Dogs - Bullets and Carnage 2

Dogs - Bullets and Carnage II

Company: Shueisha
Based on: Manga
Released: 2008.10.23

Dogs is set in an unnamed, post-apocalyptic European city, where violence, crime, genetic manipulation and other scientific brutalities have become common. The story focuses on four antiheroic protagonists who, through a series of coincidences, meet as they search for a way "below", looking for answers to their individual pasts (description shamelessly taken from wiki. again).

The first drama CD covered the prequel manga, and this second one covers the first volume of the Bullets and Carnage manga.

At the start of the CD Haine (CV: Sakurai Takahiro) and Badou (CV: Ishida Akira) save a bunch of kids from a brothel. After that a lot of things happen at once. Naoto (CV: Itou Shizuka) visits the church where the Bishop (CV: Seki Toshihiko) and Nill (CV: Noto Mamiko) live and they all get into some problems there. Meanwhile Heine gets kidnapped by a crime gang and wreaks havoc there, while his 'brother' Giovanni (CV: Nakahara Shigeru) also wants to meet him and play around while Luki (CV: Kugimiya Rie) and Noki (CV: Tsuji Ayumi). And while all of this is going down Mimi (CV: Shiraishi Ryouko) and Mihai (CV: Ootsuka Akio) get into some trouble of their own. If you are overwhelmed by the amount of names just listed rest assured - it is just as confusing while listening to the actual CD.

While the first CD was pretty easy to understand without any knowledge of the manga the story becomes pretty convoluted in this second CD and it becomes a lot harder harder to understand. This is partly due to the rather large amount of characters and the story telling which shows short scenes from various events occurring at the same time. The result is that you have to pay really close attention to get who is doing what. While I usually like fragmented storytelling, there are so many things going on at once that it becomes a bit too confusing.

Near the end there are two tracks that are a bit more lighthearted. The first is about Zack (CV: Tanaka Kokoro) and Baran (CV: Souma Yukito), two members of the gang that Badou beat to pulp in the previous CD. For some reason Kiri and Mihai took them in to work at the bar. Both of them have fallen for Kiri and swear to protect her and the bar. The second track is about the boss of the same gang being chased around by Luki and Noki. While the two of them are still only little kids they are incredibly dangerous bounty hunters and they turn every hunt into a game of 'tag' (with weapons).

These two tracks are more comical, and also the most comprehensible. As an ending it was a good choice, but it would have been better if the rest was also a bit easier to follow.


Conclusion:
While I can recommend the first drama CD to anyone who likes darker stories, this second one is probably better only to listen to if you know the manga/ anime. Or even better to skip it as a whole.

Dogs - Bullets and Carnage

Dogs - Bullets and Carnage

Company: Shueisha
Based on: Manga

Released: 2007.10.22


Dogs is set in an unnamed, post-apocalyptic European city, where violence, crime, genetic manipulation and other scientific brutalities have become common. The story focuses on four antiheroic protagonists who, through a series of coincidences, meet as they search for a way "below", looking for answers to their individual pasts (description shamelessly taken from wiki).

This first drama CD covers the prequel manga, and only introduces the four main characters and various sub-characters. Doesn’t make it any less interesting though.

In the first track everyone meets in a cafe. Timeline-wise this is the present in the series. Not much happens in this track, it is a bit out of the everyday (albeit weird) life of the characters. The later chapters sometimes switch between the past and the present when introducing the various characters.

The second track introduces Mihai (CV: Ootsuka Akio) and Kiri (CV:Ohara Sayaka). After being away for many years Mihai returns to town and visits Kiri, who now runs the cafe/ restaurant Buon Viaggio. Hanging on the wall there is a picture of Mihai, Kiri, Milena (CV: Matsutani Kaya) and Ian (CV: Yusa Kouji). Milena was Mihai his former lover, and Ian the son of the (mafia) boss Mihai was working under at the time. Ian was entrusted in Mihai his care by his father, however he grew jealous of Milena afraid that she would take Mihai away from him.

Seeing the picture on the wall Mihai remembers several of the events surrounding Milena her death, and confronts Ian. The switching between timelines was the most confusing in this story, in the other ones it is a lot clearer.

The third track introduces Badou (CV: Ishida Akira) an informant with a serious nicotine problem. Badou, more or less by accident, obtains some compromising foto’s of a gang leader and is promptly hunted down by the entire gang. He is saved once by Mihai, but while he explains his situation and negotiates for Mihai to be his bodyguard while staying at the cafe they are attacked by the gang again. Fortunately his nicotine level is so low by then that he goes on a rampage, defeating the entire gang on his own.

Badou his story was the most lighthearted of them all, caused both by his normally wimpy personality and the fact that he ends up covered in trash a couple of times. That, and all he can think about while being chased around is somehow obtaining a cigarette.

The next track introduces Naoto (CV: Itou Shizuka). When she was little her family was slaughtered by someone wielding a katana, causing her to lose part of her memories. She is taken in by the swordsman Fujimine (CV: Koyama Rikiya), who teaches her how to fight with a sword as well. Naoto thinks that Fujimine is the one that killed her family and lives to kill him, but before she gets the chance he is killed Magato (CV: Kusao Takeshi)., who also tells her that the real killer is still out there somewhere.

This was the saddest story of them all. Naoto her conflicting feelings are just too sad. In fact, no one in this story seems to be exactly straight forward with their feelings. Magato his final speech makes me think he actually liked her, despite his earlier attitude.

