Kuroko no Basuke Sound Theater 2nd Games

黒子のバスケ DRAMA THEATER 2nd GAMES それがボクたちのバスケです

Company: Lantis
Based on: Manga -> Novel
Released: 2012.11.14


Kuroko no Basuke is a basketball manga serialized in the Weekly Shounen Jump, and follows Kuroko Tetsuya and his team mates at Seirin High. During middle school Kuroko was part of the "generation of miracles", 6 extremely talented regulars on the Teito Gakuen basketball team. All of these players went to different high schools, and of course Seirin will have to face them one by one. This CD has little to do with all of that though. Instead, it features a story about the Teito Gakuen school festival, when everyone was still in attending there.
 

The story starts with Kise (CV: Kimura Ruouhei) helping Momoi (CV: Orikasa Fumiko ) carrying some bags full of provisions for the Toou baseball club. To thank him she offers to buy him a drink somewhere, and they run into Kuroko (CV: Ono Kenshou) inside the shop. Momose accidentally drops a picture of all of them that was taken at the school festival, and so they start to reminisce about that time.

I could give an endless summary but in short: Momoi hears a rumour that if a couple wins the stamp rally that is held by the quiz club that they will stay together forever, so she wants to join together with Kuroko, who wants the figure that is the first prize so he agrees to join. Aomine (CV: Suwabe Junichi) wants the figure as well, and he ends up pairing up with Kise (who was looking for a partner, because there were so many girls that wanted to be his partner that they stated fighting amongst each other).

The stamp rally itself features some rather strange things as well, they have to cross the sports ground which has been rigged with pitfalls, and the things they need to collect as one of tasks are rather vague. Aomine and Kise have "hero sanjou!", so Kise starts to impersonate all kinds of hero's, Kuroko and Momoi have "kai wo kaigaeshiku kaesu" (to give back a seashell to someone who wants it, but the point here is obviously the pun), so they steal Midorima (CV: Ono Daisuke) his lucky item of the day and he chases them through the entire school.

Before all of this we also get to hear Kuroko being a butler (because his class is doing a butler cafe) and Murasakibara (CV: Suzumura Kenichi ) impersonating Marie-Antoinette, to hilarious results. And while everything is going on, Akashi (CV: Kamiya Hiroshi) is winning every single board game there is and collecting an enormous amount of prizes.

I really love this story. It shows how everyone was while they were at Teikou and they just seem to be having so much fun. It makes me wish for more material about that time, while also making my heart ache seeing them as they are now.

For some reason I found Akashi his parts especially hilarious. While everyone else is running around in chaos he is calmly winning board games, and every time he does it the sketch follows the exact same pattern and the prizes get more and more luxurious (one year long free food tickets etc etc).

While most of the story is complete crack, it does have some more serious moments near the end. The whole reason Kuroko wanted the figure was to give it to Aomine, to thank him for encouraging him to keep playing when Kuroko was thinking of stopping. 

The surround sound effect from last CD is still there, but I didn't notice it as much this time.

In the freetalk Ono Kensho says he was very nervous being surrounded by senpai seiyuu. Kimura Ryouhei once again does his freetalk as "Kise Ryouta". During the entire freetalk everyone calls each other by a nickname, usually the first part of their character name+"chin" (Kuro-chin, Mido-chin, Mura-chin), even thinking of nicknames for the members that only voiced a few lines on the spot xD


Conclusion:
This made me want to see more of the Kiseki no Sedai era!! Everyone just seems so happy together it just breaks my heart to see them as they are now (but I love Seirin as well so I want to see more of them as well). I hope that they will continue releasing drama CDs like this. Meanwhile, I think I'll try to locate some of the short dramas that came with the limited editions of the DVDs.

Disney - Koe no Oujisama Vol.2

ディズニー 声の王子様第2章～Love Stories～

Company: DisneyBased on: Disney song covers
Released: 2012.09.19
Official site: http://www.disney.co.jp/records/DLS/


This CD is all about popular seiyuu singing various Disney songs. The theme this time is love stories, although only some of the songs fit that theme. Other.... not so much. There are two versions: a regular edition that has only one CD, but an extra track that isn't on the limited edition. The limited edition on the other hand, has a second CD with duet songs.

Normally I'm not that much of a fan of seiyuu songs (with some exceptions) but this was just too interesting to pass up on. I'll review the CD track-by-track.

01. 白雪姫 ―朗読― (Snow White -Reading-) / Ishida Akira
This is a reading of Snow White (Disney version) done by Ishida-san. They did a good job of condensing the entire movie into just 20min of talking, although sometimes the lines that Ishida-san voiced as one of the characters seemed a tiny bit random. What I absolutely loved though is that they seem to have used the actual music from the movie. My nostalgia meters went to the max hearing some of the BGMs, and I instantly remembered the scenes from the movie. So all in all, a very good reading.

