Kyokugen Kareshi ~Chikyuu ga nakunaru 30pun mae~

極限彼氏~地球がなくなる30分前~

Label: Cineria
Based on: Original
Released: 2013.03.29
Official site:　http://ike-men.net/ci_kyokugen.html


Kyokugen Kareshi is a CD about the end of the world, the last 30min to be more specific. A giant comet will be falling on the earth soon, and there is no escape or hope for survival. You spend these last 30 minutes together with your boyfriend Kishida Hiroto (CV: Hosoya Yoshimasa).

The CD starts with Hiroto opening the curtains, saying that the weather is beautiful and that you wouldn't expect weather like this on the day that the earth will end. He sounds remarkably cheery and optimistic. You on the other hand are completely down and crying, so he spends the first few minutes trying to cheer you up. After that you sit together and talk about different things, like how you met, but also about really random things.

Hosoya-san his ability to voice situation CDs in a way that sounds completely realistic more or less makes this CD what it is: a truly bitter sweet story. Hiroto tries to cheer you up in the beginning, which worked in my case so I was able to smile for a large part of it. I know many people have been crying rivers over this CD, but I was able to keep my tears from falling thanks to Hiroto. The only moment where I nearly started crying is when Hiroto his own voice nearly breaks - Hosoya-san voicing nearly crying characters is something that immediately triggers my tears.

One thing that I did not expect in this CD were the kisses. I obviously expected there to be some kissing, but I more or less expected that they would be simple "chu" kisses. And not the sort that leave me all flustered and hoping for more.

True to the title the main story is 30minutes. There is a secret track and a freetalk after that, but both are pretty short. Without spoiling the secret track (because it is the sweetest thing ever) something very similar actually happened to me once, making this seem even more real and leaving me squeeing and wanting to hug Hiroto.



Conclusion:
Because of the setting I expected to cry rivers (because I know Cineria their works can cause floods of tears) but thanks to Hiroto trying to cheer you up I managed to keep my tears to myself and even smile instead. If you are wondering whether you would like this because of the setting, don't worry and just listen. It is a very good CD, both in terms of writing and acting.

It mostly left me with the urge to listen to everything that is voiced by Hosoyan because it made me love his voice even more than I did before.

Pasta Mafia

パスタマフィア

Label: Frontier Works
Based on: Original
Released: 2011.10.26
Official site: http://www.fwinc.co.jp/pasta/pasta.php


Pasta Mafia is a mix of between pasta gijinka (personification) and a mafia story. Although, they didn’t get to be very mafia-ish in this CD. All of the characters are personifications of pasta dishes. Our main hero is Pomodore, who runs his own mafia and uses Amatrice as his base.

One day a young boy named Corzetti (CV: Yonaga Tsubasa) asks him to help him find the lost treasure of his family. Corzetti says his family is very eager when it comes to money, so he wants to find the treasure and get rid of it to prevent them fighting over it. Pomodore (CV: Hosoya Yoshimasa) doesn’t immediately agree but takes Corzetti back to his hideout to consult with the rest of his mafia gang.

Back at the hideout we are introduced to the rest: Pomodore his younger brother Cream (CV: Hino Satoshi), the okama and very feminine Capellini (CV: Terashima Takuma), who is always arguing with Macaroni (CV: Sugita Tomokazu), Paperdelle (CV: Kaji Yuuki) who is the youngest and always eating something, and the calm and silent Penne (CV: Sakurai Takahiro). Also there is Nero - another younger brother of Pomodore- who came to visit, much to the dismay of Pomodore.

All of them agree to help out with finding the treasure, but before they can actually begin Nero secretly replaces the treasure map that they got with a different map because he is jealous of Pomodore giving attention to someone other than himself (he as a bit of a brother complex).

To make things even more complex Bolognese (CV: Okiayu Ryoutarou) steals the -already switched out- map from them before they can start to search for the treasure, so they end up chasing after him first in order to even be able to go and search for the treasure.

The colourful cast makes the CD fun to listen to, although it does feel like there is something lacking. When it comes to hilarious conversations between characters there are other series that are much better. Not everyone gets enough screen time to fully show their personality either, although this might be understandable considering that this was planned as a series. Unfortunately it seems to have sort of died out.

Pomodore and Bolognese get to show off most of their quirks, but the rest of the characters don’t. Which is too bad, because I would have loved to see Macaroni snap and go on an endless rage for example. The same goes for everyone’s weapons; the official character descriptions list a weapon for each character but we never get to hear them use it (Penne fights with a pen for example, I would have loved to hear how that works out).

