Jinrou -Chaotic Time-

人狼 -chaotic time-

Company: Koepota
Based on: Werewolf (the game)
Released: 2012.09.26

Official site: http://www.koepota.jp/wearwolf/

Jinrou - chaotic time- is based on the Werewolf party game. In the game, everyone is dealt a card which specifies whether they are human or a wolf. The wolves know each other, but the humans only know the number of wolves. During the night phase the wolves 'kill' on of the humans, and during the day everyone debates who should be eliminated in an attempt to kill the wolves. There are several special roles, such as the hunter (who can protect someone), or the fortune teller (who can determine whether someone is a wolf or a human). The goal of game is for each team to try an 'kill' the other team.

This CD uses the rules of the game, but everything is played out like it is a real scenario. The CD is partly narrated by Yuuki (CV: Ono Yuuki), one of the villagers, who tells what happened during the night and gives some background information. The discussions during the day time are like a normal drama. At the end of each day a narrator voice announces the votes for that day.

Right before a large festival, when most of the villagers have left, the remaining villagers are attacked by 3 werewolves who have found their way into their midst. Due to a heavy rainstorm that lasts several days they can't get any help from outside, and so they eventually decide to choose one person to execute each day by majority vote, in the hope that they manage to kill the wolves that way.

This strategy seems like a good plan, until two characters claim that they are the fortune teller, which means that one of them is an imposter. This causes the villagers to distrust each other more and more, and each day the discussions on who to execute grow more fierce.

To summarize the entire situation:

• There are 14 people at the start of the story: Yuuki, Morison, Layle, Arona, Mei, Ani, Sofia, Sasha, Stacy, Fan, Makandel, Irene, Eris, and Kurt.
• The village is attacked by three werewolves, who kill one person each night.
• To eliminate the wolves the villagers decide to sacrifice the person they think is most suspicious during the day. This is done by voting, and the person chosen is killed with a poison.
• There are several special roles: two associates (two villagers who know one another and that they are innocent), one maniac (who is human but assists the wolves), one fortune teller (who can tell whether a person is a wolf or human, although only one person each day. If the person chosen is the Youko, he or she dies), one psychic (who can tell whether the person executed the previous day was human or a wolf), and one hunter (who can protect someone from being killed), and one Youko (fox spirit), who wins when still alive at the end of the game)

When I started listening I was surprised that the CD started with the second day; you'll have to read the events of the first day one the official site. This means that you are introduced to a lot of characters at once, and at times it was a bit hard to keep track of all of them. Mainly because 14 people is a lot, and also because some characters hardly speak in the beginning.

The bulk of this drama is mainly the discussions between the different characters. The discussions are understandably emotional at times, and I found myself thinking with everyone on who should be trusted or not.

The solution is finally revealed during the cast call, where all the seiyuu state their character name and role. This makes the cast call the most important track in the entire CD, and I'm pretty sure I've never listened to one this attentively. It also made me flail in despair when I discovered some characters where something different from what I thought.

The CD comes with a code that can be used to log in to the official site, so that you can listen to the 'night part' in which the three wolves discuss who they will attack that night. It is obviously best to listen to this after you have heard the main drama, otherwise most of the suspense will be gone. While the night part was certainly interesting because it shows that the wolves also value each other, the writing was nowhere near as good as that of the main drama.


Conclusion:
I've never played werewolf myself, but at least in drama CD for it was very interesting to listen to. You do need to pay a lot of attention while listening though, or you miss things and with that the understanding of why the characters act in a certain way. I know of at least one other drama CD which uses werewolf as a motif: Doubt (which is based on the manga of the same name). Although that series is a lot more bloody (and creepy thanks to some very disturbing rabbit masks) and I am curious how that CD is.


