According to Home Media Retailing the anime feature film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, which was released direct-to-video in a two-disk special edition on April 25th, was 'a surprise #2' on the VideoScan First Alert DVD sales chart.  The latest Final Fantasy DVD topped a number of new live action releases including Tristan & Isolde, Woody Allen's Matchpoint and Casanova.  Given the popularity of the Final Fantasy video game franchise and the strong performance of the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children DVD right out of the gate (although the week of April 25th was not exactly packed with stellar competition), it is altogether possible that it may turn out to be the #1 anime DVD release of the year.

Meanwhile the live action Aeon Flux, which was based on the animated series by Peter Chung, topped both the DVD sales and rental charts.  In spite of the presence of Charlize Theron, the film bombed at the domestic box office where it took in only $25.9 million (versus production costs of more than $55), but it appears that Aeon Flux may actually break even due to international sales and its strong performance on DVD.  The film took in an estimated $7.56 million in rentals alone (nearly one-third of its box office gross) during its first week on video.

Seth MacFarlane's American Dad came in at #16 in its debut frame -- it does not appear to be in the same class with MacFarlane's Family Guy, which was resurrected from the hell of TV cancellation largely due to a legendary performance on DVD.