Weekly News Post

Last Minute News Post would be a better description.


SenKoi
Gakken (Issho ni Cooking, Joshuseki Kareshi) is starting yet another series: セン恋 (senkoi). The 'sen' part likely comes from 'sensei' (teacher) as this series is all about falling in love with your teacher. The series is based on a novel series which is also published by Gakken. That said, it is actually an 'after story' set 5 years after the event of the novel.

This idea feels a bit strange, considering you would thus have to know the original work to fully understand this one, so I wonder why they will include a sort of summary of the original story as well. 5 CDs are planned in total; one for each novel released. Each CD will feature one of the teachers from the original series, although original characters will also appear.

Sakamoto Ryouta, the main teacher for the first CD will be voiced by Nojima Kenji, while Shimazaki Nobunaga and Ginga Banjou will voice two additional characters.


Issho ni Diet CD
Gakken is releasing another CD, and apparently it is a diet CD this time. The seiyuu is still undecided but it is planned for a 2012.02.25 release.


Honeymoon
Another month another Honeymoon (again): This time Ichijou Yamato (CV: Yasumoto Hiroki) will take you to America (oi oi oi, can't they be a bit more specific?). Yamato loves cooking, and runs a couple of restaurants. He is describes as manly, broad minded, and calm. People who meet him for the first time often find him intimidating, but he is actually very nice and quite cute when he laughs. There is a bit of a gap between his looks and his personality. He is usually kind, but can get quite jealous too.


Ani to Osananajimi
Stella Worth is releasing another CD in their Original CD series. Two CDs again to be more precise. This time the question is who you will ride the ferris wheel with: your brother or your childhood friend. As always each CD has a different scenario depending on who you choose. Details on the cast and when it will be released will come soon according to the blog post in which the CDs were announced.


Kareshi Igai
Another spin-off for the Kareshi Igai series will be released next spring 彼氏未満 (kareshi miman, Less then a Boyfriend) will once again feature Kanemori Tsubame (CV: Okamoto Nobuhiko). While the Kareshi Shoukaku CD follows the scenario where Tsubame-kun became your boyfriend, this one will follow the scenario where you stay with your boyfriend and keep Tsubame-kun on the side.


Kindan Vampire
While the official site has barely even updated to sow more info on the 5th CD, the 6th one has already been announced: 禁断吸血鬼～黒薔薇ノ皇帝～ (kindan vampire ~kurobara no koutei~, Forbidden Vampire ~Emperor of the Black Rose~). This time Tsuda Kenjirou will be the one to suck your blood. The CD is planned for a 2013.02.13 release.


Tenshi no Mesamashidokei
The plot of this CD seems rather vague, but here we go: Amemiya Kouichi (CV: Morikawa Toshiyuki) is fired from his job as a sports magazine writer due to the higher ups not liking his attitude. When he learns that one of his former senpai is planning an interview with a girl who is famous for "finding pets" he tries to get close to you under the pretence of helping his senpai with the interview. Where the story is supposed to go from here I don't know.

What is special about his CD however is that there are two versions: a CD version and an "Only You" version. The CD version is the standard version, but the Only You version uses your own name during the drama. Meaning that yes, you can have Morikawa Toshiyuki say your name. This version does cost 5000yen though.

Currently there is a list of names that can be used, although other names can be requested as well. Before you plan to order though: the site does state that only Japanese names are accepted, and I have no idea whether they will accept international orders (the form for ordering the CD requires you to enter a Japanese address).

I have no idea when the finalized product will be released, but this is called "vol.1", so they are planning more CDs I guess?

Weekly News Post

Oujisama (warai)
There are two preview tracks up for the upcoming Date CD Vol.1. The contents are largely the same as the scenarios that were revealed on the official site before. Actually hearing them is much better than just reading them though. Hearing Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel together again just makes me really happy. Two more preview tracks will be added on 2012.10.16 and 2012.10.18.


Kindan Kyuuketsuki
The preview for Kindan Kyuuketsuki Vol.4 is up. Friedrich (CV: Tachibana Shinnosuke) basically just walks up to you and declares that he owns you before dragging you off xD. He seems to like teasing you a lot.

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.

Sasayaki Micchaku   

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.

News Post (Part1)

I am bored in Nikko (forgive me, but the weather is bad and I am all out of energy) which is a good excuse to start catching up on the news.


