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.

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?

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.

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

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)

Double Score

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.

Kurayami Gatari 

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.

Toubousha

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 of equally 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 :)

Fushigi Koubou Shoukougun vol.12

ふしぎ工房症候群 朗読CD EPISODE.12「ありがとう」

Company: Cosmic Ray
Based on: Original
Released: 2006.05.26
Official Site: http://www.cosmicray.co.jp/fks/


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 centres 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 twelfth and final story in the first series is told by Takahashi Hiroki and is about a teacher. Our protagonist is a young teacher. Ever since he was a kid he knew that he wanted to become a teacher, even though he knew there were hard times too, as evidenced about a few stories from his own school days.

When he finally becomes a teacher he finds is harder than he expected, but is full of energy and gives it his all. He makes mistakes but learns from them. And through it all he starts to get used to the job. Then after a few years he is made a home room teacher for a new class, which is a whole new challenge.

Unfortunately for him, there are a number of delinquent students in his class. And while there are only a few of them, they influence the rest of the class and eventually the entire school. The result is that the rules are made sharper, and everyone who doesn't keep to them can't come to class, meaning low attendance rates, which results in a lot of students being expelled. This is the school its way of cutting away the bad influences, and our protagonist doesn't see another in way either.

Until one day he is beaten up a delinquent at night. It is only afterwards that he realizes that delinquent used to be one of his own students. He realizes that by giving those students no chance, the school leaves them no option but to turn delinquent. He despairs at his own situation, and arrives at the Fushigi Koubou, where he wishes to "quit being a teacher".

Before he does though, he resolves to try one more time. He starts paying home visits to his students, and pays more attention to them during home room. He tries to motivate and help his students in any way possible, exhausting himself. It takes a while, but eventually the students start to open op to him as well. At the day of their graduation however, one of his students isn't allowed inside the school because she has bleached her hair a little...

This is an interesting story in more then one way. While I think it is a bit idyllic in its view on the entire teacher-student motivating thing, it does have a good point, and it certainly makes for a very touching story. I found myself really rooting for the protagonist, and nearly crying at the classroom graduation scene.

It is also interesting in reference to Episode 11. While it doesn't reference them directly, I do see them as being connected. In Episode 11 the protagonist is expelled from school and first goes through a black period in his life, which sounds incredibly familiar to what is described here. Of course there themes are completely different, but secretly, I like to see them as connected.

Contrary to a lot of teacher series where the teacher is hopeless as well but somehow manages to motivate his/her delinquent students (GTO or Gokusen anyone?) this is a downright serious and touching story. It somehow makes you wish all teachers were like that.


Conclusion:
This is the final Episode of the first series, and I think a perfect story to end with. It is full of hope, not only in the end but throughout most of the story. And for a series which is all about finding the hope and courage to move forward, I think that is a very good end. Luckily for us though, they made a continuation for this wonderful series.

Fushigi Koubou Shoukougun vol.11

 ふしぎ工房症候群 朗読CD EPISODE.11「闇」

Company: Cosmic Ray
Based on: Original
Released: 2006.05.26
Official Site: http://www.cosmicray.co.jp/fks/


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 centres 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 eleventh story is told by Morita Masakazu and is about a drug addict. Out protagonist was expelled from high school, and left the countryside for to city to search for a job there. However he soon discovered that there are but a few jobs for someone with no education and no guardian. Eventually, he is introduced to the host business.

The story begins with the protagonist having a nightmare, which is at that point left unexplained. He tells his story about how he went to the city, and how he was eventually scouted by a host club. This marked a complete change in his life. While he had nothing before he was suddenly introduced into a world of glamour and if he worked hard had money in abundance. After a while he reached the number one position in the club, and gained a few patrons that would take care of him outside of the club as well.

One of his patrons introduced him to drugs, and he became addicted. After which his life went downwards again, but he couldn't really care. One day he is requested at a table where a very quiet girl is sitting. It turns out that she came there especially to meet him after seeing him in the streets, but he isn't very interested and doesn't treat her too well. She comes back a few times, and he warns her that her money will run out if she continues but leaves it at that.