Still, I like most of the characters. Yonoga his Corzetti sounds incredibly cute, and Okiayu Ryoutarou doing a crack quirky personality is always fun, I really love it when he does roles like that. There is a little bit of dialect in the way Hosoya his Pomodore speaks, which also made me happy. I find Nero annoying, but he is supposed to be so I guess Ishida Akira did a good job with that as well. Terashima Takuma voicing an okama was a first for me, and I loved it.

Thanks to everyone being named after a food I got so incredibly hungry while listening to this. All of the Spaghetti brothers (Bolognese, Pomodore, Cream, Nero) are named after different spaghetti dishes, and the rest of the characters (Penne, Macaroni, Paperdelle, Capellini, Corzetti) are all different types of pastas. I had never heard of the last two by the way. Capellini is a very thin type of pasta, which is no doubt why he is so femine. The name also means ‘fine hair’ – and Capellini is a hairdresser and very proud of his own long hair. Corzetti is a flat, circular type of pasta often embossed with a decoration by stamping them.

In the cast talk everyone talks about what kind of food they would want a girl to make for them. Some of the best answers: Sugita Tomokazu would prefer making something together, Sakurai is fine with anything as long as it is warm, Ishizuka Unshou (who voiced a restaurant owner in the drama) is fine with anything as long as it can be made fast because he hates waiting, and Hosoya thinks the atmosphere is more important.


Conclusion:
While this was fun to listen to there are much better series out there. Still, I’m somewhat sad that the series seems to have died off. The characters showed promise and there is still a lot we never got to hear. And I want more Hosoya as Pomodore.

Shinsengumi Mokuhiroku Wasurenagusa Vol.5 Hijikata Toshizou

First off: thanks to ohfourohnine for hooking me up with a download this fast! Many thanks to you!

新撰組黙秘録 勿忘草 第伍巻 土方歲三

Company: Rejet
Based on: Original
Released: 2012.11.28
Official site: http://rejetweb.jp/wasurenagusa/


Shinsengumi Mokuhiroku Wasurenagusa (after this simply 'wasurenagusa') is a series based on several historically famous people within the shinsengumi. The concept of the CDs is "what if I could have been there (and fall in love with one of them)". So while they are based on historical people, the rest is all fiction. The series uses the dummy head mic for several scenes. The fifth CD features Hijikata Toshizou (CV: Hosoya Yoshimasa)


As always we start with an introduction and the raid on Ikedaya. From Hijikata his talk and actions it is obvious that he is a strict leader and down to business type of person. Back at headquarters after the raid Hijikata hears that someone brought in a wounded girl who got caught up in everything. He first wants them to throw you out, but goes to see you anyway. When you don't wake up he orders that your room and the hallway will be guarded, not excluding the possibility that you are a spy.

You go look for him yourself to ask whether you can work at the shinsengumi headquarters. You find him training the other shinsengumi members, but he flat out refuses to let you stay. However he agrees to it in the end (because Heisuke asked him). After which he continues with yelling at you that you shouldn't take the work here to lightly and that he doesn't trust you yet.

Some time afterwards Hijikata orders you to bring him tea, and you end up accidentally spilling the tea on him because you are nervous. And thus Hijikata orders you to take of his kimono for him. This is also where he starts calling you a "dog". His dog to be specific. Surprisingly he lets you off with just a kiss.

When it is reported that you might be working with the enemy he immediately has you brought to him and he starts to question you. Or rather, intimidate you. He gets really angry and even draws his sword to kill you, but because you start crying so hard he gives up (because if you really were a spy you wouldn't act this way). You didn't really betray the shinsengumi but your actions did lead to someone getting injured, and in a rare act of kindness he even accompanies you when you go to Kondo apologise for your mistakes.

He does appear to have a kinder side as well though. When you bring him water and a towel during his training he has a remarkably normal conversation with you. And when you see him secretly eating some of Kondo his sweets during Kondo his absence he even acts kind of cute. Hijikata sees Kondo as the ideal leader, and thus considers it his task to be the strict one.

When Hijikata is feeling vexed by Sannan (Yamanami Keisuke) leaving the shinsengumi,  you for some reason feel brave enough to actually speak up, which obviously annoys Hijikata and he starts to lecture you by tying up your hands, putting a collar on you and chaining you to a pillar before proceeding to undress you. The main ero scene comes a little bit later though. After Hijikata mistakenly thought you were running away (you were actually running an errand for Souji) he first actually apologises for his actions, but the end result is that he continues where he left off last time.

