Podcast Episode 82: High School Debut Volume 1 Manga Review. Story and art by Kazune Kawahara. Translated and adapted by Gemma Collinge. Originally published in Japan by Shueisha. Published in US by Viz Shojo Beat, $8.99, Rated T for Teen.

New high schooler Haruna Nagashima spent all of her middle school years playing softball and reading shojo manga. After dedicating so much of her life to athletics she's ready to move on to a new sport. Namely, that of falling in love and getting a boyfriend. Problem is, the only experience she has with guys is what she's read in the comics. When she gets to high school, she realizes that getting into a relationship is pretty hard. She can't get any guys to notice her at all. Her best friend, Mami, suggests that she needs a coach to advise her on what she us doing wrong. She finds one in the person of Yoh Komiyama. His only condition: Haruna is forbidden to fall in love with him.

This is the second posting of this podcast. That's why the episode number is out of order. For some reason it did not convert to the mp3 format the first time around.

My Grade: A

Podcast Episode 83: Manga Review of Gakuen Alice Volume 1 by Tachibana Higuchi. Translated by Haruko Furukawa. Adapted by Jennifer Keating. Originally published in Japan by Hakusensha. Published in US by Tokyopop, $9.99, Rated Teen 13+.

10-year-old Mikan Sakura lives in a small village and its just gotten a lot smaller since her best friend Hotaru has gone to Tokyo. She is attending the Alice Academy, the most elite school in the city reserved for those with special abilities called Alices. Mikan runs away from her home and makes her way to Tokyo where she finds that she too has an unknown Alice ability hidden within her. But she has to find out what it is and be accepted by her classmates within a week or she will have to go back home and be parted from Hotaru again.

My grade: B+

What can I say? This video is funny. Perhaps everyone out there has seen this video but I just saw it for the first time. I'm so out of the loop. It features a guy dressed up in full stormtrooper outfit dancing at the Akiba crosswalk to Earth Wind and Fire's "Let's Groove Tonight", where he is rapidly joined by cosplayers/maid cafe workers and assorted otaku. What's really priceless later in the video is when he is dancing on the subway and this Japanese guy looks at him in shock and then goes completely deadpan like if he just ignores him the trooper will go away. The link to the video is:

http://gloob.tv/movies/5_tokyo_dance_trooper

Manga Review for PhD Phantasy Degree Volume 1 by Son Hee-Joon. Translated by Sarah Kim. Adapted by Paul Morrissey. Originally published by Daiwon in 2001. Published in US by Tokyopop, $9.99, Rated 13+.

Sang has come to Hades, the Demon School in quest of a legendary ring. But humans are not allowed inside the school she soon learns as she encounters Dev the demon, Mordicus the vampire, Lukan the werewolf, and Pannus Tyrannus, a mummy. Mordicus turns her into a vampire so she can tour the school, but there's a bit of a problem when a bully named Katana and his demon thugs begin harrassing the group. It seems that demons think that monsters like Mordicus and the others are a lower class of lifeform.

My Grade: B

Podcast Episode 80 Manga Review: Yotsuba&! Volume 5 by Kiyohiko Azuma, creator of Azumanga Daioh. Translated by Javier Lopez. Originally published in Japan by Media Works. Published in US by ADV manga, $9.99, Rated All Ages.

Yotsuba continues her long road to understanding the world as she encounters the money powered Cardbo, a friendly robot made of cardboard, who is actually Miura. Then it's on to helping Ena's family with their housework, visiting a videostore, a planetarium, and on to a dip in the sea as the whole gang goes on a beach trip.

My Rating: A

The website I mention in the podcast is:

http://www.japanaradio.com/

It plays all kinds of J-pop and anime related music. You can listen for free or you can subscribe for better sound quality. You must download the orban plug-in on the top right corner under tune-in to be able to hear the streams. Then you just click on whatever format and speed you have. Or you can also find it on Itunes when you click on the radio icon then international.

