Anime!

Speaking on Dragon Ball, in my opinion, Naruto fighting scene and the way they fights is 100 TIMES BETTER than Dragon Ball. Why, there no way all of you want to play American Football with a truck, right? That what Son Goku in Dragon Ball for you. Don’t misunderstood me, where I was one time a Dragon Ball Z’s fan to boot

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG /joygasm. Prince of Tennis 177-178 was SO. DAMN. COOL. *o* It was SUCH a good ending for the anime! Ryoma was so cooolll. ;) Near the end of the Tezuka vs. Ryoma match, Ryoma kept saying “Imma made….Arigato gozaimasu!” which means “Up until now…Thank you very much!” *o**** It has such an exciting atmophere! He said that to everyone on the Seigaku team, then used their special move. For instance, “Kaidoh-senpai…Imma made…Arigato gozaimasu!” then...

N-Sider tipped us on to a new official trailer of Yu-Gi-Oh! Nightmare Troubadour from Konami Japan. The Yu-Gi-Oh card-battle sequences truly utilize all that the DS has to offer. The action happens on the top screen, while your cards are on the bottom screen being moved around by the styles. The trailer is very clean and shows off the DS graphics capabilities better than any current trailers on the net.

This was a wonderful anime series. Right up there with Lain our books. (And perhaps even a bit more comprehensible.)

lately ive been trying out anime and found that full metal panic is fairly entertaining to watch. i havent actually watched many animes so i have little to compare it too but i find once you get past the incredibly strange devices the japanese use as comic relief its not so bad. i have seen several episodes of dragon ball z and can safely say that it sucks hairy asses. maybe its meant for little kids after all but i only know full grown adult males that still live with their parents that watch it. I also stumbled onto a very strange japanese show called "oh! mikey" starring manequins about an american family living in japan. not sure if its brilliant satire or just plain bizarre but it is actually quite funny.

Fast food cosplay: The McDonald Girl, the Colonel dude, the apple guy and one more individual

There are Spanish and Portuguese language options, however they come without any subtitles, a serious bummer if anyone wants to watch this with non-English speakers in the room. The big disappointment here is that Sony didn�t include the Japanese language option. It�s likely the English dub is more subdued than what the Japanese had in mind, because that�s usually the case with every anime dub. This is released as a show for the kids, not for the anime buffs. The English dub voices often don�t match the character lip movements, at all, making for annoying open mouths with no noise coming out at a few points.

The promotion has Subway excited to bring some of childrens' favorite characters to life. "So many kids know and love their favorite Pokemon characters, they're the ideal complement to a springtime Kids' Pak meal," says Michelle Cordial, Director of Implementation for the Subway Franchise Advertising Fund Trust.

"The generous 480 x 272 LCD screen isn't just perfect for games, movies, and e-books. For a growing number of early PSP adopters, it's also the ideal way to read and store stacks of "manga" (or comic books in Japanese) on the go, in your very pocket. So you're asking yourself, why manga and not the latest American Dark Horse mature flavor of the month? Well, two reasons. First of all, manga rocks. Sure, like anything in life, you've got to filter out the crap -- but when it's good, manga is some of the most powerful visual storytelling we've ever seen. Secondly, and probably more importantly, there's an abundance of "scanslated" (Japanese-release only manga that fan groups scan and translate - hence, scanslation) manga on the Internet for the downloading. "

Anime Overdose 2005 in San Francisco had a ton of Cosplay and a lot of karaoke. But it also had some news. DVD Release Report anime editor Chris Tribbey had a chance to sit down with representatives from FUNimation and ADV Films at the small convention.

The traditions have changed in Japan and the most popular one right now is the sunday afternoon parade in Harajuku. The girls (and maybe boys) wouldn't miss their weekly "anonymous" reunion for nothing in the world , yeah "anonimous" because I don't think mummy and daddy knows about the clothes and make up thing ...

