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Arrietty, Whisper, Welcome to the N.H.K. Released Today

Studio Canal is releasing two Studio Ghibli titles on January 9. Arrietty is released as a DVD, Blu-ray Double Play and Limited Collectors edition; and Whisper of the Heart is released as a Blu-ray Double Play. (Whisper is already available on U.K. DVD.)

Arrietty has an RRP of £19.99 as a DVD and £24.99 as both a Blu-ray Double Play and a Collectors Edition (pictured right). A number of extras will only be available on the Double Play and Collectors editions. These include a 23-minute subtitled interview with Hayao Miyazaki (who chose the source British book, The Borrowers, to be adapted as Arrietty). There is also a 40-minute interview with Arrietty's director Hiromasa Yonebayashi.

The Blu-ray also has Yonebayashi's storyboards for Arrietty, a video featuring the French singer/musician Cécile Corbel (who created the score), and short interviews with several of the dub cast, including Saoirse Ronan (Arrietty) and Mark Strong.

Whisper of the Heart (left) is released as a Blu-Ray Double Play with an RRP of £24.99. Extras include background artwork from “The Baron's Story” and an extra called “4 Masterpieces of Naohisa Inoue: From Start to Finish.” Both showcase the fantasy artist Naohisa Inoue, whose work figures in the dream scenes of the film.

Meanwhile, MVM UK releases Welcome to the NHK (right), a black comedy about a male NEET and geek, as a DVD box-set with all 24 episodes. The 2006 TV series is based on the light novel by Tatsuhiko Takimoto, which was also adapted as a manga with art by Kendi Oiwa.

Finally, Manga releases the fourth DVD volume of K-ON!, with an RRP of £17.99.