We wrap up the fourth season, along with another story arc,in Bleach Season 4 Part 2from Viz. While I wasn't enamored with the first half of season four, Ifound thatthe series did pick up for the most part in the second half anddefinitely wentup a notch in story quality.  The Bountstory arc still isn't as exciting or creative as the preceding ones butit hasdeveloped in unexpected ways that makes it worth watching.
 
I usually include a section on the background of an animeseries, but since this is covering the end of the fourth season, Iassumeeveryone who is reading this pretty much knows who Ichigo is, what aSoulReaper does, and just who and what the Soul Society is. If not, check out my reviews of the earlierseasons Read the entire review

VIZ Media continues their release of individual volumes of Naruto Shippuden, despite the fact that they've also begun releasing boxed sets. Why they continue to release individual volumes is beyond me, but one must assume that these discs are selling. Personally I'd rather get a chunk of episodes at a time, rather than four on one disc, but maybe that's just me. Whatever the case may be Shippuden is a blast so far and being able to see it in any form is a treat for fans of the first series.

I could go through the complete history of Naruto here, but in all fairness there really shouldn't be a need for it. If you're coming to this installment you know what Shippuden is and are probably well-versed in Naruto lore. If not, then check out the top part of this page for a little search box. It'll do you a world of good!

Since the fir...Read the entire review

One of the most entertaining anime releases of 2007/08 has to be DeathNote.  This series concerning an ingenious high school studentwho finds a notebook that will let him kill anyone by just writing downtheir name while picturing their face is very well constructed and executed. With volume five things continue to change.  With Light having lostall memory of the Death Note and his role with it, he and L set out tocapture the person who is currently executing criminals.

Series Background:

Light Yagami is a brilliant high school student.  He's at the topof his class, and on the practice college entrance exams he routinely placesfirst in the nation.  One afternoon while staring out the window,he sees a notebook fall from the sky.  After cla...Read the entire review

The plot gets more complex and interesting in the fourth volume of DeathNote.  Not only is Light suspected of being Kira, but a secondKira has popped up and made contact with Light.  With L hot on histail, Light has to come up with a fool-proof plan to clear himself withoutlosing his powers.  But is that possible?

Series Background:

Light Yagami is a brilliant high school student.  He's at the topof his class, and on the practice college entrance exams he routinely placesfirst in the nation.  One afternoon while staring out the window,he sees a notebook fall from the sky.  After class he picks it upand finds some odd instructions on the inside front cover, instructionsthat tell him how to kill people by simply writing their name down whi...Read the entire review

There are some anime properties that simply rise above the rest and pop for whatever reason. Dragon Ball had it and so did Naruto for that matter. The next behemoth to come from Japan is undoubtedly Bleach, which you've probably heard of by this point.

In Japan the manga is still going strong since 2001 and the animation has garnered over 150 episodes with no end in sight. On this side of the pond VIZ has been handling the show's release on DVD. Bleach can also be found on Adult Swim and if you step into an anime convention somewhere you'll undoubtedly see just how popular the series is thanks to all the cosplayers. Yes, it's safe to say that this show is the next phenomenon like DBZ and Naruto, but just what is it all about?

At its core Bleach's plot is all about souls. There is a heaven known as the Soul Societ...Read the entire review

It's hard to deny that Naruto has become one of the world's most popular anime franchises. Heck, all you really have to do is hit an anime convention and see how many cosplay characters you can pick out of the crowd. The masterpiece created by Masashi Kishimoto has more volumes of manga than you can shake a stick at and an anime with over 200 episodes. You just know going into a DVD release that you need to be vested for the long haul and thankfully VIZ's uncut collections capitalize on that.

While you can find DVDs of Naruto edited for the younger American audience the original Japanese version is by far the better of the two. After all, would you want to watch some watered down shadow or one that packs more of a punch? Punch it is!

Up to this point three volumes of Uncut Naruto have been released. During that time we have seen several epis...Read the entire review