18/03/2012

Weekly News Post

Life is getting in the way of everything. So for the rest of this month I'll stick to one review every two days. After that things should return to normal.



Oujisama (warai)
A rough sketch of the tenth prince has been released. To the right is the prince from the Swam Lake. The quote beneath his picture on the site says "*cough*cough*.... Aaaah, if only you would bungee jump for me right this instant this nauseous feeling would calm down....".

Our prince has just reached marriageable age, and has decided to become engaged with his current girlfriend, but he is still searcher for a girl who will swear "true love" to him. He is rather sickly, and tends to cough up blood as soon as things are not in his favour. He loves to make flashy entrances, and whenever something is going on, a host club style BGM tends to play...

Next week they'll also publish a few excerpts from the scenario, so we'll get to see more of what he is like.



Perabu!
After two months of radio silence, The Perabu official site has been updated with two 4kom comics and a message saying that we "should look forward to info about a new release". So I suppose the series will continue? I wonder what kind of scenario they will have this time?


15/03/2012

Kannou Jikan Vol.7: Haru no Sanka to Kamikakushi no Iwaya

 感応時間7~春の賛歌と神隠しの岩屋~

Company: Hituzigumo
Based on: Original
Released: 2012.03.02
Official Site: http://hituzigumo.com/kannnou/


It probably isn't much of a secret that I am not really a fan of this series. But with Hirakawa-san voicing this, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to listen to it. I'm no longer sure about how I should summarize this series, except for claiming that it is probably the most perverted drama CD series around (although that position is being threatened by Diabolik Lovers)

Hirakawa-san voices the role of a demon who has locked you (some sort of goddess/deity) in a cave. However, once a year he comes to visit you, which is when the passion of your love warms the very earth and winter turns into spring when your sacred powers allow spring to start.

Hirakawa-san uses a deeper voice than for most of his roles for this. There is a short fragment in the beginning where he uses his normal voice, but when he takes the role of the demon his voice is much deeper.

He opens the cave you are sleeping in and takes you outside, and immediately the snow around you starts to melt and flowers start to blossom. Of course, he does make effort to, errr, 'warm you up'. At some point it even starts raining (a 'spring shower') but apparently it is already warm enough to just continue what he was doing. There was just one thought that haunted me this entire CD:

"Am I even conscious?"

And I don't think I was. Between describing how the snow is smelting and spring is starting every two sentences, one of the things he keeps saying is that "it is time to wake up". With that thought constantly haunting me in the background, I couldn't even enjoy Hirakawa-san his kisses. Which were very good btw.

Something I missed in this CD was a sound used for hypnosis. There is the sound of dripping water and the rain for a while, but it is not the same.

Hirakawa-san seems to be slightly embarrassed in the freetalk btw, not quite knowing what he should say about this work (although he calls it "slightly perverted" at some point). But he does hope that we will support the series in the future as well. It must be so weird to voice something like this...


Conclusion;
Personally, I really don't like this CD. Oh Hirarin hs kisses were good, no mistake about that. But he talks a bit too much about nature - like every other sentence- and the fact that I kept wondering whether I (I mean the listener, or, ah you get the point) was conscious put me off so much that nothing -not even Hirarin using a deep voice and sounding sexy- could save it.


request: If there is someone who really liked the CD, would you be willing to write a review for it so I can post it? I am hopelessly biased against this series, so I think another review would be fair.

13/03/2012

Nego Danshi Vol.3 and 4



ね語男子 其の三      ね語男子 其の四  



Company: Wavemaster Happies
Based on: Cats
Released: 2012.02.22


Nego Danshi is a series about cats. Or more accurately, it shows of scenes out of the life of a cat, from the perspective of that cat. Or put even more simply: Nego Danshi has seiyuu acting like cats. Each CD has 4 different tracks, 3 of them depicting 3 different cats ('lone wolf', a cute cat, and a cat in his last moments) and an extra. Vol.3 is voiced by Sugiyama Noriaki, and vol.4 by Naruse Makoto.