One day she invites him to go on a date with her, and he somehow agrees. Their date is completely normal, they meet somewhere, go to a movie and have dinner afterwards. Just when he starts to think that 'normal' isn't too bad, his body starts to show symptoms of withdrawal and he rushes of to inject some new drugs. Unfortunately the girl sees this, and he scolds her and tells her to leave him alone. Which she actually does.

In the time after that his withdrawal symptoms become worse, and one day while he is going insane he stumbles into the fushigi koubou. He actually wishes for drugs (and writes that one the order form!) and the old man gives him an address. He goes there to find... the girl who came to the host club before. believing that she is a dealer he demands drugs and wrecks the entire place before he collapses.

When he wakes up she is still there beside him, and he resolves to try and come clean. The girl takes care of him the entire time that he goes to withdrawal. One day while she is out he finds another form from the fushigi koubou; she has been there too and wished for him to be cured. Once he has come clean he asks her whether she want to return to the country side with him.

The ending for this story is quite uneventful, but the scenes leading up to that are all the more intense. His entire history is told in a moving way, and you can feel his apathy through the rise and fall at the host club, the date is told in a very sweet way, but when he snaps due to withdrawal, oh my.  That is some serious voice acting. I was almost cowering in a corner at his raging insanity.

You get the first glimpse at the end of their date, but this is still a relatively short scene. But when the withdrawal really begins there are almost 9minutes of rising insanity, and at least 5 minutes where he has really snapped. Those scenes are really some of the most intense I've heard in this series, and probably in any drama.

Despite the drama building up tension in a good way, the ending did feel slightly lacking. In most CDs in this series, the final tracks are the most emotional ones. All of the emotions from the story are turned into a new hope. But because the scenes before were so incredibly strong in this CD, the ending felt a bit lacking to me. That doesn't make it a bad CD though, it is just one tiny minus on an otherwise very strong drama.


Conclusion:
While it doesn't start out that way, this really is a very intense drama. However they do a good job of letting the tension fade away and into hope in the final two tracks. Though that does make the ending feel a bit lacking in some ways.

Fushigi Koubou Shoukougun vol.10

 ふしぎ工房症候群 朗読CD EPISODE.10「最後の願い」

Company: Cosmic Ray
Based on: Original
Released: 2006.05.26
Official Site: http://www.cosmicray.co.jp/fks/


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 centres 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 tenth story is told by Morikubo Shoutarou and is about someone who has always been regarded as a 'bad person' or someone you shouldn't associate with purely because of his looks. This pisses him off more than anything, but eventually he started working as a debt collector. That way his looks are actually an advantage, but more than that he feels like he is collecting debts from people that are even worse than he is, giving him some sense of superiority.

One night while he is waiting on a train a girl walks forward as if she is planning to jump in front of it. In a reflex he pulls her back, throwing her on the ground. Because she is blind and he is always judged on his looks he is immediately taken into custody, but the situation is cleared soon enough. She eventually thanks him for saving her life.

A few days later at work he is ordered to collect a debt. The man who borrowed the money has long bailed, but he left the address of his daughter so that is where he goes. When he reaches the old apartment where she lives it at first seems like no one is home, but the door is open so he goes in. And finds the girl from a few days before collapsed on the floor with a high fever.

Again in a sort of a reflex he starts to aid her. She doesn't want to go to the hospital because she has no money, so he takes care of her at home. When he leaves that evening he discovers that his company is not the only one that is trying to collect a debt, apparently her father borrowed money from all sorts of places. He takes her key with him and promises to check back the day after.

That evening he gets himself drunk and while trying to find his way home arrives at the Fushigi Koubou. The old man, like everyone else, refuses to help him at first because "you can see he is a bad person at first sight". This actually surprised me a bit, I would have expected him to be willing to serve anyone but apparently not. The protagonist gets angry at him and tries to him, but this is where we learn that the old man apparently has a black belt in several martial arts or something. At any rate he fights off our debt collector.

