Hiatus is over!

I stay away for a month and blogger changes it's interface... It is now all stylish and very confusing xD

Prepare for one LONG news post. It is not going to be everything that I missed in this month, only the most important bits, but even that is going to be one loooooong list. So one mixed plate of old and new News, coming right up!!



Shuukan Soine:

a special volume, but essentially vol.13 of the Shuukan Soine series will be released on 2012.05.25 and will be voiced by Morikawa Toshiyuki. His character is described as someone "embracing you with a lot of love and a big heart". More then anything though, the character design is gorgeous.


Toriai Kyoudai
the series is continuing, but under the name 'zoku toriai kyoudai' (zoku essentially means 'continued'). There isn't much info on the characters yet, but this time Tachibana Shinnosuke and Terashima Takuma will be fighting over our love. Apparently the atmosphere will be slightly different from the previous two CD's, but in what way is unknown.

Shuukan Soine vol.11 Touma

 週刊添い寝CDシリーズ vol.11 透真

Company: Black Butterfly
Based on: Original
Released: 2011.12.16
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 Touma (CV: Fukuyama Jun), who works in the sales department of a company that publishes picture books. You both work in the same company, and you are both his girlfriend and his direct superior at work.

The CD begins with the two of you celebrating the release of the picture book you have both been working on at his place. You like wine, so Touma bought some. He tries to drink some himself too, but obviously doesn't like it (although he tries to hide that). After you've taken a shower you are watching TV, but Touma convinces you to go to bed.

You tease him a bit and he starts to sulk, so he begins to read the picture book that you have both been working on. At first you read it together, but Touma gets you to read it aloud. And then says he can do it better, so you switch and he reads the story to you.

It is a story about a beautiful princess, she is loved by all, but because she is so precious to everyone she has never been outside of the palace or it's gardens. But she loves the gardens, so she is perfectly happy. One day while she takes her usual walk in the garden she meets one of the gardeners. He has a very scary face, and without thinking runs off. Feeling guilty about what she did, the princess loses her smile. Determined to apologise she searches for the gardener, however she doesn't meet him again. But one day, by chance, she sees him save a little bird. But she is still too scared to say anything. However the gardener brings her a beautiful flower, saying that he raised it just to see her smile. From that day one, the two become closer, and eventually marry and live happily ever after.

Of course Touma likens this story to his own situation. He was aiming for something else, but ended up in the sales department. He didn't like it there, but seeing your smile whenever he completed something made him happy, and that is what he was working for (awww).

I like Touma, he obviously a bit younger than you are, and sort of clumsy with words (and actions) at times, but that makes him adorable. Two of my favourite moments are when he hastily apologises for something and accidentally uses keigo (polite speech) because that is what he uses at work. The other is the wake-up track, where he is talking is talking to you in a sleep dazed manner, then suddenly wakes up and jumps out of bed, but trips of all kinds of things.

Fukuyama starts his announcement of the freetalk in an epic manner, after which he gets sort of excited talking about the mic. And he has a lot of fun doing all kinds of stuff with it. Like moving a chair to talk from above and dropping his stuff in the process, after which he comments that it is weird to be talking downward but to hear his own voice from above. The best part however is where he says "aaaaah, I want to fall in love".


Conclusion:
I didn't expect myself to like this vol this much, but I think Touma is one of my favourites (when did I start liking younger guys?). That might or might not have something to do with the fact that all my fav entries have the same scenario writer... Touma doesn't shower you with love, but through his sometimes blunt manners you can really feel that you are precious to him.

Shuukan Soine vol.10 Yuki

週刊添い寝CDシリーズ vol.10 悠生

Company: Black Butterfly
Based on: Original
Released: 2011.12.09
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 Yuki (CV: Inoue Kazuhiko) a hair and makeup artist. It seems like he has his own salon, and appears on television regularly. The result is that he has become sort of famous, and that fans sometimes approach him while you are on dates.

The CD starts with you coming out of the shower, and apparently your hair is still a little bit wet. Yuki -of course- immediatly complains that sleeping with wet hair will damage it and dries it for you. You also look tired making him wonder whether you have been doing your skincare propely. Luckily he just had some test products delivered, so he puts on some creme for you (ah, a boyfriend who does your makeup)

When you can't sleep Yuki tells you a story from a picture book that he liked since he was a child. It is a story about an ugly girl. Her mother and her sisters are all beautiful, yet she isn't pretty. One day there is a large ball, but the girl doesn't go saying that she still has work to be done. That night, as she is doing her chores, a magician appears. The magician says he will make her beautiful for this night, as a reward for the fact that she always works so hard. And so the girl, now transformed into a beautifull princess, goes to the ball and falls in love with a prince there. However she suddenly leaves, thinking that he could never love her real form. A few days later however, the prince visits her house, saying that her initial on the handkerchief she left led him there. The girl thinks he could never love her, but the prince convinces her he does, and the two marry. And over time, there was no-one in the whole country that would call her ugly, because they were so happy together.