The scenario in these two CD's is slightly different from the first two. The first track starts similar (even with the exact same lines) but the story is slightly different. The music is a bit different as well. It turns out that our so called 'lone wolf' is just a house cat imagining he is a hard boiled type.

In the second track you come home crying because you had a hard time at work and your cat tries to get in your room. Which fails, to much hilarity (and the cat crashing into your door).

The third track is still largely similar to the first two CD's, but each CD has it's own special track. In this track the seiyuu once again turn into cats after they finish their recording. At the end of the track you can hear the seiyuu meow-ing in a few different ways.

Each Seiyuu acts the tracks in his own way, which leads to different interpretations. And sometimes quite some difference in length between the tracks sometime. Despite the lines being virtually the same Naruse his tracks are 2 whole minutes(!) longer that Sugiyama's.

Overall, I liked the Naruse his version better this time. Mostly because he sounds much cuter as a cat (although Sugiyama his scare reaction in track one was funnier. In track 2 they were similar, with (Naruse sounding cuter). I wasn't to impressed with track 3 in both cases. Sugiyama his version is just a cat with a cold, instead of dying. Naruse sounded more like he was actually dying, but neither of them even come close to the performance in vol.1.

Naruse even wins in the Omake, his scenario was simply funnier. Especially the line "apparently this came out last month as well, and it was relatively popular").


Conclusion:
I'm happy that they changed the scenario's a little, if it were exactly the same again it would be much less interesting. Naruse-san makes an incredibly cute cat, but Sugiyama-san is (in my opinion) just so so. From these two vol.4 is my favourite one, but overall vol.1 still wins hands down.

09/03/2012

Weekly News Post

Apparently, blogger just decided to change the comment format, so now you can actually reply to someone. Which is nice, accept that I keep forgetting that. Lalala~  Oh well.



Sleep x 2
A second vol for Sleepx2 has already been anounced. Our "sleep guide" for the second one will be Miki Shinichirou. The blog post announcing it explains that they hope that this series "becomes something that you can also give as a present", which is why the jacket has a simple flower design. Vol. 2 will be released on 2012.06.29.



Kindan Kyuuketsuki
Only a few days left until the release, but since a few days a preview movie is up on the official site. It sounds like Maximilian will be less of a sadist, but that he can rival the Diabolik Lovers guys in ero. Some of the lines in that preview movie are killing.

08/03/2012

Koisuru Lesson Series: Hibino Yoshimi no Natural Lesson

 恋するレッスンシリーズ「日々野芳美のナチュラルレッスン」


Company: Broccoli
Based on: Original
Released: 2010.08.25
Official Site: http://www.broccoli.co.jp/cd/sp/lovelesson/


Koisuru Lesson is a series in which you date your instructor/teacher. Each vol. has a different character that teaches something (cooking, violin, English, etc). The setting is that you are both a student and the girlfriend of said character. There are six CD's in total, divided in pairs, and the characters make cameo appearances in the CD they are paired with.

This CD has Hibino Yoshimi (CV: Ishida Akira) who is a popular painter. Despite his young looks he is actually 30. Th heroine her mother was his teacher at highschool, and he owes much of his popularity to her efforts. Her mother asked Hibino to help the heroine with painting, and that is how you met.

The CD starts with Kokushiro Ayumu (CV: Kakihara Tetsuya) ringing Hibino his doorbell. Ayumu is the son of the owner of an art gallery, and came to ask whether his new work is ready. Ayumu is curious about your paintings, so he comes into the atelier to look. Hibino (with your help) teases him a little when he comes inside.

Ayumu talks about Hibino his paintings getting more colour. Hibino himself jokes about it being because he might have found a girlfriend. Of course, it turns out the listener is the rumoured girlfriend.