02. ハイ・ホー (Heigh-Ho)(Snow White) / Kamiya Hiroshi.
This song is so addictive!! I had completely forgotten about the first part of the song, so I hardly recognised it in the beginning (not to mention that the lyrics are completely different than in the original English version xD). But this song is so cheerful an addictive. Really, when you listen to it you become all cheerful and you just to have to sing along. One of my favourite ones.

03. キス・ザ・ガール (Kiss the Girl) (Little Mermaid) / Shimono Hiro
I predicted that this would be one of the cutest things ever - and it is. The entire song becomes so cute, and I love the arrangement. But more than anything: it is so incredibly cuuuuttteeeeee. That is all that needs to be said.

04. ユール・ビー・イン・マイ・ハート(you'll be in my heart) / Seki Tomokazu.
Was Seki Tomokazu his voice this high? I feel like I'm mixing the images of the different Seki's in my head. This is a good song, but the original has been locked into my heart so deep that there is simply no way that it can compare to that. But it is still good.

05. ララルー (Lalalu)(Lady and the Tramp) / Sakurai Takahiro
In case you are wondering, this is the lullaby from Lady and the Tramp. No idea whether it was written for the movie or already existed though. As cute as this song is, and no matter how much I love Sakurai his voice, singing doesn't seem to be his forte. But this is Sakurai singing a lullaby, so all my arguments are invalid, even against myself xD

06. 愛のうたごえ (Love is a Song)(Bambi) / Midorikawa Hikaru
I'll have to admit that I only saw Bambi once when I was very little, and I have as good as no memories about it. So obviously I don't remember thing song either. As a result it has no nostalgia value what-so-ever, which has the end result that I don't really like it. Least favourite song on the CD.

07. ベラ・ノッテ (Bella Notte)(Lady and the Tramp) / Okiayu Ryoutarou
This song is perfection. Sue me, but it is. The arrangement is beautiful, but even more than that Okiayu-san his voice is perfect for this kind of song. Definitely my favourite song on the entire CD.

08. いつでも一緒 (Good Company)(Oliver&Co) / Okamoto Nobuhiko
Cuteness attack number two. What I love is that the music breaks into an semi-epic arrangement somewhere halfway though, and then returns to the simple piano tune to repeat the beginning again. But as can be expected from Okamoto: cuteness all over the place.

09. グレイト・スピリット (Great Spirit) / Yamadera Kouichi
Yamadera-san seems to be getting all the truly epic songs (he did The Circle of Life on the first Koe no Oujisama). He gets away with it though. He really has a good singing voice for these kind of songs, although my real surprise came on disc 2. I can't recall the original song (besides it being epic) but I love this one anyway.

10. 塔の上のラプンツェル ―朗読― (Tangled -reading-) / Yamadera Kouichi
As good as the first one was, this one felt far too hasty. I almost ran out of breath just listening to it. I'd also like to ask how much someone who hasn't seen the movie actually understands what is going on, because I don't think it is the most logical way of telling the story either. What really surprised me is that they used the original English version of the healing incantation ("Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine", etc). It sort of felt out of place, although it is a very pretty song. If they would have cut all the lines that Yamadera-san reads in character, I think they could have avoided the rushed feeling that the story has now.


Like I said, the second disc is full of duet songs. It has only four songs, but they are each featured three times: the first time it is a normal duet between two seiyuu, the other two are like karaoke versions in which you yourself can sing a duet with one of the seiyuu. I'll only review each song once though.


01. 美女と野獣 (Beauty and the Beast) / Seki Tomokazu & Okiayu Ryoutarou
They somehow managed to turn this song into a duet. Seki-san his part is amazing, he nearly makes a convincing woman here. Unfortunately their voices don't really seem to match... Okiayu-san his voice sounds far too low in the duet version, but in the version with him alone it doesn't feel unnatural at all.

02. ハクナ・マタタ (Hakuna Matata) / Shimono Hiro & Okamoto Nobuhiko
Cuteness overload here. One of them sings Timon and the other Pumba, and they switch roles and repeat the song halfway though. Unfortunately, neither of them makes a convincing Pumba xD. And they left out some of the jokes, which is a pity. The refrain is incredibly cute and catchy though. Trying to sing along in one of the karaoke versions is a bit tricky due to there not really being a melody.

03. 輝く未来 (I see the Light - Tangled) / Midorikawa Hikaru & Sakurai Takahiro
This time it is Midorikawa his turn to sing a female role. Which he does rather convincing. Maybe this is because I love the original too much, but Sakurai his voice seems a bit to high for his part. In this song it also more obvious that singing isn't really his thing. Also, in the duet version it doesn't stand out too much but in his solo version you can clearly hear him going "sekaIIII ga maru de..." xD As far as the love songs go, this is one of the better ones though.

