Oujisama (warai) ~Oujisama to Niwa no Himegimi~

There won't be a newspost for last week because I simply can't find the time to write it, and I'm already 3 days late anyway, sorry about that. Meanwhile, I'm catching up on some older releases that still need to be reviewed.

王子様（笑）シリーズ　ドラマＣＤ ～王子様と二羽の姫君～

Company: Frontierworks

Based on: Fairytale

Released: 2012.04.19

Official Site: http://www.fwinc.co.jp/princewww

The 'Oujisama (warai)' series re-imagines various well know fairy tales. The stories are told from the perspective of the prince and in a rather hilarious way. This time it is the story from the Swam Lake (the ballet, yes that one) that gets a re-make.

 We first hear the prince from the swan lake (henceforth Hakuchou, CV: Yusa Kouji) vow his eternal love to an unknown princess, after that we switch to Sleeping Beauty (CV: Onosaka Masaya), the Emperor (CV: Okiayu Ryoutarou), and Rapunzel (CV: Ishida Akira) being summoned to a neighbouring country. None of them know why they are called, and the Emperor at first only complains about the situation. Turns out that Hakuchou his younger brother (henceforth: Otouto, CV: Takemoto Eiji) invited them because he needs their help with a problem.

ps: the main prince does have a name (Siegfried) but at the end Rapunzel declares he will be ‘Hakuchou’ (swan) from now on, so I’m using that name.

It just so happens that the princess Hakuchou claims is his ‘true love’ is not entirely human: she turns into a swan during the day. Otouto heard that the other princes have some experience in dealing with weird things and hopes that they can help him, none of them thinks that this is a problem at all, as long as they love each other.

Complications arise however, when two identical princesses show up soon after. To determine which one of them is the ‘real’ princess, Hakuchou decides to hold a contest. With quizzes, and weird tasks like limbo dancing. And this, as it turns out, has happened numerou times before. Hakuchou keeps getting engaged, and then holds a contest like this to test her love. Eventually Otouto can’t take it anymore, and drags one of the two princesses away (and promptly falls in love with her)...

Despite the title, I feel like the other princes feature more than the titular Hakuchou. The characters also comment on this in the zadankai track. Hakuchou is a pretty weak and character (both in physique and personality wise) so it is no wonder he is overshadowed by the other -more colourful- characters. I do think that he is an interesting addition to the mix though, as his actions give the rest the opportunity to create hilarious conversations.

As always, we have the Emperor lamenting the loss of his Kaguya-hime, and proclaiming that she is not an alien, Ibara explaining everything and everyone in RPG terms, and Rapunzel proclaiming that love and family are the most important things in the world. The princes from the other CD’s are referenced at different points in the story. Not to mention that at several points the fourth wall is smashed to pieces when various characters blatantly state that this is a drama CD series (with the most brilliant one being Rapunzel stating that this is the first time that he and the Emperor meet in ‘a proper drama CD’).

The zadankai track almost removes the fourth wall completely. In the beginning Otouto is incredibly happy about the fact that he is allowed to participate in the zadankai (because Takemoto-san always voices side characters he was never featured, except for the one time as Genie, when Aladdin orders him to get more drinks). After that however they switch to discussing how long the series will continue, whether there will be more reading CD’s and so on.

In the (long) freetalk everyone talks a bit about the recording, and the topic “something you can’t decide [on]”. It is pretty hilarious how almost everyone says they have problems deciding what to eat, or which restaurant to enter when they are with others. (Takemoto-san mentions not being able to choose whether he likes dogs or cats more, and Onosaka-san says he often can’t decide between two things while shopping and then ends up buying both). The best part was Onosaka-san complaining about having to record on his own again. His solution is that Takemoto-san should just be in every recording -because he has lots of free time anyway- so that the interaction with the other characters sounds better.

Conclusion:
The titular prince was a bit overshadowed by the rest of the characters, but the series is as good and funny as always so it doesn’t really matter. I loved that Takemoto-san has a more proactive role in this CD, instead of just being ‘the servant’ (although I missed the running joke where people mistake him for different roles).

Oujisama (warai) Variety Drama 2nd Season.

After all the Yandere, it is time for something light hearted. And what better than my favourite princes?

王子様(笑)シリーズ バラエティドラマCD 2nd Season

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

Oujisama (warai) re-tells the story from several well known fairy tales from the perspective of the prince. This time however the princes go on a vacation, or at least that was the plan. The princes in this CD are Aladdin (CV: Miyano Mamoru), Genji (CV: Yoshino Hiroyuki), The Emperor (from Taketori Monogatari, CV: Okiayu Ryoutarou), and the Frog Prince (henceforth know as Kaeru, CV: Sugita Tomokazu). Of course Takemoto Eiji is also present, as every other role.