Oujisama (warai)
It has been anounced which characters will be in which Date CD. the grouping basically follows the release order, with CD 1 featuring Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, CD 2 featuring Aladdin, The Emperor, and Genji, and CD 3 featuring Ibara, Kaeru, Ningyo, and the Swan Prince. As the official site already states, the pairings in the first two CDs are pretty stable (they have been together in many scenarios before), but what will happen in the last CD...


Non-Fiction Series
This is a new series by Frontier Works, and as you can guess from the title it is non-fiction. Which means that the characters and stories from these CDs are real, and the personalities of the characters and their adventures are based on real people. Here is the official site.

For now two CDs have been planned. The first is called "同居CD" (doukyo, meaning "living together") ad is about the lives of four guys that are living together. Nakai Kazuya, Toriumi Kousuke, Terashima Takuma, and Sugita Tomokazu will be voicing the four (as of yet nameless) characters ad the CD is planned for a 2012.10.24 release. The second CD is titled "男子高校生ＣＤ" (Danshi Koukousei, "High School Boys") and is about the live of 3 high school guys and one of their teachers. No cast has been announced for this CD yet, but the release is planned for 2012.11.21

Honeymoon Vol.5: Sano Eita

Honeymoon Vol.5 佐野瑛太 

Company: Fortissimo
Based on: Original
Released: 2012.06.28
Official Site: http://www.otome-ff.jp/work/work12.html


In the Honeymoon series you get a chance to go on your honeymoon with you brand new husband. Scenes from the proposal, the wedding, your honeymoon, and when you return are all included. Your groom this time is Sano Eita (CV: Yoshino Hiroyuki), your high school sweetheart.

The CD begins with the confession scene from a few years ago. You were the manager of the soccer club, and Eita the captain at that time. You called him to the club room to confess, but can't say a thing, so eventually he ends up confessing first. Kind of cute really.

We then switch to your last year at university. You are both busy getting a job (which is serious business in Japan) although you haven't managed to find one yet. Eita tells you that he does have an offer, but that would require him to move to Kyuushuu, and he can't imagine living without you. So he asks you to come with him, as his wife. He doesn't have a ring or anything, but you don't mind.

Cut again to the two of you living together as a married couple a few months later. Eita tells you that you are making him happy, but that he feels that he isn't making you happy, not even being able to hold a proper wedding ceremony or anything. So he wants to at least go on a honeymoon, it might be impossible right now, but in one year it should be possible. You immediately say you want to go to Spain.

So one year later you are on your way to Spain. You'll have to go through a few very painful moments of Eita asking the way or other stuff in English, acting incredibly high tension when he does. He gets even more excited when you manage to get tickets for a match between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Being the soccer fan that he is Eita completely loses sight of what is going on around him. Strangely, I actually thought it was somehow endearing.

You wanted to go to Spain to visit the Prado museum. Eita really does seem out of place here, but he obviously does his best to put up with it for you. The paintings they are talking about btw, are Las Meninas, and I am guessing La maja desnuda. (Eita mentions that he won't look directly at a painting of a naked woman).

While he tries his best here he does fail miserably a little later. You go on a tour of the various bars one night, and he drinks something everywhere, eventually getting completely drunk. When you return to your hotel room he mentions wanting to do it, but ends up falling asleep and remembering nothing the next morning. No worries though, you will get your dosis of eroi the next night.

Back at home some time has passed since your honeymoon. Still feeling bad for not proposing to you properly, Eita surprises you by getting a ring after all, and making a proper proposal. He also says he still wants to hold a proper ceremony one day.

For those of you who know that I'm not really a fan of Yoshino Hiroyuki it might come as a surprise that I actually really liked this CD. Sure, the character (and Yoshino his voice) are still not my favourite, but compared to the rest of the series this CD just felt so much more real. It is far from the perfect wedding and honeymoon, but much more realistic.

Eita doesn't have the money to buy you a shiny ring or hold a proper wedding at the moment he proposes to you, but he really loves you a lot and doesn't want to be separated from you so he proposes. You seem to be living a reasonably happy life but still feeling guilty about possibly not making you happy he makes sure to save up money so you can still go on a honeymoon. Not to mention the final track where he gives you the ring after all this time.

