If the Darkstalkers series passed you by, you missed out on a good 2D fighter drawn from the Street Fighter mold. Depending on your level of adoration for the games, which were released mostly over Sony consoles during the last decade, this anime may please or delight. Going under the name, Night Warriors, Darkstalkers' Revenge: The Animated Series, there are two collections on UMD now from VIZ. Alpha and Omega - that's "first" and "last" to you ignorant non-Greeks - throw us right into the action, which may be a little confusing to those who haven't been waving the Darkstalkers fan these many years. But I have developed the perspective that suspension of disbelief and comprehension is a must to all devoted anime fans anyway. So read on, intrepid fanboy...

Volume 3: Pyron Descending takes the heat up a notch, literally. Pyron is a world-busting bad guy who chews up Demitri and spits him out, then unleashes a hail of fire on the human world. He seems at first to be in league with a cadre of powerful robots bent on the destruction of Demitri and Morrigan. Then, it becomes (semi)clear that the robots see Donovan, Demitri and Morrigan as the only force capable of defeating Pyron. Each of the Darkstalkers gets mixed up with the robots at some point, leaving us to wonder who is behind the mechanical horde. Felicia finds a furry mate, and saves a town from the berserker robots.

Volume 4: For Whom They Fight adds more depth to Mei-Ling and Hsien-Ko, in order to explain why they are on a mission to defeat Pyron. The robots get their comeuppance and we learn more about why Donovan is always in such a foul mood. The Pyron effect is devastating to Demitri, and eventually – like Sandra Bullock – Morrigan decides to fall in love with the big, evil sap. We can only assume these two elope to Demon World to take over, since we never really see how the crazy kids end up. Donovan takes the prize, harnessing anger through love for Anita and his desire to see her happy for once. Pyron, like most bad guys, is so surprised to see Donovan survived an ordeal, that he drops his guard and gets plastered. Or maybe Donovan just becomes a god... When the credits roll, you won’t understand much more about these characters than you did when you read the back of the box; like the old Zen saying goes, it’s about the journey, not the destination.