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.

Back to School Night

Going down every third thursday of the month, I just started attending Tune in Tokyo events in August. Located in Little Tokyo, this is the perfect place for anime fans, gamers, cosplayers, and J-fashionistas to mingle and have fun.

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!

Alright Naruto fans, get ready to put your jutsu to work. TOMY is due to release two titles that you cannot miss: Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 (Wii) and Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Destiny 2 (DS).

At this year’s Comic-Con I had a chance to preview these games at the TOMY booth. Let’s just say I’m elated that I scheduled a brief appointment.

Prior to Comic-Con TOMY hooked me up with a copy of Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Council 4 for the DS. Admittedly, I haven’t been much of a fan of the DS system. I never found the small screen and 2D visuals very attractive. As a Naruto fan, however, this title began to alter my opinion of DS gaming.

Ninja Council 4

Pangya

PSP, 1-8 players, Publisher: TOMY.

On Pangya Island you’re not just playing an ordinary round of 18 holes. This hidden treasure offers inter-dimensional golf. That’s right. Whether you want to play the back 9 on a wave-washed course, or test your skills on ice, Pangya has a course for you. Oh, and let’s not forget the 18 fully customizable, anime-esque characters. As you progress, and if you so choose, you might find yourself chipping balls in Bermuda shorts or even a bikini!

Robotech

Unfortunately there is nothing of great importance to report here. As much as I love Steve Yun and Tommy Yune, who are largely responsible for reinvigorating Robotech and its legacy through the Shadow Chronicles, the panel at Comic-Con 09 was reminiscent of last year’s.

Cloudy with the Chance of Meatballs shows more 3-D potential.

The exhibition has closed but the conference continues on this last day, with 3-D screenings (including some new Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs footage) and E-Tech still attracting lots of attention, even spread out in several rooms and isolated on the third floor. The emphasis is on interactive sensory techniques. And what's hot? "The interconnectivity between the machine and human," asserted Manabu Sakurai, Emerging Technologies chair. "If you see the gaming industry, your console is not just a game console anymore -- part of your body is the game console. And the machine understands your natural movements. And then, in an opposite way, the display, what you see is also getting closer to humans. The key word is 3-D."

Rob Cook.

Press reports have attendance at about 10,000, which is extremely low, of course. But, as I previously noted, it's resulted in a very appropriate quaintness. You can tell that the people who have come here are very passionate. While one exhibitor lamented the lack of scientific research on display and the commercialization of the event (no need to wait for SIGGRAPH to publish your tech paper), Rob Cook (the recipient of the Steven A. Coons Award) gave what Chris Landreth described as a "spiritual, practical and visionary" speech about "why there still needs to be SIGGRAPH."