10/11/2010

官能昔話

Kannou Mukashibanashi

Kannou Mukashbanashi is a series that tells well known tales in a... slightly different way. Each volume contains several stories, all done by a different seiyuu. The series uses a special recording method called 3D dummy microphone, a microphone shaped like a head. using this technology you can hear the voice of the seiyuu as if they're talking right into your ear (when using headphones or earphones), and they've made sure that they talk very eroi.

The first time I didn't really know what to expect, but the CD starts with a prologue that explains (in practice) what the CD is all about. Inoue Kazuhiko his voice is really soothing and sexy, and the wording in which he instructs you to put on your headphones or earphones is... (>///<) He also tests it by blowing in your ear, which somehow feels much to real.

The first story is that of Issun Boushi and is voiced by Suzuki Tatsuhisa. The little Issun Boushi travels to the capital to work, and becomes the companion of the princess. At the end of the story he defeats a red demon and is turned into a full sized human. In his own words 'now that he has become larger he'll be able to please the princess much more'.

The second story is that of Kaguya-hime and is told by Kamiya Hiroshi. Probably everyone knows the this story, and it is told almost completely true to it's origins, except that the meeting between Kaguya-hime and the Emperor becomes a lot more intimate than the original. I'm not too sure about the voice Kamiya-san uses for the story telling, but his voice as the Emperor is pure love.

The third story is 'Tsuru no Ongaeshi' and is told by Inoue Kazuhiko. I don't think this story is well known, and it is a really sad story. Inoue Kazuhiko his beautiful storytelling only makes it all the more touching. And eroi.

The last story is 'Sarukani Kassen' (the fight between the monkey and the crab) and is told by all seiyuu together. It is a story about a monkey who tries to scam a crab. The way it is told it sounds very comical, and also very evil. The monkey tends to 'mistreat' the crab with all the sound effects that results in.


It was hard not to giggle while listening to this CD. After a while you get used to it though (and if you decide to listen to the other volumes it only gets better (^-^). Because the seiyuu tell a story on their own you can also hear how versatile their voices are, which is interesting to hear. I love this CD because it is the first one in the series, but I think the later ones are better.

News: 週刊添い寝 抱き枕カバー


 Ahahaha, I should have known!! Making a body pillow for this series is just too fitting xD

So yes, Black Butterfly has announced and revealed the designs for their Body Pillows based on the Shuukan Soine series. If this would have been a limited edition extra it would have been awesome (I would have pre-ordered on the spot xD) but sadly these are sold separately for 7000yen a piece.

On the front the image is the same is the Jacket of the corresponding CD, the (yet to be revealed) backside will be the booklet image.

This is a limited time only offer, and they will be available for about a month starting the 19th of November, so get your body pillow while you can *rofl*

08/11/2010

ぷちダイエット

Puchi Diet


Kanmi Dokoro sort of got me into interested in other works with hypnosis. This first resulted in the discovery that there is a whole community for such a thing, and that there are some related places -that probably fall under rule 34 of the internet- where I really don't want to go. But I suppose you can use hypnosis for that too yes...

Fighting my way through listings of things I'd rather ignore I finally found a few more things that might be interesting, and one of them was these: the tiny diet by Hypnos Eye (voice: Kagura Shou). It is made public as a sort of demo of what 催眠音源 (saimin ongen, hypnotic sound) is. Therefor it isn't too long, and a sort of introductionary work.

The purpose of the Puchi Diet is to make you dislike one of your favorite foods for about a month, so that you won't eat it too much and thus lose weight. It doesn't make you lose several pounds just by listening (duh) and how effective it is depends on what food you choose, but it has potential to be very effective. 

I downloaded this simply because I was interested in how you could turn hypnosis into a diet, and was surprised to discover how effective it was on me. I picked fried potatoes while listening, and believe me I do not feel like eating them for a while. He makes you associate the food you like with something you hate, so be warned that you might feel a bit uncomfortable while listening, though this is resolved again in the end.

His voice somewhat reminds me of Miyano Mamoru mixed with... I don't know who xD But it was a pleasant voice to listen to.  He mentioned on the home page that he might make more short demo's like this, and I'll be checking back every once in the hope that there will be a new one.

Click on the image to go to the home page/ download link.

02/11/2010

DAISUKE! ~聖なるバレンタインと、キミだけのボクら~

DAISUKE! ~sei naru Valentine to kimi dake no bokura~


DAISUKE! is a cd in which all characters and their seiyuu have 'Daisuke' as their first name. The setting is the bar 'Dice' (Japanese: daisu) which is ran by Akagi Daisuke (CV: Ono Daisuke) and somehow seems to be a gathering point for people with Daisuke in their name. The heroine (ie: you) enters the place to take shelter from the rain and you end up spending your valentine with them. There is a short introductionary talk and then a track in which they imagine going on a date with you for each 'Daisuke'.


What is not to love about a CD which has all of these wonderful seiyuu? I love Hirakawa and Ono Daisuke, know Namikawa Daisuke and Kishio Daisuke fairly well and like them, Sakaguchi Daisuke was the only one I didn't know. But either way, for me this CD was already a hit before I even listened to it.  I'll make a sort review for each of the characters.

Also, am I the only one who melts at the cover?


When you enter one of the part-timers, Wakaba Daisuke (CV: Namikawa Daisuke), welcomes you. Moments later the owner, Akagi Daisuke enters. Turns out he is an incredible womanizer and immediately starts to hit on you, which ends in him picturing a date on a motorcycle. His character is slightly perverted but not in an annoying way, I just can't hate him for it xD The date actually seemed like a lot of fun.

After this first figment of imagination has passed the clumsy salaryman Yamabuki Daisuke (Kishio Daisuke) enters the shop. He is a failure as salaryman, but is working hard to save up for a wedding and money to start a family. The only problem is that he doesn't have a girlfriend yet, but he quickly declares you his 'fated partner'. On his 'date' you go and look at a possible wedding site. I found his character somewhat annoying, but that could be partly because of the way he speaks.

Next is Wakaba Daisuke his story. He admits that he likes cooking and is rather homely, so his date is a date in his room. Which brings us to the absolute most brilliant moment in the CD. Wakadaisuke has a cat, voiced by Ono Daisuke. And OnoD his cat imitation is so bad its hilarious, but the best part is that in the middle of his cat act he switches into Sebastian Mode. HE SWITCHES INTO FULL BUTLER MODE and then continues his cat act xD

Next up is Touma Daisuke (CV: Sakaguchi Daisuke) who is the second part-timer, an underclassman to Wakadaisuke and the youngest of the bunch (18). You go on a date to the amusement park. Maybe because I tend to dislike the kouhai type, or that his cheeky and cheery voice is just too cheeky and cheery, but I didn't like him at all. He almost sounds like a girl while on the roller-coaster o.O

Finally we meet Kurokawa Daisuke (CV: Hirakawa Daisuke - HA! Hirokawa is the main dish 8D Sorry, just ignore my fangirling). Kurokawa is a 32 year old successful celeb IT manager, complete with awesome sports car. Who is also allergic to cats xD As much as I like Hirakawa Daisuke I didn't really like his voice here, it somehow felt forced. But I'm a fangirl so I forgive him almost anything. His part is much to short, BUT he is the only one who actually kisses you 8D

The freetalk is hilarious, if a bit chaotic. They also start to talk about the kanji in the naming (both of the characters and their actual names) so if you don't know much about that it might be very hard to follow. OnoD also does his cat interpretation again, with the rest making fun of him xD

This CD is great because of the cast and the pure overload in 'Daisuke'. The 'story' (if you can call it that) is a bit far fetched but the imagination parts are funny, as are the interactions of all various 'Daisuke'. And to be honest, the entire Ono Daisuke cat-goes-Sebastian-act ALONE makes this worth listening to it.