And of course he isn't exactly the ideal husband on your honeymoon, getting drunk and everything. Sure, you could argue that all of this is unrealistic as well, but if felt more plausible than a husband who spends god knows how much money on you (yes I'm looking at you Otoya and Ryou). If I had to name something really unrealistic about this CD, it is you for some reason being a natural talent at flamenco dancing.

Unfortunately Yoshino-san let's me down a little bit in the freetalk, where he mostly talks about his fear of flying. Which is something that I don't share so I wasn't to interested. What was interesting though is him mentioning that the staff gave him all kinds of travel pamphlets. Yusa Kouji mentions those as well in his own freetalk of vol.4, so apparently the seiyuu were given background information and pictures to help them.


Conclusion:
I'm really happy that they took a step back from the perfect honeymoon and husband, and moved a little more into believable territory. I hope that they'll continue this for the upcoming CD's. Yoshino-san is never going to be one of my favourite seiyuu, but I liked his act in his CD.

Honeymoon Vol.4: Kashiwagi Ryou

Honeymoon vol.4 柏木稜

Company: Fortissimo

Based on: Original

Released: 2012.04.28

Official Site: http://www.otome-ff.jp/work/work10.html

In the Honeymoon series you get a chance to go on your honeymoon with you brand new husband. Scenes from the proposal, the wedding, your honeymoon, and when you return are all included. Your groom this time is Kashiwagi Ryou (CV: Yusa Kouji) the young president of the company where you work.

The CD starts with Ryou recalling how you met. Without knowing that he was actually the company president you walked up to him at work saying that one of his buttons was loose, and offered to attach it again. Intrigued he asked you out on a date. You dated for a few times before you asked you to be his girlfriend, and only after you accepted he revealed who he was. You've been hiding your relationship all this time, and he wants to bring it out in the open. Not by revealing that you are dating, but by marrying you.

A little while later he comes back home late while you are watching a travel program you like, which covers Hong Kong this time. Ryou says he has never been there and would like to go, so you decide to go there. He won't be able to take time off right after your wedding though, so you go on your honeymoon before you get married. Ryou asks you to let him plan all of it.

I will take the easy route and just summarize the entire honeymoon as follows: Rich. From traveling around Hong Kong in a limousine, to staying in a top class hotel, to stuff like Peking duck and shark-fin soup, to eventually going to the casinos in Macau, everything just screams rick. I was saying Otoya was spending money like it is water in vol.2, Ryou is also a big spender.

Different from the others Ryou doesn't seem to feel like waiting until the final night for the action though. When you first arrive he also seems in the mood. Unfortunately the scene gets cut off, so we still have to wait until the final night. And I could swear you hear undressing sounds during the kissing. Or mabey I'm just getting ahead of myself.

The final track is when you've returned to Japan, and Ryou is giving a speech at your wedding. I failed to be really moved by it though *is shot*.

Ryou really does everything for you, and you are being spoiled to no end. He doesn't seem to mind spending money to make you happy. How on earth you didn't know he was your employer is a mystery to me though. Another thing that bothered me is that Ryou speaks Japanese to the staff of the restaurant when you arrive. Either all high class restaurant in Hong Kong come with Japanese speaking staff, or someone overlooked something here.

Ryou is described as being slightly S on the official site, and while he does tease you a bit it could have been more. Unfortunately this series is much too candy coated for that. Ryou is a little less sweet than Yuuto and Daichi and more like Otoya though.

In the free talk Yusa first says this was a bit embarrassing to do, and then follows with a "just kidding". He hopes that this made you feel like you went to Hong Kong yourself, and also says that you might be able to go there yourself. Although you probably shouldn't eat Peking Duck and stuff like that or you might go over your budget xD 


Conclusion
This was a little less sweet again, but also featured a groom who obviously has too much money again. In fact, Ryou and Otoya might actually be very alike?!?. Either way, this vol was a bit too unrealistic for me. Luckily, the next vol does a better job at that, so look forward to the review for that!!


ps: this is my favourite cover in this series.

Honeymoon Vol.3: Mizunuma Daichi

Honeymoon Vol.3  水沼大地

Company: Fortissimo
Based on: Original
Released: 2012.03.28
Official Site: http://www.otome-ff.jp/work/work09.html


In the Honeymoon series you get a chance to go on your honeymoon with you brand new husband. Scenes from the proposal, the wedding, your honeymoon, and when you return are all included. Your groom this time is Mizunuma Daichi (CV: Fukuyama Jun).