Muchos ticos creen que los animados japoneses son como Dragon Ball Z y Yugi Oh, y nunca han visto animados de alta sofisticacion como Wings of Honneamise, Neko no Ongaeshi (El gato regresa), Macross Plus, Millenium Actress o la produccion animada coreana Wonderful Days.

The Dragon Ball Z movie is back in the works, and I’m just not convinced that there is any way possible that this could look better than a horse’s head on my dinner plate. Which, for the record, would not look good.

After a drought of sports card and memorabilia shows in recent years, Esserman has made it his business to bring collecting events back to the Hudson Valley.

When his children introduced him to collecting 18 years ago, it was an easy hobby to sustain without traveling far. But when local malls stopped having card shows, Esserman said he had to travel as far as Pennsylvania.

Last year, Esserman decided to change the matter himself by hosting his own card show. Since then, he's been building up a registration list that he hopes will soon be big enough to attract major players to autograph items.

On this particular day in Redmond, it happened to be wacky super-hero day for the 4- to 14-year-olds (and one 26-year-old) at soccer camp. Spider-Man, Buzz Lightyear, Anakin Skywalker, a Catwoman that liked David Bowie music (she had REBEL painted across her forehead) and a purple-suited Yu-Gi-Oh all made an appearance. Neither Machin nor Boyle nor I had any clue who, or what, the spiked, blond-haired Yu-Gi-Oh was.

Expanding on its successful Dragon Ball Z brand of interactive games, Atari today announced that Dragon Ball Z: Sagas, the first-ever DBZ action-adventure game, has shipped to retail outlets nationwide. Sagas is available for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system, Nintendo GameCube, and the Xbox video game system from Microsoft; it is the first-ever DBZ game for the Xbox. Dragon Ball Z: Sagas allows fans to play some of the most exciting aspects of the popular animated series, from its origins in the Saiyan Saga through the climactic Cell Games. Players will be able to explore huge levels, defeat boss enemies, collect Dragon Balls, and journey through the DBZ universe, including places never fully unveiled in the animated series. Sagas joins Atari's lineup of successful Dragon Ball Z games, which cumulatively have sold more than eight million units since the introduction of Atari's first DBZ title in May 2002.

"The people who come to play the game, they really enjoy Yu-Gi-Oh!," Shuman said. "In our competition, we sign them up and run it as a tournament. The number of rounds we play depends on the number of entries."

Anime Los Angeles, a new Japanese-animation convention created by fans for fans, held its first annual meeting at the end of January in the Van Nuys area. Truly a gathering of enthusiasts, the event was brimming with cosplayers from all walks of fandom, including original-character costume designs such as the J-Rocker and Master Zero. There was even a “Costume Repair Station” for “emergencies.”

A lot of fans of the Yu-Gi-Oh anime must be overjoyed when they found out that [Sword Saint - Naked Gear Freed] will be released in the Flaming Eternity (FET) set. Despite the immense popularity, I do not see many people playing decks based on [Naked Gear Freed]. This is because [Naked Gear Freed] has a tendency to promote deck imbalance so it is not so easy to build an effective deck around him. Now, let me give it a try and see what I can come up with.....

I feel terribly proud of myself about this mood theme because it was a pain in the arse to do. If I’d known before I started how difficult it was going to be, I’d have agreed with the poll at my journal and done Veronica Mars this time around. Anyway, go check it out - the Inuyasha mood theme. (Currently the theme being used at my journal.)

Anime Detour was a blast an' a half! I had a great time and I know Doomstress did. I hope Clare did, too. She was sickly at the time and had to leave for a while to do her work for class. We had a lot of fun when she was around though. :) Apparently, Milk-chan is fairly hip with the kids. I got a lot of requests to pose for pictures. It was fun, although a little weird at times. After a while I was wishing I would have signed up to do the cosplay competition. I have a feeling I would have done well. I did get a nifty Hall Cosply button award that I will cherish forever. Clare's Ten-ten was bad ass. Turned out she was the only Ten-ten in a sea of Narutos. We were joking that it should have been called "Naruto Detour" since that was the series most cosplayed. Now the challenge is to top it next year.

