The question facing any viewer of the Japanese CG feature Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is: do you have to know the games on which it's based in order to understand the film? And the answer is: it certainly helps. But even complete novices (i.e., most parents) in the Final Fantasy world will find some entertainment in its wealth of fantasy-based action, and the animation never fails to astonish. Picking up two years after an epic battle between the forces of good (represented by brooding soldier Cloud) and evil (Cloud's former general, Sephiroth), FFVII opens in the devastated city of Midgard, whose youthful occupants suffer from a ghastly disease known as Geostigma. A trio of brothers arrives with what appears to be a cure for the plague, but their gesture conceals a more sinister purpose: to revive Sephiroth and bring about the end of the world. Cloud and his companions must once again rise to the occasion to stop the siblings and the revived Sephiroth from unleashing total destruction. Complex and self-referential to the point of occasional incomprehension, Final Fantasy VII will definitely be most appreciated by fans of the game series, but if others can look past the numbing dialogue and frenetic action (which is a bit too intense for very young children), the film offers a carefree and action-packed viewing experience. The two-disc set contains the original Japanese language version of the film as well as an English-dubbed edition (Rachel Leigh Cook and Christy Carlson Romano, among others, provide the vocal talent) and a version edited for the Venice Film Festival. A 30-minute featurette that recaps the Final Fantasy story up to VII, as well as a making-of documentary, deleted scenes, and promotions for future Final Fantasy VII games and products round out the extras. --Paul Gaita

Bakugan: Battle Brawlers is a cartoon adaptation of the popular strategy game created by Sega Toys and Spin Master. Dan Kuso and his five on-line friends started playing Bakugan when game cards inexplicably fell from the sky. Using combinations of cards and special marbles that turn into monsters, they fight duels and win points. Dan loudly proclaims he's going to become the all-time champion. He and his friends learn that Bakugan monsters have lives in the dimension of Vestroia. But the mysterious gamer Masquerade is destroying the monsters he defeats by sending them to the Doom Dimension. Battle Brawlers plays like a cross between Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokémon . With his spiky hair, fingerless gloves and goggles, Dan looks like numerous other shonen (boys) anime heroes, he's nicer than Yugi, but he lacks Ash's good heart. -- Charles Solomon

EDEN OF THE EAST [DVD] COMPLETE 11 EPISODES OF EDEN OF THE EAST ANIME CLASSIC

United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: Japanese ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Subtitles ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (1.78:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Featurette, Interactive Menu, Making Of, Scene Access, Storyboards, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: A 27-year-old office worker travels to the countryside while reminiscing about her childhood in Tokyo. ...Only Yesterday ( Omohide poro poro ) ( Memories of Teardrops )

Based on a novel by the noted Japanese science fiction writer Yasutaka Tsutui, the brilliant and unsettling feature Paprika continues director Satoshi Kon's exploration of the disturbingly permeable boundaries between dreams and reality. Techno-geek Kosaku Tokita invented the DC Mini to allow therapists to enter a patient's dreams and explore his unconscious, but an evil cabal uses the Mini to create a mass nightmare that causes multiple suicides. Psychotherapist Atsuko Chiba uses her alter-identity,"dream detective" Paprika, to intervene. Entering the nightmare, she witness a bizarre parade of appliances, toys, and kitsch objects: all of her intelligence and imagination are needed to escape this nightmare and its perpetrators. As he did in Millennium Actress and Paranoia Agent , Kon effortlessly carries the audience between reality and fantasy, confirming his reputation as one of the most talented and interesting directors working in animation today. (Contains violence, violence against women, grotesque imagery, alcohol and tobacco use) --Charles Solomon, Amazon.com