Though they are not yet well known here in the States, in Japan, visual novels along with anime and manga form the otaku 'holy trinity.' A fascinating blend of manga-like storytelling, anime-style visuals (and soundtracks) and interactive game elements, visual novels have inspired all sorts of anime, manga and video games including the Fate/Stay Night anime series that Geneon is releasing this December.

Hirameki International has pioneered in bringing visual novels to the U.S. (see 'Anime Play DVDs From Hirameki'), and on October 30th Hirameki is releasing Yo-Jin-Bo: The Bodyguards (MSRP $39.00), which follows the adventures of Princess Hatsuhime, who is caught up in a dangerous political intrigue, and the samurai who must protect her and defeat the evil that threatens their clan.

Yo-Jin-Bo is strictly speaking, a shojo visual novel, but with its samurai themes, Yo-Jin-Bo, which is meant for players fifteen and up, should appeal to guys as well as girls. Yo-Jin-Bo was extremely popular in Japan where it inspired a graphic novel, a musical, and a PlayStation 2 game.  Anime fans will dig the catchy J-Pop soundtrack and the topflight seiyuu voicing the characters in Yo-Jin-Bo include Masakazu Morita (Ichigo in Bleach), Hiroki Takahashi (Kikumaru in Prince of Tennis), and Hideo Ishikawa (Itachi in Naruto).