However in the middle of this he breaks down into tears. Saying that if the shinsengumi ever disbanded or Kondo and Souji would ever go away he would be all alone and wouldn't know what to do. He only calms down when you promise to stay by his side forever.

In his epilogue he is kinder again. While he does say that the shinsengumi is what comes first, he also says that you are the second most important thing, even before his own life. Not to mention that he straight out tells you that he loves you. Hearing those words after everything was just so worth it.

Hijikata is 1. Scary 2. Incredibly sexy, and 3. Surprisingly 'human'. The CD really introduces him as the 鬼副長 (demon vice captain) but gradually shows more and more of his human side. To the point where he eventually breaks down and opens up to you. At that moment I just wanted to hug him. The scene where he is secretly eating those sweets was also adorable.

After reading about the 'spilled tea scene' in the official outline of the CD I expected that to be the start of the main ero scene so I was surprised when it came so early. I'm still not sure whether you actually undressed him (or to what extend) though.

Hijikata calling you a dog an tying you up might be a bit more extreme that previous CDs, but I've lived through several Yandere Heaven and Dialovers CDs and no longer mind this at all (*´ω｀*) Besides, Hosoya his voice. THAT VOICE. *cough* I mean, he did a very good job on this. He makes Hijikata sound incredibly intimidating, but also caring when needed. And at the part where he was crying his voice just broke my heart.

But the free talk is the main reason I am now only an inch away from adding Hosoya to my bias list. The free talk is pretty long (12min) and he spend most of it talking pretty seriously but in a way that is fun to listen. What really got me though is when he mentioned the lines that made the strongest impression on him: "こちを向け" ("Look here", or possibly "look at me"). The reason is that he would never be able to say that himself and it would be more like "would you please look here" or "I'd be happy if you were willing to look this way" and when he said that he sounded SO INCREDIBLY CUTE. Don't worry Hosoyan!! I'll look at you!!


Conclusion:
If you ask me this was by far the best CD in the series yet. And the most intense one. I personally have little to no problems with the fact that you are tied up, but maybe my senses have gone a bit numb thanks to other series. I'm less in favour of being called "a dog" but if it is in a sexy voice like this I don't mind, hohoho.

Kuroko no Basuke: Drama Theater 1st Games

黒子のバスケDRAMATHEATER 1st GAMES

Company: Lantis
Based on: Manga --> Anime
Released: 2012.07.04


Kuroko no Basuke is a basketball manga serialized in the Weekly Shounen Jump, and follows Kuroko Tetsuya and his team mates at Seirin High. During middle school Kuroko was part of the "generation of miracles", 6 extremely talented regulars on the Teito Gakuen basketball team. All of these players went to different high schools, and of course Seirin will have to face them one by one. This summer an anime adaption started airing, and this drama CD is officially based on the anime, even though it features a completely original story.

In fact, the story has little to do with basketball this time. Seirin was supposed to have a practice match, but thanks to a miss by the other school the gym is already in use by the mama-san volleyball team (volleyball for  middle aged women). Everyone concludes that there is no way they can win the gym from them, so they decide to give up on the match. But since they've already traveled all the way there, they decide to go to the nearby amusement park.

Once there everyone wants to do something different, and they split up. Kuroko (CV: Ono Kensho) and Kagami (CV: Ono Yuuki) end up going to the food court, where they run into Kise Ryouta (CV: Kimura Ryouhei) who just finished a modeling job there. They decide to hang out together a bit, and Kagami has just won a stuffed toy from a crane machine when they run into Midorima Shintarou (CV: Ono Daisuke) who is there looking for his lucky item of the day. As luck will have it the stuffed toy Kagami just won is what he is searching for, and thus they decide to have a match to decide who gets the toy.

All of the matches they hold have nothing to do with basketball though. The first one is a match to see who can make the best puns, Riko (CV: Saitou Chiwa), Hyuuga (CV: Hosoya Yoshimasa) and Itsuki (CV: Nojima Hirofumi) are the ones that come up with this. The second match is telling scary stories, Koganei (CV: Eguchi Takuya), Tsuchida (CV: Inoue Gou) and Mitobe (who doesn't talk -ever- and isn't voiced by anyone) are the ones who thought of that. the first year members Furihata (CV: Mizutani Naoki), Kawahara (CV: Yoshimoto Yasuhiro) and Fukuda (CV: Sasaki Hiroo) miss their chance because they are in the ferris wheel and no one notices them. The final match is a sumo event that is held at the theme park, and eventually all four of them need to work together to beat an actual sumo wrestler.

