Blood Alone 3

Blood Alone 3

Company: Marine Entertainment
Based on: Manga
Released: 2008.06.25



Blood Alone is based on the manga series of the same name. It is about the vampire girl Minato Misaki and the novelist/detective Kurose Kuroe who takes care of her. Each of the three drama CD's has three stories. Most of the time these stories are not directly connected but more like episodes from their life.

As always, this has three stories. The first one is about Kuroe and his sister. After solving a case involving two siblings, Kuroe is reminded of his sister. Misaki asks Sainome to tell her a little about Kuroe when he was younger.

The second story seems connected to both Kuroe and Misaki their past. Kuroe receives a request to guard a former assassin. He reclines at first, but after hearing that a certain party is involved he accepts. The man Kuroe needs to protect has become the target of an organisation called "Einseingrad Sparda" is imediately attacked by a girl named Maria (CV: Sawashiro Miyuki). Kuroe manages to deflect attack, but the girl escapes with heavy injuries.

As coincidence will have it, she is found by Misaki. Recognising the girl as a renfield (the servant of a vampire, red) she takes her home so she can recover. However the vampire that sired her soon arrives and kidnaps Misaki. He suspects that she is something special.

While handcuffing Misaki, the two of them make another attempt on the man his life. Misaki however manages to break free, and holds down Maria so that Kuroe can go after the vampire. We get a glimpse of the vampire hunter Kuroe here, it is clear that his fame as a vampire hunter was earned.

The final story revolves all around Misaki her fear of thunder. Kuroe is just about to go out for work, but on his way out remembers Misaki is afraid of lightning, and returns to stay at her side.

At first I though the first and second story were connected, but they are not. Well in a sense they are, Eisengrad Sparda is responsible for some events in Kuroe his past, but they are not directly connected. Both of them were very interesting though.

Both Kuroe and Higure (CV: Kobayashi Sanae) have taken several lessons in awesome for this CD. Higure only appears for a few moments, but proves himself as an ancient vampire. Kuroe shows us some of his vampire hunter skills, and as kind as he is to Misaki, he is cold to his enemies.


Conclusion:
Personally this might be my favourite Blood Alone CD. Sadly it is also the last one that was released, while there are still some unresolved plot points. The manga however continues those. While keeping the atmosphere of the previous CDs, this one also delivers the most action packed story.

Blood Alone 2

Blood Alone 2

Company: Marine Entertainment
Based on: Manga
Released: 2007.08.24



Blood Alone is based on the manga series of the same name. It is about the vampire girl Minato Misaki and the novelist/detective Kurose Kuroe who takes care of her. Each of the three drama CD's has three stories. Most of the time these stories are not directly connected but more like episodes from their life.

This time the CD starts with a cute valentine story. Misaki (CV: Nakahara Mai) has made Kuroe (CV: Morikawa Toshiyuki) chocolate for valentine. When she hands him his chocolate he already has a whole bag full of chocolates however (apparently he is popular with the ladies?). Continuing with his work, Kuroe notices her chocolate is missing after a while so he tries to find it, and even tracks back to every place he has been that day. When he returns home however, it turns out Misaki took the chocolate home with he so she could re-wrap it: another one of the chocolates in the bag had the same ribbon.

The second story is what you could call the main story of this CD. It starts with a serial killer on his death row and his lawyer talking just before his execution. Not too long afterwards however, the lawyer his assistant -and lover- Maki (CV: Kobayashi Sanae) is killed in the style of that serial killer.

Sainome (CV: Tanaka Rie) and Kuroe investigate this case together. Sainome discovered that similar killings have been occurring over a period far more than one lifespan, and suspects something supernatural is involved, which is why she asks Kuroe for his help. We also discover that Sainome has the ability to 'see' the memories of a dead person. This is also the first time we get to hear Misaki her vampire personality. Every vampire has a sort of 'vampire personality' or instinct, and it slowly replaces the human one. Misaki her personality is... chilling.

The last story is a more humorous one. Misaki has a nightmare about Kuroe and Sainome marrying (TV show style). When she wakes up Kuroe is gone, so goes to find him. First she kalls Higure (CV: Kobayashi Sanae), who seems to be in the middle of something. Then she goes to see Sly (CV: Miki Shinichirou) who mainly just teases her. The cat from the first episode of vol.1 also makes an appearance. Eventually, it just turns out Kuroe was working.

The first and third story are more humorous, the second one however is serious. And very good. You realize what is going on slightly before the characters do, creating just a little more tension. The atmosphere is still the same calm atmosphere from the first CD. Somehow they manage to both keep this, and create tensions as well.

The cast talk has some fun moments. Morikawa-san liked the third story (where he had several possible bride candidates) and Kobayashi-san (who voiced both Maki and Higure) laughs at both her scenes being bed scenes.


Concusion:
This vol heads more towards the direction of a supernatural mystery in the main story. It feels like there are still things being introduced for use in a later story, but this is a great CD on it's own. I'd recommend listening to all the stories separately though, or at least the second one separately, because they are so different.