Yuki almost starts another story, as a sort of 'extra' to this one: Once upon a time there was a little boy, who was a bit paler and more fragile than the rest of the children. He never liked himself, until one day his mother read him a picture book about an ugly girl who was transformed into a beautiful princess by magic. And from that day on, it became the boy his dream to turn all the girls in the world beautiful by his magic.

This is of course a story about Yuki himself, how it became his dream to be a hair and makeup artist. He references to his work as 'his magic' a lot, and calls you his princess. He also seems to love doing your hair and makeup - he makes you promise he can do your makeup before you go on your date tomorrow.

Yuki seems sort of mature, but also fun. He teases you a little, but is also serious at the same time. He really feels sorry for not being able to be with you that much, and is worried that he is not able to make you happy. I loved listening to him, but I expect that also has something to do with the fact that he is voiced by Inoue Kazuhiko.

Inoue-san talks about his recording in the freetalk. How his stomach rumbled a few times, or that his knees or ankles made noises while walking around, resulting in retakes. (and that the mic is pretty sensitive, so he took of his shoes for the recording). In his final message as Yuki his voice suddenly drops, taking me completely by surprise.


Conclusion:
For me the main reason why I loved this was Inoue-san his voice, although Yuki does seems like a fun person. Besides, how often do you find a boyfriend who is willing to do your hair and makeup?

Shuukan Soine CD Vol.9 - Takahiro

週刊添い寝CDシリーズ vol.9 隆弘

Company: Black Butterfly
Based on: Original
Released: 2011.12.02
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 Takahiro (CV: Morita Masakazu) who is a Japanese language teacher, and described as always smiling and someone to look up to. He certainly does seem like a very positive person.

The story starts when you get home from work, apparently rather tired. Takahiro made dinner for you, but you have no appetite so he puts it in de fridge so you can eat it later. Since you seem so tired he asks you whether you want to go to bed, but not after you've taken a shower (alone, to avoid any confusion).

Of course once in bed you can't sleep, and when he offers to tell you a story. You get up and bring him a picture book you like, a story about a sakura tree and a little bear. In spring when the tree is in bloom, all the animals gather around it and celebrate it, so the little bear admires the beautiful tree. But the bear notices that after the blossoms are gone, everyone leaves and no-one looks at the tree for the rest of the year. So the bear stays with the tree the entire year, keeping it warm and protecting it. The next year when the tree blooms again everyone celebrates again, and the bear, now admiring the sakura tree for enduring an entire year of loneliness just so that it can show everyone it's blossoms in spring, stays with it for the rest of the year again.

When you've fallen asleep Takahiro says he is relieved that you are sleeping soundly, because he was really worried when he saw your face as you came home. Apparently you react to what he does in your sleep, and he is pretty amused by your cute reactions.

I like the way Takahiro seems like someone you can depend on and let yourself be spoiled. But what I like even more is how you seem like a somewhat childish and cute girlfriend. For once I can honestly say that not only your boyfriend is sweet, but that you yourself seem like a fun person as well.

The freetalk was amusing, Morita-san says he'll talk about the dummy head mic despite assuming that everyone else already talked about it. He shows us exactly how sensitive the mic is by almost whispering and teases you by whispering into your ears. The most amusing part however is when he talks from below. It actually sounds like he is crawling around your feet in the end ヾ(≧∇≦)ﾉ


Conclusion:
I think this is one of my favourite, if not my most favourite CD in this series. It was a lot of fun to listen to, yet still very sweet. But the fact that you yourself seem to be a fun person really made this CD for me.

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.

Weekly News Post

Little Princess Sara
The cast for Momo&Grapes their next Men's Only drama has been announced: Serah (Okamoto Nobuhiko), Ermengard (Suganuma Hisayoshi), Becky (Takeuchi Ken), Ravinia(?)(Kishio Daisuke), Miss Minchin (Miki Shinichirou), Ram Dass (Yoshino Hiroyuki)


Damekare
The first rough sketches for Nanao Kippei (CV: Kaji Yuuki) have been released, finally giving us an idea on how he looks. Personality wise Kippei is a popular model who is always up to date with the latest fashion and everything trendy - except that his just his image and behind the facade he is actually an old-fashioned person who loves old movies and tv drama's.