PS: because trying to fit their names in the review made it completely unreadable, here is the cast list:

Yuuki: Ono Yuuki
Morison: Eguchi Takuya
Layle: Okamoto Nobuhiko
Arona: Kayano Ai
Mei: Mimori Suzuko
Ani: Tamiyasu Tomoe
Sofia: Komatsu Mikako
Sasha: Toyama Nao
Fan: Kobayashi Naoto
Makandel / Kurt: Asashina Junpei
Irene: Sakura Yuki
Eris: Nakamura Asami

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

Shoukoujo Sarah Monogatari

 

小公女物語

Company: Momo&Grapes
Based on: A Little Princess
Released: 2012.01.26


Shokoujo Sarah Monogatari is based on the novel "a Little Princess" by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It is a fairly well known story, and I think most of us will have heard of it in one way or another, whether someone told it or through the anime or one of it's film adaptions. This is part of Momo&Grapes their Men's Only series, meaning that all character are voiced by male seiyuu.

Sarah Crewe (CV: Okamoto Nobohiko) has crown up in India as the daughter of a wealthy English soldier stationed there. Wishing to give her a proper education, her father (CV: Yamauchi Kenji) sends her to a school in England. To make sure that she will be short of nothing he gives her lots of new clothes and things, and she gets one of the largest bedrooms in the entire school (at the time schools were often boarding schools at the time).

Sarah is well mannered and thanks to her kind attitude and wits quickly makes friends within the school, among them a classmate named Ermengarde (CV: Suganuma Hisayoshi) and the servant girl Becky (CV: Takeuchi Ken). On the other hand, the previous star of the school, Lavenia (CV: Kishio Daisuke) grow jealous of her, and the school principal Miss Minchin (CV: Miki Shinichirou) dislikes her from the start.

But Sarah her fun school days soon end: on her 16th birthday Miss Minchin informs her that her father has died from illness, and because he invested his entire fortune in a mine without profit Sarah is now penniless. Miss Minchin keeps her as a servant, and Sarah is moved from her luxurious room to a small and dark room in the attic.

Lavenia immediately grabs her chance to bully Sarah, but Sarah tries to remains positive. Seeing Sarah try so much Lavenia decides to frame her: she hides a broach she owns in Sarah her room and claims she stole it. Everyone in the school thinks Sarah really did steal it and starts to avoid her.

It is around this time that Sarah meets Ramdas (CV: Yoshino Hiroyuki) a servant from the house next to the school. He owns a little monkey that escaped and found it's way into Sarah her room, and climbs after it to catch it, and the two become friends.

However the school board decides that Sarah must leave the school, and she is thrown out on the street. With no money, and no one to help her find a job Sarah has a hard time. When she finally obtains some money to buy herself some bread, she sees another hungry girl and gives her most of her bread. By coincidence Lamdas sees this and decides to help her....

As always MomoGre their adaption is very faithful to the original. The amount of male seiyuu acting out believable girls in CD is also amazing. Maybe it is partly because they also got to do some really girly talk, but it took me almost no time at all to get used to. Okamoto is usually cute, so the jump to a believable girl isn't too hard. Takeuchi Ken his Becky is so girly it is almost scary though.

Kishio Daisuke his Lavenia also makes my skin crawl. It makes you wonder where he learned to act like an evil bitch like that. Lavenia her tsundere moment in the ending is priceless though. Yoshino Hiroyuki surprised me in an entirely different way. I'm used to his type voice ranging from flirty to gyaruo to host, but not as a 100% perfect butler. I wish he did this more often.

The cast talk isn't too special. It is interesting to hear all those seiyuu that were convincing girls just a few seconds ago talk normally again though. Okamoto saying that it was hard to do the "kyaa!" because it is just to girly was cute though.

Conclusion:
Sarah her life takes a 180% turn in this as she falls from school princess to servant, but luckily she remains positive or this might have become really annoying. Luckily they avoid all of that and it is a cute and (voice technically) amazing story to listing to. Momogre their works are usually good, and this is no exception.

Kareshi Igai 3 ~Kouhai to no Ayamachi~

彼氏以外３～後輩との過ち～

Company: Cineria
Based on: Original
Released: 2012.04.27
Official site: http://www.ike-men.net


Kareshi Igai is a series that gives you the strange experience of... cheating on your boyfriend. With a drama CD. Yeah. The concept here is that you already have a boyfriend, but that there is also someone else in your life. In the third CD you make the mistake with a kouhai from work.