Scared by the old man and probably still hazy with alcohol, our protagonist wishes to "become a good person". When he goes to visit the girl the next day there are indeed other debt collectors at her door. He waits until they are gone to get her out of there and brings her to his place. He leaves her there for now, but when he returns she has made him dinner. That he discovers that she knew he was a debt collector all along, but that she decided that if she was going to be taken away anyway, she should go with him because he treated her so well. This is where he realizes that he loves her, and the sleep together that night.

The next day he puts her on a train to safety, and chooses to face the other debt collectors. He gets severely beaten up, and wakes up at the hospital with the girl at his side. She sensed something was wrong and returned to get the police. While he is treated as the victim for this case, he still has done a lot wrong, and has to go to jail for one year. But when he comes out she is waiting for him, with their newborn baby.

This was an interesting story. You can sort of guess how it ends from the beginning, but that doesn't make it any less interesting. I suppose this is a typical 'big guy small heart' kind of story, but it really is very cute to hear how he cares for the girl. It is less of an emotional story than many of the others, but still a very touching romance.

Two interesting things in this CD were the old man suddenly being an accomplished fighter, who'd expect that the old guy who always seems to know what everyone needs is also able to beat someone to pulp? And the fact that the protagonist makes a reference to Episode 5. He talks about a man "who suddenly had so much money that he scattered bills into the air when we came to collect" which is exactly what happens in Episode 5.



Conclusion:
Maybe it is predictable, but I enjoyed this story. It takes a step back from the far more emotional tone that many of the other stories have, but still delivers a touching story. It makes you a little less melancholic than most other stories as well.

Fushigi Koubou Shoukougun vol.9

 ふしぎ工房症候群 朗読CD EPISODE.09「卒業」

Company: Cosmic Ray
Based on: Original
Released: 2006.02.17
Official Site: http://www.cosmicray.co.jp/fks/


ふl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 ninth story is told by Midorikawa Hikaru, and is about a student that has failed. The protagonist grew up in a small village and moved to the city to go to university, however he had trouble keeping up there. In the end he gives up, but lies to his family and friends that he is still studying. He has one very good friend in particular, and their story is what this CD is all about.

Most of the CD is the protagonist telling about his past and their friendship. It started in grade school, when a boy transferred into his class. It was clear that he couldn't move his right arm and leg freely, so everyone avoided the boy at first, but the protagonist made friends with him and so everyone followed.

At the time, this was simply his childish way of making himself seem more popular, but over time and thanks to a few incidents their friendship grows stronger and they really become best friends. And all this time the protagonist feels as if he "can't win" from his friend, he looks up to someone who is always kind and honest.

When the protagonist moves to the city he discovers that he is no longer the most popular kid. There are people that are better at soccer, better at studying, better at everything. He despairs and resigns from the university, doing a few part-time jobs instead. When one day his mother phones that his friend is in critical condition. He rushes home but is too late.

After the death of his friend he becomes even more apathetic to the world, until one day he realizes that he made a promise to go to the park where they used to play as kids. On his way there he finds the Fushigi Koubou, and discovers that his friend has also been there, and that his friend requested for him to become happy...

The title of this story is "graduation", but not in the sense of and actual graduation. It is more intended as a 'graduation' of a certain period of your life, closing one chapter and moving on to the next. In this case, gathering your courage to make a new beginning. 

This is a wonderful story about a friendship between two people. You can see (hear) their friendship grow throughout the story. The scene where the protagonist breaks down because they grew apart for a short while is one of the most moving I've heard. But more than anything the last scene, where the protagonist resolves that he has to try to do his best again, where you hear the children sing in the background was incredibly moving. Somehow his renewed resolve and the children's singing really gave me the feeling of a new start, as if anything could be possible from there on.



Conclusion:
Friendship is a beautiful thing, and I think that this CD tells that message really well. It is all about how a friendship can help someone get through things. But some more difficult aspects are also touched upon. It is also the one to tell that no matter how many times you fall, it is worth it to get up and try again.