Daichi is a vet, and your pet chihuahua “Choco” is the reason you met. One day during a check up of Choco he confesses that he likes you (by telling Choco that he likes her owner) and you start dating. He also owns a chihuahua, “Natsu”.

But this is a series about your honeymoon, so we skip the whole dating part and move right on to planning your honeymoon. Daichi loves being outdoor, so you eventually decide to go to Australia. The dogs will need to stay at home though.

There is a short scene from your wedding before you leave though. It is a garden wedding (outdoor again I suppose) and because you are both not very good with strict rules it is all very free. You also exchange your vows not for God, but for everyone present. I doubt this kind of wedding would actually work in Japan though, as they love all kinds of formalities (and tight schedules) when it comes to things like this.

Either way, after that it is off to Australia!! You first spend a few days in Kuranda, and visit the Butterfly Sanctuary and a Zoo there. You take the skyrail to get there, which is the first time Daichi discovers you are afraid of heights. If you are married I think you should have noticed that by now. Despite you being afraid of height, he takes you on a helicopter flight to see the Great Barrie Reef and the Heart Reef, a bit of a questionable choice but it appears it scenery is so beautiful that you forget your fear.

After that you fly to Gold Coast, where you spend the last three days. And on one of them you visit another Zoo, this time at night so that you can see all kinds of night animals. You spend the last day at the beach, and even ride a jet-ski together. Daichi getting all excited while riding that was super cute.

Of course there is also a night track. This time you are first taking a bath together, but when you don’t want to do anything there Daichi just picks you up and takes you to the bed (I hope you dried off, because otherwise thing will be inconvenient). He manages to sound incredibly cute while saying things that are actually... quite...eroi.

When you get back you discover that Choco has been pregnant for a while (Natsu is apparently a male dog). You are both happy, and Daichi says that means it is your turn next. Actually, he mentions kids a few times during the CD, so it is quite obvious that he want to start a family with you.

The first thing I thought after picking up this series again was “I can’t remember this series being this sweet”. But then I listened to parts of the first two CD’s again and all of the pink cloud fluffiness came back to me. This series really does see things through the pink haze of being in love.

A lot of stuff in this CD has to do with animals though. A bit too much. I know Daichi is a vet, but I could have done with a little less visiting zoo’s and more nature. But too bad. Daichi is really really cute, but personally I like FukuJun better when he uses a slightly deeper voice. The one thing that was a direct hit to my heart in this CD were the two dogs though. I can’t even see them but they already sound too cute! (and I don’t even like chihuahua’s!!)

The ending talk is Fukujun being adorable. He talks about marriage being some kind of miracle, with two people -once strangers- meeting and getting to know, eventually love each other and deciding to spend the rest of their lives together. And then he says he can talk this passionately about it is because meeting the right person is like a miracle, a miracle he still hasn’t experienced. He also calls any listeners that are already married cheaters xD


Conclusion:
This CD is back on the uber sweet level of the first CD, which is simply a bit too much if you ask me. Still, it is supposed to be a lovey dovey honeymoon, and it succeeds at that.

Weekly News Post

Well, bi-weekly in this case because I was on a holiday :3



Dousei Kareshi
Black Butterfly is starting a new series: Dousei Kareshi (dousei means "living together"). The series is all about living together with your boyfriend, but not just the sweet parts. As the intro page states: "Living together with someone, that is fun. hard. getting mad. fighting.hunting one another. and being happy. But even then, always wanting to be 'together'" The official site is just a teaser page at the moment, but I like the character designs and I'm curious how the series will turn out.

EDIT: Turns out Dousei Kareshi will be an otome game series, not a CD series! Dousei Kareshi will release in three games: Butterfly Lip, Butterfly Gloss, and Butterfly Rouge. Each game will feature a different character. As this is about living together with your boyfriend you already start out while dating, so I suppose there will be at least one bad ending (where you split up. Or die) and multiple good endings. The games will use the dummy head mic (can't have anything BB without it xD) and will be released on PC, and will be priced around 3000yen each.


