In the recent bevy of Xenosaga news, one piece may be of particular interest to anime fans. Yuki Kajiura, who has been enjoying increasing popularity as of late due to her superb scores for such anime as Noir and .hack//SIGN, as well as her recent/upcoming solo release, Fiction, will compose the background music for Namco's upcoming PlayStation2 RPG Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Boese. Veteran composer Yasunori Mitsuda was expected to return, as he scored the previous installment as well as the "original" game, Xenogears, but is apparently busy with the music for the upcoming sequel to the PS2 game Shadow Hearts along with Yoshitaka Hirota.

Xenosaga Episode II has yet to recieve a release date in Japan.

In other Kajiura news, bookmarks need updating as she has closed down her previous site, Feels Like Heaven, and switched to FictionJunction.com as her personal site. (Fiction Junction was previously used for Kajiura's side projects such as See-Saw and an opera page.) The revamped site includes more info on Ms. Kajiura in English, for the Japanese-impaired.

Additionally, to those looking for a fix on her work while waiting for Xenosaga Episode II should look into her recent solo album, Fiction, released domestically on July 1 by Pioneer. A Japanese version, with additional songs over the U.S. version, will be released in August, which you may expect to be reviewed here at Anime Dream. Several of the so-called Suits image albums for Gundam SEED include insert song collaborations by Kajiura as well. The fifth volume of the Suits albums, with a song written and arranged by Kajiura with vocals by voice actor Tomokazu Seki, streets (in Japan) on July 23 at 1500 yen.