Sorry it’s taken so long to post this. I was up until 4:30 in the morning doing homework on Sunday and had to come in and function the next day at work (Boohoo me!). Anyway, some buddies and me went to the Wizardcon up in LA last weekend. This report starts with Day 2 because we didn’t make it out on Friday (Due to a prior engagement called WORK!).

Saturday was fun. We mostly walked around all day and checked out the booths. This con was alot smaller than the San Diego Comic-con, so don’t expect massive amounts of cosplay pictures. At one point we were standing right next to Grant Morrison dressed up as what looked to be Lex Luthor in a crowd. He was standing next to some hot chick in latex.

Analysts said the company's best chance is to expand into new territory, and Topps has worked hard to keep up with the times. In the 1970s and '80s, the company started issuing Wacky Packs and Garbage Pail Kids cards, appealing to the gross-out sensibilities of adolescent males. More recently, the company enjoyed enormous success from Pokemon hysteria, with $180 million in sales from Pokemon products in 2001.

The game's saving grace is its acclaimed "manga-shaded" graphics. The developers have fused the look of a manga comic book with cel-shading and an edgy art style to create some beautiful visuals, with vibrant colours and lighting effects such as that found in top-drawer anime.

The next themed structure deck slated to be released is Legend of Warriors. You can probably guess from its name that it will be based on Warriors. The deck will be at 40 cards, containing 3 new cards. I doubt Konami is generous enough to include 3 foils in this, so I would expect the deck to revolve around E-Heroes. (They have yet to release E-Hero Bubbleman/Wildman etc. and these can be released as commons.)

Davis, who said he was ecstatic to speak at his high school for Black History Month and the DHS Black Student Union, recently filmed a commercial for Nintendo's Game Boy in which he races the Pikachu character from Pokemon.

For those fortunate enough not to know, anime is a term used to describe a type of highly stylized Japanese animation in which drawings of people with giant doe eyes are dogged by massive, anthropomorphic robots and the occasional ninja samurai. After cramming my head full of these cheesy Japanese cartoons, I invited local husband-and-wife anime fanatics Carlos and Christina Ross over to explain the appeal of this Bambi-eyed sci-fi mush, which -- despite its shiny, childlike veneer -- is clearly aimed at adults.

"It's a Pokemon thing," said Fran Morgen , facilities coordinator for St. Anthony's Church in Des Moines. "It's as if they were playing a game on the computer." The main interest for some children, she said, is to "see whom they beat down."

"Musashi: Samurai Legend" (Square Enix, for the PlayStation 2): "Musashi" is nearly a case study in sloppy game design. You're a lone samurai who must hack and slash his way through hordes of monsters to rescue a bunch of kidnapped villagers. You'll find yourself fighting the same monsters over and over, and they rematerialize a few seconds after you kill them. Once you find a villager, you have to carry her back home, stopping to put her down while you kill the same monsters all over again. Then, after you've completed the rescue, you must travel back through the same area for another rescue. The unique cel-shaded anime visuals of "Musashi" are delightful, but the voice acting is awful. The boss fights are challenging, but the jumpy camera makes it hard to pull off accurate attacks. It's a shame, because "Musashi" promises a fun mix of fighting, puzzles and role-playing — if you can live with the exasperation.

Welcome to Dimension Portal, a new blog that will bring you the newest information and interesting articles on the Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters Official Card Game.

To start off, I shall list the newest restrictions imposed by Konami of Japan. This list is effective starting from 1st March 2005.

Because (a) I haven’t posted nearly enough today [*snerk*] and (b) Kylewayne needs her daily Inuyasha music fix, I give you the orchestral version of Aikawa Nanase’s “Owarinai Yume”. Download and enjoy!