01/11/2010

王子様(笑)シリーズ 第3巻 ~王子様と眠れる森~


Oujisama (warai) vol.3 ~Oujisama to nemureru mori~


Oujiama (warai) series is a drama cd series that tells well known fairytales in an... entirely different way. The title means 'Prince (laughs) series' and as the title implies the stories are told from the viewpoint of the prince in a rather hilarious way. This volume has only one story; that of Sleeping Beauty.


The moment I saw this was announced it made me happy, and I'm glad I was able to listen to it this fast! Contrary to the first two volumes there is only one story this time, but some of the princes from earlier volumes reprise their roles.

We first meet the servant (CV: Takemoto Eiji) of Sleeping Beauty her prince who meets... the prince from Snow White (CV: Nakai Kazuya). It turns out we are in his country, and the servant asks him whether he wants to help out find Sleeping Beauty. We are taken to the Prince (of Sleeping Beauty, his name is Gunther btw CV: Onosaka Masaya) himself who is... fighting a dragon and gains exp o.O

And from there on the entire story turns into an RPG. Sleeping Beauty and his servant try to get Snow White to sign up at a guild, Genji (CV: Yoshino Hiroyuki) already signed up because the girl behind the counter was cute, they need a fourth member to go on a quest to fight a red dragon, so Genji forces the Emperor (from Taketori Monogatari, CV: Okiayu Ryoutarou) to join xD


Genji is as annoying as ever, the Emperor his classic speach clashes with everything, Sleeping Beauty is a complete RPG otaku, and Snow White is the only sane person. Eventually Sleeping Beauty loses his confidence and Genji decides he will go and steal save the princess.

The previous two CDs were good, but this volume was absolutely brilliant, there is no other word for it. Just throwing all these princes (with their strange personalities) in one story was already funny, but when everything turned into a RPG it turned even better. Every RPG cliche is used, from all the different classes to collecting the four legendary thingamajigs to continue the story. If you play a lot of RPGs or know something about them it gets funnier by the minute. But don't worry if you don't know anything about them, even then it will be plenty funny (Snow White is in the same position anyways)

Just like the previous volumes there is a zazankai after the main story in which the characters talk together. Sleeping Beauty never had friends to drink with so  they first need to explain what they are going to do, and the Emperor decides to get drunk right from the get go ("as if I could do this while sober" xD).

The freetalk was also interesting. The theme was 'a dream that you don't want to wake up from'. Yoshino talks about soccer and the world cup (which made me realize just how recent this release is somehow), Onosaka told that he wants to be popular, Okiayu that he wants to lose weight and Takemoto thinks that their dreams are to normal xD The last three did the recording together making their part of the freetalk hilarious. Especially Okiayu and  Takemoto ignoring Onosaka Masaya when he asks whether he wasn't popular enough to do a story on his own was just... wow xD Nakai talks about that it was his dream to become a seiyuu so that he doesn't want to wake up from his current life. His talk is about to get deep and meaningful when time is up and he abruptly (and I mean abruptly) ends it.

The fact that Yoshino and Nakai did their free talk alone made me realize that they did the recording alone, and how difficult that must be. Especially because there is a lot of tsukkomi, mainly fron Nakai. The zazankai in particular sounds as if they really are talking all together so they really have my respect for some awesome voiceacting!



If you haven't heard the first two CDs yet you should listen to those before listening to this one. Firstly because they are also hilarious and absolutely worth listening, but also because the characters constantly reference to it and you might miss some injokes. (Especially the deal about princess Snow White xD). That said, this vol. is absolutely brilliant so go and listen to it NOW :D

29/10/2010

God Child - 切り刻まれた食べられたミスプディングの悲劇

God Child - The tragedy of miss Pudding.

The drama is based on the manga by Kaori Yuki. In this volume the stories 'The Tragedy of miss Pudding' and 'A Crooked Fairytale' have been made into a drama. The drama follows the story of the manga closely, almost to the word.

In the first story, the tragedy of miss pudding , Cain investigates two murders in which the victims their belly were cut open, and a plum pudding was found on the scene of the crime. Furthermore, eyewitnesses saw a blond haired girl that was singing the Plum Pudding Rhyme from Mother Goose (speaking of which, the rhyme has been altered for this story). He meets a young woman who despite just being married asks to spend the night at his place. It turns out that she is convinced that she committed the murders in her sleep...

I quite liked this story. Partway through you can guess how it will end, but it is interesting none the less. The drama is clearer on some parts, while the manga explains other details better (for example the plum pudding). It made me want to make plum pudding... (considering what happened to those in the story that isn't really a logical choice, but I still want to make it xD). Also, I forgot that Cain is such a flirt xD

A Crooked Fairytale is a story from when Cain was younger. One of Cain his maids has been smuggling antiques out of the  mansion to sell together with her lover. One night while the two meet they are overheard and kill whoever it was, only to discover that it was the young Count Cain that they killed. They quickly bury the corpse underneath the Juniper tree, however the next day Cain shows up somewhat shaken but alive.

You don't get what is going on in this story until the end (unless you've read the manga, of course). It was a pretty good short story... I really don't know what else to say about it. It is good but not fantastic. Once again the drama is clearer on some points while the manga is clearer on others. In this case it might be somewhat difficult to understand what happened to the maid if you didn't read the manga.



The drama was recorded with a 3D recording technique, making it sound as if the characters move around you. I didn't know that that technique was already used so many years ago, so that was a bit of a pleasant surprise. Of course the effect isn't as clear as with recent drama's, but it is definitely there. Especially Cain suddenly 'appearing' on one side was a rather nice effect <3

One thing that I noticed is that while the music is great, it plays for  too long. This is only the case at the end of each story (when the story it's theme is played again), but the music simply goes on for about 30 seconds too long. Other than that I have don't have any major minor points.



Count Cain/ God Child is a wonderfully dark manga by Kaori Yuki, and if dark fairytale like stories aren't your thing then this drama is not for you. I mostly recommend this to people who already know the manga, otherwise you probably miss a lot background. It is not like it is impossible to understand without prior knowledge, but knowing all kinds of story background and/or character relations probably does make it easier. That and it is simply nice to hear these stories with sound, as the drama is completely loyal to the manga it really feels like the manga with sound.