Kanamori Tsubame (CV: Okamoto Nobuhiko) is your kouhai at work. It looks like you are often working together on things, which is how you know each other. During one project you both need to work overtime together, which is when you get to know him a bit better. He talks about wanting to go to an all-you-can-eat cake buffet, but doesn't want to go alone and has no-one to go with. You promise him to go together some time. He asks your phone number that time, and invites you to a drink with him sometime later. You start drinking at an izakaya, but eventually end up at his place...

Tsubame often acts a bit childish,  a bit bratty, and is very straight forward. He isn't very good with Keigo (polite speech) which is something you point out several times. When he gets excited he starts to talk really fast, which is kind of cute. He likes sweets, games, and cats.

This CD seemed a it livelier than the previous instalments. Probably largely because of Tsubame his personality, but also because of Sato-chin (CV: Ishii Satoshi) who works at the Izakaya where you go for a drink together. He is much to energetic and much too talkative, but it is kind of fun to hear him and Tsubame interact.

Something else that made me smile is that all three characters from the series work at the same company. Tsubame talks about Takano (from vol.1) and Makabe (from vol.2). Sadly Tsubame isn't listed among the cast of the upcoming spin-off CD though...

Tsubame turns pretty assertive once he has you at his place, but he warned you about that. His reaction on the morning after ("ah, so it wasn't a dream") was gold. However, he does seem genuinely hurt when you tell him that you need to go back to your boyfriend.

Like before there are two endings, both taking place 6months later. In the 'bad' ending your relationship has turned into a 100% office affair, with you doing all kinds of things in the meeting room. In the good ending you are now properly dating, and Tsubame is always worried about you being alone with other guys.

In the free talk Okamoto-san talks about how he and Tsubame are alike (because they both like games and sweets) and eventually gets completely off track. It is absolutely cute how he urges us to never do anything like this in real life though (*^-^*)


Conclusion:
Tsubame definitely isn't my type, but I did like his honesty (which is why I dislike the bad ending, you broke him!). The scenario itself was pretty realistic, just like in the first CD. Best be wary of these kinds of situations I suppose xD

O.To.Na Gentei oTogame CD Penalty I

 

オ・ト・ナ限定 お咎めCD Penalty I

 

Company: Colombia
Based on: Original
Released: 2012.02.15
Official Site: http://columbia.jp/otonagentei/


Otogame CD is a series in which the characters 'scold' you. That is, in a loving way. The kind of things you say to a person because you care about them, like "don't be out late at night, something might happen". Each CD has two characters, in the first vol we have a high school student, and a model.

Like I said, the characters scold you, but not in an angry kind of way. It is actually really cute to hear. Each character has 5 tracks, all of them depicting a different situation. Just like in the Kanbyou CD's, there is very little that could be considered 'adult only', despite the title.

The first character, a high school student(CV: Okamoto Nobuhiko) is a bit of a tsundere. In his first track he comes to pick you up from the station because it's already late, but he insists that it is just because he wanted to go to the book store. On the way back you get told of for varying things; coming home this late, trying to take a short cut through a dark ally, etc.

His other tracks are really cute too; one where you are searching something in a high cupboard balancing on a chair to reach it, and he tries to help you. One where yo are walking around (half)naked after the bath, and he is incredibly flustered (cutest track in the whole CD). One where you had a fight with a friend (and he immediately worries yo might have started dating someone). And finally one where you had a bad fortune, so you both go to a shrine to draw a new fortune.

I am sort of wondering what the relationship between the two of you is though, because you don't seem to be dating, but he also says that you "always walk around like that after taking a bath", implying that he's seen you walk around in nothing but a bath-towel more often, yet you don't seem to think of him as a romantic interest, but you are used to him being there. I am confused.

The second character is a model (CV: Midoriwaka Hikaru) and your boyfriend. In the first track he comes to wake you up because you overslept, teasing that he might just come and lie with you. The second one has him scolding you because you don't want to watch a movie in the middle of the night, ignoring the fact that he is staying over.