The plan was for all of the princes to go on a winter holiday, but all of them find it much to cold to do anything, so eventually all of them (except for the emperor) end up doing nothing while sitting under a kotatsu. While three of the princes are spending their time relaxing, the Emperor is talking with the Narrator (CV: Takemoto Eiji, of course) about what they could do.

The narrator suggests doing something with Christmas, however none of the princes know anything about Christmas, resulting in everyone giving their own hilarious misunderstood version of Christmas, but in the end nothing much happens.

Eventually, they do find something to do: Yaminabe.
Yaminabe is a sort of nabe where everyone puts something in the dish, but you don't show the others what it is. The joke is that everyone usually brings unusual foodstuffs, and that you have to eat whatever you get. This can get pretty disgusting (trust me).

The princes have two rounds in which each of them have to eat something. Some of these are pretty hilarious, such as Genji putting frog legs, or the Emperor putting konyaku (which really does taste like nothing, which is exactly why it tastes so weird) in the mix.

Afterwards all of them end up looking through all kinds of fairytale books in order too find a type of magic that can bring Kaguya-hime back from the moon (cue the Emperor saying that Kaguya-hime is not an alien countless times). Of course all of the fairytales they talk about are in some way misunderstood or simplified far too much. Eventually they talk about going to the Wizard of Oz.

During all of this, Genji manages to annoy the rest so much that they want to teach him a lesson. And thus they take him to a spring where a fairy appears (the say that is a goddes to Genji, but it turns out to be a guy). If you drop something into the spring, the fairy asks you what you dropped and offers you something better. If you refuse that and say what you actually dropped you receive one of the better items.

And so, they throw Genji into the spring, and receive a Genji with better manners in return (the way Genji his personality is described is briliant, I don't think I've ever heard so many negative character traits together). However it soon turns out that this new Genji isn't exactly what they hoped for either...

Between the main story are short tracks depicting how each prince spends their everyday life. Of course all of them spends their days in rather strange ways.

Especially the first part is a 100% winter story. Relaxing under a kotatsu which is so comfortable you don't ever want to get out of it, and eating nabe sounds like 100% winter in Japan to me. The atmosphere is also one of being lazy and doing absolutely nothing. The kind of thing that makes me want to huddle in a blanket as well. Although the Yaminabe part is pretty hilarious, their reactions to the food are just too much fun.

Personally, the part where they discuss all of the fairytales was ok, but not that special to me. But the entire thing with Genji getting a different personality was pure gold. I don't remember where I know the whole fairy in a spring thing from though (except for maybe the Legend of Zelda). Genji his new personality is in a way just as annoying as his old one.

I'm still not very used to Kaeru being there, but his conviction that his princess is just a tsundere whenever she refuses his romantic advances is hilarious. He actually calls it "play", causing Genji to remark that things like that are dangerous when they become habit, and Aladdin to wonder what kind of experiences Genji has.

In the cast talk everyone talks about how they spend their winter. Which is mostly talk about wintersport. Miyano-san gets very excited in his explanations, and apparently makes some incredibly funny faces while doing so.


Conclusion:
While I didn't laugh as much as with other CD's in the series, I still had a lot of fun listening to this. Somehow I just like the other princes (especially Cinderella and Snow White) a lot more, although I do love Aladdin.

Mekakushi no Kuni 目隠しの国

目隠しの国

Company: Marine Entertainment
Based on: Manga
Released: 2001.07.25

Mekakushi no Kuni is based on the shoujo manga series of the same name. Ootsuka Kanade can see people their future when she touches them. If she sees something bad will happen to them she can't help but try to save these people, even when they often think she is a strange girl. At the beginning of the story she meets Naito Arou, who can see people their past when he touches them.

While Kanade (CV: Shiina Hekiru) wants to try and save people who's unfortunate future she has seen, Arou (CV: Seki Tomokazu) thinks she should leave them alone because they won't understand what she is trying to do anyway. However Kanade her positive attitude start to make Arou think otherwise.

And then the two of them meet Namiki Masahiro (CV: Ishida Akira) who can also see the future. However he doesn't seem to care about what happens to them. Through an adventure saving a girl from school Namiki eventually falls in love with Kanade and he softens up a bit.

The drama CD covers most of the first vol of the manga, though not all of it. A shortter comical story called 'Bistro Arou' is also included, in which Kanade comes to eat at Arou his place, and Namiki is acting as a waiter, but eventually all of them end up cooking together.

And finally there are 11 tracks with short messages from the characters for different situations (when you've had a fight with your lover, when you are trying your best at studying, in case you are forgetful , etc). The messages are really cute, except maybe for those by Namiki who says some comical things.

The story is really cute. Kanade her positive mindset and willingness to help people are sort of heartwarming. Despite the concept of Kanade/Arou/Namiki 'seeing' things being quite hard to put into just sounds, they've managed to do so pretty successfully with the use of bgm.