04. みんなネコになりたいのさ (Everybody wants to be a cat) / Yamadera Kouichi x2
This is the song that completely blew my mind. Not just because it has an amazing arrangement and I love this kind of jazzy music, but because I would have never guessed that this is sang by one person (although I'm not sure about the voice of Marie -the little cat- in the end...). I swear, one of the singing voices could be a convincing imitation of Louis Armstrong, while the other one is completely normal. If you compare all the different tracks in which Yamadera-san speaks/sings they all seem so different it just amazes me.



I like most of the songs. I still think that most seiyuu -save for some exceptions- aren't the best singers, but the fact that these are all Disney songs, nice arrangements, and/or just incredibly cute makes up for that. Some of these songs are just so cute and addictive I can't help but to love them

Risou Kareshi Vol.1 - Cool Type

アニメイトで聞きました! 理想彼氏 第1弾 クールタイプ

Company: Marine Entertainment / Animate
Based on: A survey on what the ideal boyfriend is like
Released: 2012.06.27
Official site: http://www.marine-e.net/sp/risoukareshi/


Risou Kareshi is a project by Marine Entertainment and Animate in which the characters are based upon what the ‘ideal boyfriend’ would be like. A survey was hold at the Animate Ikebukero store, and based on the results they decided the characters their their job, hobbies, personality, and even seiyuu.

The first CD is the cool type, voiced by Kamiya Hiroshi. I might be mistaken due to not having seen the booklet, but I think he is actually nameless. In most situation CD’s the character does have a name, even if it is never used, but I never heard or saw it mentioned anywhere.

Either way, your boyfriend (by lack of a better title) has a cool personality, he works as a doctor, his hobby is cooking, and he is prone to showing tears (but only in front of you). The CD starts when you are already dating, but a large part of it is a flashback on how you met.

Which was in the hospital, when you are visiting your nephew who injured his leg due to jumping off swings. When I first heard his voice I actually thought it was your niece, but they say ‘oigo’ (nephew) and refer to him as a he so it really is a boy then. Must be very young xD

At any rate, while visiting your nephew you meet your (future) boyfriend a few times in the hospital. He even drives you home one day when you are walking back through the rain. And seems genuinely worried when he hears that you caught a cold afterwards. A little while later when you are visiting again and he calls out to you, causing you to accidently cut your finger because you were cutting an apple.

He immediately helps you take care of the cut, and you say he is just like a big brother. To which he -reluctantly- replies that he wants you to see him as a man, not as a brother, and confesses that he likes you. Of course, you like him as well so that is the start of your relationship.

The last two tracks are scenes of you two together when you are already dating. The first one is at home. While eating you comment that you want to cook for him, but he is more worried that you might injure yourself (you are quite the klutz in this CD). Afterwards you are watching TV (it sounds more like you were playing a game) while he is reading a book for work. You complain that he likes reading alone more than doing something together, so he puts the book away and says he sees that as an invitation to do ‘something that you can only do together’.

In the second scene you are stuck in the traffic and he is complaining about all sorts of things. Apparently you have been dating for a while here, because he also complains about the fact that you casually said ‘isn’t it time to get married?’ and that you were much sweeter when you started dating. Eventually he says he won’t listen to you anymore so you try to get his attention with various things, which leads to him tearing up about a movie, and then saying that he’d like to be the perfect boyfriend for you now and forever (and of course you say that he is the perfect boyfriend, no matter the flaws).

I have to say this CD was different from what I expected, not in a bad way though. To begin with I was surprised to see multiple seiyuu listed as cast. I expected that this would be only Kamiya-san being the perfect boyfriend, as in going on various dates and stuff, but not that there would be other characters. Don’t get me wrong, but in a lot of situation CD’s you and your boyfriend seem to be the only people in the world, and he is the only one that can talk xD

The second surprise is that this is mostly about how you met. No endless dates or sweet situations with Kamiya-san being the perfect boyfriend, but an actual story on how you met. Don't expect a novel plot though. Still, I think I like this better than if it would have been only the two of you while you are already a couple.

There is just one thing I missed. It was said that he was prone to tears, and while he does tear up a little about the movie, I expected a little bit more. I somehow expected (or hoped for) a scene where something at work would bring him to tears at home, almost a breakdown if you want. Call me evil but I think that would have been really endearing.


Conclusion:
Different from what I expected still interesting. I kind of like these kind of CD’s where there is also some interaction with other characters, although there might have been a liiiiitle bit more scenes with the two of you.

Tap Trap Love Vol.02 - Crown

Tap Trap Love Vol.02 - Crown

Company: 5pb
Based on: Original
Released: 2012.05.23
Official site: http://5pb.jp/ttl/index.html


Tap Trap Love is set in an semi-apocalyptic world. After World War III, Tokyo slowly transformed into a lawless district where the two largest groups -the SS and the Horde- are fighting for dominance. Dance is one of the things that still inspire the young people in these bleak days, and our heroine joins a tap dance group. The CD is a mix of story parts, and tap lessons by the other members of the group.

