Shinji TAKAI

Anime Central 2008
Bandai Entertainment, Funimation talk release dates; ADV and Viz cancel appearances 2008-05-20

Hai Fidelity - Ayumi Hamasaki: Guilty
The latest from pop sensation Ayumi Hamasaki. 2008-05-20

Shelf Life - Vex Machina
Machine versus Man! Man versus Man! Who will win in this battle of super wits?
- Appleseed: Ex Machina
- Hell Girl v.6
- Vexille
2008-05-19

The Click - May 17th - 23rd
Brian sees distant visions of death and despair, our milk and honeyed land crushed to dust under the heels of the forces of evil. He also sees whats on TV for the week, for you! 2008-05-17

Buso Renkin DVD
An ordinary Joe (surprise!) is granted super-powers to fight an evil organization in this uninspired shounen fighting series. Benefits from a strong female lead, a down 'n dirty sense of humor, and a spot-on dub, but nonetheless remains derivative to its core.

Tokyopop Manga Creator 2
If you enter the program expecting a comprehensive imaging software package like Photoshop, you're bound to be disappointed. But if you're an aspiring young artist taking your first steps into the foray of comic creation, Manga Creator might not be a bad first step.

Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~ GN 4 and 5
Despite dragging things out in the wake of a major previous plot revelation, these two volumes ultimately deliver a strongly dramatic and emotional resolution to the central love triangle. A solid ending for a lovely little yuri series.

Short Sunzen! GN 1
There are many ways to make a school romance work. This is not one of them.

Fruits Basket GN 19
For those who found the lengthy explorations of secondary characters and tantalizing glimpses of Kyo and Tohru's slowly evolving relationship in the last few volumes to be exquisite torture, this volume will be giddy, triple-hanky bliss.

Lucky Star DVD 1
Cute high school girls have stream-of-consciousness conversations essentially about nothing in this obsessively fan-pandering sketch comedy. Loads of anime, manga, and game references accompany sporadic humor.

Kujibiki Unbalance DVD 1
Colorful, hyperactive and intentionally crammed with abrasive clichés; more a comprehensive crash-course in otaku tastes than a narrative. Also contains a single, invaluable episode of the brilliant slice-of-otaku-life comedy Genshiken.

Simoun Sub.DVD 3
Despite only two episodes with true action, so much goes on that the content never gets dull. The romantic twists and turns, character development, and intriguing revelations all assure that viewers will want to keep coming back.

Speed Racer
Punishingly self-obsessed pop art at 200 miles per hour.

Flag DVD 3
This isn't the climax, but as Flag draws its two story-lines ever closer together and sets into motion the machinations of the series' truly frightening cult, it's here that anticipation for that climax reaches its giddy peak.

Dragon Ball Z Movie 1: The Deadzone DVD
Available uncut on DVD for the first time, this first DBZ movie does not require familiarity with the series to fully appreciate it as a slam-bang action flick. The English audio quality makes it a worthy pick for DBZ fans and action fans in general.