The way Kanade likens her ability to a blindfold is also pretty interesting. She sees everyone in the world as being blindfolded, we don't know where people come from or where they are going (hence the title "the Land of the Blindfolded). But when she bumps into people her own blindfold loosens a bit, and she can see a glimpse of where someone is going.


Conclusion:
Whether you know the manga or not, this is a very cute story. You can understand everything perfectly without knowing the manga, and if you feel like diving into the story a bit more you can always read the manga afterwards.

Oujisama (warai) series vol.04 ~Oujisama ha Kaeru~

I missed a post yesterday *is shot by Cinderella* Sorry about that. But without further delay:

王子様 (笑)シリーズ  ドラマCD 第4巻 ～王子様はカエル〜

Company: Frontierworks
Based on: Fairytale
Released: 2011.03.24
Official Site: http://www.fwinc.co.jp/princewww

The 'Oujisama (warai)' series re-imagines various well know fairy tales. The stories are told from the perspective of the prince and in a rather hilarious way. This time, the story of 'The Frog Prince' is re-imagined, although there are a few things surprisingly close to the original story,


(For those unfamiliar with the series "Cinderella" and "Rapunzel" refer to the princes from those stories)

The story begins when Cinderella (CV: Suzumura Kenichi), Rapunzel (CV: Ishida Akira) and Aladdin (CV: Miyano Mamoru) meet at some sort of social event. Rapunzel mentions Cinderella his real name (prince Charming) and nearly gets shot. Afterwards Aladdin almost suffers the same fate. The three of them quarrel a bit over their new lifestyle now they are married, when suddenly a frog (CV: Sugita Tomokazu) joins in on the conversation.

It turns out that Cinderella once borrowed something from the frog (who is the prince of the frog kingdom) and got it dirty, so now the frog wants Cinderella to make it up to him by fixing a date with a certain princess who is sitting near the fountain. Everybody keeps switching sides in helping or not helping the frog, most notably Aladdin who switches sides depending on where he expects to gain the most profit.

Of course, the Frog eventually turns into a human (which grosses him out, leading to a funny scene where he is grossed out by his perfect appearance), but I was surprised that this happens not because of a kiss (like in the modern fairytale) but because he was thrown against the wall by the princess (like in the original)

The zadankai (where all the characters gather for a drink and chat away) this time mostly revolves around whether the frog (who they keep referring to as 'Kaeru' (Japanese for frog) has gotten used to being a human yet. He turns back into a frog for a while, and to 'prevent confusion because this is a drama CD' they make him say "geko" after every sentence when he is a frog. The other hilarious thing is that Kaeru still doesn't know 'how human babies are made'. The zadankai fades out while Rapunzel tries to explain this in a cute way.

A special mention should probably be made for Takemoto-san, who voices 3(!) roles in this drama: Cinderella's younger brother, The servant of the princess, and the Genie. Not to mention he did his recording alone. I must say he did a really good job of keeping these roles completely different. I also like how they made one character mistake him for another, just so that he could state who he is at moment. Several times in the drama. It was a good way to avoid confusion.

The cast talk is ok I guess. They all need to talk about what their favourite animal is, but Sugita-san is busier doing impressions of his grandfather. While Suzumura-san and Ishida-san simply talk about cat's or dogs, Miyano talks about elephants...


Conclusion:
Maybe I should have listened to this before listening to vol.5, but it was a lot less hilarious. It is still however a fun drama CD (partly because I love Cinderella, and starting from this CD Aladdin as well). But now that I've listened to the entire series, bring on the next two!!!

Oujisama (warai) Yomikatari CD Vol.2

王子様（笑）シリーズ 読み語りCD ～君に捧ぐ物語～ 第2集

Company: Frontierworks
Based on: Fairy tales
Released: 2011.01.26
Official Site: http://www.fwinc.co.jp/princewww/


The original 2 entries to the Oujisama (warai) series told re-imagined version of a few well known fairy tales. The yomikatari CDs are a sort of spin-off CDs in which the princes from the main series read their own fairytale to you, but not without making side remarks.

This is paired with the second CD and has the princes from that CD read their own story, while the other two keep interupting and commenting on the story.

First up is Aladdin (CV: Miyano Mamoru) who starts by trying to read out the entire story of 1001 nights (the story of Aladdin is actually one of the stories told by Scheherazade) but the other two stop him and get him to tell only his own story. I have to admit, I only know the Disney version, so this had some surprises for me as well.

Next up is the Emperor from Taketori Monogatari, who reads his own story. He gets through the story fairly ok, but becomes so heartbroken by the end that he drowns his sorrows and ends up completely drunk. Aladdin also tends to remark on the fact that "your country is very strange at times". (Both the Emperor and Genji are from Japan, and the cultural differences between them and Aladdin were already used for humour in the main series).