While I say heroine, Nico has lost her voice and memories so the other characters basically talk directly to you. A character called “John Do” introduced her to the dance group Euphoria. When needed for the plot, Nico communicates either by tapping or by using her cellphone. The lesson parts are recorded with the dummy head mic, so those are really spoken directly to the listener.

You meet with John Doe (CV: Ishida Akira) a couple of times in this CD, and he seems to both want you to continue with dancing, and to stop. Just like he hopes that you will remember the things you forgot, but somehow hopes you don’t regain them. Either way your meeting remains mysterious.

Insert cool theme song at the beginning.

Everyone is practicing some new steps that Jackie (CV: Maeno Tomoaki) is teaching them. Joy (CV: Fujiwara Yuuki) and you are the only ones that haven’t remembered them yet, so Jackie shows you one more time, after which everyone tries it together. Jackie gives everyone a few more pointers, except for Joy who apparently still needs to practice more. But for now needs to head to Club Justice, where he is the DJ for the night.

While Joy Rushes out you get a lesson from Cap (CV: Kamiya Hiroshi) . He gives you a lesson on posture. Compared to his lesson in the first CD, he is unusually strict. Unfortunately the use of the dummy head mic is also less effective. After the lesson you go grab something to eat at Red Dogs (Nico her part time job, a hotdog stand)

At Justice you meet up with Leo (CV: Nakai Kazuya). While Cap is getting all of you drinks, you and Leo listen a bit to Joy his DJ-ing. When Leo remarks that Joy isn’t half bad someone called Anger (CV: Ookawa Genki) starts making fun of Joy. Leo almost makes a fight out of it, but Cap returns just in time to stop him. Leo hurt his hand though, so he visits dr.Ginger (CV: Itou Kentarou). Who also seems a bit different from last time, his interactions with Leo are quite comical. Also pun alert when dr.Ginger recommends ショウガ (shouga, ginger) for the wound to heal.

During the next lesson Jackie comes back with the list of participants for the next audition, and Joy suddenly says he won’t participate after seeing Anger his name on the list as a member of the group Edge. The rest tries to ask why, but Joy simply runs off. Turns out he goes to find Anger, as we discover that the two have some sort of past together that Joy ran away from.

After finishing the dance lessons with Leo and Jackie, you decide to try and find Joy at club Justice together with Jackie. You bump into Anger again, who makes fun of Nico but she retaliates by showing him some awesome dance moves. Joy finally shows up telling Anger to back off, and that he will participate in the audition. To make up for all the trouble he caused Joy takes you out for dinner, and on the way home he tells you about his past.

This CD seemed to focus mostly on Joy, which makes me wonder whether every CD will focus on one of the members of Euphoria. It would make sense, with everyone giving you lessons and each CD focussing on a different character you can choose your favourite on your own. (And then they can start releasing actual situation CD’s with only one character, haha). Except for John Do hinting that whatever it was Nico forgot really isn’t pleasant, we get to know little about Nico this time though.

Thanks to Joy his backstory there is also a little more background info on the city where they live. While divided by the wall it apparently isn’t impossible to cross it. The dance auditions are at the Atomic theatre in New Town (the ‘good’ side), and because Joy was born there it appears that it is at least possible to move from New Town to the other side, or maybe he really escaped over the wall, but either way he got from one side to the other.

Personally I thought the Dummy Head parts were executed better last time. Cap his lesson might have been a bit over the top last time, but this time all of the lessons somehow felt a bit lacking. We’ve got Joy giving Nico a hug at the end to make up for it though.


Conclusion:
It looks like we will be focussing more on the individual members in any upcoming CD’s (although no Vol.3 has been announced as of yet). If they make the lessons a bit more interesting again I think that is a good way to go. I hope they’ll continue - and I still think that this would make a good game. Also, I kind of like the ending theme.

Tap Trap Love Vol. 01 - Stray Dog

 Tap Trap Love Vol. 01 - Stray Dog

Company: 5pb
Based on: Original
Released: 2012.02.22
Official Site: http://5pb.jp/ttl/index.html


Tap Trap Love is set in an semi-apocalyptic world. After World War III, Tokyo slowly transformed into a lawless district where the two largest groups -the SS and the Horde- are fighting for dominance. Dance is one of the things that still inspire the young people in these bleak days, and our heroine joins a tap dance group. The CD is a mix of story parts, and tap lessons by the other members of the group.

While I say heroine, Nico has lost her voice and memories so the other characters basically talk directly to you. When needed for the plot, Nico communicates either by tapping or by using her cellphone. The lesson parts are recorded with the dummy head mic, so those are really spoken directly to the listener.

