---

‘Naruto’ debuts on
Cartoon Network

Fans of "Naruto," get ready to cheer and/or cringe: Cartoon Network has set a date and time for the English-language debut of the popular ninjas-with-swirly-headbands series.

An interesting note about the scheduled Sept. 10 debut date: Its time slot, 10 p.m. Eastern/ Pacific (likely to be 7 p.m. locally), places the show just a shade outside the network's "Adult Swim" lineup. Does this mean the series will be toned down? I have yet to see any footage from the original Japanese airings, much less what's going to air on American TV, so I can't say for sure. All I can say is, I'd be surprised if there weren't any edits from the original episodes ...

'Howl' creeps along

Seen "Howl's Moving Castle" yet? Then you're in rare company, at least in anime circles. Boxofficemojo.com figures show the film has made $1,593,200 as of June 20.

It's certainly respectable when compared with two other anime films that saw limited U.S. runs earlier this year: "Steamboy," which made $410,388 domestically, and "Appleseed," with $129,135. But it's a small dent compared with the $40 million-plus that "Batman Begins" brought in during its first weekend, and a far cry from the $185 million that it raked in in Japan ...

DVD pick of the week

"Human Crossing" Vol. 3, from Geneon Entertainment: It's a good week for new releases overall, with the latest volumes of ADV's "Get Backers," Bandai's "Scrapped Princess" and Viz's "Inu-Yasha" arriving in stores.

But "Human Crossing" is unique in a market dominated by science-fiction and fantasy tales, featuring vignettes about the trials and triumphs of life in modern Japan. The stand-alone nature of the three episodes featured here make it a great purchase even if you don't own the other two volumes.