Finally we have Genji (CV: Yoshino Hiroyuki), who intends to read all 54 chapters of the story, but the (now completely drunk) Emperor tells him to tell an abridged version. Aladdin is mostly saying that Japanese culture is still strange, and the Emperor his drunk remarks are brilliant too. The best thing however, was Genji comparing all of the female characters from his story with anime archetypes like tsundere and yandere, ending with Murasaki as a lolicon xD

Come to think of it, this is the second time the Emperor gets drunk (he also did that in the zadankai of the vol.2) but he wasn't half as drunk that time as he is now xD That the Genie (CV: Takemoto Eiji) also made an appearance was a nice surprise, even though he mostly just feeds the emperor more alcohol.

The seiyuu all make a separate cast comment, making me wonder whether they actually recorded this all separately. If they did they did a really good job on making it sounds natural, at least to me it sounds as if they were all together.


Conclusion:
Just like the first yomikatari CD, this is only funny to listen to if you know the original CD (or otherwise you'll miss out on a lot of in-jokes). But just like the first on it is pretty short (only 30min) so if you have heard the first one it is perfect as a snack. On the other hand, you can also argue that that makes it relatively expensive. I really do hope that they will make a third CD like this now that we have 9 princes.

Romeo and Juliet

 ロミオとジュリエット

Company: Momo&Grapes
Based on: Romeo and Julliet
Released: 2010.03.25


Like the title implies, this is Romeo and Juliet. The catch here is that it is part of Momo&Grapes their Men's Only series, meaning that all characters are voiced by male seiyuu.

In all honesty, the fact that it is done by Momo&Grapes and that it is part of the Men's Only series is the only reason I listened to this. I have no love for the story of Romeo and Juliet.

*cough* back to reviewing. The story is completely faithful to the original. Romeo (CV: Ishida Akira) sneaks into the Capulet masked ball together with Benvolio (CV: Naruse Makoto) and Mercutio (CV: Suganuma Hisayoshi) where he meets Juliet (CV: Kamiya Horoshi) who kisses Romeo in order to chase away her suitor count Paris (CV: Masuda Takayuki) and Romeo and Juliet fall in love. With the help of Juliet her wetnurse (CV: Kusonoki Taiten) and the friar Laurence (CV: Takemoto Eiji) they get married. However Tybalt (CV: Ishikawa Hideo) got hold of the news that Romeo sneaked into the Capulet ball and wants to duel Romeo, who doesn't want to, Mecutio gets killed in the end, Romeo is exiled, meanwhile Juliet is engaged to Paris against her will, and in order to escape the marriage feigns her death, and so we reach the well known tragic end of this story.

I am sorry for my sloppy summary of this classic piece of literature.

This is a bit hard to review, because I don't like the Romeo and Juliet story in general so I'll try to focus on other things instead. Like or don't like though, Kamiya his Juliet was very cute. It makes you want to hug him. I had more problems with Ishida his Romeo, but I finally settled on the fact that a voice actor that I don't particular like voiced a role that I dislike, so that it all matches. (I am sorry, Ishida-san is brilliant at times, but I'm not very fond of his voice). Interestingly enough, Kamiya-san apparently thought of Ishida-san as the ideal Romeo (He says so in the tokuten CD).

Actually, I personally found the cast talk and tokuten talk the most interesting tracks on this CD xD Almost everyone has an interesting comment (Ishikawa Hideo his final remark was the best xD). The rest of the cast going "kawaii! kawaii!" while Kamiya-san was talking, or "Romeo-samaaaa!" when Ishida-san starts talking was just too cute. In the tokuten talk CD Kamiya-san mostly says how worried and nervous he was about his role as Juliet, while Ishida-san just goes "I wasn't worried at all [about my own part]" xD

Something interesting that I already though of and that was also mentioned in the cast talk, was that in the time on Shakespeare plays were performed with only male actors. So to some extend this drama CD is actually really close to the original play.


Conclusion:
This is, I think, actually a good drama CD. I just don't like the story and I can't get over that no matter what. I'm sorry. But if you like the Men's Only series it is worth a listen, and if you like the Romeo and Juliet story it is probably a must.

Oujisama (warai) series: Oujisama to Ningyo-hime no Koi

王子様 (笑)シリーズ  ドラマCD 第5巻 ～王子様と人魚の恋～

Company: Frontier Works
Based on: The Little Mermaid
Released: 2011.10.26
Official Site: http://www.fwinc.co.jp/princewww



The Oujisama (warai) series re-imagines various well known fairytales. This time 'the Little Mermaid' is completely changed. The focus is on the prince instead of the princess though, and as the 'warai' (laughter) in the title implies the story gains a lot of humour.