Yandere Heaven 5
And the official site is up!! No new info yet (animate and stellaworth leaked all of it xD) but some nice visuals. And now the waiting for the voice samples starts :3 Samples are up (thanks Tensionrush for the tip!)

The site also confirms that there are indeed two tokuten drama CD's: buy Yandere Heaven 5 at animate and you will get 'the three of us after that ~Ran side~ and buy it at Stellaworth to get 'the three of us after that ~Wakasa side~. Both CD's tell what happens when you choose neither of them in the main scenario and continue to live together from the viewpoint from one of the two brothers.

Shuukan Soine CD Vol.7 - Sei

週刊添い寝CDシリーズ vol.07 誠

Company: Back Butterfly
Based on: Original
Released: 2011.11.18
Official Site: http://www.blackbutterfly-cd.com/short/



Shuukan Soine is a CD in which your boyfriend cuddles next to you and talks with you until you fall asleep. Vol.7 ~ 12 will be a new batch of weekly releases, and this one starts it off.

Your boyfriend this time is Sei (CV: Kuroda Takaya), the 35 year old owner of a bar. As you can see by the age (and probably also guessed by the cover) Sei is a bit older than most of the boyfriends before this.

The CD starts when Sei just got home late from work, and you are still awake. Sei notices there is something different about you, but you don't want to say what. Because you can't fall asleep he comes with the idea to read you a story, and you get up to grab a picture book that you just so happened to have. The story is about a prince who has lost the ability to love someone.

Afterwards the conversation returns to what was bothering before; that Sei never puts his feelings into words. You get up to get another book you have: "sweet things you want your boyfriend to say to you". Surprisingly though, Sei agrees to read a few of the lines from the book, leading to a pure overkill in sweet lines.

Sei is obviously a bit older than previous boyfriends. You've also been together for quite some years now, which shows in his attitude. I find him strangely cute though. He usually has the situation in hand, but when you pout he is suddenly willing to do all kinds of things for you. I liked the way he feels and acts comfortable around you.

The scene where he reads all those sweet lines is my absolute favourite. When he starts they are noticeably just read aloud from the book, but the more he progresses the more the words become his own. It also makes me giggly, that many sweet lines at once would make everyone shy. But his reading of the picture book is very very good as well, the way he uses his voice there, I simply melt.

There is just one thing I don't like about Sei: He smokes. While sitting beside me on the bed. Noooooo, I hate the smell of cigarettes...

The free talk is hilarious. It begins with Kuroda-san saying that this was his first time working with the Dummy Head mic and that the mic really is just a head "which means there is [no body and thus] no butt, which he loves so much" xD And after a while the story completely shifts to him talking about Saizeriya (サイゼリヤ, a restaurant chain), and one of the dishes on their menu (more specifically, I think he is talking about their mixed grill). And every time he mentions the name of the restaurant or the name of the dish they have to censor him xD 


Conclusion:
I think this was a great way to start this new batch of Shuukan Soine CDs. Sei is easily likeable and the way he handles the 'not putting his love into words' issue is really sweet. I wish he would quit smoking though (god, that makes it sound like I'm talking about an actual person). 

Saizeriya... I want to go and eat there again. Or any famires for that matter...

Shuukan Soine App

Because someone asked me to, here is an explanation of how the Shuukan Soine App for the iPhone works, complete with pictures!

EDIT: By now the entire app has been translated, including subs for all the things the charaters say, so this guide has become obsolete. I'll keep it on the site as a sort of awkward review though (^-^)

When you open the app you are greeted by the above screen. Slide the screen left or right to switch between the characters. I will use Kakeru for the rest of this explanation. Tap anywhere on the screen to go to talk mode:

This is talk mode. Click on the upper left button to make him talk to you. The upper right button takes you to Soine mode, which simply means that the image changes to a close up of Kakeru. The lower right button takes you back to the first screen.

And this is what Soine mode looks like. Like before, the left button is for making Kakeru speak and the right one takes you back to talk mode.

Now, for the rest of the functions. The start screen has 4 buttons. The 1st one on the left takes you to the options for the alarm, which looks like the screen on the right here. The first option is alarm of on/of, with the second one you can set the time.

The third option lets you choose whether you want the voice for the alarm on or off (why would you want to switch that off? xD) and the fourth option lets you choose which voice you want. For the time being both Kakeru and Jin have two options.

