Honeymoon
Sasayaki Micchaku
Showing posts with label Hougen Renai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hougen Renai. Show all posts
08/09/2012
Weekly News Post
I am slowly getting better at this. The day I will actually make my own deadline is near. Hopefully.
Honeymoon
We all it knew this would come sooner or later; the next Honeymoon CD has been announced. This time Okumura Chiharu (CV: Ishida Akira) will take you to Turkey. Chiharu is a history teacher, so you will be visiting a few ruins in Turkey among other things. Chiharu is described as having a sexy aura, but it is hard to guess what he is thinking.
The series continues, this time with a fortune teller. Sawatane Tsukumo (CV: Okamoto Nobuhiko) is an apprentice fortune teller, and that is about everything that the official site tells us about him. Judging from his character image he looks like a cheerful innocent type, but who knows. His design is very different from the first three characters, who all had more of an adult atmosphere. The CD is planned for a 2012.11.14 release.
Honeymoon
06/09/2012
Drama Recommendations
a while ago an anon asked me whether I could recommend a few drama CD's. The urge to just recommend everything (minus a few) is incredibly large, but I took a while to go through everything that I've listened to so far and made a list of things that I can really recommend.
So lets start with the series:
Hougen Renai
What I love most about this series is that it use all kinds of different dialects, and that the heroine has a voice. Each CD has two characters, each with their own dialect. The concept in each CD is that the heroine (who speaks standard Japanese) travels somewhere for work and meets a local guy there.
The romance in this series develops pretty naturally, and thanks to the fact that the heroine has a voice it allows for a bit more complicated scenario's. Some dialects might be a bit tricky to understand in the beginning, but it is definitely fun to listen to. I still check the official site every so often, secretly hoping that they will continue some day.
My favourite entries to this series are probably vol.1 and vol.4, although I really loved the Niigata story (voiced by Hirakawa Daisuke) as well.
This is seriously one of the funniest series I know. I think it started as a spin-off series of Meisaku Bungaku (warai), but by now it has spin-off CDs of it's own. The CDs tell various fairytales from the perspective of the prince, while their personalities are turned into something completely different and usually they have hilarious quirks.
The first two CDs each had three princes, each having their own unrelated story and a final 'zadankai' track in which all three of them have a drink and have some (hilarious) conversation. In the later CDs one new prince was introduced, while characters from earlier CDs act as supporting cast. The series is getting longer and longer but it is still as hilarious as in the beginning. They've started using running gags, and frequently mention that they know they are in a drama CD series (fourth wall, what fourth wall?).
Shirayuki (Snow White), Cinderella, and Ibara (Sleeping Beauty) are probably my favourite characters in the series. There is no way I can choose a favourite CD though, they are all brilliant.
Are you Alice?
In Are you Alice? a male Alice wanders into wonderland and is subsequently involved in 'the game to kill the white rabbit'. The main story is told in three drama CDs -Drink me, Check Mate, and Call me- but there are several expansions to the story and an incredible amount of tokuten (bonus) mini drama's.
The main story is rather dark, and switches between being serious and ironic humour. Ninomiya Ai her ability to write sarcasm into almost any situation is one of the main charms of this series, though it also has a very good story. Don't expect everything to be clearly explained though, this series leaves it up to you to connect many of the dots.
The unbirthday series expands on the original story by telling the background of several of the characters. While chronologically mosty taking place before the original story you will need to know the story or you will miss out on a lot of things. Like the original series, this is dark and more serious.
The Tea Party side dramas are less serious and more comical, depicting a few events during Alice his stay in wonderland. One of the charms of this series are the tokuten CDs though; they are mostly complete crack. The whole cast acts out of character - or the entire setting is changed- and the dialogue is often a chain of witty comments, sarcasm, and puns. There are more serious tokuten CDs as well, but most of them are completely hilarious.
This is the series that got me hooked on drama CDs, it all started with this. It is also the cause for my incredible Sakurai bias. Only recommended for people that like dark fairytales or darker stories, and don't mind doing a bit of thinking to figure out what is going on exactly on.
Momo&Grapes Men's Only
While the individual CDs in this series have nothing to do with each other, all of the ones I listened to were very interesting and all of them were very good adaptions of the original story.
As you can guess by the title all of the seiyuu in each CD are all male, yet they did stories like Alice in Wonderland, A Little Princess, and even one based on a novel published by Tiara Bunko (a publisher that specializes in candlelight novels). It takes a little while to get used to, but after a few minutes you are completely used to the voices and it never felt unnatural. It is almost a crime how cute some of these heroines sound.
Most -if not all- of them are also very faithful adaptions of the original stories. They stick close to the originals without taking too much liberty or skipping things. The voice acting is always incredible, and if you ask me these are some of the best drama CD adaptions ever.
The stories that they did are Romeo and Juliet, The Rose of Versailles (series), Little Women, Beauty and the Beast, Ribon no Kishi, Bluebeard, Alice in Wonderland, Oboreru hodo Hana wo ageru, and a Little Princess.
