Happily Ever After

Based on the popular comic strip, Happily Ever After depicts the quotidian misadventures of Yukie and Isao. An odd couple, Yukie is the timid, devoted housewife to the laconic, moody Isao. What’s worse, she has apparently married down; at least that’s what her friends keep whispering. Isao is not simply a temperamental man, but unemployed yakuza!

Mushi-Shi: The Movie

Based on the popular anime/manga series of the same name – whose lush artistry equally matches the verdant vitality of nature itself – this live-action version is a much-welcomed adaptation. Writer/director Katsuhiro Otomo captures the very being of Ginko’s tale through scenes inundated with the light and dark of Japan’s countryside. 

2009 TV Series (episodes 1-13). Director: Tsutomo Mizushima. 315 minutes. DVD, bilingual, $59.98. Distributor: Funimation.

Big Windup!

In middle school Mihashi was the ace pitcher for the baseball team. So, why did the rest of the squad ostracize him and refuse to hone his skills? He supposedly got the job because his grandfather owned the school. Consequently, Mihashi is a paranoid, nervous wreck that thinks he sucks! The only thing left to do is enroll in a new high school, where the players don’t know how bad he really is.

2009 TV Series (episodes 1-24). Director: Tsutomo Mizushima. 600 minutes. DVD, bilingual, $69.98. Distributor: Funimation.

xxxHolic

Watanuki isn’t your average teenage boy. Spirits have been haunting him since birth; it’s been one disruption after another. But today these meddlesome visions might have actually done some good. They’ve dragged him to the doorstep of Yuko, a mystical witch whose decadence dangerously overshadows the depths of her insight. She’ll quell Watanuki’s visions, if he works in her shop of dreams and wishes.

2009 TV Series (episodes 1-13). Director: Akira Mano. 315 minutes. DVD, bilingual, $59.98. Distributor: Funimation.

Gunslinger Girl Il Teatrino

A quiet war still rages on the streets of Italy between the government and a terrorist group known as the FRF. The front lines of this conflict, however, are not filled with the glaring stares of brutish soldiers, but the pig-tailed cuteness of little girls. The tender remnants of former lives, these cybernetic assassins are manipulated by the Social Welfare Agency, a covert anti-terrorist and intelligence outfit. And though killers they may be, they’re still little girls in those awkward stages of growing up.

Kaze No Stigma

2009 TV Series (episodes 1-12). Director: Junichi Sakata. 288 minutes. DVD, bilingual, $59.98. Distributor: Funimation.

The prodigal son returns.

Kazuma was once the heir to the fire-wielding Kannagi clan. But his inability to manipulate his family’s magic was too much for an impatient father. Consequently, he was sent packing with nothing but the shirt on his back and the beginnings of a very large chip on his shoulder.

Naruto Box Set 14
2009 TV Series (episodes 178-191). Director: Hayato Date. 350 minutes. DVD, bilingual, $49.98. Distributor: Viz Media.

Naruto

Well, one might say that a shadow clone technique has been released. Naruto seems to be everywhere!

Gungrave

2009 TV Series (episodes 1-26). Director: Toshiyuki Tsuru. 650 minutes. DVD, bilingual, $49.98. Distributor: Funimation.

Being dead isn’t such a drag for Brandon Heat – and yes, with a name like that you’re either on the street kicking ass or in porn. After all, he has a second chance at one thing: revenge.

Phantom Master

2009 Movie. Director: Joji Shimura. 90 minutes. DVD, bilingual, $19.98. Distributor: Funimation

The land of Jushin is all but a memory, fractured into numerous kingdoms run by corrupt tyrants. Once the Amen Osa, magic wielding warriors charged with upholding justice, kept the peace. But when the king was assassinated, they too disappeared. Or did they?