Diabolik Lovers Versus
If you thought the nose bleeding and fainting would stop now that Shuu his CD has been released you are mistaken. Rejet has just announced three new Dialover CD's: Diabolik Lovers Versus.

Each CD has two characters trying to win your love blood. On 2012.08.29 it will be Ayato (CV: Midorikawa Hikaru) VS Shuu (CV: Toriumi Kousuke). On 2012.09.26 Raito (CV: Hirakawa Daisuke) VS Subaru (CV: Kondo Takashi). And on 2012.10.24 Kanato (CV: Kaji Yuuki) VS Reiji (CV: Konishi Katsuyuki). Somebody please mark that last one as the day of my death, I don't think I'll survive listening to it...

Weekly News Post

Ojisama Senka
The love for ossan characters is really growing, and so the Ojisama Senka series continues! Three more volumes have been anounced, although vol.4 is the only one with a title as of yet: Family Business. You go undercover to investigate a certain organisation, but while you investigate you discover that three of the members are very charming; the broad minded head of the organisation (CV: Ginga Banjou), the distrustful manager (CV: Narita Ken), and the counsellor who seems to see through everything (CV: Uchida Yuuya). Vol.4 is planned for 2012.07.25.

Vol.5 and 6 are planned for 2012.08.29 and 2012.09.26, but no title or cast has been announced yet.




Koisuru Exorcist
EM2 (who are bringing us bathroom entertainment) are handling the dramatization of Koi suru Exorsist, a lightnovel written by the same author as the Hanaoni novels. Kuwashima Houkou, Horie Yui, Sakurai Takahiro, Kaji Yuuki, and Sugita Tomokazu are listed as cast members, and the release is planned for 2012.06.27.

Hiatus is over!

I stay away for a month and blogger changes it's interface... It is now all stylish and very confusing xD

Prepare for one LONG news post. It is not going to be everything that I missed in this month, only the most important bits, but even that is going to be one loooooong list. So one mixed plate of old and new News, coming right up!!



Shuukan Soine:

a special volume, but essentially vol.13 of the Shuukan Soine series will be released on 2012.05.25 and will be voiced by Morikawa Toshiyuki. His character is described as someone "embracing you with a lot of love and a big heart". More then anything though, the character design is gorgeous.


Toriai Kyoudai
the series is continuing, but under the name 'zoku toriai kyoudai' (zoku essentially means 'continued'). There isn't much info on the characters yet, but this time Tachibana Shinnosuke and Terashima Takuma will be fighting over our love. Apparently the atmosphere will be slightly different from the previous two CD's, but in what way is unknown.

Weekly News Post

Otome Drama
To start off with some non-drama CD but heavily related (and late) info: in just a few days time (on 2012.02.29 to be exact) おとめドラ (otomedora) will be released. This is a mook (magazine x book crossover) that is all about drama CD's.

It will have about 128 pages and costs 1500yen. As of yet I've been unable to locate an official site, but judging by the cover it talk about drama CD's, seiyuu, and several interviews with seiyuu/makers. Amazon has it, so if you feel like reading up on your drama CD news and backgrounds, here is your chance. (I don't have a credit card so I'm looking for another way to get it)


Mousou Esthe

The cover for Mousou Este has been posted on their blog, and it is wonderfully suggestive as always. The post once again reminds us that we will be given a chance to experience the salon Babylon, but that Kagami Subaru (CV: Suwabe Junichi) will also do a treatment. In the first (or second?) CD, Babylon is described as "a salon with an atmosphere like a cafe". I wonder what it will be like?


Therapia
Vol.2 and 3 for Therapia have been announced. Vol.2 will have characters for Fabric Softener and Dressing (lol what?) and vol.3 Smartphone and Mascara. I think I will have to listen to 1 to get an idea on how this is going to work....

Weekly News Post

You might have noticed that there are some reviews missing in the last few days, that is because someone stole my earphones while I was at the gym, so I can't listen to stuff on the go until I've found a new pair of acceptable earphones. Sorry.


Mousou Este
Two more cast member have been announced: Itou Kentarou and Suzuku Tatsuhisa. The official staff blog also has a small line saying that this time it will be the estheticians from the beauty salon Babylon (rival salon to Entreinte, the salon from the previous entries to the series) that will do the treatments.


