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Haruhi Season 2 and Musashi Released on Monday
posted on by Andrew Osmond
On Monday July 4, Manga Entertainment will release the 4-disc box-set of the second season of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (RRP £39.99), rated 12. It extends the story of the high-school heroine and her "Save our world by Overloading it with fun Suzumiya Haruhi's Brigade" (the S.O.S. Brigade for short).
The "second series" of Haruhi was broadcast in Japan in 2009, mixed with a run of the first series. The original 14 episodes (first broadcast in 2006) were supplemented with 14 new episodes; these new episodes fit in-between the old ones. The new episodes include the "Endless Eight" storyline, in which the characters are caught in a endlessly repeating time-loop. (The original Haruhi episodes are available from Beez Entertainment in an "Anime Legends" box-set.)
Manga Entertainment has apologised for the fact that there is only mono audio on the Japanese soundtrack of the second series box-set. As well as the 14 new episodes, the set includes chibi spinoff mini-webisodes featuring "Haruhi-Chan Suzumiya."
Also on Monday, Manga Entertainment is releasing the Production I.G film Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai both on Blu-Ray (RRP £24.99) and DVD (£19.99). Conceived and scripted by Mamoru Oshii, the film is presented as a lecture about the semi-legendary Japanese swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645). 
It uses a variety of visual styles, including live action shot at historical locations. The director is Oshii's frequent collaborator Mizuho Nishikubo (sometimes known as Toshihiko Nishikubo), whose credits include animation direction on Ghost in the Shell and Patlabor 2.
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