Aohige ~Itan no Kizoku~

青ひげ～異端の貴族～

Company: Momo & Grape
Based on: Bluebeard / Gilles de Rais
Released: 2011.05.03


This story is part of momo&grapes their "men's only" series, meaning that all characters are voiced by male seiyuu. The story is loosely based on the story "Bluebeard" by Charles Pernault (which in return is sometimes believed to have been based on the story of Gilles de Rais).

This story starts as a romance, however it turn much darker as it progresses. Jeanne Asran (CV: Hino Satoshi) is about to be married to count Gilles de Rais (CV: Yusa Kouji). At the time of the wedding they have never met before, but the marriage is a happy one.

However around the time of their marriage, a serial killing involving young boys occurs. Because Gilles gives scholarships to young boys in the area the head of the investigation, Lance (CV: Sakurai Takahiro) suspects Gilles as the culprit. When Henri (CV: Kaji Yuuki) one of the students that received a scholarship and also worked at the castle where Gilles and Jeanne reside disappears, Lance his suspicions grow stronger and stronger.

The end of the story holds a few surprises, so I won't say anything about it.

The voice acting in this piece is wonderful. Like someone at Hibiki already said, especially Hino as Jeanne did a very good job. His voice is absolutely believable as a woman. The story alone is touching enough, but with the incredible voice acting it really becomes very emotional. This is the first drama cd in a long time that really got me to cry. Near the end the tears were literally pouring down my face ･ﾟ･(ﾉД`;)･ﾟ･

Another interesting thing that has to do with the recording of the voices and sounds is that they've made good use of stereo sounds. When to characters are having a conversation you can hear that one is standing more to the left and the other more to the right, which helps to give the impression that you are really there and watching the situation unfold.

In stark contrast with the emotional content and music of the main drama the cast comment suddenly starts with a much too happy sounding Yusa. All members do their best to make a serious comment, however most of them (especially Yusa) are just to giggly to make it sound serious. Which is a good thing, because it lifts your spirits after this emotional and somewhat depressing work. (Also, Hino says he was uncertain about his own acting as a woman, especially in the beginning when he had to play the 10 year old Jeanne).


Conclusion:
Like I said this is a very emotional drama. However it is absolutely worth listening. Both Yusa and Hino did a wonderful job as Gilles and Jeanne respectively. Not that the other seiyuu their performance was any less, but the performance of these two really stand out (they are, after all, the main characters).