The last character to get introduced his Heine (CV: Sakurai Takahiro) who underwent various genetic manipulations when he was a child. As a result, he recovers from wound very fast, even from almost fatal ones. It also gave him a very violent second personality. Heine encounters Nill (CV: Noto Mamiko), a young girl with angel wings. He tries to save her from some thugs, but she is re-captured a little later, while the attack leaves Heine heavily wounded. Which doesn’t stop him from retaliating and going to save her a second time, dragging Badou along as diversion.

The final track are some more hints at the continuation of the story, but, just like the first track, not really memorable compared to the rest. The story is told in a somewhat fragmented manner, and how the various characters meet isn’t shown (except for maybe the how Badou en Mihai meet). I kind of like this style, and it fits the dark atmosphere of the world it is set in.


Conclusion:
I was obviously interested in this because it has Sakurai, but if you like action packed and darker stories this is definitely a recommendation. Too bad that this is only a prologue, and while the first volume has been turned into a drama CD you’ll need to read the manga (which is still ongoing btw) for the rest of the story. Luckily, the manga is very stylish as well.

Hidamari no Pinyu

陽だまりのピニュ 

Company: Frontierworks
Based on: Manga
Released: 2008.08.27


Hidamari no Pinyuu is a series about the daily life of Pinuette Chipal Chipalulu (Nickname: Pinyu), the princess of the Chipalulu Kingdom. Except that she as ran away from home to go and live in Japan after hearing stories about it.

The CD starts with Hibina Minato (CV: Shiraishi Ryoko) and Kuji Shoubu (CV: Hatano Wataru) running to catch the bus. Minato sees a pretty girl and stops for a second, promptly missing the bus. The next few days rumours start within the school about a strange foreign girl doing weird stuff. Thinking it might be the girl she saw before, Minato attempts to find her.

After a short search Minato and Kuji find her in a park, tired and covered in dirt. Minato decides to take her home with her where she puts her in bath to get her clean. The girl introduces herself as Pinyu (CV: Noto Mamiko). Minato her mother (CV: Odaira Yuuki) tells Minato that her grandfather once visited the country where Pinyu comes from, and that that is probably how she knows stories about Japan. In the end, Pinyu becomes a transfer student at Minato her school.

Meanwhile at school they have just started a miss high school contest, and Pinyu becomes one of the favourites. This causes Maruo Shuuko (CV: Yajima Akiko) to see her as her rival. Maruo her faithful photographer Chouroku Chinatsu (CV: Yamamoto Maria) always sticks around her, but seems to care much less about the contest.

Mixing these characters with Maruo her classmate Toori (CV: Yonaga Tsubasa) who just happens to be from Chipalulu, Chinatsu (CV: Satou Akemi) who is the captain of the cheerleading club, and Oomori (CV: Hamada Kenji) the captain of the ouen-dan gives us a rather colourful cast for this very cute drama CD.

There might be a contest going on, but don't expect any harsh competition. This above all a very cute and fluffy story. The characters are all very cute and the entire atmosphere is just warm and fluffy. No evil going on in the background or anything like that either. Just full 100% fluff and sweetness.

The cast talk is quite long and is just as cute as the rest of the work. Like Noto-san saying that the Chipalulu language was very difficult to speak, and Yonaga-san saying that he first had to practice to say the full name of his own character. Or someone suddenly asking Hamada-san how long his legs are xD


Conclusion:
The fluff is all  over the place in this work, which is what you should listen it for. The characters are cute and interesting, and it is a really cute story. I wished they would have made more drama CD's for this series, but unfortunately there is only one CD

AZ

 AZ

Little Red Riding Hood (CV:Noto Mamiko) was eaten by the Bad Wolf, it is a story that everyone knows. In the same town that Little Red Riding Hood lived in lives a boy (CV: Hoshi Souichirou). He lost parents and older brother (CV: Ishida Akira) when he was still younger. A few years later, in order to find the truth about how this happened he travels into the forest at the edge of town. In his basket he carries blood red wine and a gun to shoot the bad wolf. But when he meets the wolf (CV: Hirata Hiroaki), he is different from how the stories portrayed him...



AZ is written by Ninomiya Ai (Are you Alice? Teidenmushi), and is a distorted version of Little Red Riding Hood or Akazukin in Japanese, which probably explains the title. I didn't think it could be darker than a story about Alice? trying to kill the white rabbit and discovering the warped relations between all of the characters and the first Alice, but this is definitely darker. Possibly because it doesn't have the humorous dialogue that the Alice series has, and definitely because of one specific theme.

AZ tell two intertwined stories, the one of little red riding hood and that of a boy that lives in the same town, and whose's parents have been killed by his older brother. Both stories follow the same pattern; there is a force at work that changed their story in history.

We all know the story of red riding hood; little girl goes into the forest and gets tricked and 'eaten' by the bad wolf. The most obvious interpretation of this is probably clear to anyone. Now we go and change a few things; Red Riding Hood kills her mother and the wolf is her father. Get the theme? It made me feel unwell at least.

Different but likewise for the boy. Throughout the story he likens himself with red riding hood and his brother with the wolf. Following the same pattern, it is not the wolf that killed anyone but red riding hood, meaning he himself killed his parents. How I love the memory loss plot device...



Ninomiya Ai delivers a dark and twisted fairytale with this. What still seems to be alright in the beginning becomes more and more warped near the end. I like the way both stories parallel each other, it makes certain realizations all the more chilling. This really makes me hope that she will re-write other fairy tales some day as well.

Oh and 'red wine' will probably look different to you for a while.