28/10/2010

God Child - Visual CD Book

God Child

This CD was a limited edition that people could order through the Hana to Yume (the magazine in which God Child was published). It has two stories; 'The Crooked Little House', and 'The sound of a boy hatching'. The first story is about a young girl that collects dolls, the second one tells how Cain and Riff met each other.


God Child is a manga by Kaori Yuki, and this is one of the three Drama CDs that were made. God Child shows the -often rather macabre- adventures of the young Count Cain (CV: Ishikawa Hideo) and his butler, Riff (CV: Sugita Tomokazu). A little later in the series Cain his younger (half) sister Merrywheather (CV: Mizuhashi Kaori) also starts living with them.

The first story is about a young girl that collects dolls. Dolls that were once living people. When Merryweather her private teacher ms. Fenning (CV: Hikita Yumi) goes missing she sets of in search for her and meets the young Rebecca (CV: Chiba Chiemi), who sees Merryweather as a nice new addition to her collection.

I vaguely remember this story from the manga, but not well enough to say how closely it follows the original. But because the second story follows the original almost to the word, I assume that this one is accurate as well. The music in this one was very good, the main theme is so spooky it already gives you shivers in the first scene, where it turns out that Merryweather was only doing her reading exercises.

The second story tells how Cain and Riff met each other when Cain was still a child (CV: Tsumura Makoto). This one follows the original manga almost word for word, to the point were at some points it might not be clear what was going on exactly in some scenes if you don't know the manga. One of these scenes is the death of Agusta (CV: Kojima Sachiko) - in the manga this was a beautiful and very dramatic scene, but I can't help but feel that the same scene in the drama lacks of that dramatic feeling.

If you know the series I absolutely recommend this drama CD, it does a great job in recreating the atmosphere of the manga. The cast is good, but don't know whether I like Koyasu Takehito or Sugita Tomokazu better as Riff. I love Koyasu so I'm partial towards him, but on the other hand Sugita sounds a lot more gentle - the way I imagined Riff his voice.

27/10/2010

ふしぎ工房症候群 ドラマ CD 女性恐怖症なおします

 Fushigi Koubou Shoukougun Drama CD - Josei Kyoufushou Naoshimasu


This is the drama CD version of the second Fushigi Koubou CD - 女性恐怖症なおします (josei kyoufushou naoshimasu, curing the fear of women). The story is exactly the same as the original, with the difference that it is acted out as an actual drama (as opposed to told by only one person).

The only difference between this and the original is that there is a short scene in the beginning in which the girl visits the fushigi koubou, at that point we don't hear what she orders though. The rest of the story is exactly the same. The main character talks about his fear, and the two scenes that make his fear of women escalate are there as well.

Somehow I had the idea that the original did a better job at portraying the emotions and feelings of the main character, most likely because you were actually inside his head. On the other hand, his fear of women does become more understandable. The way they talk about him makes you understand his feelings a bit better (women can be scary...)

Their date on the other hand becomes much more lively. In the original it was already cute, but this time you can hear both of them talk, and both of their thoughts making it a lot livelier to listen too. This also makes it clear that they think of each other as an expat much earlier in the story, which is a bit of a pity because I liked the way it was revealed only at the end in the original.

On the whole I can't say whether I like the original or the drama CD more. The original portrays the character his feelings a bit better in my opinion, but on the other hand the drama CD also portrays the feelings of the girl making it more interesting. The entire date scene gets a lot more lively just by the fact that you actually hear the two of them talk. Either way it is still a wonderful story that is really recommend listening to.

News: 感応時間 Vol.2


Yes yes, the only reason I wrote the review below is so that I could announce the second volume.

The above announcement has been on the Hituzikumo home page for a while now, but there is still no other news about the second volume. I really wish they would give us more info about the second volume of this interesting somewhat evil series.

What we do know though, is that the character in the image will most likely be our new seducer, and that the seiyuu for this volume will be Midorikawa Hikaru. The planned date of release is 2010.12.15.

Is it just me, or does that character look really evil. I'm scared, seriously. And curious. There must be a hell reserved for people like me somewhere, I'm sure of it...

感応時間 ~甘味処~

Kannou Jikan - Kanmi dokoro

Kannou Jikan is a CD that uses hypnosis to make you feel good. (writing it down makes that desciption sound evil, but it is actually a literal translation from the home page xD). At any rate, it uses hypnotism to induce a sort of trance condition and, well, make you feel good. The seiyuu for this volume is Yusa Kouji.

Before we begin; this was the first CD I ever encountered that comes with a warning before it begins. The first is that this cd should be listened to in a situation where it is OK to fall asleep. (which makes sense, as you will see) And that they are not responsible for any accidents caused by this cd. AND that people who are depressed or have trauma's should only listen to this CD after consulting with their docter. Whoo, scary stuff o.O

After these warnings the experience begins. You (the listener) enter a mysterious shop, the owner (CV: Yusa Kouji) tells you he will make you relax and feel good. First he tells you to relax, this is done by making (ie:asking) you to tense and consecutively relax various body parts and making you do deep breaths. The result is that you are indeed completely relaxed. After that he brings in some sweets (yokan, a type of sweet been paste) and makes you believe you are actually smelling it. By the end though, he'll have you convinced that he is eating you, with all implications that follow.

The first two times I listened I never got passed the relaxation exercises, I simply fell asleep and completely missed the, for lack of a better description let us call it the main part. Or maybe I should call it the climax, pun intended. I've done these kind of relaxation exercises before, and I know they are indeed incredibly effective.

The third time though I managed to stay awake and make it further into the CD. Haha... oh my o.O  Like I said Yusa is eating you by the end of the CD. Whether the hypnotism really works or not, his voice becomes sexy enough to make it work anyway. Make no mistake, this CD gets incredibly eroi near the end.

The second track is a freetalk track. Haha, Yusa begins with saying that he thinks that it might be better not to listen to this track right after main part, and that he is sorry for 'breaking down your dream world' xD He talks a bit about that this CD is made to relax, but that he couldn't relax at all while recording this. I can imagine, it must be very weird to record a track like this.

Because they both have the word 'Kannou' in their title I feel that a comparison between this and Kannou Mukashi Banashi is unavoidable (review to follow, no worries). Both CDs are very different, but I can't help but feel that CD would have greatly benefited from Kannou Mukashi Banashi it's 3D recording technique. If Yusa's already sexy whispering would have actually sounded that close to my ear... I can only imagine the effects.

So yes, go and listen at your own risk. If you do please make sure to listen to it before you go to sleep, or indeed in a situation where you can fall asleep (on the couch or something). Chances that you will fall asleep are rather high. Also, earphones or headphones are an absolute must.

Meanwhile, I am looking forward too volume two...

24/10/2010

AZ

 AZ


Little Red Riding Hood (CV:Noto Mamiko) was eaten by the Bad Wolf, it is a story that everyone knows. In the same town that Little Red Riding Hood lived in lives a boy (CV: Hoshi Souichirou). He lost parents and older brother (CV: Ishida Akira) when he was still younger. A few years later, in order to find the truth about how this happened he travels into the forest at the edge of town. In his basket he carries blood red wine and a gun to shoot the bad wolf. But when he meets the wolf (CV: Hirata Hiroaki), he is different from how the stories portrayed him...