Amemakura
The seiyuu for Amemakura vol.5 and 6 will be Sugiyama Noriaki and Suzuki Tatsuhisa. Unfortunately there is no other info on the characters yet...

Honeymoon vol.2: Kousaka Otoya

Honeymoon vol.2 香坂音哉

Company: Fortissimo
Based on: Original
Released: 2011.12.28
Official Site: http://www.otome-ff.jp/


In the Honeymoon series you get a chance to go on your honeymoon with you brand new husband. Scenes from the proposal, the wedding, your honeymoon, and when you return are all included. In this second vol. your groom is Kousaka Otoya, the vocalist of the band Shine.

Where vol.1 started with the proposal, you'll have to wait a little before you are proposed to this time. After not being able to see you due to spending most of his time in the recording studio for the band their new album, Otoya says he'll take you anywhere you want during his vacation. You say you want to go to a spa resort, and thus you fly off to the Maldives.

On the airport you still have to hide from a couple of fans because Otoya his agency forbids relationships, but once you are at the resort you don't have to worry about anything. It is only after arriving at your floating villa hat Otoya proposes to you. (and you accept, of course).

There is one track for each day that you spend at the resort. You go snorkelling, where you almost drown and Otoya has to save you, picnicking on a deserted island, and get a massage at the spa. The fifth day you spend at the beach, where you see another couple getting married. Otoya tells you that you can also get married at this resort, and you decide to hold a ceremony yourself (although Otoya says you'll hold another ceremony back in Japan so that your family can celebrate with you there). The last vacation track is the night after you held the ceremony, your first night as a 'married couple'.

The last two tracks are after you have returned to Japan. Otoya gives a press conference where he announces that he just got married (he even didn't inform his agency only until after you got married). Otoya is an absolute ass to the press during the conference, which is amusing to hear. The final track has the two of you walking around Shibuya together, with Otoya being happy about the fact that you can finally go on a date without being secretive.

I was hoping vol.2 would be a little less sweet than the first one, and my wish has been granted. While Otoya is still plenty sweet to you, he is a bit more forcible. That and the gap between his behaviour towards you, and the complete ass that he is towards the press is amusing. The band he is on must be selling pretty good too, not only does the trip seem very expensive, he also rents the entire spa at one point.

Toriumi is pretty energetic during his cast talk (Honeymoon vol twoooooo xD). His final comment is pretty amusing too: "If anyone thinks "ahh, I want to get married" or "I wish my boyfriend proposes to mee soon", in that case, just get married already!".  So you've heard it, get married. And fast ;P


Conclusion:
This CD was a little less sweet, making it more interesting to me. Otoya spending money as if it is water is a bit unrealistic but hey, if someone is willing to spend that much money on you, you probably shouldn't complain.

Weekly News Post

Tap Trap Love
A teaser site for Tap Trap Love has been opened, although there is nothing there yet except for a larger version of group illustration and the announcement that 'the site will be opened soon'. Ah well, at least we have some eyecandy now (the three on the right are already my fav characters~)

A 'trial disc' will also be sold at the winter comiket, so we will get a chance to meet the characters this year.


Damekare

Kippei his character illustration is finally up! Visit the official site to see a larger version.

I'll be honest, his design isn't quite to my liking, but I'm still interested in the concept, so I might still give it a try.




Amemakura
Taiga (CV: Taniyama Kisho) his voice sample has been added to the official site, go and listen if you're interested!

Honeymoon vol.1: Hanamori Yuuto

Honeymoon vol.1 花森優人 

Company: Fortissimo
Based on: Original
Released: 2011.11.28
Official Site: http://www.otome-ff.jp/work/work07.html


In they Honeymoon series you go, well... on your honeymoon. Starting from the proposal to the day of your wedding, the entire honeymoon and finally your return home, everything is there. Your groom in this first CD is Hanamori Yuuto (CV: Hirakawa Daisuke) who works as a flower arranger.

The setting is that you and Yuuto both have watching movies as a hobby, and it is during that you are watching a movie together at home that he proposes to you. The wedding scene is fairly short, it just has Yuuto commenting on how pretty you are and giving you a wedding bouquet that he made for you himself. Because the wedding was actually mentioned as a scene in various (official) descriptions I expected something a bit longer, but then again if that were the case the series would have probably been named 'Wedding' instead of 'Honeymoon'.

