Vandread takes the metaphorical war between the sexes and makes it a reality.

Vandread: The Complete Series
2009 TV Series (episodes 1-26). Director: Takeshi Mori. 600 minutes. DVD, bilingual, $49.98. Distributor. Funimation.

In Vandread, the war between the sexes is no metaphor. It's a reality! Men and women have somehow evolved in segregated, deep-space colonies. And they really don't like each other! But after a decade of isolation, sheer happenstance produces a collision of cosmic, sexual proportions. Young Hibiki not only finds himself trapped on an estrogen-driven vessel, but an unforeseen threat compels him to join a squadron of "surprisingly" hot mech-pilots. Better yet, after Hibiki learns that he can insert his mecha into a female one to form a super-fighter, all the girls are just clamoring for a little insertion. Insert devilish grin here.

Once again, it's good to be a boy in an anime world. You've got mecha, big guns and a hot girl poured into every flight suit on deck! In Vandread, slapstick and innuendo combine to produce a true guilty pleasure. Your funny-bone will definitely be stimulated as you watch Hibiki unwillingly navigate every curve and plane in this unexplored, feminine landscape. And to top it off, the story is not half bad either. The sexual comedy of errors may fuel this show, but the aliens threatening both men and women hold a captivating secret that is slowly revealed throughout the series. So, I dare say that Vandread has more going for it than just its bevy of beauties.

No, I wouldn't call Vandread ecchi. It's just pure fun!

Shuffle is set up like Love Hina, Negima or even Vandread, but the execution is disappointing.

Shuffle: The Complete Series
2009 TV Series (episodes 1-24). Director: Seiichi Morishita. 575 minutes. DVD, bilingual, $69.98. Distributor. Funimation.

In a world where humans, gods and daemons live in harmony, Rin Tsuchimi is simply trying to live a normal high school life. But, whether he likes it or not, he's a bit of eye candy for the girls. Even worse, two new exchange students, Sia and Nerine, have not only moved next door, but they're eager to get Rin down the aisle of matrimony. And since their respective fathers rule over the worlds of gods and daemons, Rin could very well inherit a kingdom!

OK, over the last year I've reacquainted myself with a variety of seinen manga that openly indulges its ecchi muse. At its best, this subspecies of the genre operates exactly like a stock Hollywood recipe. Take one boy, a few gorgeous girls in alluring garb and then jumble them up in any situation that gives rise to titillation, maybe a little nudity, innuendo, awkward moments and an overall smart comedy of errors. The end product always produces that good, grinning laughter. Shuffle, however, stems from one of the many visual novels that are so popular in Japan. Herein lies the rub. It just doesn't make the generic jump from PC game to anime/manga.

While the plot sets you up for something like Love Hina, Negima or even Vandread, the execution is disappointing. Yes, Shuffle has a good dose of comic relief that will make you laugh, but the main characters are flat. Their demeanor and actions lack the comic fantasy, excess and vibrancy of, say, Love Hina. The girls, especially Sia and Nerine, are particularly naïve and male-dependant. They're nothing like the witty, strong and vibrant hotties we find in so many other series: the kind that will make you pay for staring too long at her skirt! Undoubtedly, this problem stems from Shuffle's PC origins. As a male POV experience, these simulations allow the gamer to embark upon a brief relationship with one or more select females, which ultimately climaxes in a hentai scene. Now don't get me wrong, these simulations are becoming very sophisticated; the female characters are explicitly human rather than 2D vehicles of fantasy-driven pleasure. But we don't find that here. In and of itself, Shuffle, as a visual novel, operates under a different set of rules and goals. It's just a different animal. The translation from PC game to anime/manga could have been much better.

Death Note concludes in this five-episode volume.

Death Note, Vol. 9
2008 TV Series (episodes 33-37). Director: Tetsuro Araki. 115 minutes. DVD, bilingual, $24.98. Distributor. Viz Media.

Much like Bleach, the popularity of Death Note pervades every corner of the globe. The story of Light Yagami, the bored teenage genius who attains the power of a shinigami death god, has now dominated the anime scene for years. And for good reason too. It's not simply his power to kill by writing down a name in a notebook, or his maniacal plot to kill all criminals and thus create a utopian world of peace, but the cunning game of mental chess played between Light and the detective L that has captivated the right side of our human brains. As the hunt for the murderous Kira (a.k.a Light) proceeds, the sheer density and maze-like plot structure of this cat-and-mouse game has produced an intoxicating puzzle, one that we are as desperate to unlock as Light and L themselves.

Viz's release of Death Note vol. 9 marks a bittersweet moment for fans everywhere. Containing episodes 33-37, we witness a veritable sprint to the finish line. Near and Mello, L's successors, have raised the stakes in this battle of the minds. The end is near, and some type of world order, new or old, will emerge. Simply put, Death Note is never off its game. Predictability cannot be predicated upon this crime-drama. Perfection is all I can say.

I'm going to miss this series. As Ryuk inscribed the last name in his death note, watching the sunset over Tokyo, so, too, I have nothing else to write.

Raised on such iconic, westernized giants as G-Force, Voltron and Robotech, James Brusuelas is a freelance writer based out of Orange County in Southern California.