Some Christmases ago, our parents gave us Viewtiful Joe, a super hero side-scroller like no other, and I was instantly hooked, though admittedly I never played the sequel. When, after finishing up The Prince of Tennis, I learned that there's a 51-episode anime based on the unforgettable video game, I was ecstatic. Better yet, it's available from Crunchyroll, an approved purveyor which gives ad money back to the makers of the animes it shows.

Unlike the other animes I watch, I prefer the Viewtiful Joe English dub. Done in the style of the game, it hardly even looks like an anime, and the characters are as American as they come. Has to be in English. Some elements about the show, such as the bickering between the proudly villainous bad guys, recalls such classics as Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Besides the bickering malcontents, always a boon for older viewers, Joe's Joe Six-pack swagger and manner of "chillaxing" are hilarious. The burger-hungry, pizza-grubbing protagonist is more quintessentially American than Homer Simpson. Witness this twist off the old bomb wire-cutting gag: skip to the three minute mark here. Fantastic. And to top it off it's an old school damsel-in-distress saga.

At the same time, I've also indulged in another endearing anime of the Christian- and occult-themed variety, namely Chrono Crusade. Yep, that's Sister Rosette Christopher, a gun-toting nun in the Order of Magdalene, committed to vanquishing divers demons in the greater New York area during the Roaring 20s. It's also available from Crunchyroll. The opening hooked me, though there have been a few disappointments. Firstly, as of episode 14, there haven't been any cameos of Calvin Coolidge, though the setting, 1924, was the second year of his presidency. Though there have been a few good mob shoot-outs, no vignette of the 1920s is complete without a shout-out to my main man. The sisters in the show, predictably, act a lot more like gushy Japanese schoolgirls than symbolic spouses of Christ with vows of chastity. Speaking of which, I'm pretty sure there weren't any women religious who dressed like this before Vatican II--though the uniforms themselves are hardly a downer. The guy next to Sister Rosette, Chrono, is another drain on the accuracy. Besides that he would've stuck out like a sore thumb in that getup, he's supposed to be a demon, albeit a nice one who helps out the Order. I think Catholics would just say such a good devil had gone back to being a loyal angel. On the bright side, the anime really grows on a person after the first few episodes. One of the characters, Azmaria, is a fictitious Apostle of Benevolence who came to light in the vicinity of the Fatima apparitions. Always sweet and innocent, Azmaria heals people with her singing, and as you can see has adorable wings. In a charming and pious Christmas episode, she plays Mary in the Order's Nativity play--set in their church which, inexplicably, hasn't got an altar. Go figure. Also, this is the nth time I've seen St. Mary Magdalene, perennially popular in gnostic circles, in an anime. In fact, there's even a classic lolita clothing company named for her. I'm thinking that, along with Sts. Francis Xavier, Peter Baptist, and Our Lady of Japan, St. Mary Magdalene would make a fitting patron saint for the Land of the Rising Sun.

Would've reviewed a few books I read lately, but too busy. Just enough time to point out this cool video, which combines graphics from the anime Shugo Chara! and Cascada's "Evacuate the Dancefloor" to create a neat party effect. You'll have to watch all the way through to see.