Tabi to Michizure

タビと道づれ

Company: Frontier Works
Based on: Manga
Released: 2009.06.24


Tabi to Michizure is a story about Tabi (CV: Kugimira Rie) who wants to see her childhood friend 'Kou-chan' (CV: Sakurai Takahiro). One day she suddenly decides to visit the town where they lived, and instead of taking the train to school she takes the train there. When the conductor comes to check hee ticket she panics at first because she doesn't have one, but he gives her a stamp on her hand saying that it is "a ticket is a way to get where you want" and that the shape doesn't matter.

When Tabi arrives at the town where she lived before she is immediately ambushed by Yukita (CV: Minagawa Junko) and Nishimura (CV: Nakamura Yuuichi) who seem completely surprised that a train has arrived and start to question her about how she got here. Tabi first runs away but is nearly 'swallowed' by a large hole in the road that suddenly opens when she tries to take a shortcut to Kou-chan his house. Yukita saves her, and the two of them explain that this town has been repeating the same day over and over again.

Yukita his childhood friend Kanako (CV: Asumi Kana) comes by every day on exactly the same moment, begging him not to leave for Tokyo, using exactly the same words every day. Other people in the town repeat exactly the same pattern every day as well. No trains and arrive or leave, and each day is the same as the one before. Tabi is the first one to arrive in a long time, and along with Yukita and Nishimura the only one that notices that every day is the same, the other people forget this.

Yukita and Nishimura think that Tabi might be the key to solve the mystery of the town, and so Tabi and Yukita start searching for clues while checking which roads they can and can't cross. And so the days keep repeating.

This is a cute story, and for some reason it made me feel very nostalgic. I don't know, the idea of a rural town repeating the same summer day over and over again just seems so... peaceful. Throughout the story bits and pieces of the characters their past are told, especially about Tabi, Yukita, and Nanako, and some of them are quite surprising to.

Tabi has some problems with making friends, which leads to some hilarious moments as well. Yukita likes making strange metaphors, and is entirely too energetic and loud, but it is exactly this personality that gives him so much charm (along with Minagawa Junko her amazing voice work). Nishimura is like the one sane person, but still interesting.

The CD doesn't cover the entire manga, and some of the events have been shuffled, but overall I feel like this version is easier to understand (some things are explained better here). This also means that the CD ends about halfway through the story, but this isn't a bad thing at all. Although it does leave you with a couple of questions (I am mostly wondering about why Nishimura also keeps his memories).

In the free talk everyone talks about where they want to travel, or a story that has something to do with 'travel'. I am once again amazed by how annoying Kaneda Tomoko her voice is, it sounds like she is on helium 24/7. And for some reason Sakurai introduces himself as "Taka-chan" (probably because his role only has Kou-chan as his name).


Conclusion:
This is a really sweet story. It isn't all fluff and rainbows, but in the end it made me feel like plain everyday life can be happiness as well. And it made me feel like travelling. Though I'd prefer to do that during summer.

Shiro Ari!!

  

白アリッッ

Company: Frontierworks
Based on: Manga
Released: 2012.01.25
Official Site: http://www.fwinc.co.jp/shiroari/


Shiro Ari!! is based on the manga of the same name, and mixes the characters Snow White and Alice in one story that has little to do with the original stories but is rather hilarious.

Snow White (CV: Kugimiya Rie) is seen as a demon child in her own world due to her red eyes and white hair. The fact that the animals always defend her when she is bullied by other kids don't really make things better either. Despite this she continues to believe that there are people in this world that are purely good.

In the beginning of the story the Mirror (CV: Terashima Takuma) takes her to Wonderland. Where Alice almost falls off a cliff due to a waysign being mirrored. She is saved by Alice (CV: Suzumura Kenichi). Although saved, he almost immediately pulls a gun on her thinking she is in league with the White Rabbit. After some complications he decides to take home, by knocking her unconscious and dragging here off.

Snow White regains her consciousness in the cafe run by the Mad Hatter (CV: Onosaka Masaya) and the March Hare (CV: Yusa Kouji). While Alice is still trying to hear out Alice they are attacked by the Jack of Hearts (who looks like a girl but is actually a guy, CV: Yonaga Tsubasa). And Snow White learns that Alice and the Red King have been fighting over who rules the country since hundreds of years.

While staying at Alice his house Snow White runs into the Cheshire Cat (CV: Morikubou Shoutarou), Who pulls a vanishing act when they run into Alice. Turns out that the Cheshire Cat was coming to pick up the weapon that Jack left. He makes a few more remarks about the Red King and Blue King (Alice) fighting and leaves.

And that is about as far as we get with the plot. The part after that switches into a sweets making contest. The next day the Dormouse (CV: Kaneda Tomoko) comes dropping in. Turns out she has a huge crush on Alice (and one hell of an annoying voice). Snow White, Jack, and the Dormouse end up making a sweet in Alice his image. The end results are of course... interesting.

The drama keeps pretty close to the chaos of the manga, although some scenes are slightly shorter or in a different order (mainly Snow White her flashbacks). This also causes one weird moment: In the manga Snow White comes crashing out of the sky, lands on Alice and in the process they have an accidental kiss. In the CD they skip this part, yet they do talk about it a bit later on.

The CD only covers the first few chapters, so the plot isn't very deep yet, but it would have been nice if we would have seen a bit more of it. Instead the plot is literally abandoned halfway though for the sweets contest. I suppose it does show more of Snow White her mindset, but to use half of the CD for it might have been a bit much.

This is the second series I know with a male Alice, and his personality is just as bad as the first one. In front of everyone Alice is the perfect nice guy, but he actually has an incredibly bad attitude - causing Snow White to call him "sadist guy" (he calls her bitch so I suppose they are even). Snow White her naivety can be a bit annoying, but together they make a balanced combo.

The one character I found incredibly annoying was the Dormouse. Of course she is intended to be annoying, but her voice makes my ears bleed. And when you listen to the cast comment you discover that Kaneda-san her actual voice isn't that much better either. It just annoys me to no end.

I had just one glaring problem with the CD; The cast. Not that the cast is bad, on the contrary they are good if you ask me. But I have become so used the cast of Are you Alice? that hearing anyone else as Alice/Hatter/Jack/Cheshire Cat just doesn't feel right to me. (the March Hare and Dormouse I'm less used to so there were less problems there). Especially hearing Morikubou Shoutarou -who is the White Rabbit in Are you Alice?- voice the Cheshire Cat caused my brain to short-circuit. This is just a personal problem though.


Conclusion:
The story seemed promising, until they just decided to shelve it for a sweets making contest. The characters are funny though (barring the annoying Dormouse) and the amount of hilarious chaos is what you would expect from a series set in wonderland. I do hope that they make another CD (with more plot) because in my opinion the CD is better than the manga: the manga is written slightly to chaotic for my taste.