First thing about this CD: if you don't know the series (manga or anime) it isn't going to be much fun to listen to. The CD assumes you know everyone and doesn't introduce anyone, and continues a couple of running jokes (Itsuki his puns, Mitobe not speaking, Kuroko being invisible, etc). If you do know the series though, this CD is pretty much gold. Only the characters introduced in the anime at the time of release are featured, but on the other hand it also uses the same background music, which makes certain scenes hilarious.

Midorima and Kise are two of my favourite characters, so this was gold for me to begin with. But the rest of the characters also get their funny moments. Two scenes with the other characters that I loved were the first years lamenting that no one knows who they are, and Koganei imagining everyone as hero's, which is followed by a short sentai parody.

Something else I loved is how they used a 'surround sound' effect. When the characters are talking in a group you can hear that they are standing in different positions, as if you are really there standing among them. I don't have an actual surround sound system to test whether this is actually surround sound or just very clever use of stereo sound, but it is interesting none the less.

In the free talk everyone is definitely having a lot of fun. Apparently they turned Kuroko his name into a verb ("kuroko-ru") with the meaning "to disappear", and Ono Kensho was very good at doing that during the recording. Kimura Ryouhei never mentions his name but simply does his freetalk as Kise, and Ono Daisuke uses a lot of the stock phrases for Midorima in his part. The rest switch between making semi-serious comments and absolute chaos, especially near the end (when they are running out of time) some of them stop in the middle of their talk and make way for the next person xD


Conclusion:
If you know the anime this is definitely worth a listen. It doesn't deal with basketball, but the story is pretty fun and uses all of the lovable quirks of the cast. I hope they'll release more of these when more members of the generation of miracles are introduced, and although a serious drama CD might be interesting too, this is a perfect way to have some fun with the characters.

Touhou Youyuki ~Shounen Ou to no Dai Ichi no Meiyaku~

東方妖遊記 ~少年王と第一の盟約~

Company: Kadokawa Beans / Lantis
Based on: Light Novel
Released: 2011.09.21
Official site: http://www.kadokawa.co.jp/toho/


Touhou Youyuki is based on the light novel series by Murata Shiori. The drama CD covers the events of the first novel and tells how Kou met several of the characters that he travels with later on in the novels.

The story is about Kou (CV: Kaji Yuuki) who is a normal boy living somewhere in a village on the shores of the Yellow River (China) together with his -slightly overprotective- brother Shun (CV: Nakamura Yuichi) and his sister Riyuu (CV: Nakahara Mai) who hates men.

The story begins however with someone placing a small child on the river in a basket, and sacrificing himself so that the child will be carried downstream safely. Before we get to know who the child really is however, the story switches to Kou, Shun, and Riyuu as they get on a boat because they are moving to a nearby village. Kou does seem to have an irrational fear of water though...

When they arrive at their destination someone called Shou comes to greet them and while they are still exchanging greetings they see Fuuga (CV: Hosoya Yoshimasa) the local landlord. Shou tells them that Fuuga is researching the cause for the recent heavy rain and high tide of the river. It is said that the monster "Kada" (CV: Sakurai Takahiro) is responsible for this, and that the only way to slay it is to use a sword called the "enshouka".

Fuuga and his servant Ruien (CV: Namikawa Daisuke) try to locate Kada by using fortune telling, but Ruien discovers that Kada is still sealed away. Meanwhile Kou and Riyuu caught off guard by a sudden rainstorm while gathering mushrooms, and hide in the same cave where Fuuga and Ruien were. And where, coincidently, Kada is supposed to be sealed. They discover that Kou can the spirits there, which apparently sounds like "the voice of a snake crying".

A few days later the cave collapses because of a landslide, releasing Kada -and lots of tiny look a likes. While Kada rampages the rain only becomes worse and the entire village needs to be evacuated. Fuuga attempts to use the enshouka to slay Kada, but is unable to wield the heave sword. Meanwhile Kou is convinced that Kada is only in pain and wants to save him...

When I started listening to this I was sceptical -adventures set in ancient china aren't really my thing- but I quickly came round. It is an interesting story and has both funny moments (especially Riyuu her dislike of all men except Kou and Shun) and enough suspense. Neither the plot nor the characters are ground breaking, but it is entertaining enough.