The fifth option allows you to set whether the alarm will go into snooze mode, with the sixth option allowing you to choose after how many minutes it should repeat. But like I'll explain in a moment, these options are mostly useless for now. The final option is vibration on or off. I recommend off.

Now, as for why the snooze option is mostly useless: The alarm function doesn't work in sleep mode. Meaning that as soon as your screen switches off it no longer works, meaning that if you want it to work you need to set the setting of your iPhone so that it won't go into sleep mode, which drains you battery like mad. But I suppose it could work that way. Personally I really hope that they will fix this in a future update.

And this is what the wake up screen for the two of them looks like. I faint right after looking at it making the entire alarm option useless because I end up in coma, but hey. I don't own an iPad, but I bet they are deadly on that resolution (*o*)

The second button from the left on the main screen takes you to the 'hitsuji room' where you can buy more voices for the characters. If you buy more voices new sentences will be added to talk and soine mode, as well as new alarm voices.

Personally I'm having problems buying the extra voices (yes, I tried to. Sue me xD). When I try to but them the app says "you need to buy the app first before you can buy extra contents" (=____=) Does anyone else have this problem? It works now.


ps: the reason why the screen says that the extra voices cost 1.59yen is because that is really supposed to euro's but for some reason it shows the yen sign xD

The third option in the main screen takes you to a list of all the sentences you boyfriend has said to you, and you can select them from the list to hear them. So far there are 60 lines for each character. I don't know whether you can get all 60 without buying the extra lines, someone let me know if someone gets more lines without buying the add ons :D


And finally, the fourth option takes you to the animate website, where you can buy the CDs xD




There, I think that was everything? If you have any more questions, feel free to ask!! (^-^)

Weekly News Post

Just because I can, this post is made on 11.11.11 at 11:11 xD



IM Label
is planning something new. This year their 1 coin series will end, however starting next year they will start with "IM crcl"(pronounciation: IM kurakura). crcl is short for 'craft x clown', but what that is supposed to mean...




Amemakura
not really news, but I have some more info on vol.2 of Amemakura. I said you and your boyfriend were on vacation on an island when the rain comes pouring down (see previous news post for more info), but more specifically you are visiting 'Gunkanjima'. This is an island about 15km from Nagasaki that used to be a coal mine, but is now more like a ghost town. It is a touristic attraction nowadays and you can visit in on a tour (walking around by yourself isn't allowed for safety reasons).

Actually called Hashima, the island it's nickname 'gunkanjima' comes from the fact that it looks like a battleship. Or so the text that I had to translate in class today told me. The world is a small place sometimes...


Honeymoon vol.2

More info on Honeymoon vol.2! To begin with, the lovely cover to the right. The official site describes Kousaka Otoya (CV Toriumi Kousuke) as "sexy and ore-sama type" but Toriumi-san describes him as "cool". Hmmm. He also mention that he had a very hard time finding a balance between acting cool and sweet towards 'his girlfriend' (meaning you, the listener) feeling that he couldn't act too cool, but that he should get too sweet either.


From the rest of the cast interview there are two more bits of interesting info: apparently Kousaka doesn't give the impression to be very nice to others, but is very sweet to his girlfriend/fiancée/you, and there is a scene in which you almost drown, eep!

Weekly News Post

As you can see we've got a new, winter themed, layout! Maybe it is a little early to start with the snow crystals, but I like it xD  And now on to the rest of the news!!



Shuukan Soine
The cover image and voice sample for vol.11 (CV: Fukuyama Jun) has been uploaded on the official site, so go and listen if your curious! (note: depending on your connection the voice sample may take a while to load).

And the details page for vol. 12 (CV: Midorikawa Hikaru) is finally open too and has the cover illustration as well. And I have to say, it looks gorgeous! -EDIT- the preview voice has been uploaded as well. And I...I...I think I'm going to faint. Don't fade out with kissing sounds and rustling of the sheets!!! It makes me lose to much blood...!


Oujisama (warai) series
A new Oujisama (warai) drama CD is in the works!! 王子様（笑）シリーズ　ドラマＣＤ if　～王子様（笑）学園～ (Oujisama (warai) series drama CD if ~oujisama (warai) Gakuen~ will be released during the winter Comiｋet (2011.12.29).

Not much info is available yet, but from the title we can guess that this is going to be a "what if all the princes would be students at the same school" type of story. Acｃording to the official site all 9 princes + the servant (Takemoto Eiji) will be featured on the CD. I predict chaos! :D

Looking back at the webcomic, I now notice this was actually foreshadowed... there are 2 webcomics named oujisama (warai) gakuen (^-^;;)

Weekly News Post

Ha! Posting commences even before November 1st!! Mostly because, well, since I've been on Hiatus for a little I've been missing out on news posts, and while there might be some old news in here,  all of it is worth mentioning  and this news post was getting so long, that I feared it would become endless if I waited another week with posting it. So without further ado: this weeks news post!!