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 centers 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 story is told from the perspective of the main character, so you hear their thoughts and feelings. The series is written really, really well, and each story is a very emotional one. I cried more than once listening to this series. While dealing with very emotional topics, the message is always "after rain comes sunshine" and that if you are willing to try you'll be able to find happiness, even though it might be different from what you expect. This doesn't mean every story has a happy end though, but the main character always resolves to move forward, and that emotional journey is what makes this series so special. That they manage to do this in every single CD without making it feel corny only shows how well written it is (and how good the seiyuu are).
What is interesting in that none of the characters in this series have a name. Everyone is always referred to as "he:", "she" "that guy" etc. The main character is also always referred to simply as "me" (although all of the main characters are male, with the exception of the last few stories). Hearing a seiyuu do different roles in one story is also interesting, and you can hear the amazing voice range that most of them have.
Several of the stories have been turned into normal drama CDs, with sepparate actors for each character. While these are all very good as well, the original series had more emotional impact in my opinion.
"Hitoribochi no Tanjoubi", "Christmas no Dekikoto", "Saigo no Negai" and "Yami" are some of my own favourites, but to be honest all of them are incredibly good.
Kannou Mukashi Banashi
One of the first series to spread the use of the dummy head mic, each CD in this series has several seiyuu telling well known stories and/or fairytales in a slightly different way. The stories are faithful to their originals, but somewhere halfway through the wording usually slips into double wording, combine that with the dummy head mic and the result can be very eroi.
Each CD has a theme for all of the stories: Japanese folklore, Andersen fairytales, Kaidan (horror), Grimm Fairytales, Greek Myths, Sengoku period, and finally Japanese folklore again. And of course the Romeo and Julliet special story.
In the first few the amount of ero wasn't that much, but it increases with the later CDs. It never reaches the amount of ero of several other series that focus on that though. Each CD has three stories told by sepparate seiyuu, and one story done by everyone. The introductions done by Inoue Kazuhiko are also on of the selling points. In each CD he tests whether your earphones/headphones are working properly, with suitably questionable wording.
The slight ero/ doki doki factor is of course the focus of this series, but besides that the stories are all simply done very well. The voice acting is good, the way they tell it interesting, and they manage to keep close to the originals (except maybe in the Sengoku one, in which everything but the historical data is pure fiction)
My own favourite is vol.3 - the horror one. The mix between horror and semi-ero is an interesting one. Although the scare factor of the dummy head mic left the larger impression (even though it is nothing compared to Kurayamigatari)
This is still a new series and not even all CDs are out yet, and against all odds I am loving it. The CDs tie in with a series of otome games with the same title, and the concept is that age doesn't matter when it comes to love. All of the guys in the series are older (28 or older) while the heroine is 17.
I didn't like the setting and was completely uninterested until I heard some of the preview tracks. Each CD features one of the guys as your boyfriend, along with a sub-character. The scenes between these two characters are what made the series for me. Their conversation are often so hilarious that I can't help but love it.
Other than that I think the use of sound effects is done pretty good in this series (and the use of the dummy head mic) and most of the situation parts (where your boyfriend talks directly to you) are done pretty OK as well, without him repeating too much of what you are supposedly saying. Some of the parts together are pure fanservice in terms of sweet talk and kissing though.
And then there are a few single CDs that I'd like to recommend:
Don't cry girl
This is the story of a girl named Taeko, who for several silly reasons has to start living with a firend of her parents. The only problem is that the guy in question , Masuda, is kind of an idiot and likes to walk around naked at home. All the time. To make things worse his best friend Jinnai is a pervert, and Taeko her own two best friends are oblivious to their weird actions.
This is a horror story that uses the dummy head mic, and the effect is chilling. The setting is that you are hunted by something and visit a certain story teller in order to solve that problem. He tells you two stories: your own story and a very similar one.
The dummy head mic is used with great effect to scare you. In various ways. I'm not good with horror to begin with, but I've listened to a few horror stories and this one is definitely in the top ranks when it comes to being scary.
Besides that, the entire CD is voiced by Tsuda Kenjirou, who voices several very different roles. Every role sounds completely different though, and I can't help but be amazed by such vocal versatility.
Akogare no situation CD 01- Shikararetai
I can't recommend the entire series because later entries are more average, but the first one is pure gold. While this is a situation CD, don't expect many sweet lines, instead the character spends most of his time reprimanding you for everything that you do. Literally everything.
Of course the entire setting is light hearted so the end result is more comical than anything else. Morita Masakazu did this CD with so much energy, it is really amazing. I really like this CD, and I just want to recommend it to everyone.
While the setting is really different, it is somehow very similar to the above one (even having the same seiyuu). In Toubousha you are more or less kidnapped by someone who is on the run. But it turns out soon enough that he isn't entirely bad and doesn't exactly know what to do with the situation either. Which results into a similar kind of commenting on and complaining about almost everything that you do and say.
While the beginning of the CD was more thriller orientated, the middle part is far more comical. This was something that I really didn't expect, but loved anyway. However the CD also has a bad end option, and prepare the tissues when you plan on listening to that.The fact that it has more of a story than the Shikararetai CD makes it very different, so I can recommend this as well. Did I also mention it is entirely recorded with the dummy head mic?
These are my recommendations, I guess?
Haha, it is really difficult to choose from so many interesting concepts. In the end I decided think about which series I would be most excited about if a new CD would be announced.