AZ is written by Ninomiya Ai (Are you Alice? Teidenmushi), and is a distorted version of Little Red Riding Hood or Akazukin in Japanese, which probably explains the title. I didn't think it could be darker than a story about Alice? trying to kill the white rabbit and discovering the warped relations between all of the characters and the first Alice, but this is definitely darker. Possibly because it doesn't have the humorous dialogue that the Alice series has, and definitely because of one specific theme.

AZ tell two intertwined stories, the one of little red riding hood and that of a boy that lives in the same town, and whose's parents have been killed by his older brother. Both stories follow the same pattern; there is a force at work that changed their story in history.

We all know the story of red riding hood; little girl goes into the forest and gets tricked and 'eaten' by the bad wolf. The most obvious interpretation of this is probably clear to anyone. Now we go and change a few things; Red Riding Hood kills her mother and the wolf is her father. Get the theme? It made me feel unwell at least.

Different but likewise for the boy. Throughout the story he likens himself with red riding hood and his brother with the wolf. Following the same pattern, it is not the wolf that killed anyone but red riding hood, meaning he himself killed his parents. How I love the memory loss plot device...



Ninomiya Ai delivers a dark and twisted fairytale with this. What still seems to be alright in the beginning becomes more and more warped near the end. I like the way both stories parallel each other, it makes certain realizations all the more chilling. This really makes me hope that she will re-write other fairy tales some day as well.

Oh and 'red wine' will probably look different to you for a while.

23/10/2010

方言恋愛 Vol.2

Hougen Renai Vol.3 is already on sale, so I'm loosing no time with reviewing this one so that I can move on to that one next!



方言恋愛 Vol.2



This volume has two new prefectures; Kyoto and Yamagata. The second one worried me a bit because I had heard that the dialect there is really incomprahensible, but it wasn't that bad.

In the first story the heroine comes to Kyoto for unknown reasons and meets Sawaragi Rento (CV: Yusa Kouji) who takes her in as a house maid. While Sawaragi is kind to everyone he meets, he also keeps people at a distance. During the story we learn why the heroine was in Kyoto in the first place, and what caused Sawaragi to be so distant.

Halfway through listening to this I thought 'they are not speaking in dialect at all!' forgetting that I lived in Kyoto for a year and completely got used to the intonation. Sawaragi his accent isn't too strong, his childhood friend Kaori (CV: Shindou Naomi) on the other hand had a 'high class' accent (the kind of speach Geisha's also still use).

In the second story the heroine is a photographer with very bad luck. She meets Kurashige Kouhei (CV: Taniyama Kisho), who is also cursed with bad luck where ever he goes. Kurashige his co-workers fear that the two of them together will unleash a storm of bad luck on the people around them, but when they are together the bad luck finally goes away. (minus x minus = plus, the opening words of the story).

I really liked this story! Kurashige his constant bad luck creates some funny moments, and his co-workers like commenting on that don't really help much it. It was a perfect lighthearted story to follow the somewhat heavier first one. Like I said, I heard that Yamagata dialect is really hard to understand, but not at all; it was very easy actually.



Comparing this one with the first volume... I can't really decide which one I like most. The stories is this one were more interesting, but I like the Seiyuu from the first one most (yes, I am biased :P). Preference of Seiyuu aside, I think this one was a bit more interesting.

21/10/2010

Full Score 02 -side Classic-

While we are at it, another review. I had so much fun with the first Full Score that I decided to do the second one as well.



Full Score 02 side Classic


 Starts of with Tsutomu trying to introduce who he is, but the focus is drawn to an interview with the half French blond haired narcissistic violinist Shindou (because French people are always blond -FAIL). Against all odds he is not rich, but in fact actually comes from a poor family. On the other hand the plain Tsutomu is the one that is the heir to a massive multi-billion company.

Shindou has an outspoken personality that would have fitted the 'rich prince' image but as said before, comes from a poor family. Somehow he managed to hide that up to now. The only one who knows is his childhood friend Tsutomu. Opposite to Shindou he has a soft and rather indecisive attitude.

Once again the story is about a music club at Freedom University. This time it is about the Classic Music Club, who also somehow ended up with only two members (actually all the girls quit because Shindou said he would be absent for a while, and all the guys quit because all the girls quit). Thus they start to think of ideas to recruit new members, resulting in a hilarious scene with Shindou and Tsutomu singing recruitment songs to famous classical tunes xD


The story is once once again not that memorable, but the conversations are. Shindou his dramatic fits and Tsutomu his 100% pure personality are just as much of a mis-match as those of the last CD. Speaking of volume one, it is referenced a couple of times. I somehow liked the first one more though, maybe because Baba was better at creating trouble xD

The last three tracks are random again. The first tells how Shindou and Tsutomu met each other in full fairytale fashion. After that they switch introducing who the characters were based on in a variety show fashion. Hyoudou Tsutomu was somehow derived from Beethoven (yes, they don't sound similar to me either). Shindou (神藤) was based in the wonderchild (神童, shindou) Mozart.

Aaaaand Miyano once again portrays a blond haired violinist xD I already guessed from the cover (one day I have to research exactly what percentage of the characters he portrayed have blond or bleached hair xD). I have to admit that I wasn't really listening to him though, all my attention went to Hirakawa-san~

*edit* only later I realized the similarities between Shindou and Tamaki (Ouran High). Both blond, half French, same personality and same voice actor. The only difference is that Tamaki is super rich while Shindou is incredibly poor.




Sadly there were no references to the Jazz volume. I'm still looking forward to it though! Compared with the first volume this one doesn't stand out that much. Hirakawa-san makes up for most of that, but I kept hoping he would suddenly show a whole different side xD

20/10/2010

黒薔薇アリス

Kurobara Alice


Is it obvious that I am attracted to anything that has 'Alice' in the title? If not let me warn you now; if somewhere in a title the words 'Alice' or "Wonderland' can be found you can be sure that it has my attention.

Same with this one. I didn't read the original manga, so little did I know that it has very little to do with anything 'Alice' and is actually... a vampire story. A bit of a surprise there, but it was still a very good listen.

The original manga is by Mizushiro Setona, and the Drama CD is the same as volume one of the original manga. Because there are more volumes this also means that it is only the beginning of the story, in fact it feels much more like a prologue.


The story begins on the 16th birthday of Anieska (CV: Yukana), who is thrilled to find out that her childhood friend -and now famous opera singer- Dimitri (CV: Nakamura Yuuichi) visits her birthday party, as he had told her he would be in Vienna. Even though Anieska has a fiancee, Theodore (CV: Terashima Takuma), Dimitri truly loves her. A fight between Theodore and Dimitri causes him to rush out of the place and he gets hit by a horse carriage due to not watching where he walks.