The third one is more of a lovers quarrel, you saw him walking on a 'date' with a foreign woman. Of course it turns out you've got nothing to worry about, she is just a friend and he wanted her advice for buying you a ring. At the start of this one he is humming while cooking dinner, which is just too cute. In the fourth story you don't want to drink your medicine, and in the last on you are searching something in your room (and apparently your room is quite messy).

When I started listening I had no idea what to expect, but this was a really fun CD. Both characters are sweet, and I like the little scenes. The entire CD is recorded with the dummy head, and they made good use of it in my opinion. They are not always talking close to you, but when they are the effect changes between instant butterflies and instant nosebleed.


Conclusion
Just like in the previous series, there isn't much 'otona gentei' (adult only) but I think of that as a good thing. This CD was completely different from what I expected, but I'm glad I listened anyway, because this was one of the sweetest things I've listened to lately, without it being completely suger coated.

Shuukan Soine CD Vol.8 - Ryo

週刊添い寝CDシリーズ vol.8 涼

Company: Black Butterfly
Based on: Original
Released: 2011.11.25
Official Site: http://www.blackbutterfly-cd.com/short/



Shuukan Soine CD series is a series in which your boyfriend cuddles next to you and talks with you until you fall asleep. Each CD features a different type of character, and lets you experience a different type of boyfriend.

This time your boyfriend is Ryo (CV: Okamoto Nobuhiko), who is 24 and works as a freelance web programmer. He is described as "timid but loves you with whole his heart". The booklet also states that he is "rather introvert but also very sensitive to changes in the feelings/mood of others".

The story starts with Ryo apologising for taking so long to get here. Apparently you made a mistake at your work and it has really gotten you down, so you called him. He was still working, but came as soon as you called.Judging by the blanket sounds, you were sulking in bed when he arrived. Ryo tries to cheer you up a little, and I guarantee that he will be successful. He really is incredibly cute.

After he has managed to cheer you up you can't sleep, so he tells you a story about a dolphin and the stars that he once read in a picture book. There is one dolphin that cannot jump, and afraid that he will be teased by the others he secretly practices at night. However he still doesn't manage to jump, and just as he is about to give up, one of the stars speaks to him saying that he is trying so hard and that he shouldn't give up. If he works so hard he will manage to jump one day. And so the dolphin falls in love with the star and jumps in order to be closer to it.

Ryo has two tracks in which he talks to you when you are already asleep. The first one is the usual 'saying sweet things he would never say when you are awake' kind of track, while the actual track for when you have fallen asleep has him answering a work related phone call. It turns out that while he said that he came because he wanted to see you, he actually has a deadline soon but still came. Awww.

No matter how you look at it, Ryo is just really really cute. He has the usual 'I want to be cool and manly' sort of complex, but when you tease him he eventually says he fine with being cute as long as that means he can be with you. The setting is that you are a little older, and I thought the scene where he says that he likes the you who acted a little childish and wanted to be spoiled to day a lot as well really cute (how often have I used the word cute by now? xD)

The cast comment is a lot of fun. Okamoto-san sounds he had a lot of fun doing the recording. He also plays around with the mic a little, eventually saying that his favourite position was when he talks close to your ear. It may just be that Okamoto-san only sounds a bit more genki as himself, or that he has the same age as Ryo (24, like he mentions) but he essentially sounds like he actually could be Ryo.


Conclusion:
Ryo is a really sweet and cute character. Not like your shota cute, but I-want-to-hug-you-and-never-let-go cute. The cover illustration looks a bit ore mature than he actually acts. Ryo completely disqualifies as cool and sexy boyfriend, but to be honest he is just so cute I can't help but to forgive him. He is just like a puppy.

Dracula ～Futari no Kyuuketsuki～

ドラキュラ～ふたりの吸血鬼～

Company: Momo&Grape
Based on: Dracula (the novel by Bram Stoker)
Released: 2011.08.12
Official Site: http://www.momogre.com/


Dracula is a character we all know, whether from the actual novel or simply as the main representive vampire we all know him. This story is based on the original novel, although it takes a lot of liberties with the story.