At the beginning of the CD the mysterious stranger John Do (probably not his real name, CV: Ishida Akira) takes Nico to see the tap dance group "Euphoria". A little later you contact the group that you want to join. Opinions on whether you should be allowed to join differ though, so they agree to all give you lessons until they have decided on a final answer.

The doctor you are staying with, Dr.Ginger (CV: Itou Kentarou) as well as you friend and fellow part-time worker Lee (CV: Shimozaki Nobunaga) are surprised but encourage you to do what you want. Meanwhile you see John Do again, who seems that dancing is the way to get your memories back.

The main interest of this CD are of course the dance lessons. They are recorded with the dummy head mic, and actual tap sounds. The four members of the dance group are all supposed to give you a lesson, and the first is their leader Jackie (CV: Maeno Tomoaki), his lesson is mostly stretching though. The flirty Cap (CV: Kamiya Hiroshi) is the second to give you a lesson, and the DJ Joy (Fujiwara Yuuki) the third one.

Leo (CV: Nakai Kazuya)is supposed to give you a lesson as well, but being the only member of the group who doesn't approve he doesn't want to. His track isn't a dance lesson, but the two of you walking home after he saved you from some troublesome guys. After learning that you are the one that makes the Soy Yakisoba that he loves so much at the place where you work as a part timer, he opens up a little to you.

I was quite surprised by this CD. When the project was first announced I expected it to be a sweet romance with a dance theme, but when I then the official site was updated with the story and I discovered that it was going to be post-apocalyptic romance instead.

I think that have made a good mix of the story and the dance lessons. There is enough going on that makes you curious about the story, Nico her past, what her relation to 'John Do' is, why Leo is partly deaf on his left side, etc. Meanwhile the tap lessons are fun to listen to, and the music they use is good as well.

Because Nico can't talk anyway, she is an easy way to link the plot and the lessons together. I still really felt like they are giving the lessons to 'me' and the rest of the plot happens to the character Nico. That is exactly the point of course, Nico is just a walking puppet made for self-projection, but I'm actually curious about her story.


Conclusion:
With everyone giving you lessons and explaining things about the world around you (you do have amnesia after all) this CD feels as an introduction. Now that we know everyone and the world around us the rest of the story can break loose. Or at least that is how I feel. Speaking of the rest of the story; vol.2 goes on sale today.

Shukujo Yousei ~Shitsuji ga Oshieru Seiyou Ryouri no Manner~

 

淑女養成CD ～執事が教える西洋料理のマナー～

Company: Team Entertainment
Based on: Table manners
Released: 2008.09.17
Official Site: http://www.team-e.co.jp/sp/archive/ladycd.html


In this CD your two butlers teach you the table manners for a formal party. Starting from arriving at the party, to the table manners, to writing a thank you note afterwards.

In the prologue you just arrive home and the butler Stuart (CV:Yusa Kouji) welcomes you home with tea. He explains that it was suddenly decided that you are to attend a party that evening, so your father has asked him and Robert (CV: Kamiya Hiroshi) to teach you the proper manners.

In five tracks the two of them explain different aspects of a dinner party: arriving at the party, the tableware, how to use a napkin, how to eat, and a few other things to remember.
Stuart explains most of the rules, while Robert acts as the less experienced one, asking things so that they can elaborate on some points.

Most of the things they explained were things I already knew, although there were a few small things that I missed. Then again, I like things like etiquette so I've been doing some reading on that before. Still, it is fun to hear them explaining the rules. The explanations are easy to understand, and despite that all they do is explain etiquette, it doesn't feel like someone is reading a rule book out loud.

Of course, much of the charm of this CD comes from the fact that the two of them are butlers, and thus address you as "ojou-sama" and use very polite speech.


Conclusion:
It is a pity that there are not many chances to practice what they teach you in this CD, because it is an amazingly well written guide. (At least, at don't know how many white tie dinners you have attended as of yet, but unfortunately they don't feature heavily on my agenda).

Moegaku ~Moe Koi Gakuen Seitokai Shikoubu~

モエガク！～萌恋学園生徒会執行部～

Company: Kuchikomi & Toukou Magazine
Based on: Parody work
Released: 2011.05


This CD was available through the Kuchikomi and Toukou Magazine. Despite the similar titles, it has absolutely nothing to do with the Moe Koi drama CD's from the same magazine. Well except for both being parodies, and Kamiya Hiroshi and Ono Daisuke appearing in both of them.

The setting is the Moe Koi School. Up until now it was an all girls school, but recently it opened up to guys as well. There are still only a few guys, and there is a visible gap between the boys and girls. Many of the girls don't know how to deal with the boys.

Our main characters are all members of the student council: the incredibly narcissistic Senzaiin Rihito (CV: Fukuyama Jun),  his personal butler and secretary Ichinomiya Banri (CV: Hosoya Yoshimasa), the vice president Momose Kakeru (CV: Ono Daisuke) and the accountant Togashi Yayoi (CV: Kamiya Hiroshi).