Hibino takes you on a date/ outdoor class to a museum, where he explains a bit about several paintings. I like the quiet atmosphere that they managed to create during your date.

On your way home it starts to rain, so you have to shelter somewhere. This is the best part of the CD. Hibino seems to worry a lot about being seen together with you, so you start to tease him and ask how much he likes you. And you give each answer a grade. Surprisingly, he actually tries to get a better rating, eventually not even caring about the fact that you are seen when he kisses you.

The most brilliant point is probably Hibino worrying about your parents finding out you are dating, and you replying that your mother already knows. In fact, she was the one who urged you to confess.

Hibino his worrying about whether he is too old for you sort of annoyed me. Although I'm not sure how old you are supposed to be (it kind of makes a difference whether you are 18 or 25). But it is clear that he really likes you.

There isn't much difference between his attitude as a teacher and as your lover. But you get private lessons, so I suppose that is acceptable. He was surprisingly willing to try and get a higher score for his love confessions though, even though he keeps saying he is too old for skinship or saying how much he likes you all the time.


Conclusion:
I enjoyed this CD much more than I thought I would, which is mostly thanks to the rating of his love confessions ("40 points? that was worth at least 50"). His final sentence is also amazing. But I still don't like Ishida Akira as a boyfriend, sorry.

06/03/2012

Amemakura Vol.1: Subaru

On behalf of me constantly falling asleep while listening to this, I find this pretty difficult to review. Even after listening to it at least 4 times some parts are a little...hazy.

雨枕 01.昴

Company: Hituzigumo
Based on: Original
Released: 2011.12.14
Official Site: http://hituzigumo.com/amemakura/


Amemakura literally translates into "rain pillow", it is a series in which your boyfriend talks you to sleep, while on the background you hear the soft sound of the rain outside. I can't give a better summary. It's better than it sounds.

Your boyfriend for this CD is Subaru (CV: Tachibana Shinnosuke), who was born and raised in America (born in New York, raised in California), but recently came to Japan as the result of a fight with his father. Not that you hear any of this in the CD. He has quite an ego and is used to getting everything he wants.

The story starts with you and Subaru in his room, after you had a date. It is Christmas Eve, and coincidently also his birthday. You've just made camomile tea before going to sleep, which is apparently a habit of Subaru. He asks you to lie down with him, and talks a bit about the day you spend together.

In track two the actual talking-you-to-sleep begins, although the first track is already relaxing. Just like the first Kannou Jikan CD, there are a few moments in which he tells you to breath deeply, and tense and relax your muscles (which btw, really helps to relax). The soft rain sounds also help, although they are not present all the time.

He gives you a head massage in the third track. I think. Every time I listened to this I kept drifting off and falling asleep, so this is part is really hazy. He first talks about how your body is really soft and warm (pervert xD). And then he suddenly switches to massaging your head and neck. Hmmm, ok.

After that we switch to a rather original way of counting sheep. When he was a little kid his parents were almost always away. Even though they would always phone to wish him goodnight, he sometimes felt lonely and couldn't sleep. One of his sisters (apparently he has 12 siblings?!) would tell him a bedtime story about little sheep, which he now tells you. It is really cute, every sheep gets it's own little story.

When you've finally fallen asleep, Subaru notices the rain has changed into snow. He thinks about waking you up, but decides not to. Instead he looks forward to your excited face in the morning.

What puzzles me about this CD is that you are both supposed to be in high school, but Subaru talks about you living together. Exactly what kind of life are you living?? He doesn't really sound like someone in high school either, but oh well.

The way Tachibana-san speaks in unnaturally slow and calm. It is still enjoyable, and definitely relaxing, but unnatural if you think about it. I also noticed that there are some unusually long pauses between what he says. This was in no way distracting, though it did occasionally make me wonder whether I had fallen asleep again or there really was nothing being said at certain points. Don't get me wrong, though, neither of these points are really distracting.