If you think it weird that several big name series (Shuukan Soine, Honeymoon, anything by Honey Bee) is missing from this list: of course those are great series as well. These are just my personal favourites (and Shuukan Soine was very close to getting on the list, but I can't keep adding things).
Some people might also know that I'm a Yandere Heaven fan, so why isn't that on the list? Basically because I made this list of recommendations for everyone, and something like Yandere Heaven isn't for everyone to enjoy. I'm happy to see a lot ofequally twisted people other fans here and on tumblr, but unless you know what yandere is (and love it) that series is probably something you should stay away from. (But everyone that is now intrigued is of course encouraged to give it a try).
These are my favourites, but if anyone is looking for further recommendations just leave a comment. If you give me examples of things you like (series, seiyuu, character types, etc) I'll try my best to recommend other things! Of course, other people are also welcome to give their recommendations :)
So lets start with the series:
Hougen Renai
The romance in this series develops pretty naturally, and thanks to the fact that the heroine has a voice it allows for a bit more complicated scenario's. Some dialects might be a bit tricky to understand in the beginning, but it is definitely fun to listen to. I still check the official site every so often, secretly hoping that they will continue some day.
My favourite entries to this series are probably vol.1 and vol.4, although I really loved the Niigata story (voiced by Hirakawa Daisuke) as well.
Oujisama (warai)
This is seriously one of the funniest series I know. I think it started as a spin-off series of Meisaku Bungaku (warai), but by now it has spin-off CDs of it's own. The CDs tell various fairytales from the perspective of the prince, while their personalities are turned into something completely different and usually they have hilarious quirks.The first two CDs each had three princes, each having their own unrelated story and a final 'zadankai' track in which all three of them have a drink and have some (hilarious) conversation. In the later CDs one new prince was introduced, while characters from earlier CDs act as supporting cast. The series is getting longer and longer but it is still as hilarious as in the beginning. They've started using running gags, and frequently mention that they know they are in a drama CD series (fourth wall, what fourth wall?).
Shirayuki (Snow White), Cinderella, and Ibara (Sleeping Beauty) are probably my favourite characters in the series. There is no way I can choose a favourite CD though, they are all brilliant.
Are you Alice?
The main story is rather dark, and switches between being serious and ironic humour. Ninomiya Ai her ability to write sarcasm into almost any situation is one of the main charms of this series, though it also has a very good story. Don't expect everything to be clearly explained though, this series leaves it up to you to connect many of the dots.
The unbirthday series expands on the original story by telling the background of several of the characters. While chronologically mosty taking place before the original story you will need to know the story or you will miss out on a lot of things. Like the original series, this is dark and more serious.
The Tea Party side dramas are less serious and more comical, depicting a few events during Alice his stay in wonderland. One of the charms of this series are the tokuten CDs though; they are mostly complete crack. The whole cast acts out of character - or the entire setting is changed- and the dialogue is often a chain of witty comments, sarcasm, and puns. There are more serious tokuten CDs as well, but most of them are completely hilarious.
This is the series that got me hooked on drama CDs, it all started with this. It is also the cause for my incredible Sakurai bias. Only recommended for people that like dark fairytales or darker stories, and don't mind doing a bit of thinking to figure out what is going on exactly on.
Momo&Grapes Men's Only
As you can guess by the title all of the seiyuu in each CD are all male, yet they did stories like Alice in Wonderland, A Little Princess, and even one based on a novel published by Tiara Bunko (a publisher that specializes in candlelight novels). It takes a little while to get used to, but after a few minutes you are completely used to the voices and it never felt unnatural. It is almost a crime how cute some of these heroines sound.
Most -if not all- of them are also very faithful adaptions of the original stories. They stick close to the originals without taking too much liberty or skipping things. The voice acting is always incredible, and if you ask me these are some of the best drama CD adaptions ever.
The stories that they did are Romeo and Juliet, The Rose of Versailles (series), Little Women, Beauty and the Beast, Ribon no Kishi, Bluebeard, Alice in Wonderland, Oboreru hodo Hana wo ageru, and a Little Princess.
Fushigi Koubou Shoukougun
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 centers 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 story is told from the perspective of the main character, so you hear their thoughts and feelings. The series is written really, really well, and each story is a very emotional one. I cried more than once listening to this series. While dealing with very emotional topics, the message is always "after rain comes sunshine" and that if you are willing to try you'll be able to find happiness, even though it might be different from what you expect. This doesn't mean every story has a happy end though, but the main character always resolves to move forward, and that emotional journey is what makes this series so special. That they manage to do this in every single CD without making it feel corny only shows how well written it is (and how good the seiyuu are).
What is interesting in that none of the characters in this series have a name. Everyone is always referred to as "he:", "she" "that guy" etc. The main character is also always referred to simply as "me" (although all of the main characters are male, with the exception of the last few stories). Hearing a seiyuu do different roles in one story is also interesting, and you can hear the amazing voice range that most of them have.
Several of the stories have been turned into normal drama CDs, with sepparate actors for each character. While these are all very good as well, the original series had more emotional impact in my opinion.
"Hitoribochi no Tanjoubi", "Christmas no Dekikoto", "Saigo no Negai" and "Yami" are some of my own favourites, but to be honest all of them are incredibly good.
