Ever since “;Cel Shaded”; began in 2005, there's always been one column in December where tag-team partner in anime and manga fandom Wilma Jandoc and I appeal to the charitable sides of our readers in the Christmas season. This is that column.

For those of you who have been around and reading us for that long, first of all, thank you. And second, you probably know about the charity I'm going to talk about today: Child's Play, the annual worldwide drive for children's hospitals, led by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, co-creators of the Internet comic “;Penny Arcade.”; Holkins and Krahulik started Child's Play in 2003 as a way to counteract negative media stereotypes of video game enthusiasts.

Just as in previous years, Child's Play is partnering with Amazon.com to host hospital wish lists. Among those benefiting from gamers' charity is Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children. You can find the complete list of 29 video games, DVDs and other electronics at http://www.hsblinks.com/1fa. (It appears the highest-priority items this year are portable DVD players and CD players with AM/FM radios.) Just click on the items you want to buy, pay for it through Amazon, and they'll take care of the rest. Simple.

New this year to the drive is the option to buy items from somewhere other than Amazon. So, for instance, if you're not willing to pay someone on Amazon $275 for the “;Rock Band 2”; full band set for the Wii — and trust me, you definitely don't want to pay that much; you can find it cheaper elsewhere — you can instead click on the “;Buying this gift elsewhere?”; link and fill out the relevant contact information.

Want to learn more about the cause? Visit www.childsplaycharity.org.

A TAG-TEAM PARTNER'S SPECIAL SATURDAY

I'm usually not one to repeat news that Wilma or I have written about in “;Otaku Ohana,”; our outlet for thoughts about anime, manga and video games that we can't fit into this paper's print edition.

But we're going to break that rule three times in coming weeks: once with the portion of today's column about Child's Play, to be discussed again in an upcoming blog post; once with an exciting announcement I can't reveal yet; and now as I share some wonderful news that happened on Saturday.

That news? Zarli Win, the boyfriend of my tag-team partner in anime and manga fandom, formally proposed to her in what she — and I — thought was just a typical karaoke night out with a room full of friends. But when Zarli paused his rendition of “;Wrapped Around Your Finger”; by the Police to pull out a ring to wrap around Wilma's finger, it became much more than that.

If you haven't already, I invite you to visit http://www.hsblinks.com/1im to read more about the evening and the background behind my nickname for her. You can also leave a note of congratulations for the newly engaged couple, if you feel so inclined (and yes, we read all our blog comments).

MEETING ROLL CALL

» Aiea Library Anime Club: 3 p.m. Saturday at the library, 99-143 Moanalua Road. This month, librarian Diane Masaki will be screening episodes of “;The Story of Saiunkoku.”; For more information or to RSVP, e-mail Masaki at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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Jason S. Yadao is the author of Rough Guides' “;The Rough Guide to Manga,”; available now. For more anime and manga news and commentary, check out “;Otaku Ohana”; at blogs.starbulletin.com/otakuohana. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/jsyadao or e-mail him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).