Because this only covers the first novel in the series there is hinted at a lot more plot than this CD actually covers, such as Fuuga being convinced that Kou is the lost master that he was supposed to serve, and Shun apparently being suspiciously skilled in handling anything that threats his siblings and especially Kou. These aren't really obstructive though, the story works well as a one shot. And if you reeeealy want to know how things continue you could always read the novels.

I hadn't really paid much attention to the cast, so Kada being voiced by Sakurai came as a pleasant surprise to me. His voice is heavily distorted while Kada is rampaging though, so maybe pleasant isn't really the right word.

A manga adaption of the series ran in the monthly Asuka, and I know there is at least 1 other short drama CD that came as a bonus with the magazine. The question is how to get my hands on that, because it is about Kou and Ouri (the name that Kou gave to Kada after he calmed down and became loyal to Kou) their life right after the events of this story. Which basically means more Sakurai for me.


Conclusion:
As this covers only the first novel the story obviously continues after this, but we are not left with any cliffhangers or anything, which is good because this way it also works as a one shot drama CD. Like I said, it is nothing extraordinary but enjoyable none the less.

Moegaku ~Moe Koi Gakuen Seitokai Shikoubu~

モエガク！～萌恋学園生徒会執行部～

Company: Kuchikomi & Toukou Magazine
Based on: Parody work
Released: 2011.05


This CD was available through the Kuchikomi and Toukou Magazine. Despite the similar titles, it has absolutely nothing to do with the Moe Koi drama CD's from the same magazine. Well except for both being parodies, and Kamiya Hiroshi and Ono Daisuke appearing in both of them.

The setting is the Moe Koi School. Up until now it was an all girls school, but recently it opened up to guys as well. There are still only a few guys, and there is a visible gap between the boys and girls. Many of the girls don't know how to deal with the boys.

Our main characters are all members of the student council: the incredibly narcissistic Senzaiin Rihito (CV: Fukuyama Jun),  his personal butler and secretary Ichinomiya Banri (CV: Hosoya Yoshimasa), the vice president Momose Kakeru (CV: Ono Daisuke) and the accountant Togashi Yayoi (CV: Kamiya Hiroshi).

Rihito finds a love letter in the student council question box. The letter has no sender, nor an addressee, but Rihito is convince that it is intended for him. In order to draw out the sender, he organizes the "summer communication festival" (shortened to "natsucomi") under the pretence he wants to improve the communication between the boys and the girls in the school. Meanwhile, Kakeru also thinks the letter is intended for him, and Yayoi -due to a misunderstanding- thinks it is a letter from Kakeru to him.

For the festival, all the girls are given special bows and arrows (made by the ridiculously influential and rich company that is owned by Rihito his family) which they have to use to try and shoot the guys in the student council. If the guys are hit, they have to grant the wish (any wish) of the one who shot them. The arrows are made so that they don't hurt anyone, but none the less Kakeru delivers a spectacularly cliché death scene when he is first hit.

Of course the wishes are full of fanservice. From Kakeru having to say sweet lines -or scold someone-, to Yayoi wearing nekomimi and saying "~nya", or even Banri stripping naked, to all of them being involved in a weird fairytal play in which Rihito tries to kiss them, fanservice all over the place. And while the girls are trying to catch Yayoi and Kakeru, they in turn try to find Rihito and the love letter.

When all of the chaos from the festival is over, a girl comes to the student council room to say who the letter was intended for. Each character gets a sepparate "love message" track in which they are they one that receives the letter. Especially Banri (who normally acts as Rihito his perfect butler) his track is very cute.

Of course this is a parody work, so expect many references to popular series. Some of the most blatant ones are Maria-sama ga Miteru and One Piece (look a flying pirate ship!!) but there are many more works and clichés referenced. But more than anything it is a hilarious story that is guaranteed to make you laugh.

Despite Kamiya Hiroshi and Ono Daisuke both being in both this drama and the "Moe Koi" series, the story and the characters they play haveabsolutely nothing to do with each other.

Perhaps just as funny as the drama is the exceptionally long cast talk (it is 20min, for a normal cast talk that is long). Each of the seiyuu answer a few questions: "What if they were the only guy in an all girls school" "If they were a girl, which character would they want to confess to them", "What do you want someone to say when they confess to you", and finally "What type of girl do you want to confess to you". OnoD his answer for the last two questions was hilarious: "doesn't matter. I want someone to confess to me". And that while the others have proper (and long) answers xD

ps: the booklet has a really cute short comic about how the recording went. Especially the drawing of Kamiya losing a part of the script was so cute!!