Everyone thinks Dimitri died, but he suddenly wakes up as if nothing is wrong. As he has, contrary to earlier reports, only minor injuries he is immediately released again to start rehearsing for his next performance. However, strange things start happening at the rehearsals; most of the people involved commit suicide or die of accidents. Not much later a mysterious figure suddenly tells Dimitri that he is now a vampire...

A few dramatic turns of events later (I'm not telling you, go and listen :P) the story suddenly switches to the present time, Japan. Where we meet the English teacher Kikukawa Asuka who has a secret relationship with Ikujima Kouya, one of her students. Their relationship however takes a turn for more drama as they become involved in a car crash. Asuka survives but Kouya sustains life threatening injuries. Just as everything seems lost a mysterious figure appears that promises Asuka to Save Kouya if she helps him with something.


As most of the story takes place in the past, and only the last minutes in the present this really feels like some sort of a prologue. Not to mention the drama ends with a cliffhanger. The cast themselves also comment on this in the cast talk, saying (or hoping) that there might be a second drama someday.

The story starts quite cheery, and that takes a rapid turn for dark drama and twisted feelings. Despite this I laughed out load at one of Dimitri his lines, simply because I never expected to hear it (if you really want to know, somewhere in a discussion where he is accused of 'doing all kinds of things to get higher up' he suddenly boldly responds with something along the lines of 'I don't do fellatio, it's not good for my throat'. I didn't see that one coming, and I was baking cake at the time so it was a really weird combination xD)

In my opinion there is a liiiitle bit too much drama overall, but it was still a very good story. I really hope that there will be a second volume someday, because this way you are literally suddenly left in the dark.

New Layout, and other things

Well the layout is still mainly green, very green actually, but it now also features Alice? and Alice from Are you Alice?.

I wanted to make a top image, and what better than someone listening to music? Plus the images actually come from the covers of Drama Cds (and bonus points for the fact that it is Alice 8D)

The side menu has also been revamped, with several new additions; links to audiowiki (a wiki page that lists Drama CDs), several Drama CD companies and series, a search function and a new and better list of labels.

I will probably tweak the layout a bit more, but for now it won't see any other major changes. Please let me know what you think,  or if you know something I could add~

19/10/2010

News: 方言恋愛 Vol.3 + 4 announced

Hougen Renai 3 was already anounced, but now a special page for volume 4 has also been created! More dialect goodness is coming our way~




Volume 3 has Fukuoka and Niigata. The character from Fukuoka, Kunitake Yoshito (CV: Ueda Yuuji) is a priest. The story seems to be about a high school student who comes to Fukuoka to see the university before her entrance exams. Kunitake decides to relieve her of her exam stress by (forcefully) dragging her around the place.

The Niigata character, Oumi Keigo(CV: Hirakawa Daisuke) is an actor. He meets the heroine on the shinkansen where she helps him with something, and to thank her he takes her to a museum and shows her around. According to the staff it is a 'story as pure as white snow".


Two reasons to look forward to this volume: Kyuushuu-ben, which I've found to be utterly incomprehensible at times (just listen to the voice samples, you'll understand what I mean), and Hirakawa Daisuke!! The staff remark about Hirakawa-san his story being so pure made me smile, His voice samples also sound very cute!





Volume 4 has Ibaraki and Nagano. The character from Ibaraki, Shibamori Yoshiyuki (CV: Maeno Tomoaki) is a station attendant. The heroine meets him when she forgot something is the train. Shibamori seems to rather timid and his hobby is gardening.


The Nagano character, Hodaka Souji(?) (CV: Hatano Wataru) is a mailman xD The heroine meets him on a vacation in Nagano. In the beginning there seem to be some misunderstandings but they grow closer as time passes.

The first thing I thought when I saw this volume was uniforms!! (>w<) *cough* Haha, as you can see both characters are in uniform, making me interested already. (am I easy to catch or what?). While I have heard Maeno-san his voice before I can't really recall Hatano-san his voice. I knew his name so I'm certain I must have heard hime before but... either way neither seiyuu can be used to catch me, but the dialect love must be spread (and they have uniforms) so I shall "sacrifice" myself and review it when it comes out.


I need to hurry and review volume 2 first...

18/10/2010

Captain HOOK love's lock.



An older series again. It took me a while to track this one down, but I finally found it. Written by Ninomiya Ai (IM Label) this is once again a very twisted story. However except for the title and a few names it has little to do with the story of peter pan.


The series has two entries: Get off track and Genetic Aberration, as well as a third image song album called Stay a Fake. It tells the story of several characters that reside inside the city "GIALOCK". Mostly the story tells about Shibako and Ichi, who are both searching for a girl called Wendy.

Captain HOOK love's lock is by no means an easy story. To begin with it is advised to read the story introduction to get an idea of the setting on the official website, otherwise chances are you'll be majorly confused throughout the story. But rest assured, even with said knowledge you're guaranteed to get confused.

The story takes place inside GIALOCK, which is basically a prison for a certain kind of prisoners that have been sentenced to death. The concept is that they can live freely, but execute each other. At some point though, someone discovered that a person can be (re)born from the strong memories and will of another...

Get of track begins with a recording of an interview with Wendy, who has just killed her parents. Or her younger brothers (she changes what she says every few sentences). She says that she did it to protect her younger brothers from the abuse of her parents, or that said abuse was the only gesture of love that they had. At the end of the fragment however, it turns out that while Wendy constantly talks about her 'brothers' she only had one younger brother.

As is often the case with Ninomiya Ai her works the story is told fragmented, in this case through recordings of interviews with the prisoners on the one hand and the current actions of Shibako and Ichi on the other hand. In between there is a story about Ichi raising a dog with puppies which is partly metaphorical for the rest of the story. Because not everything is told you have to put together the various fragments to understand what is going on, which is puzzling at best.
  
Genetic Aberration continues in the same fragmented style. And in my opinion adds more questions that that it solves. While it does explain Ichi his backstory, it also adds more questions on other points, especially on whether Wendy is still alive or not. On the whole I liked the story, even though it is very vague and left me with a whole bunch of questions. I suppose it was simply the atmosphere that was so great.


The voice acting was good, although Wendy (CV: Mitsuishi Kotono) her performance in particular got stuck in my head. Wendy sounds incredibly innocent, and either doesn't feel that she did something wrong, or is so insane by now that she no longer understands the implications of killing someone. Either way, how she talks about things is chilling.

The only real flaw for me is that the story is so fragmented that it is really hard to understand. What is going on in specific scenes isn't to hard to understand, but how everything is connected or the bigger picture is bloody different to figure out. This is definitely a story that you might want to listen and re-listen, just in order to make a little more sense out of it.

14/10/2010

Full Score 01 -side Rock-

 Full Score 01 -side Rock-

This is the first part of three CDs that have music as their main theme (the others are Classic and Jazz). It seems like the CDs will not be directly related, except for making vague, or less vague,  references to each other.

I somewhat expected the standard talk cd where a guy/boyfriend talks to you but with a musical theme. Turns out I was completely wrong . Both Characters interact with each other while Oki (the left one) also explains what is going on and Baba (the right one) generally creates more and more trouble.

