Yoshikatsu INOUE

Buried Garbage - Suikoden Demon Century
Suikoden is appalling. It's as painfully insulting to one's intelligence as Tekken or Battle Arena Toshinden, but without the excuse of being a video game tie-in dictated by committee planning and corporate branding. 2008-04-24

Maid in the USA - A Visit to Royal/T
LA's first maid café had its grand opening ceremony last week, and we were able to check it out. Besides serving up delicious meals and drinks, it's also host to a Japanese pop art gallery. Plus, an interview with the owner of the cafe and gallery! 2008-04-23

Anime News Nina! - 2008-04-23
Nina learns absolutely nothing about Myoopi's digestive system. 2008-04-23

Hai Fidelity - BoA - The Face
Rachael reviews the latest album from the Korean idol that performed the fourth ending theme for Inuyasha, BoA. 2008-04-22

Shelf Life - Phoenix Down
"Shelf Life" is an anagram for "Flesh Life", "Fife Shell" and "Elfish Elf".
- Phoenix v.2
- Kanon v.2
- Moon Phase boxset
- Simoun v.2
2008-04-21

Yozakura Quartet GN 1
It has all the ingredients of greatness: distinctive characters ... action-adventure potential ... But processing those ingredients into something successful is obviously going to take more work.

Strawberry Panic! Sub.DVD 1
If you like seeing girls blushing and getting flustered over other girls (with no guys around) then this may be a series for you. Although it does improve, its merits are otherwise only barely enough to sustain it.

Monochrome Factor GN 1
This ripoff of a ripoff does such a good job of copying everything else in the supernatural genre that it's hard to tell where the imitation stops and an original story begins.

Kitchen Princess GN 5
Yakitate Japan for girls? All right, so Kitchen Princess doesn't quite have the insane humor, but Volume 5 shows that it contains all the other essential ingredients for a great cooking series.

Kagetora GN 8
This story of a young ninja and his cute but incapable charge/student wallows in an intensive display of utterly stereotypical romantic comedy content, but looks good doing so and still manages to be mildly entertaining.

The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service GN 6
The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service may be a shining jewel in the supernatural genre, but even this masterful series has its off-days. Volume 6 is one such disappointment.

Galaxy Angel II GN 3
Unless you're a fan of the franchise and simply must know why Nano-Nano has a tail and Kahlua a split personality, or you're a sucker for any kind of harem romance, this manga is unlikely to captivate.

Hell Girl DVD 4
As restrained, elegant, and superbly atmospheric as ever, Hell Girl continues to vary its basic formula in small, telling ways but remains as stubbornly repetitive as ever.

The Wallflower GN 14
Toss any expectations beyond those for a passing diversion and some good chuckles out the window. Wallflower is back to treading water.

My-Otome DVD 5
Action, betrayal, tragedy, scheming, dark revelations, hard-learned lessons, and just a touch of comedy - what more could you ask for? The series hits full stride as major plot developments abound.

Midori Days DVD 1
Though the "my right hand has become a girl" premise inspires any number of crude jokes, this is an entertaining and surprisingly clean treatment of a very odd twist on standard shonen romantic comedy fare.