On a recent blustery southern Ohio morning, a smattering of bystanders gazed up as the Pokemon character Pikachu -- actually an enormous yellow balloon shaped rather like a gigantic cat -- floated ponderously along the parking lot in front of a department store.

The store had been a Lazarus, then a Lazarus-Macy's but this day it ceremonially joined the parade of Macy's stores rolling out across the country, the latest testament to the marketing savvy of some New Yorkers who see the future in the signature balloons of one of their flagship brands.

Cincinnatians might have predicted this. They have seen their hometown-based Federated Department Stores Inc. change its store names at least four times in the past 25 years, starting with the 1982 merger of the Queen City's historic Shillito's division with Rike's of Dayton, then on into the Lazarus era and now through to Macy's.

Upper Deck, a sports and entertainment publishing company, was recently honored at the sports collectible industry's annual trade convention, The Hawaii Trade Conference.

Owner Richard McWilliam was named the industry's most influential person of the past 20 years.

His company was recognized for the debut of its 1989 baseball trading card set featuring then-19-year-old centerfielder Ken Griffey Jr.

"Cosplayers," a video by Guangzhou-based photographer, videographer, and performance artist Cao Fei, will be on display from March 4 through April 9 at Lombard-Freid Fine Arts in New York.

Dallas-based Tempest Production Company announced today that after a successful three-year run at film festivals, the feature-length documentary Invasion: Anime is available free of charge for screenings at anime conventions and other festivals.

Japan's Katsuhiro Otomo is revered in anime circles, being the creator of "Akira," the 1988 adaptation of his own darkly stylish, violent manga, or graphic novel, about a biker who leads a rebellion in post-World War III Tokyo. When the movie was rereleased in a digitally spruced-up version in 2001 and then on DVD, it connected with a new generation of admirers.

Anime legend Katshurio Otomo delivers an inventive adventure set during the height of the Industrial Revolution.

After one of the coolest opening sequences of any anime in recent years, the South Korean "Sky Blue" settles into a dystopian vision that's so derivative of a dozen other films that you wonder when a "Blade Runner" spinner-car will float down into the scenery. This stylistically impressive anime is devoid of original ideas.

Still, McGowan thinks that Toys 'R' Us will be better-positioned to respond to those challenges than under current management. Suppliers seem optimistic as well. "I'm feeling better," says Alfred Kahn, CEO of 4Kids Entertainment, which licenses toys and other products and produces television shows and movies based on Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, and other juvenile favorites.

Act of War: Direct Action(TM) is a graphically stunning and frighteningly plausible tale of suspense, international intrigue and geopolitical military conflict. Through a techno-thriller story constructed by military expert and author Dale Brown, this real-time strategy experience puts players squarely in control of counterterrorist forces to defend cities of the world. As commander of a newly formed anti-terror military unit known as the Talon Task Force, players will need to recruit combat units, develop technologies, manage finite resources, and deploy their forces against a cunning and ruthless terror network.

Deep Love, which uses erotic language and violence to create a page-turner despite a preposterous plotline, became a hit, mainly through word of mouth among young adults. It went on to become a movie, TV show and "manga" or Japanese-style comic book.

Four properties from FUNimation won eight of the eleven 2005 Best of Anime awards. Dragon Ball GT won Best New Anime Movie and Best Anime Theme Song; Fullmetal Alchemist won Best New Anime Series; characters from Dragon Ball Z won Best Lead Male Character (Goku), Best Anime Villain (Cell) and Best Anime Action Figure of 2004 (Gogeta SS4); a character from Yu Yu Hakusho won Best Supporting Male Character (Kurama); and a character from Case Closed won Best Supporting Female Character (Rachel Moore).