Despite the CD being called amemakura, the rain bgm is not always there. At the beginning of a few tracks you can hear it, but it soon fades out. The rest then simply has no background music at all. I somehow expected it to be there for most of the CD, but that is not the case.

Because it is made by Hituzigumo (who also did Kannou Jikan) I was afraid this was going to be just as ero, but luckily that isn't the case. While Subaru still has some questionable moments, there is no ero in this. He even mentions that he'll just let you sleep for today.

Tachibana-san starts his freetalk whispering, but soon switches to a louder (normal) voice. He seems to have had fun recording this, although he does mentions that he probably never spoke this slow before. If you've got this on an mp3 or something, I really recommend not listening to this after the rest, it'll definitely wake you up.


Conclusion
Well, to fall asleep with this was definitely a great success. I couldn't stay awake even if I wanted too. With Shuukan Soine I always had the emergency solution of listening to it on the middle of the day, but even that failed with this CD. It was nice to listen too, though personally I think they could have done more with the rain thing.

05/03/2012

Yukishiro Gakuen no Yukai na Hitobito ~Futari no Osananajimi ni Kokuhakusareta~

雪白学園のゆかいな人々 双子の幼なじみに告白されました


Company: Mujina
Based on: Original
Released: 2010.11.10
Official Site: http://mujina.kkjinnai.co.jp/index.html


Yukishiro Gakuen no Yukai na Hitobito is a series of drama CD's, loosely connected by taking place at the same school and some recurring characters. This time the story is about the heroine (meaning the listener) being confessed two by her two childhood friends. Who just happen to be twins. Both of them are voiced by Suzuki Tatsuhisa

The twins in question are Nakatani Kyou (the older one), and Niko (the younger one). While they look similar they, of course, have completely different personalities. Kyou is good at studying, a member of the kendo club, calm, and kind. While Niko doesn't like studying, works part-time as a model, tends to speak before he thinks, and is therefore often very blunt.

The CD doesn't start with you suddenly being confessed to though. It actually starts with Niko just being dumped by yet another girlfriend because "he was different than she thought". The heroine and Kyou listen to his complaints, when Kyou notices that she doesn't feel well and asks whether she wants to go to the infirmary. Niko of course completely misses the point.

When Niko once again is going on about how unpopular you are, you get incredibly angry. It turns out that you just confessed to a senpai that you liked, but were turned down pretty harsh. And so your childhood friends decide to take revenge for you. (It is pretty amazing that the normally calm Kyou agrees to solve things with violence).

The next day you refuse to go to school, so both them try to get you out of bed in their own way. Niko is obviously trying to cheer you up, but fails to do so horribly thanks to his aweful wording. When he ultimately fails to drag you out of your room, it is Kyou his turn to try. Of course he simply talks to you in a calm and kind manner, even telling you that you don't have to go today, and manages to get you to go to school.

While walking home with you some days later, Niko -more in the spur of the moment- confesses his love to you. Of course, you are confused and don't know what to answer. When Kyou hears this he gets angry, after all he never confessed to you because he was afraid of changing the relationship between the three of you. But now that Niko has confessed, he does so too.

The last three tracks are the different endings, one where Niko becomes your boyfriend, one for Kyou, and one where the three of you remain friends (and they both try to prove they are the best choice). All three of them are different versions of you going -or not going- to a summer festival. In Nico his track you remain ate home playing games, in Kyou his version you visit the festival together, and in the 3P version all three of you go to the festival.

This is the first more serious CD in this series. You could argue that the second one (Dogeza-sensei) was taking the serious route as well, except that his constant dogeza actions can't really be taken serious. The first one was just awesome crack.

I liked that there is actually some sort of a story leading up to the confessions. You are not just confessed to out of the blue, but more than half of the CD is actually leading up to the confessions. This sort of makes you familiar with the setting. It was also fun to hear that the heroine is more of a tomboy.