Rihito finds a love letter in the student council question box. The letter has no sender, nor an addressee, but Rihito is convince that it is intended for him. In order to draw out the sender, he organizes the "summer communication festival" (shortened to "natsucomi") under the pretence he wants to improve the communication between the boys and the girls in the school. Meanwhile, Kakeru also thinks the letter is intended for him, and Yayoi -due to a misunderstanding- thinks it is a letter from Kakeru to him.

For the festival, all the girls are given special bows and arrows (made by the ridiculously influential and rich company that is owned by Rihito his family) which they have to use to try and shoot the guys in the student council. If the guys are hit, they have to grant the wish (any wish) of the one who shot them. The arrows are made so that they don't hurt anyone, but none the less Kakeru delivers a spectacularly cliché death scene when he is first hit.

Of course the wishes are full of fanservice. From Kakeru having to say sweet lines -or scold someone-, to Yayoi wearing nekomimi and saying "~nya", or even Banri stripping naked, to all of them being involved in a weird fairytal play in which Rihito tries to kiss them, fanservice all over the place. And while the girls are trying to catch Yayoi and Kakeru, they in turn try to find Rihito and the love letter.

When all of the chaos from the festival is over, a girl comes to the student council room to say who the letter was intended for. Each character gets a sepparate "love message" track in which they are they one that receives the letter. Especially Banri (who normally acts as Rihito his perfect butler) his track is very cute.

Of course this is a parody work, so expect many references to popular series. Some of the most blatant ones are Maria-sama ga Miteru and One Piece (look a flying pirate ship!!) but there are many more works and clichés referenced. But more than anything it is a hilarious story that is guaranteed to make you laugh.

Despite Kamiya Hiroshi and Ono Daisuke both being in both this drama and the "Moe Koi" series, the story and the characters they play haveabsolutely nothing to do with each other.

Perhaps just as funny as the drama is the exceptionally long cast talk (it is 20min, for a normal cast talk that is long). Each of the seiyuu answer a few questions: "What if they were the only guy in an all girls school" "If they were a girl, which character would they want to confess to them", "What do you want someone to say when they confess to you", and finally "What type of girl do you want to confess to you". OnoD his answer for the last two questions was hilarious: "doesn't matter. I want someone to confess to me". And that while the others have proper (and long) answers xD

ps: the booklet has a really cute short comic about how the recording went. Especially the drawing of Kamiya losing a part of the script was so cute!!


Conclusion:
This is a hilariously over the top parody, and completely successful in doing what it should do: making you laugh. Cute moments, funny moments, sweet moments, hilarity, chaos, fanservice, it is all there. If you liked Moe Koi you should absolutely listen to this. Or in reverse, if you like this one you should listen to those as well!

Moe Koi

萌恋

Company: Kuchikomi & Toukou Magazine
Based on: Original
Released: 2009.09.08


Moe Koi is based on all kinds of things otaku. Komine Kouki (CV: Kamiya Hiroshi) and Higuchi Touya (CV: Ono Daisuke) have both fallen for you. Touya has the advantage in that you both like anime, manga, and doujinshi, but Kouki simply fell for you at first sight and gets dragged into the otaku world. The CD was released as an extra with the October edition of the Kuchikomi & Toukou Magazine.

The CD starts with the three of you going to a doujinshi event, although you basically get sepparated as soon as it starts so Kouki and Touya end up walking around the event site together. Of course Kouki doesn't know the first thing about doujinshi so Touya explains it all to him.

After that are two tracks on which you go on a date with one of the two. On Kouki his date you go to Otome Road where he patiently waits until you are done doujin shopping and to a neko cafe (where he says some really sweet lines but you are to distracted by a cat to listen). On your date with Touya you visit a shop that sells supplies to draw manga and you go to Akiba. The tsundere maid at the end of the track was priceless.

Next up is a scene with the three of you together again. You are making a doujinshi to sell on an upcoming event, however it doesn't look like you are going to make the deadline so the two of them come to help (with Kouki hilariously misinterpreting the situation at first). When you start to fall asleep in the middle of the night Kouki tries to keep you awake by telling a doujinshi centred horror story, however you still fall asleep and don't listen to it. All turns out well in the end though, and to show your feelings of appreciation for Kouki his help you force him into a handmade maid outfit.

Both characters also get a short confession scene where they confess their love to you. Both are pretty cute. And full of moe, obviously.

Honestly, this CD is gold. It has so many funny moments. And the seiyuu seem to really have fun while recording this (especially OnoD). It is a bit surprising that Kouki is willing to go to otome road with you, but we'll just see it as proof that his love for you is so strong that he is willing to go shopping for BL doujinshi with you. Not to mention that both of them actually help you draw a BL manga, but hey.

I can't really choose between either of the two characters. Kouki is funny because he is trying his best while knowing absolutely nothing about the doujin world, while Touya has a light and flirty air about him. He is obviously a complete otaku, but says all kinds of moe lines in the process.

