From Ningin: Ever felt guilty for watching anime illegally online? Have no fear! VIZ Anime is here, and they’ve recently added Vampire Knight to their line up of anime. More »

Love anime? Like clothes? If you said yes to both of these, then have I got a scoop for you. More »

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A sweet fantasy tale of a young boy conquering the odds despite his own fear and aided by a band of eccentric misfit “monsters” of Japanese folklore is the idea behind 2005’s “The Great Yokai War.” The child is named the “Kirin Rider” at a local festival and is subsequently obliged to fulfill the rural legend of leading the Yokai (demon) battle. Although director Takeshi Miike departs from his usual bloody flicks for adults in favor of a family-friendly fable, he never sheds his knack for the overstated, nor his love of high-action fight scenes.

After braving-up enough to embark on the quest, the boy encounters numerous bizarre, frightening, and fantastical Yokai (demons) who turn out to be friendly aides in helping him conquer this harrowing journey. The first Yokai he meets is a little animal named Sunekosuri, who is easily one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen and definitely goes on the list of “movie creatures I wish were real and were my pets.”

The costuming for the Yokai is amazing to the point of believable, which is enough reason to watch this movie on a rainy day. The “bad guys” are animated machine monsters led by a fiercely-trained girl in white. The CGI on these creatures leaves a little be desired but the creativity of their design is unmatched. More »

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Tak Sakaguchi has long been a martial arts force to reckon with on the big screen. Now he has taken a seat behind the camera for his first directorial piece, Sakigake!! Otokojuku (Be A Man! Samurai School). As an actor, Sakaguchi is perhaps best known for his roles in the cult classics “Versus” and “Death Trance,” both of which are non-stop action buffets. As a director, he has kept the may elements of over-the-top martial arts movies but coupled it nicely with a healthy dose of comedy and social commentary in his directorial debut. Based on an Akira Miyashita manga serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1985-1991, BAM!SS stars veteran actors Akaji Maro and Shun Sugata. If you like action, humor, blood, and lots of shouting, then “Be A Man! Samurai School” is definitely for you! More »

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Wait, wasn’t it just Sunday? Well, it’s Sunday once more so it’s time for another installment of The Weekly Bento. This past week saw the nearing conclusion of Rekuru’s Akira Kurosawa Tribute Month, so if you haven’t been checking out the plethora of posts on the famed director’s work, do so now. In addition, there were plenty of other posts this past week such as the next installment in Jacob’s popular Japanese travel guide series, news of a new Inuyasha compilation album soon to be released, two Playstation 2 game reviews in celebration of the PS2’s 10 year anniversary, and even an interesting look at the growing trend of people sleeping in the streets of Japan. All fascinating stuff, check it out. More »

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Inuyasha (or Inu Yasha) fans should find this exciting: on March 24th of 2010, a special CD set is planned for release. It will include all theme songs from the anime, which I believe does not exclude the line of movies put in theaters from 2001 to 2004.

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