Uwasaya

噂屋

Company: Omega Label
Based on: Manga
Released: 2010.07.02


Uemura Takitarou is a fairly normal high schooler, except that he is also a genius cosplayer that can transform himself into almost anyone. When one day his one and only friend Kusakami Asami (CV: Koshimizu Ami) is killed by the 'Night Blindness Man', a serial killer who gouges out the eyes of his victims, he is recruited by his schoolmate Tominaga Hana to join the UC, a company that manipulates rumours and urban legends to solve crimes.

UC, also called 'Uwasaya' (the rumour shop) has only a few employees: the mysterious company president Saekusa Kudan (CV: Fujiwara Keiji), the hacker Kurusu Masutatsu (codename 'channeler'. CV: Hino Satoshi), the fortune teller Koizumi Nao (codename: Sleepless diviner. CV: Matsuoka Yuki), model Tominaga Hana (codename: debate magician. CV: Tanaka Rie).

This drama CD has three cases, of which the first one is the Night Blindness Man. To draw out the killer they decide to spread another rumour: the ghost of the killers latest victim is walking the streets asking people to giver her eyes back. Takitarou dresses up as the ghost so that people really see her, and so they draw out the actual killer.

In the second case UC is asked to spread a scary rumour about a horror video game so that the sales will go up. Takitarou decides to dress up as 'the woman in red', one of the characters from the game. However it turns out that someone has already been dressing up like her, because everyone Takitarou tries to scare with his outfit has already seen the woman in red. And then Takitarou sees the ghost woman for himself...

In the final case UC gets a job by phone from an unknown customer, who asks them to put an end to the killing of crows that appears to be occurring all over town. With the help of channeler his hacking skills they manage to find the culprit, but their client turns out to be someone unexpected as well...

I expected this to be only based on the whole rumour/urban legend concept, but in case two and three supernatural events also occur. Meaning horror, meaning one scared me. The sound effects are particularly effective. And the sound of crows has always been rather eerie, but in this story even more so, and I will never look at crows in the same way again.

All three are good short stories though, even though the second one is so very sad. The first one is more like an introduction, and the second one also has a glimpse of Nao her past in it, which leaves the third story as the best one in my opinion. I'm just sad that I can't see what Takitarou dresses up like, haha.


Conclusion:
This had a bit more supernatural events than I expected (if I had know that I would have reviewed this for Halloween as well...) but it was still a very good CD. Just a lot scarier than I expected. I'd love to hear more, and I know that there was also a radio drama for the series, but until I find that I suppose the manga will have to do.