Several character from previous entries to the series make their appearance here as well: Cinderella her prince (CV: Suzumura Kenichi), Snow White her Prince (CV: Nakai Kazuya), and Hikaru Genji (CV: Yoshino Hiroyuki) are visiting Frederick (the main character this time; CV: Morikawa Toshiyuki) because he is scheduled to marry the next day. On the way there Genji saves/picks up an unknown girl and her servant (CV: Takemoto Eiji) who wants to stop the marriage and marry the prince instead.

Frederick first complains about his life not being dramatic enough because his marriage is political, and that he wants to have a fateful encounter with someone so that he can fall in love and blow of the marriage. But when Genji brings in the unknown girl (who is obviously the little mermaid, they even named her 'Little') he claims he doesn't remember her and is not interested in marrying her at all.

Most of the CD is Frederick arguing with the servant (who speaks instead of 'princess Little') and the other three just generally make comments on the conversation and argue among themselves. But with everyone their weird personalities (Cinderella loves weapons a bit too much, Genji is an incredible player) that is exactly what makes this CD so hilarious.

Speaking of that, there is just too much hilarity in this CD. Cinderella and Snow White discovering that they are relatives, Genji constantly trying to win princess Little for himself, Frederick his obsession with sweets, the fact that Little is actually an incredible stalker, the references to earlier entries to the series xD Not to mention Cinderella and Snow White their constant tsukkomi and occasional breaking of the fourth wall alone is already hilarious. (they actually mention that this is a drama series a couple of time xD)

What I truly loved was how they managed to give the story a serious turn despite the fact that it is a complete parody. Of course, right after you feel the effect of the serious turn they go completely hilarious again xD

After the main story there is a zadankai as always. The fourth wall is completely torn down here xD Cinderella and Snow White explain the idea behind the series to Frederick and decide on a nickname for him as well (and thus, he is called 'Ningyo' (Mermaid) afterwards). Frederick also has a passionate rant against blood-type horoscopes (which is, given the popularity of those in Japan, rather hilarious)

I only realized after listening to this how much the style of these CDs has changed. The first two entries had sepparate stories for each prince, which were a sort of mix between  reading the story to you and acting out part of it. From vol.3 on the cast from the first two entries appears along side of a new character allowing for lots of references and hilarious conversations between the characters. (This, btw, also places all of the fairytales in one world, as if each one takes place in a different country located on one large fairytale continent). Also, Frederick/Mermaid is the 9th character already... (o.O) It feels like the cast from the first two CDs is more popular though (especially Snow White and Genji)


Conclusion:
You're missing out on a lot if you don't know at least the first two CDs of the rest of the series (3 and 4 aren't referenced that much) but if you do know those then you should definitely listen to it. This is my favourite entry to the series so far, and one of my absolute favourite drama CDs of all time. Also, I think the cover art is gorgeous.

Kakumei no Hi

革命の日

Company: Fairy Co. Ltd
Based on: Manga
Released: 2001.07.28


Kakumei no Hi (the day of the revolution) is a drama CD based on the manga of the same name by Tsuda Mikiyo. The protagonist of the story is Yoshikawa Kei (CV: Takeuchi Junko), who after having lived 18years as a man discovers that he is genetically a woman. Kei decides to surgically become a woman and live as a she from now on.

But that is of course harder than it seems, and Kei (now called Megumi) still acting and talking as a guy doesn't make things easier. Nor does the fact that he still goes to the same high school (although he starts as a first year again) which means running into his old friends. Who recognise him, and to make things more complicated, fall in love with him.

The story mostly centres on Kei coming to terms with the fact that he is female now, and his friends trying to pursue him. Toba Shuji (CV: Suzuki Chihiro), Tachimachi Tadashi (CV: Hasebe Kouichi), Shinmei Kazutoshi (CV: Chiba Susumu) and former classmate but now student council president Kawata Hiroaki (CV: Takemoto Eiji) all want to go out with Kei/Megumi, and they are rather forceful about it. Luckily Kei has Yutaka Makoto (CV: Takimoto Fujiko) who is there to help him have like a proper girl, however she is also trying to get Kei to date with one of his friends (because she believes that that would be easier than getting Kei to date a total stranger).

The story is pretty funny. The whole gender change isn't treated to series, as the main focus is just Kei his/her inability to act as a girl and his former friends falling in love with him. her. This is confusing. I read the manga a long time ago, and I think it follows the manga very acurately, although personally I find the manga better simply because of the hilarious visuals.

Takeuchi Junko her Kei/Megumi is really good. She perfectly captures the bratty Kei, and later Megumi who still acts and talks like a guy, but she can also sound extremely cute. The rest of the characters are ok but not really special. Makoto her bossing people around but being super protective of Kei is somehow endearing too.