To celebrate the upcoming launch of the new Pokemon® Emerald video game for Game Boy® Advance SP, the Pokemon Emerald Frontier Battle Brain contest invites Pokemon experts in the United States and Canada to test their knowledge against their fellow Pokemon geniuses. The top 14 Pokemon competitors will travel to Seattle (the Emerald City) to engage in an all-out, winner-take-all competition to win the trip of a lifetime: a trip for two to the Pokemon Park in Nagoya, Japan. Visitors to the Pokemon Emerald Frontier Battle Brain contest site also can enter for a chance to win an all-expenses-paid trip to Seattle to watch the final battle at the famous Space Needle.

Director Katsuhiro Otomo has long been hailed as one of the greatest of all animation directors in Japan. The seminal 1988 Akira sealed his reputation as anime’s answer to Stanley Kubrick and Akira Kurosawa. His output has been somewhat limited since then, with one of the main reasons being the 10-year odyssey that led to his latest masterpiece, Steamboy.

The story follows young Ray Steam in England, 1866, whose father and grandfather have developed an infinite source of super-steam energy that makes an infinity of wonders. Naturally, everybody on Earth wants it, most of them to create new ways to blow stuff up.

Drawing on a complex range of influences from Tarantino, Sam Peckinpah and manga comics to the extremes of Japanese films such as Battle Royale and Ichii The Killer, Oldboy feeds directly into the general trend in Asian cinema for exploring extremes of violence, retribution and emotional anguish. Park's visceral visual style conjures some genuinely disturbing moments, including one act near the end which is so horrific even the camera can't bring itself to watch, drifting off to the left in a sly nod to the ear-slicing scene in Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs.

Cosplay: short for "costume play." It's the name given by the Japanese for the act of dressing up as your favorite anime, manga, or video game character. Most fans in America make their own costumes by hand; in Japan, there are entire costume shops that sell professionally-made costumes to the discerning anime fan. Cosplaying is considered a fanatical act of devotion on both sides of the Pacific and is a sign of impending nerddom. :)

A fair percentage of female attendees dress in costumes like these two girls are wearing. Everyone in costume was very friendly and eager to have their photos made. Dressing as one's favorite character is all part of the fun and encouraged.

"We are excited to deliver Dragon Ball Z: Sagas because it represents many 'firsts' for the franchise" said Matt Collins, Director of Brand Marketing for Atari. "It's the brand's first action-adventure game, first multi-platform launch, and the first DBZ title for the Xbox. Most of all, though, we are thrilled to give consumers something they have wanted for some time: a DBZ action game that allows players to go just about anywhere in the DBZ world."

In addition to the pre-sell program, the Pok�mon Emerald Frontier Battle Brain Contest will test fans' knowledge of all things Pok�mon. The United States and Canada will be divided into seven competitive "Frontiers." Fans can find what regional Frontier they can compete in and enter online at www.pokemon-games.com starting today. The contest will run in the following four stages:

"We are excited to deliver Dragon Ball Z®: Sagas(TM) because it represents many 'firsts' for the franchise" said Matt Collins, Director of Brand Marketing for Atari. "It's the brand's first action-adventure game, first multi-platform launch, and the first DBZ title for the Xbox. Most of all, though, we are thrilled to give consumers something they have wanted for some time: a DBZ action game that allows players to go just about anywhere in the DBZ world."

Licensing operations for T-shirts, caps and other items have also been a major source of revenue for animation companies. In Japan, several successful computer games have crossed over and have become animated series like Pokemon, Monster Farm, Power Stone and Detective Conan. More broadly speaking, animation is increasingly used in video games, and movies are also increasingly reliant on animation and computer graphic special effects.

The Japanese comics, called "manga," are more sophisticated and complex than most American comics, which are dominated by superheroes. In manga, the focus is on character development. Illustrations are usually in black and white, girls' outfits are often provocative, and many contain some nudity.

The Dragon Ball Z franchise gets a proper action adventure in the upcoming Sagas.