Blood Alone

 Blood Alone

Company: Marine Entertainment
Based on: Manga
Released: 2006.07.21


Blood Alone is based on the manga series of the same name. It is about the vampire girl Minato Misaki and the novelist/detective Kurose Kuroe who takes care of her. Each of the three drama CD's has three stories. Most of the time these stories are not directly connected but more like episodes from their life.

The CD starts with Misaki (CV: Nakahara Mai) waking up and describing what her usual day (night?) looks like. Kuroe (CV: Morikawa Toshiyuki)is working on a novel that needs to be finished the next day, so in order to help him she goes to search for a lost cat; a request Kuroe got for his detective job. Misaki isn't very succesful in finding the cat though. On the way we also meet the informant Sly (CV: Miki Shinichirou), and his cat side kick Larry.

The second story is a short story that starts with Misaki and Higure (CV: Kobayashi Sanae), who is a very old and influential vampire (but looks like a young boy) , talking about different vampire abilities. Higure teaches Misaki how to use Farumek (a form of hypnosis that can be used to control humans), and we learn what Renfields are (Humans that have drank the blood of a vampire, and therefore become devoted to their blood parent). When Misaki comes home later that night she tries to use farumek on Kuroe to see whether she can really use it.

The third story introduces Sainome Sayaka (CV: Tanaka Rie), a childhood friend of Kuroe. She works as the head of the police forencics department. Kuroe worries about Misaki going out at night often lately, and Sainome seems to know something about it but doesn't want to say. Meanwhile Higure visits Kuroe while Misaki is out to tell him that someone has been hunting (=killing) in his territory, and that he suspects Misaki. Kuroe decides to stalk tail Misaki when she goes out the next night. He loses sight of her, but finds the actual culprit. Through his conversation with Higure afterwards we learn that Kuroe was involved with vampires in his past... Misaki on the other hand, was just visiting Sainome to learn how to knit a muffler.

This series has a very calm, easygoing atmosphere. Some of the stories are more serious, others less serious. Misaki being a young girl and often acting like one also helps to keep the atmosphere light. This atmosphere might be this series greatest charm.

It is obvious that Misaki likes Kuroe, but his feelings are less transparent. He obviously cares for her, but what is exact feelings are is a bit vague. This creates an interesting relation between them. Higure and Sainome also seem interested in Kuroe, although their motives probably differ. Higure his love for male renfields is also... interesting.

The cast talk is fairly simple and cute. The change in Kobayashi-san her voice is quite amazing to hear..


Conclusion:
I love the atmosphere in this work. At least for this vol there doesn't seem to be much vampire stuff going on, it is more about how Misaki and Kuroe are living their life, and their relationship.

方言恋愛 Vol.3

Hougen Renai Vol.3

Hougen Renai translates into something as 'Dialect Love', which is exactly what it is. Hougen Renai tells two stories, each one takes place in a different part of Japan. The whole charm of the series is that the dialect of the location where the story supposedly takes placed is used. This volume has two new prefectures; Fukuoka and Niigata. I was looking forward to this release not only because I love the series, but also because Hirakawa Daisuke does the character for Niigata :3

But first Fukuoka. The Heroine is a high school student who visits a temple in Fukuoka to pray for succes on her entrance exams. There she meets the priest Kunitake Yoshito and his childhood friend Kaori. As she seems far too tense about her exams Yoshito decides to drag her around the city to relax for a bit.

The first few lines made me want to pull my hair out in frustration, Fukuoka ben is NOT an easy dialect to listen to. In fact, it is probably one of the worst and most difficult dialects to understand. It is probably best to listen to the entire story more than once, because the dialect takes a while to get used to so you might miss some things in the beginning. Although Yoshito does cut back a bit on the dialect when talking with the heroine. Who sounds just too cute btw!! Not squeeky-high-voice-cute, but actually cute.

The second story takes place partly in Niigata and partly in Tokyo, but it is the Niigata dialect that takes a central place in the plot. This time the heroine works for a museum and visits Niigata to obtain a specific painting for an exhibition. In the Shinkansen she meets Oshimi Keigo who is an actor. She lends him her phone because the batteries of his own one are drained, and as thanks he shows her around later on. They exchange their mail address before they both return to Tokyo, where the rest of the story takes place.

On the website they described this story to be "as pure as white snow" and I agree, it is very cute. The Niigata dialect is easy to understand. This is also the first time that the dialect itself plays a central part in the plot; Keigo, who was struggling with how to portray his characters in a sincere way, discovers that it is much easier for him to be sincere when he talks in his own dialect.

As always, I really like that the heroine has a voice, it allows for more complicated stories than when you can only listen. In both stories I got the feeling that there was more interaction with other characters, and that through that the focus was more on the dialect this time. This also made the stories seem much more natural, and gave them a fresh feeling.

Conclusion:
So far this is my favorite CD in the series. As much a Fukuoka-ben frustrates me, the story was fun so it was enjoyable. I might even say it was fun to try and understand everything he says. The second story was just too cute, and I liked that the dialect actually played a central role.
That, and it was Hirakawa Daisuke so what more do I want? :3