Oki is a fourth year student at a music university and member of the K-on (music) club, his everyday life is mainly being ordered around by whims of his senpai, Baba Youhei (who was is actually a few years older but still hasn't graduated). Oki seems rather calm for someone who was in a rock band, Baba on the other hand has the outgoing personality you;d expect. Or rather, a completely impossible personality xD Throughout the story Baba keeps causing trouble that Oki tries to solve, or at least he is the one that has to clean up afterwards.

The story was simple and mostly consists of the conversations between the two, but it was hilarious to listen too. The amount of references (especially to music station music shows and Weekend Millionair quiz shows or various anime make everything even funnier. They also make references to the next volume of FULL SCORE, both in the story and in the -appropriately named- rather strange preview. I'm glad that they didn't (ab)use Oki his backstory (he was in a band before but quit) to create too much drama, this way the drama stayed light and funny without any mood whiplashes.

The last three tracks have nothing to do with the rest of the story and are a mix of randomness and music knowledge. And it turns out that Baba was based on Bach... I'm missing the link between a famous classical composer and the half delinquent drummer but hey xD (well, their names do sound similar). Oki was based on a Japanese composer who's name I've forgotten xD.

Looking at the cast names (Yusa Kouji and Yoshino Hiroyuki) I would have expected the roles to be reversed. Probably because I've mainly heared Yoshino act out delinquent and/or snobbish characters. So I was pleasently surprised by Yoshino his sweet kouhai voice. Yusa's 'rockstar imitation' that he does somewhere in the drama on the other hand is incredibly annoying and hilarious at the same time.



I'm looking forward to the next volume, but most off all I want to hear the Jazz one (I love Jazz :3  )

13/10/2010

ふしぎ工房症候群 EPISODE 1 & 2

More by coincidence ans luck than skill I recently discovered a Drama series that was releasd a couple of years ago. I randomly came across the cover and was somehow attracted to it. Only later I researched what it was actually about, and it is one of the greatest treasures I've found.


 

The series in question is ふしぎ工房症候群 (fushigi koubou shoukougun) which translates into 'mysterious workshop syndrome'. The mysterious workshop in the title is what binds all these stories together. The shop can only be found by someone who is lost and really needs it, and is run by an old man, and sells 'happiness'

Each story is told by a (high profile) voice actor who both tells the story and acts out certain characters. The story is told from the perspective of the main character, and mostly centres on that person his thoughts. In each story the main character is going through a troubled period or trauma, and the mysterious workshop becomes the turning point in their lives.

As the characters visit the workshop in despair or depression, many of the topics are quite heavy. However because the workshop does sell happiness (almost) all stories have a warm ending. I wouldn't really say happy end, but in a way they do find their happiness.

The first story is told by Suwabe Junichi, and is about a man who lost his girlfriend in a car accident. After that he is so broken by the loss that he loses the will to live and quits his job. In the complete despair over her loss he at some points stumbles upon the 'fushigi koubou'. Inside an old man asks him what his order is, and tells him that the workshop sells 'happiness'. The man eventually orders 'his dead girlfriend'. To his surprise he actually finds her when gets back home...

The second story is about an entirely different man, who has a fear of women. While he somehow managed to get through university, his life turns into a living hell in the first week he starts working. After an especially horrible evening he also stumbles upon workshop, and asks to 'cure his fear'. The old man tells him to meet a certain girl, and gives him a list with instructions as to which places to go. What ensues is probably one of the most awkward dates in history.

While both stories may seem somewhat simple, the ending has a slight twist, and because you are actually inside the character's head the emotional impact is very high. The voice acting is -as expected from such high profile voice actors- excellent, and it is interesting to hear the different kind of voices they use. Especially their 'old man voice' can lead to amusing moments.

Especially the first story was very emotional, Suwabe-san does a great job at portraying the loneliness and despair the main character feels over losing his girlfriend. In the second volume the despair and panic of the second man are also well portrayed, to the point where I started feeling uncomfortable as well. On the other hand the awkward situations during their 'date' also made me smile a little. In both cases the end however is very sweet.

A little detail that I liked was that the second album refers to the first one, the two characters were working at the same company. While it is never explicitly said that they were, the main character in the second volume mentions 'a co-worker that quit his job because he had lost his lover'.




The original series spans a total of 12 volumes, and a second season has another 7 volumes. Finally 5 of the original stories were remade into actual dramas. I've listened to all of the original stories, and am now halfway through the second season. Not only are all of the voice actors well known and fantastic, but the stories are well made and do a great job of making you go through all of the feelings the main character feels. One of the best series if you feel like listening to a more serious drama :)

10/10/2010

方言恋愛 Vol.1

I am slacking, as always. That doesn't mean that I haven't been listening to any drama's lately. On the contrary, I've listened to a whole bunch of them, but that I'm not writing about it. But I bring new Reviews! :'D

After wondering for ages about which drama I should write I finally settled down on *drumroll*




方言恋愛 Vol.1

Hougen Renai! Which translates into something as 'Dialect Love', which is exactly what it is. There are two reasons why I chose this drama 1: everything is spoken in dialect, 2. 'you' actually have a voice.

But lets start at the beginning. Hougen Renai tells two stories, each one takes place in a different part of Japan. The whole charm of the series is that the dialect of the location where the story supposedly takes placed is used. Most drama are in standard Japanese, and hearing characters talk to each other in dialect feel quite refreshing really. (other than hearing someone talk kansai for the humor effect every once in a while).


The first story is about a young OL that moves from Tokyo to Aichi for her work, and meets Mase Akihito (CV: Sakurai Takahiro), who happens to be working 6 part time jobs at once.  She's having some problems with adjusting to the dialect so he offers to teach her words and expressions. 

In the second story a girl comes back to Kouchi to get her drivers licence. Exactly why she'd go all the way to a prefecture where she only lived for one year in the past just to get her drivers licence is a little beyond me, but let's not question that. There she meets her childhood friend Hirose Yuuichi (CV: Ono Daisuke) who now happens to be an instructor at the driving school she visits. Convenient plot indeed.


The first thing that surprised me is that 'you', the listener, are actually given a voice. I've become completely used to a character talking on his own and little pauses in which you apparently say something, but here you actually talk. And you sound very cute :3
Other than that, it has Sakurai Takahiro and Ono Daisuke, who I both love~  Sakurai his dialect sounds very natural to me, I still overlap his voice with Alice though. Ono Daisuke sounds... very different when talking in dialect? Or maybe this is just one of the first times that I've heard him where he is not acting out the 'perfect boyfriend' (well technically he still is, but to a lesser degree). Either way I liked his performance :3


I liked Sakurai his story most, but I may be biased :P
Really recommended if you'd like to hear something else than standard Japanese every once in a while. The stories on there own were not really that special, but entertaining none the less.

New Series: 週刊添い寝CD















Black Butterfly (the Company that also did Brother Android and Dolly) is starting a new CD series: 週刊添い寝CD (shuukan soine CD). In other words, the weekly sleeping together CD. No I am not kidding you.

