Special: Navikare + Yurikamome

While planning my last trip to Japan there was one thing that I absolutely wanted to do while I was in Tokyo: ride the Yurikamome line while listening to Navikare.

A senpai who works in Japan was kind enough to let me stay over for a few days, and as luck would have it he actually lives near odaiba - you could see the yurikamome line from his living room. So one morning I first walked to odaiba by crossing Rainbow Bridge. This sounds all nice and romantic, but you are walking right next to the trafic so there is a lot of noise and fumes, but the view is great:

After walking along the beach and doing some window shopping at the various malls I walked over to Kokusai-tenjijō-seimon station (the station in front of Tokyo Big Sight, and also where you get on the train in the CD) to get on the train. I chose to listen to the first boyfriend, mostly because I was unsure whether I would be able to keep a straight face while listening to the second xD

Before getting on the train I checked to see how I could get the timing of departing right. This wasn't to difficult: the second track begins when the doors of the train close, so it was easy to get the timing right.

Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures while on the train, sorry.

Like I mentioned in the review of the CD: The tracks are divided by station, but the story continues seamlessly. A lot of famous landmarks are mentioned, and for the most part those came into view when mentioned or just a little later. I suppose the timing differs depending on where you sit in the train (I was sitting somewhere near the middle) and it was only a few seconds off.

There were just two moments that were off in my opinion. When Oedo Onsen was mentioned I couldn't see it anywhere. Then again maybe I just missed it because we were just going around a corner, and I couldn't exactly run from one side of the train to the other to see whether I might be able to see it from there (well, I could have, but I didn't want to bother anyone). The other moment is when your boyfriend mentions that the Ferris Wheel looks very different from different angles, but by that time you are on the Rainbow Bridge and you can't see the actual Ferris Wheel at all. You did see it from every possible angle during the ride though.

The next moment more then makes up for it though. During track 6 there is a part where the background sounds fade out and you hear a bgm instead. This is actually while you are in the 'loop' part of Rainbow Bridge, and it really makes a great atmosphere~ I must have been grinning like an idiot at that point, but I couldn't really care.

The sound effects on the train (such as the sound before the opening and closing of the doors)  are different from the actual yurikamome line. I suppose this is logical, I doubt they would be allowed to use the official ones, and re-creating them would probably be a hell of a job. Also, this CD was released in 2009 so it is entirely possible that the sounds have changed.

There is one thing that truly amazed me while listening: the timing. Most of the time it was accurate on the second, especially the timing of the closing of the doors and departure. In the beginning it was entirely in sync with the actual train, at some point it started to have a slight delay, but only by a second or so and considering the fact that a one way trip is about 25min, that is quite an achievement. (It is also sort of amazing that the timing is still the same after 4 years).


Conclusion:
For most of the CD the content of the CD and what you are actually seeing match, and the timing of the CD was way more accurate than I expected. It was a lot of fun to listen to this while actually riding the train. I managed to keep a straight face during most of the ride, but failed near the end. Not that I really cared, I was enjoying it way too much.

So if you feel like doing this: I can recommend it.
Odaiba is a nice for sightseeing anyways (the beach is nice too!) and the Yurikamome line is one of the easiest ways to get there (and leave) so you don't really need to go out of your way for it either.

I had a lot of fun doing this, and if I get the chance I definitely want to try and do something like this again.



Bonus remark: The cover of the CD is a simplistic rendition of the area around the Tokyo Big Sight station. The real thing is prettier, but this gets the image across (^-^)

Navikare！ ~Watashi wo Mukae ni kite~

ナビカレ！　～わたしをむかえにきて～

Company: Pony Canyon
Based on: Original
Released: 2009.01.21
Official site: http://otome.ponycanyon.co.jp/navikare/index.html


In Navikare your boyfriend comes to pick you up and you go home together by train. On the way back you talk a bit together about random things and the sights outside. In this CD both boyfriends are voiced by Hirakawa Daisuke, and you go home after an event in Odaiba *cough*Comiket*cough* taking the Yurikamome line to Shinbashi.

(side note: I didn't know that the different stations had famous voice actors doing the announcements. Next time I am in Tokyo I am definitely riding this just because of that.)

The first boyfriend is very sweet. He is all excited about going back together, happily chatting away about all the things you see outside. He says he wants to go to odaiba on a date some time, and is almost planning out the entire date on the spot. The best moment in his part is when he mentions that he went to look around a bit on the event site and bought a manga from a series that you loved. You ask him whether he actually looked at the content he starts to read, and judging by his reactions it is BL xD

The second boyfriend is more tsundere, and this time you are to one who wants to go on an odaiba date, and he reluctantly agrees to going to several places. He constantly hints that he wants to be with you forever, but then covers it up by saying it was nothing when you didn't hear him (d'awww). This time references to the event are made again as well. You are talking a bit about cosplay, and he first says that he doesn't want you to do that ("because other guys will look at you as well") but starts to give in when you say you might do a maid character xD

You are on a train, and the background sounds perfectly reflect that. On each station an announcer (CV: Kawakami Takafumi (male) Futami Chiori (female), says which station you are at, and the standard talk that the doors open and close etc, just like in real life. If you aren't used to this it might be distracting at first, but you'll get used to it soon enough. You also hear people get on and off the train and hear them talking in the background, although one of the sound effect (a woman sounding surprised) is used a bit too often and it gets a bit annoying.

The tracks are divided by station, but you don't notice when they switch and story continues seamlessly. Most of the time the only background noise are the sounds of the train, the announcer, and the other people, but on a few special moments a BGM suddenly starts playing - creating an in-their-own-world-atmosphere.

Several (if not all) of odaiba's famous landmarks are referenced in this CD: The Ferris wheel, Rainbow Bridge, Oedo Onsen, the Statue of Liberty replica, and so on and so forth. It would be interesting to listen to this while actually riding the Yurikamome, just to see whether it is accurate in terms of how long it takes to get to the next station and what you see.

I have the event version of the CD, although the only difference with the retail version is the freetalk if I'm not mistaken. The freetalk for the event version starts with Hirakawa-san acting too cute. Honestly, why is this man so adorable.


Conclusion:
This was very cute and fun to listen to. Both boyfriends are very different, and personally I prefer the second one, but they both have their charm points. I really really really want to ride the Yurikamome while listening to this just to see whether it is accurate. That, and I want to hear the announcements at the different stations - I think I might start acting strange when I hear announcements done by Shimono Hiro or Toriumi Kousuke though.