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.