The concept is that every week they release a new CD in which a boyfriend stays by your side until you fall asleep. They advise you to listen to it with a headphone or earphones. Meaning that the characters will probably really whisper into your ear.

Due to previous experiences with dramas that also advise that due to the characters talking into your ear or really close by (I am looking at you, Kannou Mukashi Banashi), I doubt I'll be sleeping much~ None the less, the first CD starts of with Hirakawa Daisuke, so I am interested (haha).

For now there are four volumes planned,. Even though all four voice actors are already known, the artwork for the last two hasn't been released yet. Hmmm.

- Vol.1: Hirakawa Daisuke
- Vol.2: Yasumoto Hiroki
- Vol.3: Tachibana Shinnosuke
- Vol.4: Terashima Takuma

The first CD releases on 2010.11.19, with the next one being released one weak later and so on. More info can be found on the official site.

06/09/2010

Yandere Heaven ~Makoto Gakuen Affiliated Hostpital Chapter~


I already did a review of the first CD here, this is the second CD and in my opinion it is even better than the first. The sheer fact that Hirakawa Daisuke is one of the voice actors made this an absolut must for me, and he didn't let me down! Again, if you don't know what yandere is you might want to stay away from it, especially because this one is even extremer than the first.

This times round you are a nurse that has just started working in Makoto Hospital. The CD once again has two characters: Takaaiki, the  doctor who is in charge of training you, and Sakae, a patient (who isn't really sick but just there for some reason btw). Takaaki tries to keep you away from Sakae from the start, and that is where the trouble starts.

Like I said, this CD is even extremer than the first. For one because being in a hospital gives some interesting options, but also because of Hirakawa Daisuke's voice acting. Oh my, his voice acting (>w<) but more on that later.
The one thing that annoyed me a little with this CD was the main character's (ie: your own) actions. Even after she's been warned numerous times not to go to Sakae and he has revealed his intentions she happily goes to visit him, even lets him drive her home. In the first CD the main chara was just trying to live her life (go to school and her part time job) but this time round you make some rather illogical decisions...

All is forgiven with Hiraka Daisuke's voice acting though. I've always thought that yandere or characters with a hidden (dark) side suit him best and oh man, was I right. His normal voice is very sweet an lovable, but when he goes yandere I get chills down my spine. But then when I thought that he was already in compleet yandere mode he takes it even further. I thought I'd die from fangirling xD

The cast talk was pretty interesting too, especially because Hirakawa-san goes yandere again in the end~



So yes, if you liked the first one, or if you like yandere in general: get out there and buy this CD. NOW xD

05/09/2010

Seiza Kareshi Series vol.3 Starry☆Sky ~Pisces~


The Starry☆Sky series introduces 12 ''boyfriends"to you, and each CD has a different character> Their personality is based on the zodiac horoscope, hence the title which translates into something like 'zodiac boyfriend'. This is the third CD and introduces Nanami Kanata, his character is based on the image of the Pisces.

Kanata's story actually begins with him confessing to you. He is so bashfull it made me laugh, and it was a brilliant ice breaker. (yes even with drama CD's you need to get used to each other xD). Despite being very bashfull, Kanata actually acts very together. As long as you don't embarras him you've got a very get together boyfriend.

He also isn't as lovey-dovey as the other two (all the characters in the series have a bit of a habit of emphathizing that you are boyfriend-girlfriend) which is a good thing in my opion, your going out feels more natural. His image bgm is also rather interesting, you'll get my point when you listen to it ( ' ~ ' )

The fact that you are childhood friends isn't really shown in the drama cd though. In one of the final tracks you talk a bit about it, but other than that the fact is left unspoken. Same goes for the fact that he has a weak body, he only mentions it once in a matter of fact manner. If you've played the game (Starry Sky in Spring) you know that you are childhood friends and that despite getting into fight a lot he actually has a weak body. It would have ben nice if it would have been shown more in the CD, but it is not like you are missing out on anything. It might actually be better that you are not constantly worrying about him.

Kanata really made me laugh at some points, and the first to actually make me talk back. Although my reactions were quite different from the actual reactions in the CD (>v<) It is a light hearted but sweet CD, and one of my favorites in the series.

04/09/2010

Seiza Kareshi Series vol.2 - Starry☆Sky - Aquarius –


The Starry☆Sky series introduces 12 ''boyfriends"to you, and each CD has a different character. Their personality is based on the zodiac horoscope, hence the title which translates into something like 'zodiac boyfriend'. This is the second volume, the character this time is Amaha Tsubasa, who is based on the image of the Aquarius.

Like the first CD the tracks show you going on a date, celebrating your birthday, making phone calls etc. Tsubasa's character is completely different though, he is very lively almost bordering on childish, which is something he is always worried about. Throughout the CD he is pre-occupied with not acting childish, as a result of which he does seem somewhat childish of course. The energy is refreshing though, too bad it also gave me a feeling like I was interacting with a cute little brother rather than my boyfriend (^-^;;) The few moments he is not worrying about acting childish or grown up is matury rating soars sky high though.

There are some really sweet moments, I especially like the birthday track in which he gives you 'his future'as a present. A bit of a heavy present but the way he gave it was very sweet. The track where you take a walk in the park and he starts talking about the future after seeing a family with kids was also suprisingly sweet, as well as finally showing a more mature side.
 
The voice acting is very lively, his way of talking sort of gave me the image of a cross over between a brat and the kind of people you find in shibuya though xD But like I said the energy is refreshing and addictive.

03/09/2010

Seiza Kareshi Series vol.1 - Starry☆Sky ~Capricorn~


The Starry☆Sky series introduces 12 ''boyfriends"to you, and each CD has a different character> Their character is based on the zodiac horoscope, hence the title which translates into something like 'zodiac boyfriend'. This is the first volume, the character Tomoe Yoh, who is based on the image of the Capricorn.

I don't know whether this would have been the best character to start with, because Yoh sort of clings to you. Though that may just be my personal dislike of characters who dote over you so much, as well my experience with the related games. The fact that Yoh is half French and uses some badly pronounce french didn't really make it better either. If you like overly sweet characters though, this might be a good CD for you.

The different tracks show you going on a date, celebrating your birthday, various phone calls (wake up call and goodnight call) a lecture on something related to the character,  as well as the character reading your horoscope. All of them are of course tooth ache inducingly sweet.

Starry☆Sky has become a rather large franchise with the character cd's, drama cd's featuring multiple characters, games, and soon an anime as well. If you want to get the most out of it I highly recommend at least playing the games as well though, first because they are quite fun and second because combining the various media makes the characters much deeper. You'll see new sides of the characters when you listen to/ play more of the material.

Normally I'm quite a fan of Midorikawa Hikaru but... well Yoh is just so sweet it starts to turn me off. He did an amzing job on the super sweet voice, it was just slightly wasted on me (^-^;;)

Starry☆Sky is probably what introduced me to the concept of a character on the drama cd talking as if you were there. That means the character talks to you, and there are slight pauses in which you apparently say something back, and from the reaction of the character you know what you apparently just said. That was you can go on dates and that kind of things. I admit, it sounds rather weird and the first time I quit half-way through because I just couldn't take it seriously and kept laughing. Once you get used to it though it is a lot of fun.