Kannou Mukashi Banashi
Each CD has a theme for all of the stories: Japanese folklore, Andersen fairytales, Kaidan (horror), Grimm Fairytales, Greek Myths, Sengoku period, and finally Japanese folklore again. And of course the Romeo and Julliet special story.
In the first few the amount of ero wasn't that much, but it increases with the later CDs. It never reaches the amount of ero of several other series that focus on that though. Each CD has three stories told by sepparate seiyuu, and one story done by everyone. The introductions done by Inoue Kazuhiko are also on of the selling points. In each CD he tests whether your earphones/headphones are working properly, with suitably questionable wording.
The slight ero/ doki doki factor is of course the focus of this series, but besides that the stories are all simply done very well. The voice acting is good, the way they tell it interesting, and they manage to keep close to the originals (except maybe in the Sengoku one, in which everything but the historical data is pure fiction)
My own favourite is vol.3 - the horror one. The mix between horror and semi-ero is an interesting one. Although the scare factor of the dummy head mic left the larger impression (even though it is nothing compared to Kurayamigatari)
Double Score
I didn't like the setting and was completely uninterested until I heard some of the preview tracks. Each CD features one of the guys as your boyfriend, along with a sub-character. The scenes between these two characters are what made the series for me. Their conversation are often so hilarious that I can't help but love it.
Other than that I think the use of sound effects is done pretty good in this series (and the use of the dummy head mic) and most of the situation parts (where your boyfriend talks directly to you) are done pretty OK as well, without him repeating too much of what you are supposedly saying. Some of the parts together are pure fanservice in terms of sweet talk and kissing though.
And then there are a few single CDs that I'd like to recommend:
Don't cry girl
The dummy head mic is used with great effect to scare you. In various ways. I'm not good with horror to begin with, but I've listened to a few horror stories and this one is definitely in the top ranks when it comes to being scary.
Besides that, the entire CD is voiced by Tsuda Kenjirou, who voices several very different roles. Every role sounds completely different though, and I can't help but be amazed by such vocal versatility.
Akogare no situation CD 01- Shikararetai
Of course the entire setting is light hearted so the end result is more comical than anything else. Morita Masakazu did this CD with so much energy, it is really amazing. I really like this CD, and I just want to recommend it to everyone.
While the beginning of the CD was more thriller orientated, the middle part is far more comical. This was something that I really didn't expect, but loved anyway. However the CD also has a bad end option, and prepare the tissues when you plan on listening to that.The fact that it has more of a story than the Shikararetai CD makes it very different, so I can recommend this as well. Did I also mention it is entirely recorded with the dummy head mic?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
These are my recommendations, I guess?
Haha, it is really difficult to choose from so many interesting concepts. In the end I decided think about which series I would be most excited about if a new CD would be announced.
If you think it weird that several big name series (Shuukan Soine, Honeymoon, anything by Honey Bee) is missing from this list: of course those are great series as well. These are just my personal favourites (and Shuukan Soine was very close to getting on the list, but I can't keep adding things).
Some people might also know that I'm a Yandere Heaven fan, so why isn't that on the list? Basically because I made this list of recommendations for everyone, and something like Yandere Heaven isn't for everyone to enjoy. I'm happy to see a lot of
These are my favourites, but if anyone is looking for further recommendations just leave a comment. If you give me examples of things you like (series, seiyuu, character types, etc) I'll try my best to recommend other things! Of course, other people are also welcome to give their recommendations :)
26/08/2011
Weekly News Post
After missing a news post we are back this week! And with a some very good news too! Starting with:
Shuukan Soine vol.7~ 12
Yes you read that right!! Shuukan Soine will be continued, and with another 6 vol no less!! Starting on 2011.11.18 (they should have chosen a week earlier!!) one CD will be released every week for 6 weeks. And to make this news even better, the seiyuu are also already known, on order they are:
a sweet but somewhat thickheaded boyfriend (Kurota Takaya), a timid younger boyfriend that loves you with whole his heart (Okamoto Nobuhiko), a boyfriend that is always smiling and like an older brother (Morita Masakazu), a cheerful and fun, generous boyfriend (Inoue Kazuhiko), a somewhat cold boyfriend, who still lets you glimpse his respect and love (Fukuyama Jun), and a serious boyfriend with a strong sense of justice (Midorikawa Hikaru).
I'm sure that many of us are squealing like mad over vol.10. Inoue Kazuhiko doing a Shuukan Soine CD... that will end with a lot of nose bleeding. Too bad for me there is still no Sakurai, but this is a beautiful list of seiyuu and a lot of releases to look forward to :3
Oujisama warai
more details about the upcoming little mermaid spinoff in the oujisama warai series. The princes from Cinderella, Snow White, and Genji are visiting a neighboring country for the wedding of a relative. However the prince that is the groom doesn't feel like marrying because he wanted to have a "destined love like in movies" and resents his political marriage. And along comes a princess who not only claims to be engaged to the prince, but also claims to be a mermaid...?!
The official site also updated with a beautiful summer themed banner at the top, and the official art for the prince of the little mermaid, posted to the right here.
Hougen Renai
a recent blog post stated that they were planning "various things" and one of those has been announced: two radio CDs are to be released on 2011.09.29 and 2011.10.27.