While I found Niko more annoying in the first part of the CD, I liked his boyfriend track more than Kyou's. Kyou is the perfect boyfriend, he just doesn't know how to express his feelings too well, but that also makes him a bit boring. Niko was more fun, although I'm pretty sure I would get annoyed at his personality after a while (but in the CD, it is OK).

The 3P ending was more humorous than the rest of the CD. Kyou and Niko are mostly arguing among themselves over you, while you act all oblivious and simply enjoy the festival. The moment where they both try to change their character is brilliant though, it is an overload of sweet words.

Masao once again makes an appearance, this time working in the school shop, and acting like a gossiping middle aged woman. No-one even remarks on him being normal xD


Conclusion:
I both like the way your friendship worked before the confessions, and the dates afterwards. You are obviously note used to being a couple yet, and that is kind of cute to hear. Personally I like the crack in the earlier CD's better, but this proves that Mujina does a good job at making more serious ones as well.

04/03/2012

Fushigi Koubou Shoukougun vol.12

ふしぎ工房症候群 朗読CD EPISODE.12「ありがとう」


Company: Cosmic Ray
Based on: Original
Released: 2006.05.26
Official Site: http://www.cosmicray.co.jp/fks/


ふしぎ工房症候群 (fushigi koubou shoukougun) translates into something like 'mysterious workshop syndrome'. The mysterious workshop in the title is what binds all of the stories in this series together. The shop can only be found by someone who is lost and really needs it, and is run by an old man, who 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 a turning point in their lives.

The twelfth and final story in the first series is told by Takahashi Hiroki and is about a teacher. Our protagonist is a young teacher. Ever since he was a kid he knew that he wanted to become a teacher, even though he knew there were hard times too, as evidenced about a few stories from his own school days.

When he finally becomes a teacher he finds is harder than he expected, but is full of energy and gives it his all. He makes mistakes but learns from them. And through it all he starts to get used to the job. Then after a few years he is made a home room teacher for a new class, which is a whole new challenge.

Unfortunately for him, there are a number of delinquent students in his class. And while there are only a few of them, they influence the rest of the class and eventually the entire school. The result is that the rules are made sharper, and everyone who doesn't keep to them can't come to class, meaning low attendance rates, which results in a lot of students being expelled. This is the school its way of cutting away the bad influences, and our protagonist doesn't see another in way either.

Until one day he is beaten up a delinquent at night. It is only afterwards that he realizes that delinquent used to be one of his own students. He realizes that by giving those students no chance, the school leaves them no option but to turn delinquent. He despairs at his own situation, and arrives at the Fushigi Koubou, where he wishes to "quit being a teacher".

Before he does though, he resolves to try one more time. He starts paying home visits to his students, and pays more attention to them during home room. He tries to motivate and help his students in any way possible, exhausting himself. It takes a while, but eventually the students start to open op to him as well. At the day of their graduation however, one of his students isn't allowed inside the school because she has bleached her hair a little...

This is an interesting story in more then one way. While I think it is a bit idyllic in its view on the entire teacher-student motivating thing, it does have a good point, and it certainly makes for a very touching story. I found myself really rooting for the protagonist, and nearly crying at the classroom graduation scene.

It is also interesting in reference to Episode 11. While it doesn't reference them directly, I do see them as being connected. In Episode 11 the protagonist is expelled from school and first goes through a black period in his life, which sounds incredibly familiar to what is described here. Of course there themes are completely different, but secretly, I like to see them as connected.

Contrary to a lot of teacher series where the teacher is hopeless as well but somehow manages to motivate his/her delinquent students (GTO or Gokusen anyone?) this is a downright serious and touching story. It somehow makes you wish all teachers were like that.


Conclusion:
This is the final Episode of the first series, and I think a perfect story to end with. It is full of hope, not only in the end but throughout most of the story. And for a series which is all about finding the hope and courage to move forward, I think that is a very good end. Luckily for us though, they made a continuation for this wonderful series.

