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Anime - Z

To Love-Ru DVD Collection 2
More shenanigans involving Rito, his alien princess fiancée, and the bevy of teen beauties surrounding them ensue, generating more consistent comedy and fan service gold than the first half. Not a great series, but as frivolous entertainment goes, you could certainly do far worse.

Slam Dunk GN 8
Slam Dunk overcomes its brief slump and is on fire once again, delivering terrific sports action while continuing to build an engaging story around its characters.

Chu-Bra!! Episodes 1-5 streaming
It's not purposely trying to be tasteless—it simply doesn't know any better.

Genshiken 2 DVD 3
After a second volume that took discomfiting humor so far that it was just plain discomfort, this final volume manages to reclaim some of the show's charm—if only by cutting back on the faux porn.

Linebarrels of Iron DVD Part 1
A student is given control of a powerful robot only to prove as callously cruel as his opponents in this messy, ugly and mercurial mecha offering from Gonzo.

Maria Holic DVD Complete Collection
A lesbian transfers to an all-girls school where her first crush turns out to be an evilly manipulative boy in disguise in an energetic, gleeful comedy which flavors its humor with outright weirdness. If this series fails to entertain some viewers, it certainly will not be for lack of effort.

Hidamari Sketch Sub.DVD
With Hidamari Sketch, Akiyuki Shinbo finally shatters the standard comedy barrier and ends up in the realm of the abstract.

Devil May Cry DVD
From the food gags to the enormous stack of hack-and-slash clichés that form the show's script, “dumb and contrived” are really the best words for this. Just repress the urge to “press A to scroll through the text” because sadly, this is not a video game, and this narrative oatmeal does not work outside of cutscenes.

Glass Mask Sub.DVD
While both the positive and negative influences on Maya make for interesting story and character development, it also shines a big spotlight on the second half of the season's main flaw: the inability to bring a satisfying or timely end to any relationship.

S.A Sub.DVD Collection 2
Baldly artificial but strangely satisfying. And very conclusion-esque.

Soul Eater Part 1
This title's use of classic formula has a delicious sharp edge on it that slices in and hooks deep from the start. You can hardly do better than Soul Eater.