This direct-to-video sequel (the second) to The Land Before Time suffers from less ambitious animation, but the story is superior to the last film. This time, a meteorite has cut off the water supply to the Great Valley, causing inhabitants to bicker and bully among themselves. By contrast, Littlefoot and his friends are getting along just fine, and they leave the valley to go in search of a new water source. Directed by Roy Allen Smith, who made the The Land Before Time II. -Tom Keogh.

Based on manga drawn by Leiji Matsumoto in 1978, this OAV series continues the Space Pirate Captain Harlock cycle. Emeraldas, who once loved Harlock, plies the sea of space in the Queen Emeraldas, a starship that resembles a blimp attached to a 17th-century sailing vessel. Sepulchrally thin, with a mane of blond hair and a prominent facial scar, Emeraldas fights injustice-and anyone who dares to fly Harlock's skull-and-cross-bones emblem. In "Departure," the first installment, spunky street urchin Tochiro stows away to the planet Daibaran, hoping to start a new life-and build a starship of his own. Daibaran is a mined-out wasteland with an Old West-style town, complete with a saloon. Tochiro comes into conflict with Eldomain, the captain of the Afressian space pirates, who makes the mistake of defying Emeraldas-with predictable results. The conflict escalates in "Eternal Emblem," as Eldomain kidnaps Tochiro and the other inhabitants of Daibaran in an attempt to trap Emeraldas. She defeats Eldomain, the entire Afressian fleet, and their queen before sailing off. Queen Emeraldas will delight Captain Harlock fans; critical viewers will find the poor integration of the three-dimensional, computer-animated spaceship with the two-dimensional cel animation visually jarring. -Charles Solomon.

When oppressed peasants unleash a metal-eating demon in hopes of fending off an invading army, their would-be savior becomes a nightmarish monster! Soon the entire countryside is laid to waste as the towering behemoth does what giant monsters always do when visiting South Korea. Sweeping epic vistas and spectacular special effects produced by members of the "Godzilla" team highlight this monstrous tale of feudal savagery and revenge! BANNED FOR A DECADE by the government of North Korea, Pulgasari has finally arrived. Original Korean version with English subtitles.

Artist-writer Katsuhiro Ôtomo began telling the story of Akira as a comic book series in 1982 but took a break from 1986 to 1988 to write, direct, supervise, and design this animated film version. Set in 2019, the film richly imagines the new metropolis of Neo-Tokyo, which is designed from huge buildings down to the smallest details of passing vehicles or police uniforms. Two disaffected orphan teenagers-slight, resentful Tetsuo and confident, breezy Kaneda-run with a biker gang, but trouble grows when Tetsuo start to resent the way Kaneda always has to rescue him. Meanwhile, a group of scientists, military men, and politicians wonder what to do with a collection of withered children who possess enormous psychic powers, especially the mysterious, rarely seen Akira, whose awakening might well have caused the end of the old world. Tetsuo is visited by the children, who trigger the growth of psychic and physical powers that might make him a superman or a supermonster. As befits a distillation of 1,318 pages of the story so far, Akira is overstuffed with character, incident, and detail. However, it piles up astonishing set pieces: the chases and shootouts (amazingly kinetic, amazingly bloody) benefit from minute cartoon detail that extends to the surprised or shocked faces of the tiniest extra; the Tetsuo monster alternately looks like a billion-gallon scrotal sac or a Tex Avery mutation of the monster from The Quatermass Experiment; and the finale-which combines flashbacks to more innocent days with a destruction of Neo City and the creation of a new universe-is one of the most mind-bending in all sci-fi cinema. -Kim Newman.

The 60's classic 8th Man! The Black Butterfly gang is at it again. this time with a suit that makes its wearer as strong as Tobor! With a powerful proton gun and one agent's ability to disappear, Tobor will be truly tested! Also includes The Passenger Rocket Adventure, The Threat of Disaster, the Belligerent Bodyguard, and The Freezing Ray.

Includes episodes 111 - 124 Three years have come and gone, and the day of reckoning has finally arrived! The Androids are here, just as Trunks predicted, and they’re wreaking havoc on an unsuspecting city! Goku and his friends must now put their training to the test, but are they ready to face these mechanical monsters? Yamcha is held at the mercy of the ruthless Android 20, and Goku and the others must race to help their friend. Believing their power to be far superior, the Androids tempt Goku’s rage by leveling half of the city! But there’s one thing the Androids didn’t count on - Goku’s a Super Saiyan! The battle with the Androids begins in earnest as Goku launches an all out assault against Android 19. The Super Saiyan seems to have the fight well under control, but something is horribly wrong! Goku’s strength is mysteriously draining away! And Android 19 isn’t showing any signs of slowing down! Attacked from within by a crippling virus, Goku is helpless against the maniacal Android 19. But just when it looks like the end for Goku, Vegeta appears on the scene! And he’s got a few big surprises in store for the Androids! In his first fight as a Super Saiyan, Vegeta takes control of the battlefield and defeats Android 19 in convincing fashion! Unwilling to share 19’s fate, Android 20 runs for cover in the mountains! Now Vegeta and the rest of the Z-Fighters must find the diabolical Android and put a stop to his evil ways. The hunt is on! Vegeta, Piccolo, and Gohan lead an exhaustive search through the mountains for the wily Android 20. But all is not as it seems - the hunters are also the hunted! Android 20 lurks in the shadows, ready to strike, and it looks like Piccolo is his first target! Can the mighty Namek withstand the Android’s energy-draining attack? Our heroes make a startling discovery – Android 20 is none other than the evil Dr. Gero himself! But this new revelation may have come too late, for the diabolical doctor has fled to his secret laboratory, where he intends to awaken two more killer androids! Can the Z-Fighters stop him in time?.

One of the first anime features, Fist of the North Star was based on a popular manga series set in the not-too-distant future, when Earth has been devastated by a nuclear holocaust. The scattered survivors huddle in ruined cities, awaiting an enlightened warrior-hero worthy of the title of "Fist of the North Star," who will start the planet on the path to recovery. That mythic hero arrives in the person O, who looks like a caricature of Sylvester Stallone drawn for an American Saturday morning cartoon show. The relatively simple story is burdened with many subplots involving evil brothers, betrayals, kidnappings, and murders, all needing endless expository scenes. Director Toyoa Ashida borrows shamelessly from the Rambo and Mad Max films, along with Frank Frazetta's illustrations. Fist of the North probably ranks as the most violent film in animation history, but after the fourth or fifth head explodes in gobbets of red paint, the effect becomes unintentionally comic. -Charles Solomon.