Listening to this series always makes me so melancholic (in a good way xD)

Fushigi Koubou Shoukougun Drama CD: Hitoribocchi no Tanjoubi

ふしぎ工房症候群 DRAMA CD ひとりぼっちの誕生日

Company: Cosmic Ray
Based on: Original
Released: 2006.11.24
Official Site: http://www.cosmicray.co.jp/fks/


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'

In the original reading CD's, each story is told by a (high profile) voice actor who both tells the story and acts out certain characters. The drama CD's adapt these stories into and actual audio drama (with multiple seiyuu).

This is the drama CD adaption. Like with the drama CD for "jousei kyoufushou naoshimasu" this drama CD starts slightly before the original version, adding a few scenes where we hear exactly how hard the protagonist (CV: Sakurai Takahiro) works.

Other than that the story is exactly the same as the original. As an actual audio drama, the story does feel much livelier. However it also lack a bit of the emotional impact that the original had. On the other hand, the last scene in the drama does a better job at expressing that the protagonist has found his happiness.

Sakurai his comment is weird in a good way. But the best part is probably that it sounds like he is recording it all by himself, while actually (at least part of) the entire cast is with him xD

Conclusion:
Like with the other drama CD I listened to, I find it hard to decide whether I like the original or the drama version better. Both have their advantages, and both are beautiful.　So in the end I simply recommend listening to both ;)

Fushigi Koubou Shoukougun vol.7

ふしぎ工房症候群 EPISODE.7 - 妹の遺言

Company: Cosmic Ray
Based on: Original
Released: 2005.11.08
Official Site: http://www.cosmicray.co.jp/fks/


ふl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 seventh story is told by Kishio Daisuke. To be frank, this is about a character with a major sister complex. That is actually the short version of this story.

It is also a story that seems to strive to make someone as miserable as possible. Of all the stories up to now, this is by far the most depressing one. It starts with the main character, at the time still in grade school, explaining that he and his little sister did not come from a happy family. His father was a drunk and a gambler, who often hit their mother or him when at home. When his father leaves the house their mother is the one to earn their income. One day their mother takes the two of them to an amusement park, first day as a happy family of three. However she collapses and dies as soon as they return home.

The two of them are moved distant relatives, however it is clear that they are not in the least welcome there. Eventually they are not even given proper meals anymore. To make sure that at least his sister gets enough food, he resorts to crimes to get money to buy her anything. However, due to her brother not being around as much as often, his sister becomes unhappy. When he notices this the two of them decide to run away. In the course of events they find a new home, an old couple without children that takes good came of them.

But that is when the worst discovery still has to be made: after she collapses one day, it is discovered that his sister has leukaemia...

From the title ( 妹の遺言, imouto no yuigon, my younger sister her testament) it is already clear that this story does not end well for the little sister in question. However from the start to the end this story is a true tearjerker. Especially near the end Kishio-san his voice acting really brought me to tears, there is just no way that you'll be able to keep it dry with his voice acting.

Wait... does that mean that I once again cried while listening to this series? It might sound weird that I write that this series brings me to tears in almost every review, but that is the kind of series that this is. Yet despite that, it always manages to deliver a positive message.


Conclusion:
To be quite honest, I didn't really like this story. Not only because it is truly a tearjearker, but also because it is based on a sister complex. I can't help it, I just don't like that kind of thing. However, despite that the story, maybe even more than that, the voice acting made me cry so I suppose it is a good story? I am confused here...

Fushigi Koubou Shoukougun vol.6

ふしぎ工房症候群 EPISODE 6 「クリスマスの出来事」

Company: Cosmic Ray
Based on: Original
Released: 2005.11.18
Official Site: http://www.cosmicray.co.jp/fks/


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 sixth story is story is told by Miki Shinichirou, and is about someone who feel slightly lonely despite always beeing around friends or co-workers. He is always the one they come to for advise, whether work or private. And he loves giving advise, listening to people and helping them, but at some point this caused that he is no longer able to ask someone else for help. By building an image of someone who always helps, he feels he can't be the one to ask for help.