After that comes your honeymoon. Because you admire Italy from all of the films you have seen together you go there. In order you visit Milan, Verona, Venezia, Florance, and Rome. Of course you visit all kinds of famous places while you are there. Yuuto apparently learned a bit of Italian for this trip. Luckily they didn't make Hirakawa-san speak Italian (I seriously feared for that) but his does say "Scusi" and "Grazie"a few times. Especially when he says the first he sounds so cute!!

Speaking of cute, Yuuto has a very sweet personality. Despite that he is by no means a doormat. He has thought of and arranged almost everything, and he loves to tease you a little bit. I suppose you could describe him as gentle and caring? Which matches with the concept of him being a flower arranger.

Overall, the CD is simply extremely sweet (Hirakawa-san himself actually remarks on this is the cast comment). No chance to insert sweet lines, or words, or actions is left untouched. Although there is a bit of humour in some places, like Yuuto wanting to 'consume' your first honeymoon night but you simply fall asleep because you are so tired from the flight xD When he actually does get to this point later on even that scene is extremely sweet though.


Conclusion:
This is probably the sweetest honeymoon ever. To the point where it almost becomes a bit too much, but I suppose that when you are just married and living on a pink cloud of happiness this is sort of what your world looks like. Still, I hope vol.2 will be a bit less sweet.

Weekly News Post

Diabolik Lovers
A new drama CD series has arrived. Diabolik Lovers Kyuuketsuki Do-S CD is a series all about sadistic vampires who are out for your blood (and probably also fall in love with you). This also more of a multimedia project, as the CDs will be accompanied by a NicoNico Live broadcast show and a game by otomate.

Because your father has to go out of the country for his work for a while you somehow end up living in with 6 brothers that visit the same high school as you do. The 6 of them are so pretty the entire town talks about them, but they also have incredibly bad personalities and to top it all they turn out to be vampires!

From left too right we have the oldest son Shuu (CV: Toriumi Kousuke), who is described as "a apathetic music loving aristocrat". The second son Reiji (CV: Konishi Katsuyuki), who talks polite but insulting. The triplets Ayato (CV: Midorikawa Hikaru), Kanato (CV: Kaji Yuuki) and Raito (CV: Hirakawa Daisuke). And the rather violent Subaru (CV: Kondo Takeshi). Click here to see a larger version.

The release order is a bit of a mystery to me, but the first CD to be released is the one for Ayato, on 2011.12.21, and next up are Subaru (2012.01.25), Kanato (2012.02.22), Raito (2012.03.21), Reiji (2012.04.25) and finally Shuu (2012.05.23). A tokuten for those who buy all 6 CD's will also be published, but they have yet to announce what it will be.


Tap Trap Love
This was announced at 5pb their live event last week. Not much info about it yet, except that the series has 'Tap Dancing' as it's theme and that is uses the dummy head mic, and a list of seiyuu: Maeno Tomoaki, Kamiya Hiroshi, Nakai Kazuya, Itou Kentarou, Fujiwara Yuuki, Shimazaki Nobunaga, and Ishida Akira,

I'm curious about this, I don't know how one combines dancing and a drama CD but I've seen stranger things, and the dummy head mic is always love. Moreover, I'm kind of happy to see two unfamiliar names. Fujiwara Yuuki and Shimazaki Nobunaga are two names I'm unfamiliar with, and I'm curious about them. The series is planned for February 2012.

Weekly News Post

To start with some non drama CD news: I officially have a tumblr now. It's over here. Of course drama CD's are heavily featured, but there is also other stuff that interests me. Just keep in mind that, while this blog and the tumblr are somewhat related, this blog is for proper reviews while the tumblr is for random remarks and incoherent posts.


Oujisma (warai) series
Both Oujisama (warai) Variety drama 2 and Oujisama (warai) IF ~Oujisama Gakuen~ will go on sale on 2012.01.25, but both will be available beforehand at the winter Comiket.

For those who have bought both the first vacation CD and the second vacation CD (the variety drama's, they shouldn't change the titles, it is confusing): a special CD called 'Hadaka no Oujisama' will be gisfted as a bonus if you send the special coupons found on both CD to frontier works. (I have no idea whether this will also work for those living outside of Japan). Thanks to Annadiel for pointing this out!!