I'm not entirely sure what the contents of the CDs will be, but each CD has three prefectures: the first one has Aichi, Kouichi, and Niigata prefecture, while the second one has Nagano, Fukushima, and Hiroshima prefecture. If you buy both CDs you can also get a bonus CD which has the until now radio-only story for Hiroshima prefecture.
Shuukan Soine vol.7~ 12
Yes you read that right!! Shuukan Soine will be continued, and with another 6 vol no less!! Starting on 2011.11.18 (they should have chosen a week earlier!!) one CD will be released every week for 6 weeks. And to make this news even better, the seiyuu are also already known, on order they are:
a sweet but somewhat thickheaded boyfriend (Kurota Takaya), a timid younger boyfriend that loves you with whole his heart (Okamoto Nobuhiko), a boyfriend that is always smiling and like an older brother (Morita Masakazu), a cheerful and fun, generous boyfriend (Inoue Kazuhiko), a somewhat cold boyfriend, who still lets you glimpse his respect and love (Fukuyama Jun), and a serious boyfriend with a strong sense of justice (Midorikawa Hikaru).
I'm sure that many of us are squealing like mad over vol.10. Inoue Kazuhiko doing a Shuukan Soine CD... that will end with a lot of nose bleeding. Too bad for me there is still no Sakurai, but this is a beautiful list of seiyuu and a lot of releases to look forward to :3
Oujisama warai
The official site also updated with a beautiful summer themed banner at the top, and the official art for the prince of the little mermaid, posted to the right here.
Hougen Renai
a recent blog post stated that they were planning "various things" and one of those has been announced: two radio CDs are to be released on 2011.09.29 and 2011.10.27.
I'm not entirely sure what the contents of the CDs will be, but each CD has three prefectures: the first one has Aichi, Kouichi, and Niigata prefecture, while the second one has Nagano, Fukushima, and Hiroshima prefecture. If you buy both CDs you can also get a bonus CD which has the until now radio-only story for Hiroshima prefecture.
12/08/2011
Weekly News Post
Comiket 80 starts today, making me almost depressed about all the tokuten I am missing. I really really need to go someday. But as it is I'm not in Japan at the moment, and even if I were, I'm much to scared to go by myself xD
Oujisama (warai)
a rough sketch of the prince for the upcoming little mermaid story has been released. In the description they say that his character is "sweet", but for now his sketch looks everything but sweet to me. The first thing I thought was "another Cinderella?!".
Maybe he'll look sweet if he smiled a bit more (^-^;;)
Bokutachi otoko no ko
a mini drama will be released on the mobile distribution site Pocket Drama. The mini drama is called タマのドキドキ☆妄想デート (Tama no dokidoki☆mousou date, Tama his dokidok☆fantasy date) so I suppose Tama will be going on a date?! It is only distributed for mobile, so unless you have a Japanese phone there is sadly no way of listening to it.
Oujisama (warai)
Maybe he'll look sweet if he smiled a bit more (^-^;;)
Bokutachi otoko no ko
a mini drama will be released on the mobile distribution site Pocket Drama. The mini drama is called タマのドキドキ☆妄想デート (Tama no dokidoki☆mousou date, Tama his dokidok☆fantasy date) so I suppose Tama will be going on a date?! It is only distributed for mobile, so unless you have a Japanese phone there is sadly no way of listening to it.
16/07/2011
Hougen Renai 5
方言恋愛 5
Company: Movic
Based on: Original
Released: 2011.05.19
Official Site: http://www.animate.co.jp/special/hougen/
Hougen Renai translates into something as 'Dialect Love', which is exactly what it is. Hougen Renai tells two stories, each one takes place in a different part of Japan. The whole charm of the series is that the dialect of the location where the story supposedly takes placed is used. This volume has two new prefectures; Kagawa and Fukushima.
In the Kagawa story the heroine (CV: Fukuen Misato) tranfers to the Kagawa branch office from Tokyo. There she meets her new direct superior, Yamaji Masanao (CV: Nakamura Yuuichi). Yamaji is known to be very strict, which immediately shows in his attitude. When a senpai (CV: Nabei Makiko) suggests that the heroine takes a well deserved day off after a while, she does so... only to bump into Yamaji. And so she ends up spending the day with him.
I love this story!! And Fukuen Misato sounds so cute trying to be a hardworking office lady! The dialect was easy to understand, and to me it sounds very warm and kind. While Yamaji is a strict superior, he also seems very kind. He doesn't ask impossible things and he also gives praise where appropriate.
The Fukushima story centers on the heroine (CV: Sawashiro Miyuki) who lived in Fukushima for a year as a teenager and who now returns there as a teacher. There her friend Atsumi Momoka (CV: Nagasawa Miki) takes her to the cafe of her former classmate Kaname Takaya (CV: Matsukaze Masaya). The heroine is surprised at how much Kaname has changed from how he was at highschool, but after a little while she starts to visit his cafe more often...
The dialect was a bit harder to understand in this story, but still not that hard. storywise it wa so-so. Although it was nice to hear how another female plays a major role (at least in the beginning) instead of the focus being just on the heroine. It is not that the story isn't that interesting, but it is sort of generic.