Just before Christmas he spends a day alone for a change, due to the fact that he is always around people the cold streets full of couples make him slightly lonely. Wandering aimlessly through the streets, he finds the fushigi koubou and orders what he wants most at that point: a girlfriend.

After he exits the workshop he witnesses a traffic accident where a woman is ran over. He immediately calls an ambulance for her and accompanies her to the hospital. Once there it turns out that she only sustained light injuries, but that she lost her memory due to the shock. Feeling sorry for her (and because she is very pretty) he decides to visit her as often as possible, and the two become close...

This is such a sweet story. I like how Miki portraits the feeling of 'there is nothing wrong in my life, in fact it is beautiful but there is something missing' (did that sentence even make sense?). The ending also took me by surprise. But it was a good twist. As always the voice acting and the music are fantastic, and it felt like the music was used slightly different here. Miki did a wonderful job on the voice acting, in track 8 and 9 he actually made me cry.

(Funny side note: I think I could hear his breathing a few times, while this is usually unhearable. Although that is probably more of an editing miss than anything else)


Conclusion:
This is such a sweet romance story, but don't let that scare you away if you don't like things that are labeled 'romance'. It is a really good story. It would be a shame to wait until Christmas to listen to it, but it might just give a little extra touch of Christmas feeling to it

Fushigi Koubou Shoukougun Premium 1 is actually a continuation, although I don't have listened to it yet so I couldn't say exactly how it is connected. But I know that I'm looking forward to hearing another story with Miki his voice.

Fushigi Koubou Shoukougun Episode 05

ふしぎ工房症候群 EPISODE.5 「カネかえせ！」

Company: Cosmic Ray
Based on: Original
Released: 2005.08.26
Official Site: http://www.cosmicray.co.jp/fks/


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.

This fifth story voiced by Taniyama Kishou is a bit different from the previous ones. In every story before this the protagonist had emotional, near depressing problems. In this volume however the protagonist is only out for personal gain: he wants to become rich. Also, he knows that the Fushigi Koubou exists, and is actively trying to search for it.

While daily dodging debt collectors our protagonist is searching for the Fushigi Koubou. He has heard that it can fulfill any wish, and wants to use that to become rich. While by coincidence, he manages to actually find it, and places an order to become rich. The old man is by no means happy with this, but tells the protagonist has one day. While our protagonist first doesn't understand it soon turns out that anything he does results in him winning or gaining money.

Contrary to the previous stories this one is much more energetic. It is fun to listen to, while it also comes with a moral message like every story does. The protagonist is an egoistical jerk, and I had never heard Taniyama Kishou play a character like that before so that was fun to hear as well (I mostly heard him as kind or tsundere characters).

While episode 4 did not clearly made a reference to previous stories, this one references them all. The protagonist heard rumors about what the Fushigi Koubou can do, stating all 4 as an example.


Conclusion:
While very different from the rest of the series this is a very fun story. Granted, the protagonist is an absolute jerk, but that somehow only adds to the charm. On its own it might not be one of the best stories, but as a counterweight to the rest of the more serious stories it is fantastic.

Fushigi Koubou Episode 4

ふしぎ工房症候群 EPISODE 4 「一緒に死んでくれますか？」

Company: Cosmic Ray
Based on: Original
Released: 2005.08.26
Official Site: http://www.cosmicray.co.jp/fks/

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 4th story is voiced by Ishida Akira, and is in my opinion one of the most heavy stories. The title translates into "will do die with me?", and that is exactly what this story is about. The character Ishida portraits wants to commit suicide, but is looking for someone to commit suicide with. And when he stumbles upon the Fushigi Koubou that is what he "orders".