The last track is a short side story about how Kawata came to hang out with the rest of Kei his friends. It turns out that when Kei was hospitalized (and left school without a word to his friends) they were all worries about Kei and their mutual interest in finding out what happened to him brought them together (to the extent that they backed Kawata his ambition to become student council president so that he could obtain more info on where Kei went from the shadows xD)



Conclusion:
It is a pretty funny story, but I like the manga better because you've got the visuals of tomboyish Kei.Megumi acting silly. There is a second drama CD for the second vol. of the manga though, and I'm actually a little curious on how that is (because the story develops just a tiny bit more)

Halloween+Town

 ハロウィン+タウン

Company: Frontierworks
Based on: Mobile game
Released: 2011.09.23
Official Site: http://www.halloween-t.com/


Halloween+Town is an otome game for mobile phones, an online comic is also published by Zero-Sum online. In Halloween+Town the human world and demonworld ("Makai") coexist, even though most people don't know the Makai exists. The cast of Halloween+Town all live as normal humans going to school, however at night they revert to there actual forms: wherewolf Ookami Shirou (CV: Kimura Ryouhei), Invisible man Ichinomiya Tooru (CV: Hino Satoshi), Vampire Kuroki Takaya (CV: Yusa Kouji), Jack-o-Lantern Uryuu Minami (CV: Fukuyama Jun), Frankenstein Rikudou Yuudai (CV: Suwabe Junichi), and.... a pumpkin (CV: Takemoto Eiji).

The scene starts with Shirou, Tooru, Takaya, Minami complaining that there is too much homework during the summer vacation and that they want actually go somewhere. After various ideas to decide to go camping. Yuudai and the Pumpking tag along for the trip.

Of course the trip wouldn't be complete without some activities. After managing to successfully raise their tent (despite the Pumpkin doing his best to interfere) they go on a short bicycle trip, ending with Yuudi and the Pumpkin plunging into a lake xD  In the evening everyone tries their hand at cooking something, which ends surprisingly successful. And through all of the, the Pumpkin creates immense amounts of chaos.

After Diner is finished all of them spend some time watching the stars when they realize that the Pumpkin is missing. Wondering whether he simply wandered off or got stuck somewhere they decide to go and search for him. A little chaos later they have found him, apparently searching for some special herbs that he wants everyone to eat. However when they do... (^-~)

The Seiyuu also comment on this in the cast talk, but this drama CD is light hearted and there is absolutely no serious or dark content (as opposed to the original work, apparently). The characters sound like they are really having fun, but the setting is a bit generic.

The cast talk itself was pretty funny, Takemoto-san acts almost the same like the Pumpkin, and everybody is just fooling around. The topic is which member of the cast would be the most fun to tease, and poor Takemoto-san is chosen by everyone, even by Fukuyama and Suwabe-san who did the recording or their own and therefore both have a sepparate comment after the rest.


Conclusion:
I feel like I'm missing out a bit because I don't know the game, but more than that they could have made better use of the night-time personalities of the cast. This way it was a bit of a generic story. However the pumpkin was hilarious. Also, isn't a story that has Halloween in the title, but takes place mid-summer... a bit weird? xD

Oujisama (warai) series 1st Vacation

王子様（笑）シリーズ バラエティドラマCD 1st Vacation

Company: Frontierworks
Based on: Fairy Tales

Released: 2011.07.21
Official Site: http://www.fwinc.co.jp/princewww

Oujisama (warai) re-tells the story from several well known fairy tales from the perspective of the prince. This time we continue their story, and for that the princes from the first vol + the prince from Sleeping Beauty (from vol.3) go on vacation... or at least, that was the plan.

(I will mention al the princes by the name of their fairy tale, not their actual name)

We start with everyone introducing themselves. Rapunzel and Cinderella haven't met Sleeping Beauty yet, so introductions are in order. However Sleeping Beauty has reverted into full otaku and shyness mode, so this isn't exactly going smooth.

Next up Snow White asks how everyone is doing now, which results in a conversation about their current lifestyle and (hilarious) politics. And after that they have to decide where to go for the vacation, and thus the everlasting "the sea or the mountains" discussion begins. (In Japan both are a popular place to go, and people often ask which you like best. In the end they decide that they can't go to the sea (because the next entry in the main series will be the Little Mermaid) and that they don't want to go to the mountains (because three of them met their bride in the forest).

Because everyone wants to go somewhere cool, Sleeping Beauty persuades them to visit an ice dungeon (actually the palace of the Snow Queen from the Andersen fairy tale). Once they arrive Snow White manages to get a piece of the mirror she used in his eye, completely changing his personality (like in the actual fairy tale).

Once all of the trouble surrounding that adventure has finally subsided, they decide to tell ghost stories to get cold (it is a common saying that telling kaidan will make the surroundings colder). However in stead of actual kaidan they tell well known fairy tales in a scary kind of way.

