Stay up til midnight watching cartoons!

By: BRIAN THOMAS
Date: Saturday, December 31, 2005

As a part of Boston's First Night Festival, the New England Anime Society will present a full afternoon and evening of anime screenings tonight. Drop by the Hynes Convention Center from 1-11pm, and you're likely to catch an episode of GATCHAMAN, COWBOY BEBOP, R.O.D. or a dozen other shows, including the world premiere of the English dubbed first episode of MACROSS. For more info, tune in here http://firstnight.neanime.org/

Prize Closet New Year's Hanukkah Special! In celebration of the eight days and nights of the holidays, we've got gifts to give away: five 8-packs of recent Geneon DVD titles! Each prize winner will receive STARSHIP OPERATORS Volume 1, MELODY OF OBLIVION Volume 4, SAIYUKI RELOAD Volume 6, TOKYO UNDERGROUND Volume 6, KYO KARA MAOH Volume 5, MERMAID FOREST Volume 4, LUPIN THE 3RD Volume 13, and GIRLS BRAVO Volume 4. To enter, just send one email containing your name and address to psycho@psychotronic.info with the secret words "GENEON MENORAH" in the subject line. It's as easy as spinning a dreidel!

SPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEK

Here's an icebreaker you can put on at parties next year:

(O) CARTOON ADVENTURES STARRING GERALD McBOING BOING (Sony) A Dr. Seuss story about a boy who could only speak in sound effects was made into a 1950 short by UPA. This DVD collects the Oscar-winning original and its three sequels.

NEW DVD RELEASES

Here's a rundown of the constant stream of anime comin' at ya on DVD from around the world:

(O) THE CRAMP TWINS Volume 1 (Echo Bridge)
(O) THE CRAMP TWINS Volume 2 (Echo Bridge) Twin brothers named Wayne and Lucien with widely divergent personalities have adventures in this Fox Box series.
(O) GALAXY RAILWAYS Station 4: Leaps of Faith (Funimation) Episodes 15-18. Maruse and Julia are tested when a routine mission goes wrong. Plus: ghosts! Includes commentrak and more.

(O) GIRLS BRAVO Volume 4 (Geneon) Episodes 13-16. The girls' baseball game leads to a fight.
(O) KIDDY GRADE File Collection 3 (Funimation) Studio Gonzo series about a couple of girl space cops named Lumiere and Éclair who have superpowers. Includes volumes 1 and 2.
(O) KIDDY GRADE File Collection 4 (Funimation) Includes volumes 3 and 4.
(O) KYO KARA MOAH! God(?) Save Our King Volume 5 (Geneon) Yuri & company face a dragon, an undercover assassin and a mysterious masked swordsman.
(O) LUPIN THE 3rd TV Volume 13: All's Fair in Love & Thievery (Geneon) Betcha Lupin tries to steal something.
(O) MARS DAYBREAK Volume 3 (Bandai) Episodes 11-14. Gram and the pirates set off on a treasure hunt with the Earth forces hot on their trail.
(O) MERMAID FOREST Volume 4: Unending Nightmare (Geneon) Episodes 10-13. Masato suspects that his mother may have eaten mermaid.
(O) MISAKI CHRONICLES Volume 1: Second Chance (ADV) Sequel series o the hit DIVERGENCE EVE. Misaki is in boot camp and just about everything appears to be normal. But why? Includes mini-manga.
(O) POKÉMON: Pikachu's Winter Vacation (Echo Bridge) Don't tell me that little pocket monster can ski!
(O) SING ALONG SONGS: The Bare Necessities (Buena Vista) Karaoke to Disney's JUNGLE BOOK clips.
(O) STANLEY'S DINOSAUR ROUND-UP (Buena Vista) A kid plays cowboy with saurians.
(O) TENCHI MUYO GXP!: Police Diary Volume 3 (Funimation)
(O) TENCHI MUYO GXP!: Police Diary Volume 4 (Funimation)
(O) TOKYO UNDERGROUND Volume 6: Into the Light (Geneon) Episodes 23-26. Rumina & company are determined to win the tournament and rescue Ruri.
(O) THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR AND OTHER STORIES (Buena Vista) UK shorts based on the writings of Eric Carle.
(O) WALT DISNEY'S TIMELESS TALES Volume 3 (Buena Vista) Includes the shorts "Little Hiawatha", "Casey at the Bat", "Morris the Midget Moose" and more.
(O) YUMERIA Volume 3: The End of a Dream (ADV) Episodes 9-12. Tomokazu is surrounded by sexy supergals, but of course, it's not the dream come true you might expect.
(O) ZONE OF THE ENDERS Complete Collection (ADV) Pilot Radium is leading a Martian rebellion against Earth rule. Or is it leading him? OVA and all 26 episodes on six thinpacked discs.

UMD CORNER

(O) MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM SEED: Movie 2: The Far-Away Dawn (Bandai) Delayed from November.

And be sure to check back next weekand every weekfor CINESCAPE's Anime Avalanche! And check in every Tuesday for the latest DVD Shopping List!

Anime Avalanche (© 2005 Brian Thomas) is our weekly animation column. Brian Thomas is the author of the massive book VideoHound's DRAGON: ASIAN ACTION & CULT FLICKS, available now!

Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think at DVDShoppingList@cinescape.com.