Shuukan Soine
Almost all of the new volumes have their detailed description and preview tracks up on the official site. Most of the previews are either cute or induce nosebleeds (or both), so if you haven't listened yet I highly suggest you do!


Oujisama (warai) series
Now that the fifth story has been released, it is time for another variety drama! And that means the second vacation CD, this time with Alladin (CV: Miyano Mamoru), the Emperor (CV: Okiayu Kryoutarou), Genji (CV: Yoshino Hiroyuki), the Frog Prince (CV:Sugita Tomokazu) and of course Takemoto Eiji as their servant. The CD will be released in January, so the theme will be "winter".


Momogre
While no detailed pages are up yet, a small icon on Momogre their website states two new releases for next year. On 2012.0.26 放課後はミステリーとともに (Houkago ha Mystery to tomo ni, Mysteries after schooltime) which is originally a novel by Higashigawa Tokuya will be released (most likely under their horror and suspence label, it is a detective story after all). And on 2012.02.23 小公女セーラ (Princess Serah) which is the Japanese name for the novel A Little Princess written by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

The first story I know nothing about except the fact that it is about a high school detective club, but the second story I do know. I've never read the novel, but I have seen one of the films based on it (the 1995 one, to be exact) so I know the story a little bit. It will be released as part of their Men's Only series, so I'm curious about who is going to play little Serah, as well as who is going to play the evil headmistress  Miss Minchin.

Weekly News Post

After missing a news post we are back this week! And with a some very good news too! Starting with:


Shuukan Soine vol.7~ 12
Yes you read that right!! Shuukan Soine will be continued, and with another 6 vol no less!! Starting on 2011.11.18 (they should have chosen a week earlier!!) one CD will be released every week for 6 weeks. And to make this news even better, the seiyuu are also already known, on order they are:

a sweet but somewhat thickheaded boyfriend (Kurota Takaya), a timid younger boyfriend that loves you with whole his heart (Okamoto Nobuhiko), a boyfriend that is always smiling and like an older brother (Morita Masakazu), a cheerful and fun, generous boyfriend (Inoue Kazuhiko), a somewhat cold boyfriend, who still lets you glimpse his respect and love (Fukuyama Jun), and a serious boyfriend with a strong sense of justice (Midorikawa Hikaru).

I'm sure that many of us are squealing like mad over vol.10. Inoue Kazuhiko doing a Shuukan Soine CD... that will end with a lot of nose bleeding. Too bad for me there is still no Sakurai, but this is a beautiful list of seiyuu and a lot of releases to look forward to :3


Oujisama warai

more details about the upcoming little mermaid spinoff in the oujisama warai series. The princes from Cinderella, Snow White, and Genji are visiting a neighboring country for the wedding of a relative. However the prince that is the groom doesn't feel like marrying because he wanted to have a "destined love like in movies" and resents his political marriage. And along comes a princess who not only claims to be engaged to the prince, but also claims to be a mermaid...?!

The official site also updated with a beautiful summer themed banner at the top, and the official art for the prince of the little mermaid, posted to the right here.


Hougen Renai
a recent blog post stated that they were planning "various things" and one of those has been announced: two radio CDs are to be released on 2011.09.29 and 2011.10.27.

I'm not entirely sure what the contents of the CDs will be, but each CD has three prefectures: the first one has Aichi, Kouichi, and Niigata prefecture, while the second one has Nagano, Fukushima, and Hiroshima prefecture. If you buy both CDs you can also get a bonus CD which has the until now radio-only story for Hiroshima prefecture.

Shuukan Soine CD Vol.6 - Kazuya

 週刊添い寝CDvol.06和也

Company: Black Butterfly
Based on: Original
Released: 2011.07.01
Official Site: http://www.blackbutterfly-cd.com/short/


Shuukan Soine is a CD in which your boyfriend cuddles next to you in bed and talks with you  until you fall asleep. After the first 4 original entries to the series two more followed, and this is the last one (for now).

The first track starts with Kazuya (CV: Toriumi Kousuke) answering a work related phone call. When he comes back to bed (why on earth does someone call that late?!) you pretend to be asleep. He isn't fooled though and eventually manages to make you give up the act. You talk a bit about his shop (he just became shop manager in a clothing store) and semi-making plans for a date.