In between the story are little interludes that tell us how each prince spends the day. Which usually depict hilarious situations.

In the cast talk, Suzumura Kenichi accidentally references a different series xD Nakai mentions that is was fun to record this together with everyone (up to now he always did the recording alone).  This time however Onosaka-san recorded his part alone (on May 10th, apparently). Other than that the topic is how each of them spends the summer.

Conclusion:

Throwing all of these princes together always makes for hilarious moments, and this CD is no exception. I especially like how they incorporated all kinds of other fairy tales into this story, they reference quite a few of them. That, and I simply love Cinderella his personality.

Oujisama (warai) series vol.02

王子様(笑)シリーズ ドラマCD 第2巻

Company: Frontierworks
Based on: Fairy tales
Released: 2010.06.23
Official Site: http://www.fwinc.co.jp/princewww/princewww.php


Oujisama (warai) re-tells the story from several well known fairy tales from the perspective of the prince. Only... somewhere along the way things changed a little bit. This second vol has three new stories: Aladdin, Taketori Monogatari, and the Genji Monogatari. This time the princes actually have a name, which makes reviewing a lot easier xD

In the first story Aladdin (CV: Miyano Mamoru) has to find the magical lamp for a magician. However he gets stuck in the magic cave with no way out. When Aladdin tries to clean the lamp to read some faded inscriptions on it the genie of the lamp comes out and promises to do anything Aladdin says. Aladdin plans to have the genie kidnap the princess of the country so that he can 'save' her and marry her.

Miyano Mamoru his character saying "I will build anew world"= Death Note Raito?! Was all I could think for a while. No "it's a whole new world" romances here, just Raito Aladdin planning to improve the world by setting up a scheme to marry the princess and become the new king. Hihi, this makes the story a lot more interesting.

The second story is Taketori Monogatari (sometimes known as Kaguya-hime) from the perspective of the Emperor (CV: Okiayu Ryoutarou). Rumours of Kaguya-hime her beauty have reached the capital, and many important figures are competing for her hand. The Emperor feels that she is causing too much trouble and travels to her residence to make sure this stops, but of course he also falls in love.

There isn't much to say about this story accept that... it actually fits?! A few expressions aside, this could actually be the other side to Kaguya-hime her story.

However the third story makes up for this almost-serious story. Genji (CV: Yoshino Hiroyuki) is technically a player even in the actual Genji Monogatari, but is this story he actually sounds like one. Genji want to raise the (still 6year old) Murasaki into the perfect bride, and his rather strange way of getting this done. But especially the way Genji talks is just brilliant.

Like in the first CD there is a zadankai in which the three characters talk with each other. Genji treating the Emperor as his older brother is brilliant. They mostly talk about how they met their respective princesses (kidnapping in two cases) and they keep calling Kaguya-hime an alien.

The freetalk starts with Takemoto Eiji (who once again played the servant in every story) introducing Miyano and Okiayu-san. Like in the first CD the topic is 'a fateful encounter'. The discussion is going absolutely nowhere but they sound like they are having fun. Again the freetalk is done in two parts, with the second part done by Yoshino Hiroyuki and Takemoto Eiji (again)


Conclusion:
Again: Hilarious, Brilliant. I like this one even better than the first CD. There just isn't much that I can say, except for go and listen!

Oujisama (warai) series vol.01

王子様(笑)シリーズ ドラマCD第1巻

Company: Frontierworks
Based on: Fairy tales
Released: 2010.04.21
Official Site: http://www.fwinc.co.jp/princewww/princewww.php


Things are getting a bit odd with the review for vol.3 online but still no review for the first two. There are other series suffering from the same, but I'll get there sometime. Fore the time being: Oujisama (warai) vol.1!!

Oujisama (warai) re-tells the story from several well known fairy tales from the perspective of the prince. Only... somewhere along the way things changed a little bit. This first vol has three stories: Cinderella, Snow white, and Rapunzel.Each story is unrelated, but no-one really has a name in the actual story besides 'prince' or 'caretaker' so the descriptions might be a bit confusing (^-^;;)

The first one is Cinderella her prince (CV:Suzumura Kenichi), who has a weird obsession with weapons, and zero interest in women. His younger brother (CV: Takemoto Eiji) however has already found the love of his life, and because he can't marry before the prince marries he is set on getting him to marry. When the prince finally expresses interest in a young girl (Cinderella, duh) his younger brother is prepared to do anything to find the girl, including trying to deceive the prince.

The second story is Snow white, where our prince (CV: Nakai Kazuya) finds the dwarfs crying over Snow white her unmoving body. He falls completely in love with her, and promises the dwarfs to give her a proper burial (as the dwarfs themselves seem to lack a bit of common sense). However on the way to the castle Snow white wakes up, and the prince proposes to her. The only drawback here is that while Snow white may look like an angel, her personality has a bit of a dark side too...

