Dracula ～Futari no Kyuuketsuki～

ドラキュラ～ふたりの吸血鬼～

Company: Momo&Grape
Based on: Dracula (the novel by Bram Stoker)
Released: 2011.08.12
Official Site: http://www.momogre.com/


Dracula is a character we all know, whether from the actual novel or simply as the main representive vampire we all know him. This story is based on the original novel, although it takes a lot of liberties with the story.

The story starts with Alexander (CV: Ono Daisuke) and van Hellsing (CV: Nakai Kazuya) taking down a vampire underling. It turns out they were searching for Vlad Dracula (CV: Nakamura Yuuichi) who was rumoured to come to London to find the reincarnation of his long lost love.

Believing that his love from 400 years ago is reborn, Dracula searches for Mina Marley (CV: Hanazawa Kana) to take her back to Transylvania. Despite Alexander and van Hellsing their attempts to stop him Dracula manages to kidnap Mina. Alexander and van Hellsing follow them back to Transylvania, and it comes to one last showdown in Dracula his castle...

Like I said, they took some liberties with the story. To be more exact they added Alexander his character as Dracula his younger brother. The story between Alexander and Dracula gives both a more human side. They might have strayed quite a bit from the original story, but I liked this story a lot.

The music definitely added to the entire atmosphere. At times very sad, but epic during the battles, if you pay attention to it you'll see it is really well written. The tokuten CD you got from pre-ordering it also includes a really beautiful instrumental track.. The sound effects too where really good, to the point of making me flinch when someone got hit by a sword because it makes such a horrible fleshy sound.

From the voice actors I loves Hanazawa-san her performance best. Her Mina is both sweet and shows that she can stand up to Dracula. I would have loved to hear her more. The only one I had problems with is Nakai Kazuya as van Hellsing. His performance was very good, that is not the point, but somehow his voice doesn't fit my image of van Hellsing (and, dear Momo&Grape. van Hellsing was a doctor, not an archaeologist)


Conclusion:
The story is somewhere between an adaption of the novel and an original Dracula story, but either way it is very good. It is not as scary as Blue Beard was, but still sufficiently spooky. The voice actors did a great job in bringing this story to life (pun not intended), and it is definitely worth a listen. Especially on a dark and preferably stormy night.

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).