Meet up with some friends at Game Trader in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Talk a little trash. And play a few hands of the wildy popular collectible card game Yu-Gi-Oh!

We got our first look at Dragon Ball Z: Sagas two months ago, when Atari unveiled the latest branch in its burgeoning DBZ games franchise. The game takes the series in a new and natural direction that presents a smarter use of the rich story that is the backbone of the popular long-running anime. We recently had a chance to take exclusive looks at work-in-progress incarnations of the three console versions of the game, developed by veteran studio Avalanche Software, to see how they've shaped up. While the versions weren't as polished as the recently announced final gold copies, they did give us a good feel for where the latest DBZ iteration is headed.

Battle Angel, based on classic anime Battle Angel Alita, is rumoured to be the Cameron project in question, and whilst the directors interest in a CGI-driven remake has been known for sometime, it seems the project may now be entering production. Of course, the game remains very much a mystery too, however an Xbox 2 version seems likely given the timing of the footage used in Allard's speech. We'll keep you posted for more news on this unusual creation.

In that warehouse, last week, fraud investigators and federal workers found what they were looking for – $3 million worth of fake cards for Yu-Gi-Oh!, the popular pre-teen card game.

Ewatchfactory.com introduces a line of pokemon watches. I wonder how popular pikachu still is amongst kids. The Pikachu Watch sells for $29.95.

So I've just finished week three of my Introduction to Basick Magick class, and it's going well. Mostly a history / anthropology class, but don't worry, Mom--we may still get around to summoning a few demons before the 16 weeks are up. :)

Nintendo just put out a press release about a survey that found that "Pokemon video games help kids learn important core values and skills."

While on vacation, my kids have started posting to their own blog which is focused on providing kids of their own ages with the latest and greatest information regarding Yu-Gi-Oh! cards and related happenings in their world of Yu-Gi-Oh!

Bob collects Yu-Gi-Oh cards; he occasionally plays with them at school and friends' houses. Today he showed me the family, as depicted as Yu-Gi-Oh cards.

Emmeline is Fairy Guardian. Bonnie is Spirit of the Harp. I am Blue Eyes White Dragon ("especially in a temper," he added). Bob is Flame Champion. James is Acrobat Monkey. And last, but definitely not least, is our cat Max -- he's Petit Dragon, "a very small dragon known for its vicious attacks."

Last time I was at Blockbuster they had a whole bunch of PS2 games used just in time for the holidays. They were ten bucks a pop before BBQ could shave off even more with his discount. So I walked away with four games for a little over twenty bucks. One that I got was Dragon Ball Z : Budokai for PS2.

More pixel graphics today, with this game from the PixelBrothers based on the popular cartoon series, Dragon Ball Z, created by Toei Animation. In this turn-based fighter, you first select the character you want to play as, then compete head-to-head on your way to winning all 7 Namekian Dragon Balls. Doing so will allow you to summon the dragon Porunga. There are defensive moves, such as power-ups, as well as hand-combat and multiple energy attacks. A lot has been put into this little game, even a two player mode with each player taking turns to select moves.

there's a new inuyasha ps2 game out its called inuyasha and the secret of the cursed mask or soething like that...i heard its supposed to be better than the other PS game^_^

At the party, four of us were dressed up as the four main characters of the anime Inuyasha. My friend Cat was dressed up as Inuyasha, the brash dog demon and title character of the show. My friend Holly was dressed up as Kagome, the schoolgirl who stumbles across a mystical well that sends her back in time. Patricia, another friend, dressed as Sango, the young demon slayer traveling with the group. I dressed as Miroku, a monk with a cursed hand. We all had great fun at the party.

I ask him what are you doing. He answer that he play Inuyasha. Why are you playing Inuyasha ? He say he is costume player. I ask him what is costume player ? He say costume player wear costume. and he say that he make his costume by himself. so I ask him why did you make your costume ? He say he is costume player. I ask him carefully what the purspose of costume playing ? and he just say, I am costume player. that's the reason. Costume play is the reason. he must be a extreme costume player. because he beyond reason.