Conclusion:
I absolutely love the first story, the second story is not as good but still very decent. I don't know where I would place it between the other Hougen Renai CDs, but it doesn't rally matter because I can still wholeheartedly recommended it to everyone.
21/04/2011
News: 方言恋愛 Vol.5 Character Designs
04/04/2011
方言恋愛 Vol.3
Hougen Renai Vol.3
Hougen Renai translates into something as 'Dialect Love', which is exactly what it is. Hougen Renai tells two stories, each one takes place in a different part of Japan. The whole charm of the series is that the dialect of the location where the story supposedly takes placed is used. This volume has two new prefectures; Fukuoka and Niigata. I was looking forward to this release not only because I love the series, but also because Hirakawa Daisuke does the character for Niigata :3
But first Fukuoka. The Heroine is a high school student who visits a temple in Fukuoka to pray for succes on her entrance exams. There she meets the priest Kunitake Yoshito and his childhood friend Kaori. As she seems far too tense about her exams Yoshito decides to drag her around the city to relax for a bit.
The first few lines made me want to pull my hair out in frustration, Fukuoka ben is NOT an easy dialect to listen to. In fact, it is probably one of the worst and most difficult dialects to understand. It is probably best to listen to the entire story more than once, because the dialect takes a while to get used to so you might miss some things in the beginning. Although Yoshito does cut back a bit on the dialect when talking with the heroine. Who sounds just too cute btw!! Not squeeky-high-voice-cute, but actually cute.
The second story takes place partly in Niigata and partly in Tokyo, but it is the Niigata dialect that takes a central place in the plot. This time the heroine works for a museum and visits Niigata to obtain a specific painting for an exhibition. In the Shinkansen she meets Oshimi Keigo who is an actor. She lends him her phone because the batteries of his own one are drained, and as thanks he shows her around later on. They exchange their mail address before they both return to Tokyo, where the rest of the story takes place.
On the website they described this story to be "as pure as white snow" and I agree, it is very cute. The Niigata dialect is easy to understand. This is also the first time that the dialect itself plays a central part in the plot; Keigo, who was struggling with how to portray his characters in a sincere way, discovers that it is much easier for him to be sincere when he talks in his own dialect.
As always, I really like that the heroine has a voice, it allows for more complicated stories than when you can only listen. In both stories I got the feeling that there was more interaction with other characters, and that through that the focus was more on the dialect this time. This also made the stories seem much more natural, and gave them a fresh feeling.
Conclusion:
So far this is my favorite CD in the series. As much a Fukuoka-ben frustrates me, the story was fun so it was enjoyable. I might even say it was fun to try and understand everything he says. The second story was just too cute, and I liked that the dialect actually played a central role.
That, and it was Hirakawa Daisuke so what more do I want? :3
29/03/2011
News: 方言恋愛 Vol.5
I've been away for quite some time so as to whether you can really call this news....
But either way, Hougen Renai 5 is coming!! The original release date would have been in April, but due to the events after the recent earthquake in Japan the release has been put back one month, the new release date being in May.
The two prefectures this time around are Kanagawa and Fukushima (hence the delay I expect). In the Kanagawa story the heroine transfers to the sales department of the Kanagawa branch office of the company she works for. However her new direct superior, Yamachi Masanao (CV: Nakamura Yuichi) is rather strict and while she is desperately trying to keep up with her work it doesn't proceed the way she wants it too. Almost growing depressed as this goes she she one day meets Yamachi outside of work...
According to his character description Yamachi is a very strict superior and doesn't cut his department any slack. Because of this he is difficult to approach, but his superiors rank him very high and a lot of the female employees admire him.
In the Fukushima story the heroine is a teacher who comes to Fukushima. She lived there for one year in her childhood and is renunited with Kaname Takaya (? CV: Matsukaze Masaya) who now works as the master of a coffe shop. However Kaname almost seems like a completely different person, and so a story that revolves around his mysterious circumstances and a certain event in the past begins.
Kaname is the master of a coffe shop that becomes a bar a night. He usually talks in standard Japanese, but with regular customers he chats in dialect. Always half joking, he seems to have a cheerful personality, but behind that mask there is another side of him.
Both stories sound very interesting so I can't wait for this next volume.And the character designs look amazing, or maybe I just love men in suit.
But either way, Hougen Renai 5 is coming!! The original release date would have been in April, but due to the events after the recent earthquake in Japan the release has been put back one month, the new release date being in May.
The two prefectures this time around are Kanagawa and Fukushima (hence the delay I expect). In the Kanagawa story the heroine transfers to the sales department of the Kanagawa branch office of the company she works for. However her new direct superior, Yamachi Masanao (CV: Nakamura Yuichi) is rather strict and while she is desperately trying to keep up with her work it doesn't proceed the way she wants it too. Almost growing depressed as this goes she she one day meets Yamachi outside of work...According to his character description Yamachi is a very strict superior and doesn't cut his department any slack. Because of this he is difficult to approach, but his superiors rank him very high and a lot of the female employees admire him.
Kaname is the master of a coffe shop that becomes a bar a night. He usually talks in standard Japanese, but with regular customers he chats in dialect. Always half joking, he seems to have a cheerful personality, but behind that mask there is another side of him.