03/03/2012

Key Releases

I almost forgot to post them, but here they are: the key releases for this month. Things in bold is stuff I am definitely planning to get.


2012.03.02: Kannou Jikan 07
2012.03.02: Roudoku CD: Three Kingdoms ~Nerenu Anata ni Sasagu~
2012.03.07: Inu to Hasami ha Tsukaiyou
2012.03.09: Amemakura Vol.4:Kisaragi Miki
2012.03.09: Higurashi no Naku koro ni Kai: MatsuriBayashi Kouhen
2012.03.14: 100man-nin no Corda: Precious Present
2012.03.14: Mojuutsukai to Oujisama ~Snow Bride~ Omoide no Hana
2012.03.14: Kindan Kyuuketsuki ~Akabara no Ou~
2012.03.14: Ojisama Senka Vol.1: Make my Lady
2012.03.15: Ouritsu Ouji Gakuen Vol.4: Ibara-hime no Oujisama
2012.03.14: Vitamin X Detective B6 ~Torawareta Shochou wo Dakkan seyo~
2012.03.21: Ai Aru Batou 2
2012.03.21: Ayakashi Akashi Ayakashi no
2012.03.21: Brothers Conflict Character CD 05
2012.03.21: Diabolik Lovers Vol.4: Raito
2012.03.21: Fujoshi no Mikata
2012.03.21: Meisaku Bungaku (warai) Ari to Kirigirisu
2012.03.21: Mousou Esthe V
2012.03.21: O.To.Na Gentei o-Togame CD III
2012.03.21: Samurai Neety
2012.03.23: Issho ni Gohan a la Carte: Hanba Gunji
2012.03.28: Anata ga Ofuro de Noboseru CD Vol.2
2012.03.28: Arcana Famiglia Capitulo 2
2012.03.28: Honeymoon Vol.3
2012.03.28: Ikemon Oo-oku Vol.2
2012.03.28: Lovers Only
2012.03.28: Nego Danshi Vol.5
2012.03.28: Nego Danshi Vol.6
2012.03.28: Shimekiri CD - Konya ha Nerasenai
2012.03.28: Tokyo Yamannote Boys ~Secret.1~
2012.03.30: Aroma na Kareshi Vol.2
2012.03.30: Toriai Kyoudai Vol.2


Hmmm, there is not that much that I plan on getting, which is good because I still have an enormous backlog. Of course the internet will provide me with the opportunity to review a bit more though.

Anything I missed? What are you planning to listen to? Let me know!

02/03/2012

Weekly News Post

iTunes
I discovered through the tumblr of the lovely Berselium that the Healing Stone CD's are available on iTunes. The USA iTunes store has them, and at least the Dutch one (where I have an account) has them too, so hopefully they are available globally. Search for "yumoriseki" or simply "yumori" and you should be able to find them.

They have been available for quite some time judging by the iTunes release date, but I though it was worth a mention. As of yet these are the only drama CD's I know on iTunes. If anyone knows any others, please let me know. So I can buy more stuff.


Lovers Only
Momo & Grapes their Lovers Only series continues. LOVERS ONLY2/ラブストーリーは君と (Lovers Only 2 / My love story is with you) will be voiced by Toriumi Kousuke and is planned for a 2012.04.26 release.

The story takes a whole different route than the more realistic last one. This time it is a story about the love between an angel and a human girl. The angels is sent to earth as a sort of cupid, but falls in love with a human girl. The official site describes it as the "sweet and painful story of the love and farewell between an angel and a human" so it looks like the story isn't going to end well. Now... I need to get my hands on the first CD...

01/03/2012

Oujisama (warai) Variety Drama 2nd Season.

After all the Yandere, it is time for something light hearted. And what better than my favourite princes?