02/09/2010

Yandere Heaven ~Makoto Gakuen High School Chapter~


I'll admit,  yandere might be my guilty pleasure. Which is when I found this cd I had to give it a try. If you don't know what yandere is, you might want to stay away from it though. (Short explanation; 'yandere' is a type of character who's love grows rather obsessive and often violent. or murdrous).

There are two characters in this CD: Kakeru, your little stepbrother and Atsushi, a senpai from school. The story starts with Kakeru waking you up because you are late and as both of you exit the house you run into Atsushi-senpai who is waiting to pick you up. The two of them immediately start to fight over you, but at this point everything is still relatively normal. As the story progresses though, the two of them grow more and more obsessive untill in the final two tracks the story splits into a Kakeru and Atsushi side.


Yandere is something you should keep away from if you don't like it, and possibly also if you don't know what it is. The CD sort of crosses the line at places. If you do like yandere characters this is the CD for you. It takes the concept and runs with it. Both characters sound completely normal in the beginning, but when the yandere bgm kicks in and their voice chances things start to get reeeeaaaly interesting.

In short; must buy if you like yandere!

01/09/2010

Brother Android - 01. Ryuu


Brother Android is a series by Black Butterfly that is based on the concept of having an android that acts as your brother, exactly as the title implies. It is a Talk CD series, so basically the character (in this case; Ryuu) talks to you as if you were there.

The home page shortly itroduces the background situation, a few years in the future 'maid' and 'butler' androids are widely in use and people have come to interact almost exclusively with these androids, as a result of which they have become egoistical. Thus the BB Company has developed an android with human feelings that is designed to help and raise you: the Brother Type.

Ryuu is the first model, a kind and tolerant older brother. The CD starts with you booting up Ryuu who introduces himself and warns you that his emotions might still be a little unstable, but no worries. From there on the tracks show scenes from your life with Ryuu, who in the beginning is still a little clueless about various emotions. Later on though, his feelings develop into something more than just brotherly (come on, you saw one that coming)


The concept is fairly simple, and done pretty well I think. Ryuu tries his best to act like a proper brother (though he spoils you a bit) which is sweet to listen too. Though near the end he suddenly turn almost yandere, which was a pleasant surprise for me. If you don't like that sort of things don't worry though, the ending is sweet. Ryuu's not understanding certain emotions is obviously played so that you know he feels more for you, although he himself hasn't noticed that yet. I feel like they have missed a chance by not putting you in a hilarious situation as a result of it though, instead it results in a lot of sweet moments though.

While I've heard much better talk CDs, it was interesting enough to make me want to try out the other characters available.

20/08/2010

Are you Alice?


Are you Alice? was the first Drama CD series that truly got me hooked. Ninomiya Ai her brilliant script writing and an excellent cast had me addicted from the first track onwards. Are you Alice? is a (very) warped version of Alice in Wonderland, that starts with a male Alice wandering into wonderland.

We start with a young man wandering into wonderland, but not without commenting that the entrance sign ("only 100kiloliter until Wonderland") is lame. Once there he meets the Cheshire Cat, who addresses him as "Alice". Though he at first denies the name, he agrees to be called Alice. Seconds later he is attacked by 'regrets' only to be saved by the Mad Hatter, who somewhat begrudgingly takes him to meet the Queen of Hearts -who, ironically, is also male-
   The Queen of Hearts explains that everything in this world must follow the rules, and that these rules are part of the 'Game to kill the White Rabbit'. Alice? now possesses the most important ability in this game; the ability to kill the White Rabbit. After Bargaining for status and money in exchange for killing the White Rabbit, Alice? agrees to participate in the game, and so the story starts. However, we soon find out that Alice? isn't the first 'Alice' to have come to wonderland, and that not everthing is as it seems...


The story telling switches between rather dark, and brilliant non-nonsensical and ironical humor. And it does this very well, it never feels forced. Especially the nonsensical parts truly feel like 'wonderland'. The characters too, have great personalities that have their own quirks while being firmly based on their original counterparts. The story itself evolves nicely, and you can be sure to expect a few plot-twists that leave you thoroughly surprised. Everyone must follow the rules and fulfill their role, but not all characters have the role you initially expect them to have, and most of them have a second agenda they intend to follow.

The cast is absolutely brilliant. Alice (Sakurai Takahiro) is incredibly cynical and egoistical, and the Mad Hatter (Hirata Hiroaki) is probably equally cynical and has a 'I-don't-care-about-the-world' attitude. While these two feature the most along with the Cheshire Cat (Inoue Kazehiko) The rest of the cast is very good too, to the point where it is a pity that you don't see more of certain characters.

The main series has three parts: Drink me, Check Mate, and Call me. After that comes Lost End, which is exactly what the title implies. Released simultaneously with these entries are three drama cd's that are called "Tea Party" which while not directly related to the main story feature more characters from Wonderland. After the series ended the 'unbirthday scraps' were released, each unbirthday scrap focuses on the back story of a specific character and, in my opinion, are must listen material because it really fleshes out the characters. Recently all of these have been re-released as a 'classical edition'.
    As if this wasn't enough, there is tons of bonus material in the form of tokuten and other special releases. These are usually much less serious, or rather, completely idiotic in a good sense of the world. Played completely for laughs, the characters keep their original personality (though sometimes a bit exaggerated) while the non-nonsensical side of wonderland truly shines. A manga is alse being published, and two comic anthologies have been published as well.

If you like dark fairy tales, Are you Alice is for you. Though there is a considerable amount of (cynical) humor, the story is quite dark to the point of making me shiver, especially near the end when the ties between all the characters become clear.

19/08/2010

Welcome!

Welcome to Sweet Voices!

This is a blog dedicated to introducing various Japanese Drama CD (series). Though I have attempted to listen to Drama CDs before, I seriously started listening to Drama CDs in the summer of 2009. Before that my Japanese wasn't good enough to fully understand what was being said, but more importantly it was a rather boring summer and I needed something to do or listen to while going outside.

Being a fan of all things Alice in Wonderland, the first series that truly made me addicted was Are you Alice? - a brilliantly twisted version of Alice in Wonderland, in which Alice is male. After listening to the entire series, I started looking for other series and have been listening to various Drama's ever since.

Besides trying to explain what Drama is, I'll be introducing and reviewing random Drama CDs that I have been listening too. While I listen to a broad range of things, one of the only things that you probably won't find here are BL CD's. For all the weird stuff I listen too, I've never really been interested in them.

As this blog is only dedicated to introducing/reviewing Drama CDs, please don't ask me where to find or download them. I'd much rather you'd support the makers by buying the actual CDs through Amazon, CD Japan, Yes-asia or any other import site you prefer. ('-'*)⌒゚~*☆ウフフ♪