The goddess Nagi has arrived and wants you to worship her! Nagi is the local deity spirit of the town of Kannagi and she was able to take a physical form when Jin Mikuriya carved a wooden statue of her out of a block of wood from the sacred tree of his family shrine. Nagi's mission is to cleanse the impurities that plague the land, but since her sacred tree has been cut down, she can only do this with Jin's help. While pursuing an impurity, Nagi is reunited with her sister, Zange, who happens to have converted to Catholicism. Zange's power is greater than Nagi's due to her scared tree still being in tact and becoming a local celebrity taking confessions on the street at night. The only way for Nagi to regain her power is to gather her own followers and gain popularity. Will you become one of Nagi's worshippers?

Are you one of Nagi's worshippers? Nagi emerged from a wooden statue that Jin carved and she is supposed to be the physical incarnation of the local deity spirit of the town of Kannagi. Nagi is now living with Jin and with his help she is supposed to cleanse the impurities that plague the land. Living under the same roof with a goddess is not easy for a teenage boy. Ever since she appeared, Jin's life has been complicated and there's been weird rumors going around about his relationship with his friend, Daitetsu. But things aren't so simple for a goddess as well, while Nagi questions her own divinity and disappears looking for answers. Will Nagi find her own meaning?

eposides 33, 34, & 35

Brand new Tenchi! New Home in Tokyo, at a new school, with a new love interest named Sakuya, with new studies in exorcisms, a new hidden enemy named Yugi, Washu's new dimensional doors, and Ryo-ohki's new Mecha-Rabbit transformation! Too many troubles, too many girls, too nice a guy... Same old Tenchi!!

A logical step for the young fan of anime is this series from the creator of the popular crossover hit Sailor Moon. The story line skews slightly older, not for its violence but for its complexity. The theme is modern mythology, not intergalactic warfare, so it's more interesting and less violent than in Sailor Moon. And less bubble-headed. Our heroine, Utena, is admired by classmates who share Sailor Moon's giddy hysterics, but Utena herself is solid, noble, and strong. Saved by a prince as a child, Utena dresses in the men's uniform of the expansive Ohtori Academy. Her goal is to be prince, and in this introductory disc (seven episodes, nearly three hours of material), she shows signs of becoming one. The scheming student council allows her into the mysterious forest arena, where she wins a sword duel (not played for blood) and wins the devoted loyalty of Anthy, the mysterious Rose Bride. They become a team, discovering the riddles of the arena forest and fending off challengers (while excelling in classes to boot). While some Westerners may read far too much into the sexual politics of the series, it's very old-fashioned at its core: Utena's affections are girded toward a duelist who just may be the prince who saved her years before. Some mild domestic violence and oddly subtitled songs ("Absolute Destroy Apocalyptic," "Paleozoic Era in the Flies") will ruffle some parents, but for ages 9 and up it's engaging entertainment. Utena delivers for girls what Star Wars did for boys: a never-ending series of adventures that one can imagine themselves in, whether daydreaming or playing in the backyard. The DVD comes in both subtitled and dubbed formats. —Doug Thomas

The Priestess of Water is retiring and her replacement is long overdue! What has happened to her? And just when Makoto is trying to learn more about this new world... What's this? An alternative world?

Studio: A&e Home Video Release Date: 09/28/1999 Run time: 102 minutes Rating: Nr

Once upon a time, six unruly schoolboys found that the BBC was giving money to people with rather ridiculous ideas for shows. Thus was born Monty Python's Flying Circus, easily the most ridiculous show in the history of television. In episode 4, "Owl-Stretching Time," no owls are actually stretched or harmed in any way, but Terry Jones tries to undress on the beach ("It's a Man's Life Taking Off Your Clothes in Public"), Arthur Lemming of the BDA foils a dastardly plot ("It's a Man's Life in the British Dental Association"), and John Cleese barks instructions to a class learning to defend themselves against assailants armed with fresh fruit. The transitions and flow are still a little choppy and their writing not quite up to the levels of future seasons, but the essential mix of anarchy, inanity, and outrageousness is all there in classic sketches, running gags, and Python's ever-popular penchant for deflating figures of authority. As Monty Python got into the groove of absurdity on a weekly schedule, they began creating some of their most memorable characters. Gumby is one such figure, a screaming idiot in knickers and a handkerchief on his head. It seems so fitting that he would make his first appearance in "Man's Identity Crisis at the Latter Half of the Twentieth Century" (a.k.a. episode 5), albeit in a primitive form (if that's not an oxymoron). But no, that's not enough for the Pythons, who pack this episode with the extremely silly Confuse a Cat, the not-quite-as-silly Erotic Film highlights, and the slightly-more-silly John Cleese interviewing not-quite-so-silly Graham Chapman for a management training course with questions a public-school education never prepared him for. Episode 6, "It's the Arts," features the ever-popular Dull Life of a City Stockbroker, Graham Chapman as an insane (and very loud) American film producer, and a lovely assortment of treats from the Whizzo Chocolate Company (their specialty is Crunchy Frog, but I hear the Anthrax Ripple is also quite good). These episodes are light on favorite skits but exhibit a confidence in the free-association logic that became the hallmark of the show. —Sean Axmaker

The first season of Monty Python's Flying Circus was a time of experimentation: how to transition from one skit to another, how to weave a gag through a show, and most importantly how to sustain the comic momentum of a sketch. In Episode 7, "You're No Fun Anymore," this last problem was solved by creating their longest sustained sketch to date. The seemingly modest Science Fiction sketch (as it's introduced by a smarmy Michael Palin in a tacky sport jacket) chronicles the dastardly plot of a race of sport-loving Blancmanges from the Andromeda Galaxy to turn all Brits into kilt-wearing, bagpipe-blowing Scotsmen! Also featured in the program are the Camel Spotting sketch, The Audit sketch, and lots of characters uttering the now-familiar line "You're no fun anymore." In what can only be a blatant but desperate ratings gambit, the Pythons named episode 8 "Full Frontal Nudity." OK, there isn't much nudity, but there is the classic Dead Parrot sketch ("Nah, it's only sleeping"), a marauding pack of vicious, motorcycle-riding Hell's Grannies, a society of gossipy hermits, and an extortionist offering protection to the British Army ("You wouldn't want any of those tanks to get broken, now, would you?"). Episode 9, "The Ant: An Introduction," features what may be the single most famous skit in Python's short but eventful history. Nervous barber Michael Palin dreams of a life among the tall pines of British Columbia and warbles, "I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK" with a chorus of Mounties, who become rather puzzled by the sudden turn in the lyrics ("I put on women's clothing and hang around in bars!"). This classic episode also features a man with a tape recorder up his nose, a mountaineer with double vision mounting an expedition up both peaks of Kilimanjaro, and a brief but memorable appearance of a full-fledged Gumby, who sings while banging himself on the head with bricks. The Monty Python troupe really hit their stride in these episodes, which feature some of their most inspired, hilarious, and just plain weird moments. —Sean Axmaker