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		There's an awful lot of anime out there, yet very little of it is awful. In fact, one of the hardest things about doing these reviews is to distinguish what is good, which is most anime, from what is exceptional, which is still a lot. Maybe we're just more eclectic than the people next door, but the two of us enjoy almost everything we see. Still, a bunch of reviews proclaiming, "This is great! Get it for your library!" wouldn't be very useful. So, the reviews will try and let you know why a work is good, and where that work might fit in to a particular library collection. We'll also try and provide warnings for some of the more problematic content. In a number of ways, Japanese culture is strikingly different from that of the United States. Nudity, graphic violence, and sexuality are not unusual even in anime geared for children. There is also a greater acceptance of "alternate lifestyles", such as the current fascination with male homosexuality in girl's manga and anime. While manga has catered to a large and varied market for many years, anime only recently has expanded it's target audience beyond children and adolescents. Still, it may come as something of a shock to see just how adult certain cartoons can be. Almost all of the anime reviewed was seen in the original Japanese with English subtitles. The reviewers are strong advocates of collecting anime in the original language, though the advent of bilingual DVD makes the choice between subs and dubs an easier one. Most of the shows were watched on an old, reliable 27" Sony using a Playstation 2 as a DVD player. For reviews that take into account the high end techie side of anime, take a look at www.animeondvd.com. Each review includes technical information to assist in acquisitions and collection development. Below is an explanation of that information: Studio: The U.S. or Canadian studio responsible for the production and distribution of the North American release. Format: DVD or VHS. Note that VHS copies are increasingly difficult to find for some titles, while others are only released on DVD. Episodes in series: How many total episodes in the series. This is sometimes a difficult number to come up with, given the number of OAVs, movies, and television variants on a given title. Series Completed: Whether or not the series has been finished in its North American release. Number of DVDs: The number of DVDs that have been released. Audio Tracks: The language of the audio tracks. In the case of VHS, dubbed/subbed copies will be noted. Subtitles: Language of subtitles. Genre: Anime is often difficult to categorize into genres. The Japanese tend to organize anime by market, like boy's or girl's, rather than type, like horror or romance. Generally, there is more content crossover in anime than American entertainment. In Japan, boys like shows about romance just like girls, and girl's anime sometimes features surprisingly violent and sexual content. Still, for the purposes of non-Japanese viewers, it may be helpful to provide some context for the wild variety of anime. Just be aware that the genres are ours, not Japanese, and some shows fit in several of the categories, or even in none at all. Ages: The ages recommended by the studio. If these ages seem a bit off, we will say so in the review. It's funny to compare these age recommendations with the Japanese, which are generally much lower. Cautions: As noted above, what bothers Americans is often quite different from what bothers the Japanese. Cautions will include warnings on nudity, sexuality, language, degrees of violence, alternate lifestyles, and religious content. Reviewer: George or Elizabeth. Core Collection: Lists the Core Collections that this title belongs in.