A brand new unusual listing has appeared on Amazon Japan. It is a new Blu-ray box set of the 2006 anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and will release on August 29.
The Blu-ray set will contain all 14 episodes from the first anime season. It will also include a second disc with the anime’s soundtrack. The box will have a special design illustrated by Kyoto Animation and will feature a digital remaster of the original series. It will appear in the order that was first shown. The Blu-ray will cost ¥22,680 (~ $226.80 USD).
This new listing does come at a peculiar time with the Haruhi Hunting campaign and the new Haruhi Pachinko machine, which the listing on Amazon has announced would be coming out in Japan this August (pushed back from the initial July date).
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is a light novel series written by Nagaru Tanigawa and illustrated by Noizi Ito. The novels began in 2003 and were originally published as short stories in Kadokawa Shoten’s The Sneaker magazine. Since then the short stories have been compiled into 11 light novel volumes, with the latest releasing in May 2011 (which was translated in November 2013). There has been many manga based on the series since its release. An anime adaptation from Kyoto Animation aired in 2006 and in 2009. The series was followed by the animated film The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya in early 2010. In conjunction with the anime series, two online mini-series were also released: Nyoron Churuya-san and The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya. In December last year it was announced that an anime adaptation of The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan is currently in production.
Whether the Blu-ray releases are in promotion for the Haruhi Hunting, pachinko machine, or something else, it will be releasing on Amazon on August 29 and will cost ¥22,680 (~ $226.80 USD).
“The Melancholy of Haruhi”, “Haruhi”, images and all associated brands and titles © 2014 Nagaru Tanigawa, Noizi Ito, Kadokawa Shoten, Sankyo and Line Corporation