Kannou Mukashi Banashi
The staff just posted a picture of the Kannou CD box on their blog. It looks like besides the first 6CD's (the box is for the first season, meaning the first 6CD's) a seventh CD which includes a story for Puss in Boots. Which is kind of strange considering that the cover of the box is from Bluebeard. Let's just hope the box holds more surprises.

Another blog post mentions a limited edition drama CD that will be sold at 5pb's "Otome Carnival": a dramatized version of how Kannou Mukashi banashi came to be (if I'm understanding this right, the announcement has me majorly confused). A version of 'the ugly duckling', done by 10(!) seiyuu will also be read live.


La Storia della Arcana Famiglia
The release list on frontier works their homepage lists a drama CD for Arcana Famiglia titled  アルカナ・ファミリア」capitolo 1　～アーレ！ ノヴィーツィア！ 頑張れ新米幹部～ (Arcana Famiglia capitulo 1 ~Ale! Novicia! Ganbare shinmai kanbu!~) to be released on 2012.01.25

Weekly News Post

Just because I can, this post is made on 11.11.11 at 11:11 xD



IM Label
is planning something new. This year their 1 coin series will end, however starting next year they will start with "IM crcl"(pronounciation: IM kurakura). crcl is short for 'craft x clown', but what that is supposed to mean...




Amemakura
not really news, but I have some more info on vol.2 of Amemakura. I said you and your boyfriend were on vacation on an island when the rain comes pouring down (see previous news post for more info), but more specifically you are visiting 'Gunkanjima'. This is an island about 15km from Nagasaki that used to be a coal mine, but is now more like a ghost town. It is a touristic attraction nowadays and you can visit in on a tour (walking around by yourself isn't allowed for safety reasons).

Actually called Hashima, the island it's nickname 'gunkanjima' comes from the fact that it looks like a battleship. Or so the text that I had to translate in class today told me. The world is a small place sometimes...


Honeymoon vol.2

More info on Honeymoon vol.2! To begin with, the lovely cover to the right. The official site describes Kousaka Otoya (CV Toriumi Kousuke) as "sexy and ore-sama type" but Toriumi-san describes him as "cool". Hmmm. He also mention that he had a very hard time finding a balance between acting cool and sweet towards 'his girlfriend' (meaning you, the listener) feeling that he couldn't act too cool, but that he should get too sweet either.


From the rest of the cast interview there are two more bits of interesting info: apparently Kousaka doesn't give the impression to be very nice to others, but is very sweet to his girlfriend/fiancée/you, and there is a scene in which you almost drown, eep!

Weekly News Post

Ha! Posting commences even before November 1st!! Mostly because, well, since I've been on Hiatus for a little I've been missing out on news posts, and while there might be some old news in here,  all of it is worth mentioning  and this news post was getting so long, that I feared it would become endless if I waited another week with posting it. So without further ado: this weeks news post!!


Shuukan Soine
Almost all of the new volumes have their detailed description and preview tracks up on the official site. Most of the previews are either cute or induce nosebleeds (or both), so if you haven't listened yet I highly suggest you do!


Oujisama (warai) series
Now that the fifth story has been released, it is time for another variety drama! And that means the second vacation CD, this time with Alladin (CV: Miyano Mamoru), the Emperor (CV: Okiayu Kryoutarou), Genji (CV: Yoshino Hiroyuki), the Frog Prince (CV:Sugita Tomokazu) and of course Takemoto Eiji as their servant. The CD will be released in January, so the theme will be "winter".


Momogre
While no detailed pages are up yet, a small icon on Momogre their website states two new releases for next year. On 2012.0.26 放課後はミステリーとともに (Houkago ha Mystery to tomo ni, Mysteries after schooltime) which is originally a novel by Higashigawa Tokuya will be released (most likely under their horror and suspence label, it is a detective story after all). And on 2012.02.23 小公女セーラ (Princess Serah) which is the Japanese name for the novel A Little Princess written by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

The first story I know nothing about except the fact that it is about a high school detective club, but the second story I do know. I've never read the novel, but I have seen one of the films based on it (the 1995 one, to be exact) so I know the story a little bit. It will be released as part of their Men's Only series, so I'm curious about who is going to play little Serah, as well as who is going to play the evil headmistress  Miss Minchin.