In the free talk OnoD is still having far to much fun, constantly saying 'koi! koi!'. They both talk about what they were really into during high school (OnoD = soccer, Kamiya Hiroshi = manga's by Takahashi Rumiko). To decide who can do the message to the listeners first they actually do rock-paper-scissors xD And I have no idea what is going on there in the end. Is that Kamiya-san really sneezing? or covering up a laugh? WTH xDDD



Conclusion:
This drama CD was so much fun. Especially OnoD his acting was a lot of fun to listen to. All the jokes with anime/manga/doujin make it so much fun to listen to. Kouki being a noob in the world of doujin might be nothing but  a convenient plot device, but they played it well. If you are in for a laugh, or just want to hear Kamiya-san say "okaerinasaimase, goshujin-sama" you should really listen to this.

ps: I'm really sorry I can't find a good quality cover scan ( ;__ ;)

Romeo and Juliet

 ロミオとジュリエット

Company: Momo&Grapes
Based on: Romeo and Julliet
Released: 2010.03.25


Like the title implies, this is Romeo and Juliet. The catch here is that it is part of Momo&Grapes their Men's Only series, meaning that all characters are voiced by male seiyuu.

In all honesty, the fact that it is done by Momo&Grapes and that it is part of the Men's Only series is the only reason I listened to this. I have no love for the story of Romeo and Juliet.

*cough* back to reviewing. The story is completely faithful to the original. Romeo (CV: Ishida Akira) sneaks into the Capulet masked ball together with Benvolio (CV: Naruse Makoto) and Mercutio (CV: Suganuma Hisayoshi) where he meets Juliet (CV: Kamiya Horoshi) who kisses Romeo in order to chase away her suitor count Paris (CV: Masuda Takayuki) and Romeo and Juliet fall in love. With the help of Juliet her wetnurse (CV: Kusonoki Taiten) and the friar Laurence (CV: Takemoto Eiji) they get married. However Tybalt (CV: Ishikawa Hideo) got hold of the news that Romeo sneaked into the Capulet ball and wants to duel Romeo, who doesn't want to, Mecutio gets killed in the end, Romeo is exiled, meanwhile Juliet is engaged to Paris against her will, and in order to escape the marriage feigns her death, and so we reach the well known tragic end of this story.

I am sorry for my sloppy summary of this classic piece of literature.

This is a bit hard to review, because I don't like the Romeo and Juliet story in general so I'll try to focus on other things instead. Like or don't like though, Kamiya his Juliet was very cute. It makes you want to hug him. I had more problems with Ishida his Romeo, but I finally settled on the fact that a voice actor that I don't particular like voiced a role that I dislike, so that it all matches. (I am sorry, Ishida-san is brilliant at times, but I'm not very fond of his voice). Interestingly enough, Kamiya-san apparently thought of Ishida-san as the ideal Romeo (He says so in the tokuten CD).

Actually, I personally found the cast talk and tokuten talk the most interesting tracks on this CD xD Almost everyone has an interesting comment (Ishikawa Hideo his final remark was the best xD). The rest of the cast going "kawaii! kawaii!" while Kamiya-san was talking, or "Romeo-samaaaa!" when Ishida-san starts talking was just too cute. In the tokuten talk CD Kamiya-san mostly says how worried and nervous he was about his role as Juliet, while Ishida-san just goes "I wasn't worried at all [about my own part]" xD

Something interesting that I already though of and that was also mentioned in the cast talk, was that in the time on Shakespeare plays were performed with only male actors. So to some extend this drama CD is actually really close to the original play.


Conclusion:
This is, I think, actually a good drama CD. I just don't like the story and I can't get over that no matter what. I'm sorry. But if you like the Men's Only series it is worth a listen, and if you like the Romeo and Juliet story it is probably a must.

O.To.Na Gentei Kanbyou CD Karte 2

オ・ト・ナ限定 看病CD Karte 2

Company: Nihon Colombia
Based on: Original
Released: 2011.06.29
Official Site: http://columbia.jp/otonagentei/


Otono Gentei Kanbyou is a CD in which two different types of characters tend to you in various situations where you are sick/tired. Each CD has two (entirely) different types of characters, and each one has 5 situations. Everything is recorded with the dummy head microphone, so at times it sounds like they are whispering in your ear. This second CD has two characters that are more similar to each other than the first CD, an ore-sama type and kichiku type.

The first five tracks feature Toujou Takashi, an ore-sama type. Even though he is officially ore-sama, I'd actually say he is part tsundere. None the less he seems like a nice person to be around. He teases you and says he doesn't care, but when really needed he does take care of you. In order the different situations are: stomachache, toothache, motion sickness, feeling down, and a cold.

