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Rosario + Vampire GN 5
This volume is, at best, a transition between one major story arc and the next, filling in the spaces with lightweight romantic entanglements.

MPD-Psycho GN 7
If in volume six of MPD-Psycho the plot thickens deliciously, in volume seven it overcooks into a congealed, indigestible mess that one hopes—with perhaps only uncertain confidence—that it will ultimately be salvageable.

Parasyte GN 6
Humans who fight against monsters must be wary of becoming monsters themselves, but what of monsters who find themselves becoming human?

Ghost Talker's Daydream GN 3
This series has finally figured out how to tone itself down and tell an actual story instead of flashing erotic imagery every five pages.

I''s & I''s Pure Box Set DVD
A young man pines for a pretty girl that he incorrectly thinks he can't have in this pair of adaptations of the source manga being released together. They should appeal to fans of the manga but lack the production and storytelling quality necessary to otherwise stand out.

Tweeny Witches OVA DVD
Though a direct continuation of the first season, this is really a throwback to the early episodes, when the show was all fairy-hunting fluff and silly side-adventures with no fate-of-the-world ramifications.

Aria The Natural Sub.DVD Part 1
It will never win over those bored to tears by the deliberately reassuring first season, but those once wooed by the soothing magic of Neo-Venezia will be delighted at the chance for a return trip.

Vampire Knight GN 6
After the fast-paced, aesthetic gloom and doom of the previous volume of Vampire Knight, volume six represents a refreshing shift of tone. Matsuri Hino consciously begins to distance the plot from its previous focus on Zero's familial angst and starts moving the plot in the direction of some seriously Machiavellian vampire politicking.

Welcome to the NHK DVD 6
If Misaki and Sato's relationship is the heart of the series, this volume is all heart. And in grand NHK style, it's twisted, somewhat blackened heart.

Dragon Ball Z Season 8 DVD Set
The Z fighters meet the wizard Babidi and eventually also Majin Buu as the last major DBZ story arc begins. Although this block of episodes still clings to the series' action greatness, the cracks in its well-tested formula start to show here.

W-Juliet GN 12
It isn't handling the resolution of its series-long conflicts as well as it should, and it can never create any real suspense, but if that's the price one has to pay for mainlining another volume of W Juliet's brand of manga relaxation, then it may just be worth it.