Bebop director Shinichiro Watanabe's is online at the series's official site www.samuraichamploo.com

New Graphic Novel Listing System

Diamond Comics, who distributes comics to specialty comic shops, and some book store has announced that the rise in the popularity of graphic novel collections has caused them to change their identification system. Relater than use "star codes" for products that will be kept in stock, all products will permanently be identified by their original solicitation code.

Tokyo Pig DVD Release

Disney will be distributing the video release of Tokyo Pig later this year.

French Manga Industry

AT.com has an interesting article about the role of manga, in France's successful comic industry.

Last year manga accounted for almost a third of the 1,860 new comic books published in France, according to Livres Hebdo publishing weekly, compared with about 20 per cent in 2002 and less than 10 per cent in 2001.

JoJo Release Dates

Anime News Network has posted the remaining release dates for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure here

Shoji Kawamori's Next Project

Shoji Kawamori, creator of Escaflowne and Arjuna, and director of Macross Plus and Heat Guy J will be working on a 52 episode mecha action series with Satelight Inc.

Onegai Twins OAV Announced

AnimeNation reports current issue of Megami Magazine has revealed that the seventh Japanese Onegai Twins DVD, scheduled for release on April 23rd, will contain a new 13th episode to the Onegai/Please Teacher follow-up.

Upcoming Geneon Releases

Anime

To be released 4/6

Texhnolyze - Inhumane & Beautiful (V.1) DVD

Ichise's grief only allows him to enjoy the pain of the fighting pits in the underground city of Lukuss. However, when a gang punishes Ichise by cutting his arm and leg off, his will to live overcomes the odds and attracts the attention of the ruling Organo syndicate that controls the cybernetic Texhnolyze technology that they usually reserve for the elite. Meanwhile, an outsider has come down to the city and, along with a young psychic girl, the dominos are beginning to fall in the seething unrest of the city as their paths slowly intertwine with Ichise's. A new hard-boiled style of science fiction animation/ An adventure in a dark dystopian world that reveals the depths of human nature and heights of technological achievement. Character design by: Yoshitoshi ABe/ Packages feature original drawing of Yoshitoshi ABe"

Texhnolyze - Limited Collector's Box DVD

Ichise's grief only allows him to enjoy the pain of the fighting pits in the underground city of Lukuss. However, when a gang punishes Ichise by cutting his arm and leg off, his will to live overcomes the odds and attracts the attention of the ruling Organo syndicate that controls the cybernetic Texhnolyze technology that they usually reserve for the elite. Meanwhile, an outsider has come down to the city and, along with a young psychic girl, the dominos are beginning to fall in the seething unrest of the city as their paths slowly intertwine with Ichise's. "KEY SALES POINT From the creators and producers of ""serial experiments lain"" ""Haibane Renmei"" and ""Hellsing"" A new hard-boiled style of science fiction animation/ An adventure in a dark dystopian world that reveals the depths of human nature and heights of technological achievement." Box Feature the original key art by Yoshitoshi ABe Character design by: Yoshitoshi ABe/ Packages feature original drawing of Yoshitoshi ABe

To be released 4/13

Master Keaton - Fakers & Fiends (V.6) DVD

Keaton starts by rescuing an East German Olympian from depression and skin-heads before interfering in a KGB hit on a Russian attending an air show in the UK. Later, after a trip to Spain's islands to engage in a contest of observation with an old war veteran, Keaton returns to hunt a murderer in England's premiere accounting firm. Finally, Keaton's investigation of forged masterpieces leads him to an imprisoned painter trapped by a shattered confidence and extreme shortsightedness!

To be Released 4/20

MAO-CHAN - Let's Defend Happiness (V.4) DVD

Mao-Chan and her fellow Unified Defense Force partners are in for more adventure and mayhem! Mao-Chan loses her clover-shaped badge, so Misora and Sylvia are dispatched to defend against another alien attack, but it is not quite the same without Mao-Chan. Can the two girls make it without Mao-Chan? Then tragedy hits the Unified Defense Force. Mao-Chan's treasure, the Kuni-chan doll, is stolen by a boar alien and heartbroken Mao-Chan decides to resign from the Defense Forces, But her fellow Unified Defense Force members and friends come to the rescue. Will the girls successfully find Mao-Chan's precious treasure? And will Mao-Chan regain her winning smile?

6 complete episodes on one disc!!!! ( 15 min. per episode) From the creative team of "Love Hina": Original story by Ken Akamatsu, Directed by: Yoshiaki Iwasaki (Love Hina, El Hazard) Script by: Yosuke Kuroda (Love Hina---episode 14, Please Teacher, Tenchi Muyo GXP)

Little Snow Fairy Sugar Summer Special will be released May 4th, and Demon Lord Dant will be release May 25th.

Soundtracks

To be released 4/13

Hand Maid May Original Soundtrack CD

When engineering student Kazuya unknowingly orders and receives a cute one-foot tall robotic maid, he becomes the target of jealous rivals, Cyber Dolls, and strange descendants from the future! Anime fans will recognize this premise from the comedy hit, 'Hand Maid May' and with the U.S. release of the 'Hand Maid May' original soundtrack, listeners can revisit and enjoy the charming and thoughtfully crafted music from the series, which includes the bouncy opening song, 'Jump- Hug Me as Tight as You Can,' the ending song, 'My True Feelings' and the over-the-top 'Nabarap' (Nanbara's rap). This special CD contains the original 25 tracks and 35 bonus voice collage tracks, plus two exclusive full-length vocal tracks that were not available on the Japanese release.

LAST EXILE Original Soundtrack 2 CD

Emerging as one of the true heavy-hitters among new anime series, LAST EXILE has completely blown away fans with breath-taking visuals, captivating storylines, and sensational music. Don the headphones and experience the majestic sense of aerial exhilaration effortlessly combined with aurally stunning music found in 'LAST EXILE Original Soundtrack 2.' Over a CD flight course of 20 tracks are five new, depthlessly moving vocal songs (including a new version of the ending song Over the Sky') and 15 evolving instrumentals by Dolce Triade, free-flowing with symphonic grace and atmospheric warmth.

Love Hina Best Collection CD

As one of the most talked-about romance comedies, Love Hina has won the hearts and funny-bones of fans all over for its hilarious predicaments involving college entrance exams, childhood crushes, bath shenanigans and flying sea turtles. With the 'Love Hina Best Collection' soundtrack, it just goes to show that the proverbial summer of love is not the only season for romance, as this CD offers 27 fanciful tracks wooed from both the Love Hina Spring Movie and Christmas Movie. Included here are nine lovely vocal tracks affectionately sung by the original Japanese voice actresses and 18 instrumentals that will serve to remind you why you fell in love with this charming anime series.