Conclusion:
This is a hilariously over the top parody, and completely successful in doing what it should do: making you laugh. Cute moments, funny moments, sweet moments, hilarity, chaos, fanservice, it is all there. If you liked Moe Koi you should absolutely listen to this. Or in reverse, if you like this one you should listen to those as well!

Perabu! A Capella Love!?

ぺらぶ！ A cappella love！？

Company: Frontierworks
Based on:  Original
Released: 2011.06.22
Official Site: http://perabu.jp/index.html



Perabu!! A Capella Love!? is the story of 5 high school students who are suddenly told that from now on they are the school a capella club (or for schort, perabu). Oh, and that they have a performance in front of the entire school in exactly one month.

The person behind all of this is the rather eccentric music teacher Sakikabara Ryuunosuke (CV: Ono Daisuke) for reasons you'll hear at the end of the CD. Our five victems are of course all completely not interested in a capella and completely different types of people (although they at least seem to be familiar with each other).

Inoue Yoshiya (CV: Kimura Ryouhei) is the moodmaking of the gang. He is always in high tension and tends to make up words (for example he keeps using 'perabu' as a verb). Katagiri Hayato (CV: Hosoya Yoshimasa) makes the impression of being a delinquent, but is actually a great cook and overall housewife. Learned all of these things for the sake of his beloved little sister. Arisaka Keiichirou (CV: Maeno Tomoaki) always acts very serious, but actually loves cats and has his own cat-blog. Mitsunaga Chihiro (CV: Kakihara Tetsuya) is your standard much-too-popular-with-the-girls narcissist. And finally Tokieda Ayumu (CV: KENN) is always either sleeping or eating, and looking cute while doing so.

Story-wise this follows the pattern of a random group of unwilling people is thrown together to do something, problems must be overcome, and they succeed. Usually there is a "friendship bonds are formed" step somewhere in between, but these 5 were already pretty close. Perabu relies on the quircky personalities of its characters to make the story interesting. However this works only half of the time. While their quircks did make you laugh, it still feels like the 'story' is too simple.

However it gets bonus points for actually including the a capella song they were practicing. The last track consists of the song + everyone stating that they've come to like a capella and want to continue (surprise surprise)


Conclusion:
Perabu! certainly isn't a bad drama. It is actually pretty funny and the quirky characters are very lovable. Yet it feels like it could have been so much more. Despite the funny take on things the plot is just too thin, literally almost everything is predictable from the start. Hopefully they'll improve this a little for the next entry in the series.

Fushigi no Kuni no Alice ~Alice in Wonderland~

不思議の国のアリス~Alice in Wonderland~

Company: Momogre
Based on: Alice in Wonderland.
Released: 2011.05.26
Official Site: http://www.momogre.com/



This story is part of momo&grapes their "men's only" series, meaning that all characters are voiced by male seiyuu. The story is based on (the Japanese translation of) Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

You know me, if something has 'alice' written on it I'm all over it. So when I found out that momogre would do an adaption of the original work I was super exited!

The story itself is so famous that it doesn't really need an explanation. This adaption is very loyal to the original story, so there isn't really much to explain for me there. (except that, well, it is very loyal to the original. And I love that). In fact, I think that they've actually used part of a translation as script, because most conversations seem to be exactly like how I remembered them. The Narration is of course original to this work.

The cast was fantastic as well. Kaji Yuuki is a super cute Alice, although no matter how hard I try he doesn't really sound like a girl to me. He sounds more like a young boy but still super cute and it somehow works so I am not complaining. The only voice I was uncomfortable with was that of the Cheshire Cat, who is voiced by Takeuchi Ken. Somehow his voice didn't suit my image of the Cheshire Cat. Then again I might just be too used to Inoue Kazuhiko as the Cheshire Cat from Are you Alice?

Another funny trivia about the Cheshire Cat is that he is called "Chashire Cat" in the story, even though the official site lists him as Cheshire Cat. The seiyuu talk about this in the freetalk as well.


Conclusion:
Personally I absolutely loved this adaption. I love most things even remotely related to Alice in Wonderland so I'm probably biased, but this was a wonderful adaption. It is very faithful to the original, and has a wonderful cast. Whether you're already familiar with the story or not, this is a wonderful drama to listen to.


Also, I'm sorry for reviewing two different Alice in Wonderland related things in a row :p