The story starts with Alexander (CV: Ono Daisuke) and van Hellsing (CV: Nakai Kazuya) taking down a vampire underling. It turns out they were searching for Vlad Dracula (CV: Nakamura Yuuichi) who was rumoured to come to London to find the reincarnation of his long lost love.

Believing that his love from 400 years ago is reborn, Dracula searches for Mina Marley (CV: Hanazawa Kana) to take her back to Transylvania. Despite Alexander and van Hellsing their attempts to stop him Dracula manages to kidnap Mina. Alexander and van Hellsing follow them back to Transylvania, and it comes to one last showdown in Dracula his castle...

Like I said, they took some liberties with the story. To be more exact they added Alexander his character as Dracula his younger brother. The story between Alexander and Dracula gives both a more human side. They might have strayed quite a bit from the original story, but I liked this story a lot.

The music definitely added to the entire atmosphere. At times very sad, but epic during the battles, if you pay attention to it you'll see it is really well written. The tokuten CD you got from pre-ordering it also includes a really beautiful instrumental track.. The sound effects too where really good, to the point of making me flinch when someone got hit by a sword because it makes such a horrible fleshy sound.

From the voice actors I loves Hanazawa-san her performance best. Her Mina is both sweet and shows that she can stand up to Dracula. I would have loved to hear her more. The only one I had problems with is Nakai Kazuya as van Hellsing. His performance was very good, that is not the point, but somehow his voice doesn't fit my image of van Hellsing (and, dear Momo&Grape. van Hellsing was a doctor, not an archaeologist)


Conclusion:
The story is somewhere between an adaption of the novel and an original Dracula story, but either way it is very good. It is not as scary as Blue Beard was, but still sufficiently spooky. The voice actors did a great job in bringing this story to life (pun not intended), and it is definitely worth a listen. Especially on a dark and preferably stormy night.

Mousou Esthe

妄想エステ

Company: 5pb

Based on: Original

Released: 2010.06.23

Official Site: http://5pb.jp/moso/

Mousou Esthe is made by the same team as Kannou Mukashi Banashi (it was originally also listed on the same website). Of course that means the Dummy Head Microphone is used here as well. Mousou Esthe mixes the day to day conversations of the members of the beauty salon 'Etreinte' with the beauty treatments they give. And an overall plot somewhere on the background.

In the prologue we hear that Kagami Subaru (CV: Suwabe Junichi) receives an important prize in recognition of his skills as a beautician. Soon however he discovers that while he thought he had everything, he wasn't happy.

We switch to the present where he now owns his own salon in Hisuigaoka. This is where the story takes place. In each track a new esthetician is introduced in the form of a short conversation with Kagami and/or previously introduced characters. Then the scene switches to you (the listener) receiving a beauty treatment by the newly introduced character.

All of the characters are rather quirky. Save for Kagami pherhaps, who acts as the single sane character. Izumino Sei (CV: Sugita Tomokazu) is silent and my-pace, Sakura Naiki (CV: Okamoto Nobuhiko) has an obsession with cleanness, and Sendou Fumiya (CV: Takahashi Hiroki) is probably best described as a lovable narcissist. The final character is not a esthetician, but the shops mascot and extra comedy relief parrot Noel (CV: Hatano Wataru).

Thanks to these quirks the day to day conversations between these characters if funny to listen to. The main attraction of the series however are the beauty treatments. This is where the Dummy Head Microphone (that can make it sound like the characters are actually talking in your ear) is used. Of course it's a bit weird to imagine you are getting a massage when you only hear someone talk, but it is relaxing none the less.

There is something of a plot that spans the entire series going on in the background, but it is neglectable. The plot is not the main focus anyway, the treatments are. With a relaxing piano tune playing in the background it really feels like the atmosphere in a beauty salon. The only drawback to this relaxing atmosphere is that the next scene tends to come as a wake-up call, especially if the characters suddenly start talking rather lively.


Conclusion:
The conversation between the characters make this a lot of fun to listen too, which is why I think that it's a shame that they don't return in the following entries to the series (except for Kagami). Having a voice only beauty treatment feels a little strange, but it is fun to listen to.


Speaking of 'voice only beauty treatment' I think I saw a make-up
hypnosis not too long ago...