Like in every other Shuukan Soine, Kazuya reads a story from a picture book for you. This time the story is about a rose made out of glass, that loves all the admiration it gets. Someday someone accidentally breaks it, and just as they are about to throw it away someone says she'll take the rose home and picks up the pieces. At this point you've fallen sleep so he stops reading the story, making me curious to how it ends. (especially because he says he "wants you to sleep with a happy feeling, so he'll stop reading", meaning that the story actually has a sad end?)

Kazuya is maybe one of the most mature boyfriends in this series. Jin (from vol.2) is also more mature, but he teases you much more. To me, Kazuya was definitely the sweetest one. Someone find me a boyfriend like this please ♥

In the freetalk Toriumi-san pretty much to the questions that he has been given (the same ones everyone had). What is interesting though, is that he talks a bit about the dummy head microphone a bit. Apparently it has been around for years and years, but recently it is becoming popular for these kind of works. That, and that the dummy head is shaped like a man, so he hopes that they will make a female looking one~


Conclusion:
This was a very nice final entry to the series. I'm kind of sad that it ends here, so I hope that they will continue again. Although, it might turn into more of the same, hmmm. Anyway, Kazuya is a very sweet boyfriend. He doesn't really have any quirks, but is the kind that give you a sort of simple happiness.

Weekly News Post

Good morning, it is 8:00am, this is the morning news.


And we've already reached July! That means all reviews from last month have been added to the review page. I didn't manage to keep to the 1 review a day schedule but I've been trying! And this month I'll just try a little harder to actually make it.

There is also a new blog page: the glossary. Basically a huge list of drama CD related words and their explanation, so that you don't have to be confused when I start using exotic words. An everlasting work in progress, probably. There is another new page planned, but that remains a little secret for now.



Shuukan Soine
I already had my laugh when the first Shuukan Soine pillow covers went on sale, but vol.5 and 6 have their own covers, and pre-orders have opened. Pre-orders end on the 31st of July. You can only order them if you live in Japan though.

Momogre
It looks like momogre (Momo & Grapes Company) is on a nice monthly schedule with releasing more drama CD's based on famous literary works. The next one is called 十五少年漂流記～二年間の夏休み～ (Juugo shounen hyouryuuki ~ninenkan no natsuyasumi~ , the drifting chronicles of 15 boys ~a two year summer vacation~) and will be released 2011.07.28 and is an adaption of Jules Verne his book "Two Years' Vacation"

Another release is set for august:  ドラキュラ～ふたりの吸血鬼～ (dorkyura ~futari no kyuuketsuki~, Dracula ~two vampires~). The story summary states that "Alexander and van Helsing are chasing Count Dracula,  who is chasing after a girl named Mina because she looks exactly like his long dead beloved. While the Count his right hand Mikael (Michael?) does his best to obstruct their path, Alexander and van Helsing manage to track down the Count...

Shuukan Soine CD Vol. 5 - Reo

 

週刊添い寝CD Vol.5 玲央 

Company: Black Butterfly
Based on: Original
Released: 2011.06.24
Official Site: http://www.blackbutterfly-cd.com/


Shuukan Soine is a CD in which your boyfriend cuddles next to you in bed and talks with you  until you fall asleep. After the first 4 original entries to the series this is vol.5. And how we've waited for a continuation! I'm not really a fan of Yoshino Hiroyuki who voiced this volume BUT shuukan soine continues so all is good!

The CD starts with you doing something in the kitchen, and Reo complains that you should just come to bed. Reo works as a model and it has been a while since you've seen each other, so he suddenly called you in the middle of the night asking you to come over.

Eventually you get him to read a picture book that he brought back from a photo shoot.  The story this time is about the wind and a cloud. Everyone is afraid of the wind because it blows things away and destroys stuff. One day the wind tries to rip a cloud a part, but the cloud simply floats away and returns. After a while the cloud returns and tells the wind that it could use its power to help people, and from then one the wind helps people and is loved by all.

Of course Reo likes this story to the relation between the two of you, although he only tells you this after you've fallen asleep. Reo is a rather selfish but sweet, teasing you all the time.Only after you've fallen asleep you get to hear how sweet though.

As always there is a wake-up track again, however I was slowly falling asleep by that time so I didn't exactly hear all of it. And sadly I don't like Yoshino-san enough to re-listen it just so that I can review it for you. Many apologies.