Pepe: I felt like a Pokemon catcher-"Look! Artist!"

When animes come to the United States are the DVD's edited? I know some DVD's say they are uncut and unedited but are they really? I bring this up because I am very concerned about the Naruto series when it gets released on DVD here because now that it is licensed it is only a matter of time so will the dvd's be unedited? I know Naruto is not some over the top anime series like Gantz and Elfen Lied but I am concerned because it's obvious that Naruto will be targeted at a younger audience to make more money. So although it is far from the most violent or anything like that I don't want things to change because it is targeted for kids because. Like when Kakashi does Chidori and Haku takes the hit that part was pretty bloody and so on.

Unless you've been living under a rock, chances are that you have at least heard the word manga and are aware that Japan's comics are taking the world by storm. For those who already love manga, and those who are just interested, the Kawasaki City Museum in the city's Nakahara Ward is offering the chance to see works by one of the more popular practitioners of the art, CLAMP, in an exhibition titled Manga Aato wa Toki o Kaeru, or Manga Art That Defies Space and Time.

LOS ANGELES Customs agents have seized 350 cases of bogus "Yu-Gi-Oh!" dueling monster cards in Los Angeles.

Pokemon Trading Card Game State Championship: 10 a.m. March 19 at Magic Dragon Games, 4610 W. State St. Players ages 6 and older. Free. http://op. pokemon-tcg.com/.

Welcome to the first installment of a new column here on DVDTalk! With anime becoming so popular, a couple of reviewers here thought it was high time for this genre to have a column all to itself. So after a little cajoling, a little pleading, and finally a lot of blackmail, we've managed to create a regular feature devoted to anime here at DVDTalk. We envision this as being a place where you can get all the information you need concerning anime DVDs in a brief and concise manner.

Rumiko Takahashi's Inuyasha manga and anime series is among her most popular ever--particularly stateside, thanks to Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming. Sorrent has licensed the half-demon and his pals for their first mobile romp. A beat-'em-up with light puzzle elements, the game is very true to the Inuyasha mythos and features conversational interludes with all the major characters from the series. While Inuyasha benefits from a great character-switching component--useful both in battle and for puzzle-solving--its combat system is somewhat unsatisfying, and the game ends much too quickly.

Dickov, together with Frank Sinclair and Keith Gillespie, was arrested in the Spanish resort of La Manga and briefly imprisoned after the allegations by three women, which turned out to be entirely fictitious.

The "Yu-Gi-Oh!" franchise is based on a comic series by artist Kazuki Takahashi that first appeared in Japan in 1996. The series follows the adventures of Yugi, a boy who possesses a special puzzle that allows him to transform into the "Game King" when he is challenged.

RF: We've announced that Wario Wario Twisted, that has a unique gyro system has been delayed for some technical reasons, but that's coming out right around E3. Then we've got Pokemon Emerald that launches here in North America on the first of May. So we've got a number of great games coming for GBA and there are more great games coming all through the third and fourth quarters as well. One of the things that excites me about Game Boy Advance, frankly, is all of the great third party product that's coming out. Revenge of the Sith is coming out on GBA, it's also coming out on DS. There are a number of truly great games that our licensees are bringing out to the market, I think those are games our fans need to check out.

In the hit-or-miss spectrum of Japanese anime, two categories seem to dominate: one for certified masterpieces like "Spirited Away" and another for ambitious messes like Takashi Nakamura's 2002 epic "A Tree of Palme," where hints of greatness are subverted by frenetic plotting and sensory overload.

Why is so much Japanese fiction now being translated into English? Because it's seen as inherently cool? Because Tokyo's publishers now concentrate on selling foreign rights? Or because the western generation that grew up with manga, Playstations and films starring Beat Takeshi are of an age to buy modern fiction?