The official website for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya anime has updated, and it now features Yuki on the front page instead of Haruhi (’cause she disappeared. GET IT?). The only new info is that director Tatsuya Ishihara and assistant director Yasuhiro Takemoto are returning.

On a tangential note, I’ve often wondered how many people got into Haruhi at least in part because of its novelty (the out of order episodes, the “Hare Hare Yukai” dance and its billion iterations, the memes, the character CDs for characters that don’t even have names, etc)? I wonder how Ishihara’ll keep things fresh in the second season?

On another tangent, information is coming out now, so it’s time to speculate on when we might actually see the show! Since it sounds like most of the info will come in the July issue of Newtype (on sale in June), I think it might be a little late for a summer/July start– although with Haruhi, the rules go out the window, so it’s possible. Though KyoAni has the Lucky Star OVA and Clannad After Story on their plates as well, so I’m inclined to think fall might be more likely.

Yes, yes, roundup-tastic– I’m back working on more database stuff for the new site, so a bit less time for the lengthy posts (though there’s always time for more CPM/Libre speculation!).

Anime:
- Man, we do a Spoiler-san for Haruhi on Japanator, and suddenly the Haruhi news just keeps popping up. First the Wii game, and now Canned Dogs reports that details on The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, aka Haruhi Second Season, are due in the July issue of Newtype. Huzzah!

- A video for the Mashura remake is up.

- This one’s a day or two old now, but I sucked at getting it up (Golden Week makes me lazy!): Zune is going to carry some FUNimation titles, including Afro Samurai and Witchblade.

- Meanwhile, Bandai Visual USA plans to stream Super Robot Wars and Galaxy Angel Rune– just the first episodes –within the next few weeks.

- The Higurashi no Naku Koro ni third season OVA has been confirmed and will start being released this winter. (Via Moon Phase.)

Movies:
- ICv2 has details on the DVD release of Naruto the Movie 2.

- Ain’t It Cool News has a few reader reviews of the Speed Racer film. Here’s another and another and more and more and more…

Games:
- The Wii Fit is a bad, bad person machine. Seriously.

- Meanwhile, Japanator reports on a board game featuring characters from anime romcoms– and Project A-Kon and Dominion Tank Police. Sounds like someone got a little too wacky with their copy of BESM one night…

Misc:
- Various website updates: apparently ADV is now outsourcing its online shop to Right Stuf in yet another cost-cutting move (though FUNimation did it first). Meanwhile, Bandai Entertainment’s temporary site promises a new website at 5pm PST tomorrow, or else a firing.
- And in a final bit of “awww!” news, FUNimation has been visited by a very special VIP: Jay Dunn, a 15-year-old who visited FUNimation with assistance from the Make-a-Wish Foundation. The image above is some of Jay’s art. How’s that for a warm-and-fuzzy way to sign off?