Both stories sound very interesting so I can't wait for this next volume.And the character designs look amazing, or maybe I just love men in suit.
23/10/2010
方言恋愛 Vol.2
Hougen Renai Vol.3 is already on sale, so I'm loosing no time with reviewing this one so that I can move on to that one next!
This volume has two new prefectures; Kyoto and Yamagata. The second one worried me a bit because I had heard that the dialect there is really incomprahensible, but it wasn't that bad.
In the first story the heroine comes to Kyoto for unknown reasons and meets Sawaragi Rento (CV: Yusa Kouji) who takes her in as a house maid. While Sawaragi is kind to everyone he meets, he also keeps people at a distance. During the story we learn why the heroine was in Kyoto in the first place, and what caused Sawaragi to be so distant.
Halfway through listening to this I thought 'they are not speaking in dialect at all!' forgetting that I lived in Kyoto for a year and completely got used to the intonation. Sawaragi his accent isn't too strong, his childhood friend Kaori (CV: Shindou Naomi) on the other hand had a 'high class' accent (the kind of speach Geisha's also still use).
In the second story the heroine is a photographer with very bad luck. She meets Kurashige Kouhei (CV: Taniyama Kisho), who is also cursed with bad luck where ever he goes. Kurashige his co-workers fear that the two of them together will unleash a storm of bad luck on the people around them, but when they are together the bad luck finally goes away. (minus x minus = plus, the opening words of the story).
I really liked this story! Kurashige his constant bad luck creates some funny moments, and his co-workers like commenting on that don't really help much it. It was a perfect lighthearted story to follow the somewhat heavier first one. Like I said, I heard that Yamagata dialect is really hard to understand, but not at all; it was very easy actually.
Comparing this one with the first volume... I can't really decide which one I like most. The stories is this one were more interesting, but I like the Seiyuu from the first one most (yes, I am biased :P). Preference of Seiyuu aside, I think this one was a bit more interesting.
方言恋愛 Vol.2
This volume has two new prefectures; Kyoto and Yamagata. The second one worried me a bit because I had heard that the dialect there is really incomprahensible, but it wasn't that bad.
In the first story the heroine comes to Kyoto for unknown reasons and meets Sawaragi Rento (CV: Yusa Kouji) who takes her in as a house maid. While Sawaragi is kind to everyone he meets, he also keeps people at a distance. During the story we learn why the heroine was in Kyoto in the first place, and what caused Sawaragi to be so distant.Halfway through listening to this I thought 'they are not speaking in dialect at all!' forgetting that I lived in Kyoto for a year and completely got used to the intonation. Sawaragi his accent isn't too strong, his childhood friend Kaori (CV: Shindou Naomi) on the other hand had a 'high class' accent (the kind of speach Geisha's also still use).
In the second story the heroine is a photographer with very bad luck. She meets Kurashige Kouhei (CV: Taniyama Kisho), who is also cursed with bad luck where ever he goes. Kurashige his co-workers fear that the two of them together will unleash a storm of bad luck on the people around them, but when they are together the bad luck finally goes away. (minus x minus = plus, the opening words of the story).I really liked this story! Kurashige his constant bad luck creates some funny moments, and his co-workers like commenting on that don't really help much it. It was a perfect lighthearted story to follow the somewhat heavier first one. Like I said, I heard that Yamagata dialect is really hard to understand, but not at all; it was very easy actually.
Comparing this one with the first volume... I can't really decide which one I like most. The stories is this one were more interesting, but I like the Seiyuu from the first one most (yes, I am biased :P). Preference of Seiyuu aside, I think this one was a bit more interesting.
19/10/2010
News: 方言恋愛 Vol.3 + 4 announced
Hougen Renai 3 was already anounced, but now a special page for volume 4 has also been created! More dialect goodness is coming our way~
Volume 3 has Fukuoka and Niigata. The character from Fukuoka, Kunitake Yoshito (CV: Ueda Yuuji) is a priest. The story seems to be about a high school student who comes to Fukuoka to see the university before her entrance exams. Kunitake decides to relieve her of her exam stress by (forcefully) dragging her around the place.
The Niigata character, Oumi Keigo(CV: Hirakawa Daisuke) is an actor. He meets the heroine on the shinkansen where she helps him with something, and to thank her he takes her to a museum and shows her around. According to the staff it is a 'story as pure as white snow".
Two reasons to look forward to this volume: Kyuushuu-ben, which I've found to be utterly incomprehensible at times (just listen to the voice samples, you'll understand what I mean), and Hirakawa Daisuke!! The staff remark about Hirakawa-san his story being so pure made me smile, His voice samples also sound very cute!
Volume 4 has Ibaraki and Nagano. The character from Ibaraki, Shibamori Yoshiyuki (CV: Maeno Tomoaki) is a station attendant. The heroine meets him when she forgot something is the train. Shibamori seems to rather timid and his hobby is gardening.
The Nagano character, Hodaka Souji(?) (CV: Hatano Wataru) is a mailman xD The heroine meets him on a vacation in Nagano. In the beginning there seem to be some misunderstandings but they grow closer as time passes.
