Charles McCarter: What to get the discriminating anime fan for Christmas? Region 1 buyers would probably welcome the AH! MY GODDESS movie from Pioneer. It's well-animated and is probably the best treatment that Belldandy is ever going to receive. Another disc I would recommend is the Original Dirty Pair OVAs (from the days before Kei and Yuri had magical transformations), released by ADV Films. It's a good, fun romp, and with 5 episodes on a disc, it's a nice bargain.

As for Region 2 DVDs, of course, anything Miyazaki is always a hit, and the DVD presentation of the Ghibli titles is certainly worth looking into. But fans of older TV series will find a treasure trove of older anime released on DVD, often with a higher episode count than before and—even more appealing—produced from newly-restored masters. The DIRTY PAIR television series and CAT'S EYE are two classics that come to mind.

Keith Rhee: COWBOY BEBOP - KNOCKIN' ON HEAVEN'S DOOR. Taking place between episodes 22 and 23 of the TV series, this two-hour movie takes the production values of the already high-quality TV show and kicks everything up a notch. The U.S. release of the movie is most likely a long whiles off, so in the meantime I've filled out my preorder from CD Japan for the R2 DVD.

Mike Poirier: The most inventive, original anime I've seen all year, NIEA UNDER SEVEN has both filled me with joy and flattened me with depression with each episode. With character designs by Yoshitoshi Abe (SERIAL EXPERIMENTS LAIN) and a plot following a poor young woman and the irrepressible alien that crashes in her apartment, this show can make you laugh and sigh and then leave you slack-jawed with wonderment after each installment. (All the while delivering some subtle social commentary on the difficult challenges of poverty and immigration.) Only three volumes of this delightful series have been released in North America so far, and I'm simultaneously relieved and disheartened that there is only one more volume still to come (which won't even be out in time for the holidays.) NIEA UNDER SEVEN might not be entertaining for everyone, but then again neither is IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE.

Mark Johnson: The COWBOY BEBOP DVD BOX is up there on my suggestion list this Christmas. The series is a must-see in my book with its great cast of characters, and beautiful action that bleeds style throughout, and the bonus music CD is still of my favorites written by the magical Kanno Yoko.

If you're looking for R2 goodies, you can't go wrong with either the TOTORO or KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE DVDs from Studio Ghibli. Beautiful prints, English dub and subtitles, and truly timeless films are a great grab for anyone with a Region 2 capable DVD player.

Tom Larsen: Well gee... what is the most influential anime in recent history that has just released a movie? COWBOY BEBOP: KNOCKIN' ON HEAVEN'S DOOR is an excellent addition to CB lore and would be a very welcome addition to my anime collection.

I need something a little cute too. If Santa is reading this, please send me a bunch of ANGELIC LAYER!

Eri Izawa: OK OK I'm gonna jump off the BEBOP bandwagon to go with the TRIGUN DVD set (Pioneer) instead—there's just something loveable about poor, downtrodden, beat-up, hard-pressed, picked-on, unfortunate Vash the Stampede. And here's a surprise vote for the AH! MY GODDESS! (AA! MEGAMISAMA) movie (Pioneer again)... I'm not into the series, but the movie's animation was so beautifully done that I give it a thumbs up. Mind you, I was rooting for the "bad guy"... they really should do something about that nasty version of Heaven they work for.

Ken Lee: What can be said about one of the greatest films ever made? Director Miyazaki Hayao's masterpiece TONARI NO TOTORO is a heart-warming, genuine story about Mei-chan and her encounters with some strange and magical creatures like "Totoro" and a giant "Cat Bus." The amazing animation, beautiful, idyllic setting, and arguably the most amazing animated depictions of children put this film at the top of this year's Holiday Picks for Anime. And it has English subtitles to boot! A masterpiece.

Egan Loo: The anime highest on my wish list is not out yet, so I'll jump to the next item I can talk about. ANIMATION RUNNER KUROMI-CHAN is not high art, and it's not a mainstream crowd-pleaser either. The 40-minute video is simply a slightly distorted, absurdly funny peek inside a Japanese animation studio through the eyes of a naive yet spirited recruit. (Just don't take it too seriously. Its fictional studio is about as realistic as Ally McBeal's law firm.) The Region 2 DVD release is even English subtitled (albeit with some script nitpicks). The good news? Thanks to Christa Morse and some running around during Comic Market Summer 2001, we learned from Yumeta Company (the real animation studio behind KUROMI) that two more volumes are now tentatively planned, with DVD multi-region support and (hopefully) better English subtitles.

Eric "Scanner" Luce: FIGURE 17 - This is a new series that is being released one episode a month on air, followed by a one episode per DVD release. Catchy and fun, it revisits the "young kids get to fight alien monsters" theme but with some new twists as well as some endearing characters. If you are looking for that new anime series that is refreshing yet not totally out on the edge, look no further than FIGURE 17 by Bandai.

For the anime classics fans out there or just fans of LOCKE: THE SUPERMAN, Pioneer has finally re-released the LOCKE THE SUPERMAN - MILLENNIUM OF THE WITCH movie on DVD. You can re-live the old magic. Although probably seen as slow paced and dated by today's standards, this is one of the classics of the science fiction ESPer genre. Locke and his stories pretty much defined that genre.

John Yung: Aside from the perennial COWBOY BEBOP recommendation, fans with Region 1 DVD players have reason to celebrate this year. The selection of domestic releases continues to get better, and there's something for just about everyone. For comedy fans, there's Media Blaster's MAGIC USER'S CLUB. For sci-fi fans, there's Funimation's BLUE GENDER or Bandai's CREST OF THE STARS. Horror fans should like BOOGIEPOP PHANTOM from Right Stuf International. For the action/adventure fans, Pioneer's GATEKEEPERS, Manga Entertainment's BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE, or Bandai's THE BIG O might fit the bill. For the historic/fantasy fans, there's Media Blasters' RUROUNI KENSHIN and AD Vision's ORPHEN. For nostalgia (or for those who are curious about anime history), there's ROBOTECH and NADIA: THE SECRET OF BLUE WATER (both from AD Vision) and Pioneer's remastered AKIRA.

For the truly devoted fans that can watch Region 2 DVDs, Studio Ghibli has started to release its film collection on DVDs. Currently just MONONOKE HIME, TONARI NO TOTORO, and MAJO NO TAKKYUBIN are available. It's true that there is a domestic PRINCESS MONONOKE DVD, but the Japanese version comes in a 3-disc set. The first disc is the movie with Japanese and English audio tracks, both in Dolby 5.1 Surround. The second disc has the animated storyboard, which may be of interest to animators and animation enthusiasts. The third DVD in the Japanese MONONOKE set has the international version of the movie with eight audio tracks. All Ghibli DVDs have English audio tracks and subtitles as options for the language impaired.