I did, however, wake up  again at the free-talk, which was fun. Yoshino shows us just how well the Dummy Head records things, he sways around while talking and walks away from the microphone to show you that you can hear difference in distance as well. He even walks all the way to the door of the studio and opens is (you can actually hear the staff laughing). The best part however is that he says that he has to talk in a subdued voice when talking very close to the microphone, because it would sound awfull IF HE TALKED VERY LOUDLY (he screams that into your ear, you have been warned).


Conclusion:
Like I said, I'm not that much of a Yoshino fan, and for a CD that is done by a single voice actor that is a major inconvenience. But my being biased aside, it was a fun story to listen to and I'm just happy that Black Butterfly made a continuation to the series.

Weekly News Post

To prevent myself from spamming everybody with tiny news updates, I've decided to make a weekly news update every Friday. Downside to this is that it might take a little longer bring the news, but on the other hand it is all conveniently in one post, I don't have to spam multiple updates a day, and you can start the weekend with a whole bunch of good news.


Blog updates and changes
Little changes here and there, some new banners have been added in the banner madness, slight changes to the about page, and a switch back to post titles in romaji. I figured that it makes no sense to post them in kanji, as all my reviews are in English. The Kanji titles are still included in the posts however, so with the search function you can still search for them. I am also trying to find a better way of listing all of the tags, because it is becoming one looooong list by now.

I've also enabled the mobile version for this blog, meaning that when you open it on a mobile device a more compact and lighter version will open. It is still far from perfect (the background is a default one, for one thing) but it makes reading posts on the go a lot easier.


Kannou Mukashi Banashi Portable

The site for Kannou Portable has officially opened, giving us a bit more information on how this series is being tuned into a game. According to the site the game will include 7 stories from Kannou Mukashi Banashi. In each one the listener will take the role of the heroine. Depending on the choices you make during each story it is possible to obtain a completely different ending than the original story. Of course the dummy head mike will be used in the game as well.

Inoue Kazuhiko acts as our guide as always, and 6 of the stories included have also been announced, one from each volume of the first series of the drama CD. In order they are: Issun Boushi, The Little Mermaid, Banchou Sarayashiki, Hansel and Gretel, Leda and the Swan, and Hosokawa Tadaoka. The original Seiyuu returns for each story. However there is no info on whether the 7th story is done by Inoue Kazuhiko, or what it will be. (for reference, he originally voiced "Tsuru no Ongaeshi"in the first Kannou Mukashi Banashi, but as Issun Boushi is already included I expect he will be voicing something different).

This line-up means that both Sakurai Takahiro and Hirakawa Daisuke (my favorite voice actors) will be in this (ﾟ∇ﾟ☆). Despite me being slightly disappointed with Sakurai his story last time, I am looking forward to this. And considering the damage done by Hirakawa-san in the original drama, I'm expecting a death by nosebleed.

News: 週刊添い寝 to be continued.

Yes you read that right, Shuukan Soine will be continued.

Black Butterfly announced today on their twitter acount and official blog that the series will be continued. No detailed information yet, but the home page will be updated 'with the details in the near future'.

The official site has also updated with a sneak peak image of sorts (if you visit the site often you might need to refresh before it loads the correct image).

EDIT: Black Butterfly hasn't officially announced who the seiyuu are, but Messesanoh (a website for anything and everything otome) gives us more details. It looks like the seiyuu are Yoshino Hiroyuki for vol.5 and Toriumi Kousuke for vol.6. Messesanoh list the CDs for a 2011.06.24 and 2011.07.01 release.

Many thanks to Sweet_Y from the Hibiki forums for finding this.

週刊添い寝CDシリーズ vol.4 壮介

Shuukan Soine CD Vol.4 Sousuke

A CD in which your boyfriend cuddles next to you in bed and talks with you until you fall asleep. The fourth and last volume in the series, this one is voiced by Terashima Takuma.

I don't know whether 'soine' would be the right term for this CD. As you might have predicted by the cover and the seiyuu for this one, Sousuke is your typical genki character. The CD also starts with him not wanting to go to bed at all, and I have to say his genki-ness is addictive. It only made me feel more awake than wanting to fall asleep xD

Sousuke is really cute. Genki brats, kids, guys aren't really my type, but I have to admit that he sounds like someone who is a lot of fun to be around. He has a cute way of teasing you, and reacts even cuter when you tease him back. The story he tells was very cute as well, although it had some very illogical moments (I guess that are fairy tales for you xD)
When you've fallen asleep his real kindness show, I really loved the part where he talks on his own. Although it still kept me awake more then wanting to fall asleep. The wake up track is just like I imagined; Sousuke doesn't let you get up. (even though you were already up - he simply pulls you back into bed).