Podcast Episode 79: My thoughts and information on PiQ magazine, which is replacing Newtype magazine. Also, I talk about the positives and negatives of Newtype, Otaku USA, Anime Insider, and Protoculture Addicts.

For more information about PiQ Magazine see Christopher Butcher's blog, Comics 212 at:

http://comics212.net/2008/01/18/first-look-advs-new-piq-magazine-mediavendor-kit/

The battle with the Man-With-No-Face called Muso becomes a stalemate as every signature move of Inuyasha's is tried on him, but even though the newest incarnation of Naraku is ripped to shreds, his body is able to reform. Inuyasha mutilates him again and again but no attack seems able to finish him. Inuyasha and company are shocked to learn that this mysterious enemy is actually the part of Naraku that is Onigumo, the burned bandit that gave his body for lust of Kikyo decades ago. Naraku, in a rare sign of weakness, sends out Kagura to hunt down his human half. It seems that even he cannot control Onigumo. Later, Inuyasha's band has to help rescue a half-demon girl named Shiori from the clutches of her ogre bat grandfather. A problem develops when Inuyasha realizes that in order to strengthen Tetsusaiga enough to kill Naraku, he must take the life of the kidnapped little girl.

Volume 22 is all about characters both good and evil, accepting or rejecting parts of themselves they might not like or be proud of. Naraku is always trying to rid himself of the human Onigumo whose original body he sprung out of. Mainly because Onigumo's love, or more precisely, lust, prevents Naraku from killing Kikyo. Naraku sees this part of himself as one of the only weaknesses in his otherwise perfect demon existence. Inuyasha too, experiences some memories he would probably rather forget when he finds out how Shiori was always discriminated against by the villagers because of her half demon heritage. This happened even though her parent's relationship was what stopped the ogre bats from attacking their village for years! Sometimes the humans in Inuyasha come off much worse than the demons in terms of cruelty and baseness. As usual, this series is a great read with simplistic but iconic artwork and sitcom- like plot development that never fails to grab while not carrying any of the main characters very far from their starting place.

My grade: A

Podcast Episode 78: Anime DVD review of Tekkonkinkreet. Directed by Michael Arias. Screenplay by Anthony Weintraub. Sony Pictures, $29.95, 100 minutes.

Black and White are two kids that have always lived on the streets using their wits and fighting abilities to survive in Treasure Town. But now their romanticized life of adventure is about to end when some Yakuza thugs arrive. Their arrival is just the beginning of a plan by Snake, a developer who wants to turn Treasure Town into a gaudy amusement park. Only Black and White stand in his way, striving to save the soul of their beloved town.

My Grade: A+

Podcast Episode 77: Manga Review of Naruto Volume 22: Comrades. Written and drawn by Masashi Kishimoto. Originally published in Japan by Shueisha. Published in US by Viz Shonen Jump, $7.95, Rated T for Teen.

As Choji and Jirobo's battle winds up, Naruto, Shikamaru, Neji, and Kiba continue their pursuit of the Sound Ninja who are desperately trying to deliver Sasuke to Orochimaru before the Third Hokage's curse kills their master. The mission of the Shikamaru team is to rescue Sasuke from their clutches but it wasn't like he was kidnapped. He made the decision to join the Sound Ninja in order to become more powerful after being beaten handily by his hated brother and seeing Naruto's skills improve faster than his own.

My Grade: A

Podcast review of Yo-Yo Girl Cop, a live action film based on the manga Sukeban Deka by Shinji Wada. Saki Asamiya is sent in as an exchange student at Seisen Academy to find the connection between an underground website's mysterious countdown and rumors of explosives at the school. She has 72 hours before the countdown is over. She also has something else hanging over her head. The trial of her mother on charges of espionage begins as well. If she completes her mission, her mother will be set free. Equipped only with a yo-yo, her wits, and her fighting skills, Saki prepares to enter the dangerous world of misunderstood teenagers and pompous cliques...and track down a killer.

My Grade: B