王子様(笑)シリーズ バラエティドラマCD 2nd Season



Company: Frontierworks
Based on: Original
Released: 2012.01.25
Official Site: http://www.fwinc.co.jp/princewww

Oujisama (warai) re-tells the story from several well known fairy tales from the perspective of the prince. This time however the princes go on a vacation, or at least that was the plan. The princes in this CD are Aladdin (CV: Miyano Mamoru), Genji (CV: Yoshino Hiroyuki), The Emperor (from Taketori Monogatari, CV: Okiayu Ryoutarou), and the Frog Prince (henceforth know as Kaeru, CV: Sugita Tomokazu). Of course Takemoto Eiji is also present, as every other role.

The plan was for all of the princes to go on a winter holiday, but all of them find it much to cold to do anything, so eventually all of them (except for the emperor) end up doing nothing while sitting under a kotatsu. While three of the princes are spending their time relaxing, the Emperor is talking with the Narrator (CV: Takemoto Eiji, of course) about what they could do.

The narrator suggests doing something with Christmas, however none of the princes know anything about Christmas, resulting in everyone giving their own hilarious misunderstood version of Christmas, but in the end nothing much happens.

Eventually, they do find something to do: Yaminabe.
Yaminabe is a sort of nabe where everyone puts something in the dish, but you don't show the others what it is. The joke is that everyone usually brings unusual foodstuffs, and that you have to eat whatever you get. This can get pretty disgusting (trust me).

The princes have two rounds in which each of them have to eat something. Some of these are pretty hilarious, such as Genji putting frog legs, or the Emperor putting konyaku (which really does taste like nothing, which is exactly why it tastes so weird) in the mix.

Afterwards all of them end up looking through all kinds of fairytale books in order too find a type of magic that can bring Kaguya-hime back from the moon (cue the Emperor saying that Kaguya-hime is not an alien countless times). Of course all of the fairytales they talk about are in some way misunderstood or simplified far too much. Eventually they talk about going to the Wizard of Oz.

During all of this, Genji manages to annoy the rest so much that they want to teach him a lesson. And thus they take him to a spring where a fairy appears (the say that is a goddes to Genji, but it turns out to be a guy). If you drop something into the spring, the fairy asks you what you dropped and offers you something better. If you refuse that and say what you actually dropped you receive one of the better items.

And so, they throw Genji into the spring, and receive a Genji with better manners in return (the way Genji his personality is described is briliant, I don't think I've ever heard so many negative character traits together). However it soon turns out that this new Genji isn't exactly what they hoped for either...

Between the main story are short tracks depicting how each prince spends their everyday life. Of course all of them spends their days in rather strange ways.

Especially the first part is a 100% winter story. Relaxing under a kotatsu which is so comfortable you don't ever want to get out of it, and eating nabe sounds like 100% winter in Japan to me. The atmosphere is also one of being lazy and doing absolutely nothing. The kind of thing that makes me want to huddle in a blanket as well. Although the Yaminabe part is pretty hilarious, their reactions to the food are just too much fun.

Personally, the part where they discuss all of the fairytales was ok, but not that special to me. But the entire thing with Genji getting a different personality was pure gold. I don't remember where I know the whole fairy in a spring thing from though (except for maybe the Legend of Zelda). Genji his new personality is in a way just as annoying as his old one.

I'm still not very used to Kaeru being there, but his conviction that his princess is just a tsundere whenever she refuses his romantic advances is hilarious. He actually calls it "play", causing Genji to remark that things like that are dangerous when they become habit, and Aladdin to wonder what kind of experiences Genji has.

In the cast talk everyone talks about how they spend their winter. Which is mostly talk about wintersport. Miyano-san gets very excited in his explanations, and apparently makes some incredibly funny faces while doing so.


Conclusion:
While I didn't laugh as much as with other CD's in the series, I still had a lot of fun listening to this. Somehow I just like the other princes (especially Cinderella and Snow White) a lot more, although I do love Aladdin.