Apparently this was the first time Terashima-san did a recording with dummy head mic. Like everyone he is entertaining himself with trying different positions and listening to the effect. One of his last comments is actually sort of rude (he also says so himself xD) but it was intended in a cute way so no harm done xD. He also however explained a bit about how the recording works which is interesting.

Because Sousuke is a genki(ish) character he started out with a bit of a disadvantage, but he managed to turn the situation around. He'll never be my favorite but I had a lot of fun listening to this CD. I know a lot of you have a soft spot for genki characters, so I know you'll have a lot of fun with this =)

週刊添い寝CDシリーズ vol.3 智哉

Shuukan Soine CD Vol.3 Tomoya

Shuukan Soine is a CD in which your boyfriend cuddles next to you in bed and talks with you  until you fall asleep. My first thought on this one; the cover image and content don't match. From the cover I expected a somewhat sleepy, my-pace character. However Tomoya was the most perky of the three yet.

Tomoya is reading a book when you wake up from a bad dream and cling to him. After some teasing he tells you about the story. While probably still part of the same series as the first two, the story is now about a cat and the sea. The cat one day sees the sea and falls in love with it, but due to a misunderstandin thinks that the sea doesn't like him. When the cat and sea finally talk with each other it turns out they both were afraid that they were disliked by the other.

Tomoya links this story to himself, by saying that he doesn't like to say 'I love you' too much, because it would lose it's meaning. However because you feel insecure due to his not saying anything he eventually does say it. Instead of saying it multiple times he 'expresses his love in kisses'.

Tomoya teases you just like Jin did, the difference is that Tomoya sounds and acts a bit more childish. However completely opposite to Jin it seems like he doesn't like to say exactly what he means (Jin was much more straight forward). The wake-up track is very cute, the way he laughs/giggles when you tickle him is adorable.

The first press once again comes with a free talk track. As always it is brilliant to listen to. To begin with, Tachibana-san his voice in the cast comment is much higher that in the rest of the recording xD And it makes you dizzy (he keeps walking around in circles). Fan service 100% when he is asked which position he likes best. (He thinks the listeners should decide that, and talks in both your ears).

I somewhat expected a sleepy character, and after listening I think that I would have liked that. But Tomoya is still a nice boyfriend. If you like your boyfriend a (tiny) bit more on the genki side, he is the one for you.

週刊添い寝CDシリーズ vol.2 仁

Shuukan Soine Vol.2 Jin

Shuukan Soine is a CD in which your boyfriend cuddles next to you in bed and talks with you until you fall asleep.  This is the second CD in the Soine series, this time featuring Yasumoto Hiroki. Compared to Hirakawa-san he has a much much much lower voice, some people might like this better, some won't, and I'm just a hopeless Hirakawa fangirl so I'm biased from the start. Character-wise Jin is described as an 'Oresama type that likes to tease'.

This time Jin was already sleeping while you are still awake. Jin wakes up and notices you are still awake, so he starts talking with you so that you will fall asleep. While Kakeru is very sweet Jin like to tease you, but only a little and his teasing always ends in heartwarming comments. Surprisingly, it is Jin who stops where Kakeru 'doesn't let you sleep'.

Where Kakeru told a story about the Sun and the Moon last time, Jin talks about the Moon and the Butterfly this time. While the story is a bit sad, he finds a semi-happy meaning in it. For some reason the story this time seems to be from a picture book, while I had the idea that they were taking about normal books last time. The last two tracks are once again when you've fallen asleep and the next morning. Jin is not really a morning person, so you'll be the one waking him up.

Luckily the cast comment is somewhat more subdued this time, so it is less of a wake-up call than last time. Yasumoto-san starts his comment with "konban wa" because he thinks it is more appropriate, continuing with "maybe even good morning" xD. Like Hirakawa-san he's having a lot of fun with testing out how everything sounds. He also mentions he was talking while he was looking at the eyes of the Dummy xD When he has to do a message from Jin he mentions that there were lines that he want to use some time, and that maybe around 70% (!) were things that he could/would actually say, and that he didn't really have to act for this part. (Whoever sleeps next to him is lucky girl)

Jin is a bit more self-confident, and I liked how he teases you. Unlike last time I didn't fall asleep while listening, every time I started to feel sleepy he made another comment that made me go doki*doki so I just kept listening. (Not that Hirakawa-san didn't made me go doki*doki -on the contrary- but I was much more at ease with his voice, hence the falling asleep). As biased as I am, I have to admit that I liked this one better than the first, simply because I like Jin his personality.