Isabelle GANZ

Hai Fidelity - Eri Kawai: Himawari
Rachael examines and appreciates the memorial album for Eri Kawai, the singer-songwriter behind themes for Aria, Bamboo Blade and Sketchbook. 2009-02-10

Chicks On Anime - Fansubs (Pt 2)
The fansub debate continues this week, in the final installment of our discussion with Freelance Fansub's getfresh. 2009-02-10

Ramen Fighter Miki #7 - Watch it free on ANN!
Who can be the nicest to their customers, Miki or Megumi? The question, really, is who can hold back from ripping the other's face off the longest? (USA/CAN only, TV-PG) 2009-02-10

Interview: Takashi Miike on Yatterman
Best known in the West for films like Audition and Ichi the Killer, Miike's newest film is the live action adaptation of the classic anime Yatterman. The day before its premiere at New York Comic Con, he took a few minutes to talk with us about his new film and its place in his very long filmmaking career. 2009-02-09

Shelf Life - Tetsuooooo!!!
All good stuff this week, with a remastered classic, some funkadelic samurai, and some seriously awesome women.
- Afro Samurai:Resurrection
- Akira Blu-Ray
- Claymore v.3
- Story of Saiunkoku S1 Pt.2
2009-02-09

Astro Toy with Rob Bricken: Soul Eater Trading Arts Vol. 1
Rob gets down with the cast of Soul Eater with Square Enix's latest gashapon set. 2009-02-08

The Gallery - Elda The
Gaia Online artist Elda The joins us this week to talk about life at Gaia, the stresses of being an illustrator, the Lullaby comic series, smiling giants, and more! 2009-02-07

Dragon Ball Z Movies 7 & 9 DVD
Those who already enjoy DBZ will enjoy these films, and those who don't, won't. Whether they will fork over for a re-issue of DBZ ephemera is another matter altogether.

Death Note DVDs 7 + 8
Although this run of episodes, which involves some key transitions, initially marks a step out of the Dark Age into which the series had fallen, the reprieve proves only brief. These volumes may have some strong content, but on the whole they stray far from the series at its best.

Yatterman (live action movie)
If Miike was out to recreate the parental discomfort of the TV series... well, mission accomplished. It's just too bad he also recreated the aspects that make cartoons like this Kryptonite to anybody who's gone through puberty.

Slam Dunk GN 2
In the age of Kobe, Lebron, and Boston's three-headed monster, can a relic straight from the Jordan era still succeed? As this volume shows, fascinating characters and high-flying action are timeless qualities.

Castle of Dreams GN
Any manga-ka can set out to create a deeply emotional story, but it takes a talent like Tsuda's to make the reader feel it.

Kiba DVD Collection 1
Instead of a rollercoaster of tried-and-true thrills, Kiba is a warehouse full of rollercoaster parts—plenty of potential fun, but without the investment of energy to make it work.

Black Sun GN
Black Sun, Uki Ogasawara's second BL work to be published in English is a seamless blend of historical fiction, comedy, and beautiful boys.

Overman King Gainer DVD Complete Collection
The 26-episode animated television series Overman King Gainer is a mecha fetish extravaganza cooked up according to the following proportional recipe of creative ingredients: 85% action, 10% plot, and 5% character development. So much for the nuanced far future politics that make its director Yoshiyuki Tomino famous.

Song of the Hanging Sky GN 1
Heads up everybody: We have an instant classic on our hands. Song of the Hanging Sky is one of the best new titles to be published in English for 2008.

Baccano! + Artbox DVD 1
Sometimes humorous, occasionally brutal, and nearly always fun, the complex plotting and voluminous casting, combined with strong dubbing, animation, and musical score, make this a must-see series for fans of American mobster stories. It is meant to be an entertaining romp, and that is precisely what it delivers.

Gurren Lagann Sub.DVD 2
This double-disk sub-only release covers the rest of the second story arc and the beginning of the third. Although still a purely entertaining series at heart, it shows a greater capacity than its contemporaries to adapt to its story advancement and grow beyond its original parameters.