I won't say anything about how the story ends, because it is a beautiful story that you should just listen to. But I will say that it is by no means an ending that will make you feel depressed. The atmosphere of the story is very calm, both thanks to Ishida-san his soothing voice and the beautiful soundtrack.

In the previous stories there was a reference to the character from the story before, but I couldn't find a reference for the character from "hitoribocchi no tanjoubi". That is unless he was the man who helped a girl that was being picked on, but there was no specific reference.

Conclusion:
The theme of this work is suicide, so it a rather heavy story, but a truly beautiful one. And if anything it only makes you want to live more. I can't say much about the story without giving spoilers, you shouldn't be wasting time with reading my review while you could also go and listen yourself anyway ;)

Weekly News Post

Not many news items to post about this week, and a little late, but here is the news~



Mousou Esthe IV
Somehow I completely managed to miss that Mousou Esthe IV will be released on 2011.07.27! It looks like Sugita Tomokazu will be making a return visit to the series, while Kondo Takeshi and Kaji Yuuki are new additions to the series.

Kondou Takeshi was already in Kannou Mukashibanashi, so I can say: I am looking forward to this! Mwahahaha. (Well, I'm looking forward to it regardless of the seiyuu~)


Bokutachi Otoko no Ko
A second drama CD has been confirmed for the series! In ドキドキ☆サマーハプニング 編 (dokidoki summer happening) we will follow our three idols to the beach where they have a recording for a tv show. No release date yet, but the CD will be on pre-sale on Comiket 80.


Fushigi Koubou Premium
Another thing I completely missed is that Fushigi Koubou Shoukougun Premium 2 will be released in a few days (June 22nd!!). What is interesting is that entry to the series will be voiced by Taketatsu Ayana. That's right!! The first entry in the series to be voiced by a female seiyuu!! Despite the fact that there are still some male seiyuu that I would love to see in the series (*cough*Hirakawa*cough) I'm looking forward to hearing a story voiced by a woman.

ふしぎ工房症候群 EPISODE.3 「ひとりぼっちの誕生日」

Fushigi Koubou Shoukougun Episode.3 - Hitoribocchi no Tanjoubi

Company: Cosmic Ray
Based on: Original
Released: 2005.06.24
Official Site: http://www.cosmicray.co.jp/fks/

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 seiyuu for the third volume is Sakurai Takahiro, and he portraits a man who is a workaholic. Or maybe it is better to say someone who only wants to get higher up, as this means not only doing his work perfectly, but also doing his best at social relations withing his work. The story starts at the morning of his birthday, when his girlfriend calls. However because there will be an important business deal later that day he quickly hangs up. However after dealing with her again around lunch, it turns out that his superiors have chosen someone else to complete the deal, and his world is turned upside down. While still angry and utterly destroyed he stumbles upon the fushigi koubou...

Sakurai does a brilliant job of portraying a snobbish "my-work-is-my-life and everyone else is just a tool to accomplish what I want" kind of character. You're guaranteed to dislike him within minutes. On the other side, in the scene where he realizes he was wrong I was nearly crying. Like I sad before while reviewing episode 1 & 2, the series is constructed in such a way that it feels like you are inside the characters head, meaning that the emotional impact is very strong. That and the soundtrack is beautiful.

Just like how the character from episode 1 is mentioned in episode 2, the character from episode 2 makes a cameo in this episode. Just before finding the fushigi koubou himself Sakurai his character bumps into him on the street. The two were in the same year at university.


Conclusion:
This series will forever be my favorite, and this episode is voiced by my favorite seiyuu so it was a given that I would love this. Not only do I love listening to how versatile the voices of these seiyuu are, but the story in constructed so good that you really feel like you are going through all of the emotions of the main character. You almost feel like you've become a better person yourself.

ふしぎ工房症候群 ドラマ CD 女性恐怖症なおします

 Fushigi Koubou Shoukougun Drama CD - Josei Kyoufushou Naoshimasu

This is the drama CD version of the second Fushigi Koubou CD - 女性恐怖症なおします (josei kyoufushou naoshimasu, curing the fear of women). The story is exactly the same as the original, with the difference that it is acted out as an actual drama (as opposed to told by only one person).