The last five tracks feature Shinonome Yuuya, a kichiku type. Completely true to his character setting he is mostly teasing you to the point of bullying you (kichiku means 'demon'). Somehow he still manages to get a few nice remarks in though. His situations are a cold, stomachache, feeling down, tiredness because of overwork, and toothache. Especially the last track was brilliant. At first he suddenly does a perfect boyfriend act, only to quit that and do a perfect job of making you scared of the dentist.

At first I was wondering whether these two wouldn't be two similar, but that isn't the case. The big difference here is that Toujou is basically nice but has a few tsundere traits, while Shinonome is simply a complete jerk who has a few nice moments. (basically that is what kichiku is, but hey). I like Toujou more, he also seems like someone who could actually be real.

Because of the character setting of these two this CD would have been more suited for the 'otona gentei' (adult only) part of the title, but just like the first CD it is just cute. Although in case of Shinonome I guess cute isn't the right description...


Conclusion:
Again, I doubt it would help when you are sick (in case of Shinonome, I think it would actually make it worse). Personally I liked Toujou best, while Shinonome is being a bit too much of a jerk. Personal preference I suppose.

万葉恋歌 ～桜の章～

Manyourenka ~Sakura no Shou~

Company: Honey Bee
Based on: Manyoushuu
Released: 2009.02.14
Official Site: http://www.honeybee-cd.com/manyou_top.html

万葉恋歌 (Manyou Renka, "Manyou Love Poem") is a series by Honey Bee that is based on the Manyoushuu. Written in ancient Japanese most of these poems are hard to understand, but this series explains the poems and turns them into a comprehensible story.

This is the first volume and is voiced by Kamiya Hiroshi. Story-wise, our main character accidentally bumps into a girl on his way home. The encounter ends with each of them apologizing to the other, but he can't get her out of his mind. After a long while of simply being happy sometimes seeing her on the way home he finally finds the courage to ask her out.

What is interesting in this case is not the story, which is sweet and enjoyable on it's own, but how they managed to link different poems from the Manyoushuu to it. Each track ends with a poem and it's explanation. So each track is effectively a modern situation interpretation of a poem.

Classical Japanese never has and never will be my forte, but I don't think I would ever manage to grasp the meaning of these poems without someone explaining them to me. Interesting enough, they've managed to combine these poems that are not related at all into a single story. Writing a scenario to one poem must be tricky enough, but combining several poems into one story is truly an achievement if you ask me.

As a bonus (I suppose?) all of the poems are included as separate tracks after the main drama.


Conclusion:
Maybe partly because it is based on classical poems, or maybe it is the soundtrack that uses classical Japanese instruments, but the entire atmosphere is very calm. The story is really sweet and it interesting to hear the interpretations that they've made to these poems. Recommended for a day on which you feel like listening to something calm and a bit heartwarming.

官能昔話

Kannou Mukashibanashi

Kannou Mukashbanashi is a series that tells well known tales in a... slightly different way. Each volume contains several stories, all done by a different seiyuu. The series uses a special recording method called 3D dummy microphone, a microphone shaped like a head. using this technology you can hear the voice of the seiyuu as if they're talking right into your ear (when using headphones or earphones), and they've made sure that they talk very eroi.

The first time I didn't really know what to expect, but the CD starts with a prologue that explains (in practice) what the CD is all about. Inoue Kazuhiko his voice is really soothing and sexy, and the wording in which he instructs you to put on your headphones or earphones is... (>///<) He also tests it by blowing in your ear, which somehow feels much to real.

The first story is that of Issun Boushi and is voiced by Suzuki Tatsuhisa. The little Issun Boushi travels to the capital to work, and becomes the companion of the princess. At the end of the story he defeats a red demon and is turned into a full sized human. In his own words 'now that he has become larger he'll be able to please the princess much more'.

The second story is that of Kaguya-hime and is told by Kamiya Hiroshi. Probably everyone knows the this story, and it is told almost completely true to it's origins, except that the meeting between Kaguya-hime and the Emperor becomes a lot more intimate than the original. I'm not too sure about the voice Kamiya-san uses for the story telling, but his voice as the Emperor is pure love.

The third story is 'Tsuru no Ongaeshi' and is told by Inoue Kazuhiko. I don't think this story is well known, and it is a really sad story. Inoue Kazuhiko his beautiful storytelling only makes it all the more touching. And eroi.

The last story is 'Sarukani Kassen' (the fight between the monkey and the crab) and is told by all seiyuu together. It is a story about a monkey who tries to scam a crab. The way it is told it sounds very comical, and also very evil. The monkey tends to 'mistreat' the crab with all the sound effects that results in.


It was hard not to giggle while listening to this CD. After a while you get used to it though (and if you decide to listen to the other volumes it only gets better (^-^). Because the seiyuu tell a story on their own you can also hear how versatile their voices are, which is interesting to hear. I love this CD because it is the first one in the series, but I think the later ones are better.