By Alison L. Roberts

MARMALADE BOY PARADISE KISS MARS See (5) for image credits.

More Shoujo Manga
When you get down to it, "shoujo" is just a marketing designation used to describe works that are geared toward a younger, female demographic. That's why it is so interesting, as an American, to see an abundance of anime and manga products released for that audience during the past year. There's not an American equivalent — in breadth of subject matter or quantity available.

Shoujo played a prominent role in the launch of TOKYOPOP's 100% Authentic Manga line with the North American manga releases of Marmalade Boy by Wataru Yoshizumi, Mars by Fuyumi Soryo and Paradise Kiss by Ai Yazawa.

CERES: CELESTIAL LEGEND, V. 1: AYA CHICAGO, VOL. 1: BOOK OF SELF VAMPIRE DAHLIA: DEATH IS A KISS See (6) for image credits.

Viz delved further into Yû Watase's (Fushigi Yûgi) catalog with her supernatural tale Ceres: Celestial Legend (Ayashi no Ceres), serialized Yumi Tamura's adventure Chicago and restarted the graphic novel release of CLAMP's X/1999.

And, going a long way to prove that shoujo is not all hearts and flowers, I.C. Entertainment/ Studio Ironcat continued its release of Narumi Kakinouchi's horror-tinged Vampire Princess Miyu, Vampire Yui and Vampire Dahlia series.

COWBOY BEBOP (MANGA) COWBOY BEBOP: BEST SESSIONS See (7) for image credits.

More Cowboy Bebop
They didn't leave Cowboy Bebop fans any time to go into withdrawal between the end of series' DVD release and this spring's anticipated theatrical movie release. TOKYOPOP's graphic novels, Bandai Entertainment's Best Sessions DVD and the domestic releases of imports, such as Kaiyodo's Spike Spiegel action figure and JVC's limited-edition soundtrack box set, kept many of us occupied.

Domestic Soundtrack Releases
Tired of dropping $30 every time you want a legitimate (non-bootleg) anime soundtrack? Apparently American anime distributors were tired of you doing that, too, and in 2002, more of them released domestic imprints of favorite soundtracks.

GREAT TEACHER ONIZUKA SAMURAI X (RUROUNI KENSHIN)    OVA ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK BOOGIEPOP PHANTOM ORIGINAL    SOUNDTRACK See (8) for image credits.

The ADV Films/Right Stuf collaboration AnimeTrax released the Rurouni Kenshin OAV OST, several Boogiepop Phantom compilations, Martian Successor Nadesico TV OST and more. TOKYOPOP brought out the GTO TV OST, in addition to its video game soundtracks. And Pioneer, a veteran to the soundtrack game, dabbled in distributing reduced-priced imports in the U.S. and announced more domestic imprints for the future.

Avoiding the Sophomore Slump
Don't you just hate it when you love a band's debut, studio album, and they
fall short with their second release? Two bands in the last few months seem to have dodged this particular pitfall: Back into Your System from Saliva and Away From the Sun from 3 Doors Down are full-blown, well-produced sophomore albums that remind you why you liked the respective bands in the first place.

BACK INTO YOUR SYSTEM    by Saliva AWAY FROM THE SUN    by 3 Doors Down See (9) for image credits.

Collections From Classic Artists
I'm talking about greatest hits albums from bands that didn't have a good, non-box, single-volume representation of their work. Before Forty Licks, the only way to get a thorough representation of the Rolling Stones' career highlights on CD was to buy each individual album.

Lucky Magazine
Forget Cosmo and Glamour. If you're looking for fashion and make-up tips — along with clothes you might actually be able to purchase — Lucky is the one to watch. Billed as the "Magazine About Shopping," it covers a lot of lifestyle topics in a way that is entertaining, as well as useful.

At the very least, they'd better release it on DVD. :-|

SPORTS NIGHT See (10) for image credits.

Sports Night (and more favorites on DVD)
DVD is the perfect medium on which to cram multiple episodes of favorite animated and live-action TV series. Sports Night — the strongest, read: the most entertaining and nonpolitical, show Aaron Sorkin has ever written — was one of the first to receive this treatment in a box set covering its entire two-season, 45-episode run. 24 - Season One, gave viewers who weren't around for the first roller coaster ride a chance to catch up before the new season started. A lot of Joss Whedon ended up on DVD via Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (There's hope for my beloved Firefly.) And, finally, classic TV, such as the Mary Tyler Moore Show and M*A*S*H, also found a place on collectors' shelves.

Trading Spaces
The premise is simple but addictive. Would you trust your neighbors and a stranger to redecorate a room in your house? In two days? It's a toss-up as to which is more fun: the reveals where the participants are happy with the results or the reveals where they are ready to cry.

24
The first season was an innovative, explosive ride that kept this viewer on the edge of her seat. When they announced they were keeping the real-time format for the second season, I wondered how they could top it. I haven't been disappointed yet.