The only difference between this and the original is that there is a short scene in the beginning in which the girl visits the fushigi koubou, at that point we don't hear what she orders though. The rest of the story is exactly the same. The main character talks about his fear, and the two scenes that make his fear of women escalate are there as well.

Somehow I had the idea that the original did a better job at portraying the emotions and feelings of the main character, most likely because you were actually inside his head. On the other hand, his fear of women does become more understandable. The way they talk about him makes you understand his feelings a bit better (women can be scary...)

Their date on the other hand becomes much more lively. In the original it was already cute, but this time you can hear both of them talk, and both of their thoughts making it a lot livelier to listen too. This also makes it clear that they think of each other as an expat much earlier in the story, which is a bit of a pity because I liked the way it was revealed only at the end in the original.

On the whole I can't say whether I like the original or the drama CD more. The original portrays the character his feelings a bit better in my opinion, but on the other hand the drama CD also portrays the feelings of the girl making it more interesting. The entire date scene gets a lot more lively just by the fact that you actually hear the two of them talk. Either way it is still a wonderful story that is really recommend listening to.

ふしぎ工房症候群 EPISODE 1 & 2

More by coincidence ans luck than skill I recently discovered a Drama series that was releasd a couple of years ago. I randomly came across the cover and was somehow attracted to it. Only later I researched what it was actually about, and it is one of the greatest treasures I've found.

 

The series in question is ふしぎ工房症候群 (fushigi koubou shoukougun) which translates into 'mysterious workshop syndrome'. The mysterious workshop in the title is what binds all these stories together. The shop can only be found by someone who is lost and really needs it, and is run by an old man, and 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 centres on that person his thoughts. In each story the main character is going through a troubled period or trauma, and the mysterious workshop becomes the turning point in their lives.

As the characters visit the workshop in despair or depression, many of the topics are quite heavy. However because the workshop does sell happiness (almost) all stories have a warm ending. I wouldn't really say happy end, but in a way they do find their happiness.

The first story is told by Suwabe Junichi, and is about a man who lost his girlfriend in a car accident. After that he is so broken by the loss that he loses the will to live and quits his job. In the complete despair over her loss he at some points stumbles upon the 'fushigi koubou'. Inside an old man asks him what his order is, and tells him that the workshop sells 'happiness'. The man eventually orders 'his dead girlfriend'. To his surprise he actually finds her when gets back home...

The second story is about an entirely different man, who has a fear of women. While he somehow managed to get through university, his life turns into a living hell in the first week he starts working. After an especially horrible evening he also stumbles upon workshop, and asks to 'cure his fear'. The old man tells him to meet a certain girl, and gives him a list with instructions as to which places to go. What ensues is probably one of the most awkward dates in history.

While both stories may seem somewhat simple, the ending has a slight twist, and because you are actually inside the character's head the emotional impact is very high. The voice acting is -as expected from such high profile voice actors- excellent, and it is interesting to hear the different kind of voices they use. Especially their 'old man voice' can lead to amusing moments.

Especially the first story was very emotional, Suwabe-san does a great job at portraying the loneliness and despair the main character feels over losing his girlfriend. In the second volume the despair and panic of the second man are also well portrayed, to the point where I started feeling uncomfortable as well. On the other hand the awkward situations during their 'date' also made me smile a little. In both cases the end however is very sweet.

A little detail that I liked was that the second album refers to the first one, the two characters were working at the same company. While it is never explicitly said that they were, the main character in the second volume mentions 'a co-worker that quit his job because he had lost his lover'.




The original series spans a total of 12 volumes, and a second season has another 7 volumes. Finally 5 of the original stories were remade into actual dramas. I've listened to all of the original stories, and am now halfway through the second season. Not only are all of the voice actors well known and fantastic, but the stories are well made and do a great job of making you go through all of the feelings the main character feels. One of the best series if you feel like listening to a more serious drama :)