I was so excited when I first heard that VIZ Media was going to release an English-subtitled version of the Kekkaishi anime! As the editor of the Kekkaishi manga, I was curious to see how it compared to what I had imagined. Sometimes it’s hard to see something animated that you have been animating in your head. But this anime doesn’t disappoint! You can catch new episodes on Mondays.

Kekkaishi is such an action-oriented manga that it’s really nice to see everyone—people and weird ayakashi (demons)—actually MOVING. Horror depends on timing... It’s hard to get maximum shock value with just the movement of images and text from panel to panel and page to page. In manga, you can have a surprise hit the reader after they turn a page. In anime, you can have an ayakashi suddenly jump out at the viewer from the screen! Aiiieeee!

The Kekkaishi animators do a great job—lots of dramatic poses and movements and jumping-out-at-you’s. Yoshimori and Tokine’s demon dogs, Madarao and Hakubi, float and bob up and down and the kekkaishi’s kekkai appear out of thin air (instead of in the next panel) and have an eerie glow.

I love Yellow Tanabe’s unusual, artistic, streamlined ayakashi designs, and they’re even creepier and scarier and weirder in color.

On top of all this, the Kekkaishi music is really great! Varied, eerie, and evocative.

I hope the Kekkaishi manga readers in the audience are happy with the anime. And if you are seeing the anime first, I hope you'll check out the manga. If possible for a series, I always like to experience both.

Manga and anime each give you something a little different. Manga adds detail and pacing that can’t fit into anime, and anime is the perfect medium for magic, which needs to glow and sparkle and flash and change color. Better than CGI in a live-action movie, animation can quickly execute any artistic effect you could dream up.

— Annette Roman, Kekkaishi manga editor

You have to love a concept like Kikamaru's "feigned sleep attack." Too bad it doesn't work in real life -- think of the potential applications! You're about to get fired from work for sleeping on the job, but then, with perfect timing, you awake just in time to nail your assignment! I'm sure the extra sleep does wonders for the complexion too... Alas, I must be wide awake while typing this post, but at least you get to enjoy the latest episodes of The Prince of Tennis, which feature a surprising finish to a tiebreaker, sibling rivalry, fire in Ryoma's eyes, and a nice little bit about strategy against left-handed players, because lefties deserve our love too!

Episode 33: The Tiebreak
Kikumaru brilliantly revives his strength and breaks out his acrobatic moves, and the grueling doubles match with St. Rudolph goes into a tiebreak. Will Eiji be able to hold out to the end?

Episode 34: Twist Spin Shot
Ryoma Echizen’s turn is finally up, and he faces Fuji’s younger brother Yuta, who will stop at nothing to surpass his older brother.

With 12 great episodes, awesome bonus features, and super-cute packaging — how could you resist Honey and Clover DVD Box Set 3? Based on the popular manga by Chica Umino which has sold over 10 million copies in Japan, Honey and Clover is a romantic comedy about a group of art school students who try to find their way. Here are 5 reasons to go out and get Box Set 3 right now!

• 12 dramatic, dubbed uncut episodes that take you to Spain and show you a dramatic, potentially life-changing accident! (OK, no more hints.)

• A glossary of cultural references: Do you know how to play "Katanuki"?

• Voice acting karaoke! Practice Hagu's and Takemoto's lines.

• See gorgeous production art: Morita! Unicorns! More!

• Clean versions (with no credits) of the opening and ending songs.

Happy birthday Kisame! Well... kind of. We aren't feeling like we want to go to this guy's birthday party. We're envisioning a lot of bluster, biting and screaming about how "samehada's gonna cut you!" Even though this sharklike Akatsuki member, who first came to our attention as Itachi's toothy teammate, would have a hard time filling out his party guest list, we do need to give him props -- right now nobody's as creepy in Ninja World. So Happy Birthday, Kisame. But you'll forgive us if we just drop a card in the mail, right?

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Check out the Kisame character data wallpaper we've created just for this occasion, and send in your birthday wishes in the naruto.com forum!

-- Joel Enos (Editor, SHONEN JUMP)

You know that bad stuff can happen when you start playing around with forbidden jutsu... like a chakra overload that threatens to take out half the countryside! We conclude the "forbidden jutsu" story arc in our latest Naruto Shippuden episode this week, so here's your last chance to bid a fond farewell to Hotaru and Shiranami -- if they don't get vaporized first... We'll be taking a few weeks off until the next new episode, but you won't want to miss it, as it's a two-part doozy! Stay tuned to all the latest Naruto Shippuden episodes and news on the Naruto Shippuden page.

Episode 151: Master and Student
Hotaru, under the control of Shiranami’s jutsu, uses the Forbidden Jutsu against Naruto and Utakata. Shiranami trembles with joy, having witnessed the power of the Forbidden Jutsu, while Hotaru is consumed by deep despair.