The first thing I thought when I saw this volume was uniforms!! (>w<) *cough* Haha, as you can see both characters are in uniform, making me interested already. (am I easy to catch or what?). While I have heard Maeno-san his voice before I can't really recall Hatano-san his voice. I knew his name so I'm certain I must have heard hime before but... either way neither seiyuu can be used to catch me, but the dialect love must be spread (and they have uniforms) so I shall "sacrifice" myself and review it when it comes out.
I need to hurry and review volume 2 first...
Volume 3 has Fukuoka and Niigata. The character from Fukuoka, Kunitake Yoshito (CV: Ueda Yuuji) is a priest. The story seems to be about a high school student who comes to Fukuoka to see the university before her entrance exams. Kunitake decides to relieve her of her exam stress by (forcefully) dragging her around the place.
The Niigata character, Oumi Keigo(CV: Hirakawa Daisuke) is an actor. He meets the heroine on the shinkansen where she helps him with something, and to thank her he takes her to a museum and shows her around. According to the staff it is a 'story as pure as white snow".
Two reasons to look forward to this volume: Kyuushuu-ben, which I've found to be utterly incomprehensible at times (just listen to the voice samples, you'll understand what I mean), and Hirakawa Daisuke!! The staff remark about Hirakawa-san his story being so pure made me smile, His voice samples also sound very cute!
Volume 4 has Ibaraki and Nagano. The character from Ibaraki, Shibamori Yoshiyuki (CV: Maeno Tomoaki) is a station attendant. The heroine meets him when she forgot something is the train. Shibamori seems to rather timid and his hobby is gardening.The Nagano character, Hodaka Souji(?) (CV: Hatano Wataru) is a mailman xD The heroine meets him on a vacation in Nagano. In the beginning there seem to be some misunderstandings but they grow closer as time passes.
The first thing I thought when I saw this volume was uniforms!! (>w<) *cough* Haha, as you can see both characters are in uniform, making me interested already. (am I easy to catch or what?). While I have heard Maeno-san his voice before I can't really recall Hatano-san his voice. I knew his name so I'm certain I must have heard hime before but... either way neither seiyuu can be used to catch me, but the dialect love must be spread (and they have uniforms) so I shall "sacrifice" myself and review it when it comes out.I need to hurry and review volume 2 first...
10/10/2010
方言恋愛 Vol.1
I am slacking, as always. That doesn't mean that I haven't been listening to any drama's lately. On the contrary, I've listened to a whole bunch of them, but that I'm not writing about it. But I bring new Reviews! :'D
After wondering for ages about which drama I should write I finally settled down on *drumroll*
The first story is about a young OL that moves from Tokyo to Aichi for her work, and meets Mase Akihito (CV: Sakurai Takahiro), who happens to be working 6 part time jobs at once. She's having some problems with adjusting to the dialect so he offers to teach her words and expressions.
In the second story a girl comes back to Kouchi to get her drivers licence. Exactly why she'd go all the way to a prefecture where she only lived for one year in the past just to get her drivers licence is a little beyond me, but let's not question that. There she meets her childhood friend Hirose Yuuichi (CV: Ono Daisuke) who now happens to be an instructor at the driving school she visits. Convenient plot indeed.
I liked Sakurai his story most, but I may be biased :P
Really recommended if you'd like to hear something else than standard Japanese every once in a while. The stories on there own were not really that special, but entertaining none the less.
After wondering for ages about which drama I should write I finally settled down on *drumroll*
方言恋愛 Vol.1
Hougen Renai! Which translates into something as 'Dialect Love', which is exactly what it is. There are two reasons why I chose this drama 1: everything is spoken in dialect, 2. 'you' actually have a voice.
But lets start at the beginning. Hougen Renai tells two stories, each one takes place in a different part of Japan. The whole charm of the series is that the dialect of the location where the story supposedly takes placed is used. Most drama are in standard Japanese, and hearing characters talk to each other in dialect feel quite refreshing really. (other than hearing someone talk kansai for the humor effect every once in a while).
The first story is about a young OL that moves from Tokyo to Aichi for her work, and meets Mase Akihito (CV: Sakurai Takahiro), who happens to be working 6 part time jobs at once. She's having some problems with adjusting to the dialect so he offers to teach her words and expressions. 
In the second story a girl comes back to Kouchi to get her drivers licence. Exactly why she'd go all the way to a prefecture where she only lived for one year in the past just to get her drivers licence is a little beyond me, but let's not question that. There she meets her childhood friend Hirose Yuuichi (CV: Ono Daisuke) who now happens to be an instructor at the driving school she visits. Convenient plot indeed.The first thing that surprised me is that 'you', the listener, are actually given a voice. I've become completely used to a character talking on his own and little pauses in which you apparently say something, but here you actually talk. And you sound very cute :3
Other than that, it has Sakurai Takahiro and Ono Daisuke, who I both love~ Sakurai his dialect sounds very natural to me, I still overlap his voice with Alice though. Ono Daisuke sounds... very different when talking in dialect? Or maybe this is just one of the first times that I've heard him where he is not acting out the 'perfect boyfriend' (well technically he still is, but to a lesser degree). Either way I liked his performance :3
I liked Sakurai his story most, but I may be biased :P
Really recommended if you'd like to hear something else than standard Japanese every once in a while. The stories on there own were not really that special, but entertaining none the less.
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