The last story is that of Rapunzel her prince (CV: Ishida Akira). While they are lost in the forest, the prince and his servant (CV: Takemoto Eiji) find Rapunzel her tower. The prince is a bit of an airhead and always on cloud nine, so he climbs the tower. For a while they stay near the tower, and the prince climbs up every day. (They never say what happens up there, but we can all fill in the blanks ;). The ending is pretty much according to the original though.

The forth track is a zadankai (round-the-table-discussion) with the three princes still in character. We first hear their actual names. Rapunzel his name is impossibly long (Johan Willibart D. Franz-Paul Demidius von Shubart, I might have missed something there actually ) Snow white his name is Georg, and the prince from Cinderella is... 'Prince Charming' . After that there is a lot of truly hilarious random talk between the three about their respective brides.

After the in-character meeting there is an actual cast talk track. Apparently this was the first time Ishida-san heard any version of Rapunzel, so he actually thought it was this kind of story. Other than that they talk about 'fateful' encounters. The cast talk is somewhat divided into two parts. The recordings were done in two parts, Suzumura-san and Akira-san did their recordings together, and Nakai-san and Takemoto-san recorded together. Especially the second part is brilliant.


Conclusion:
Hilarious, brilliant. I don't know a third word to summarize this drama CD. The overall way in which they twisted these stories is just brilliant, and the track in which the three princes talk with each other only makes it better. A good beginning to a wonderful series.

News: 王子様（笑）シリーズ バラエティドラマＣＤ 1st Vacation

More details on the next Oujisama (warai) CD have been released.

The princes featured in this 'variety' drama CD are those from Snow White (CV: N akai Kazuya) Cinderella (CV: Suzumura Kenichi), Rapunzel (CV: Ishida Akira) and Sleeping Beauty (CV: Onosaka Masaya).

Set to a release date somewhere in July, the theme of this CD will be 'summer'. There will also be a mini drama "a day in the life of..."


It looks like our hilarious princes will go on a summer vacation somewhere. I'm looking forward too summer style hilarity. I wonder whether the next one will be winter themed? or maybe fall?

手塚国光: ささやかなこの願い

 

Tezuka Kunimitsu: Sasayaka na kono negai

Tezuka and Kuki Kiichi have a contest in tongue breakers, Yanagi is the referee. The drama parts are actually bonus tracks, but it is over 4 times as long as the 'main' song. Speaking of the song, it made me remember why I love Okiayu Ryoutarou so much. This is not going to be one of my favorite songs, but it is still nice to listen to.

But the drama. Crack as only Prince of Tennis can manage <3
Kiichi is on his way home when he remembers that someone said that if you say Tezuka his name trice while walking past the school gates that he would appear. Believing that it will never work he does so, and of course Tezuka appears xD After a ,to put it mildly, awkward explanation of why he is here Yanagi appears (ninja trick xD). Cue a short BL inspired scene between Tezuka and Yanagi, after which Yanagi explains that Tezuka has a passion for tongue breakers o.O

As if things weren't weird enough yet, they start a contest. The rules are simple; Tezuka and Kiichi are to repeat the same line over and over again until one of them makes a mistake. Of course they treat the contest just as a tennis match xD While the contest is going on in the background the thoughts of the 3 of them can be heard. While they start out with properly saying the line, if you keep paying attention you'll notice that it gets weirder and weirder later on.

Conclusion:
You'll probably need to know a bit about PoT for it to be funny, because the semi-out-of-character-ness adds to the crack. If you do know PoT, go and listen to it :D As a bonus, 'Dakeshimeteshimai sou sa' is played in the background near the end of the drama. Ahhh, how I love that song <3

王子様(笑)シリーズ 第3巻 ～王子様と眠れる森～

Oujisama (warai) vol.3 ~Oujisama to nemureru mori~

Oujiama (warai) series is a drama cd series that tells well known fairytales in an... entirely different way. The title means 'Prince (laughs) series' and as the title implies the stories are told from the viewpoint of the prince in a rather hilarious way. This volume has only one story; that of Sleeping Beauty.


The moment I saw this was announced it made me happy, and I'm glad I was able to listen to it this fast! Contrary to the first two volumes there is only one story this time, but some of the princes from earlier volumes reprise their roles.

We first meet the servant (CV: Takemoto Eiji) of Sleeping Beauty her prince who meets... the prince from Snow White (CV: Nakai Kazuya). It turns out we are in his country, and the servant asks him whether he wants to help out find Sleeping Beauty. We are taken to the Prince (of Sleeping Beauty, his name is Gunther btw CV: Onosaka Masaya) himself who is... fighting a dragon and gains exp o.O

And from there on the entire story turns into an RPG. Sleeping Beauty and his servant try to get Snow White to sign up at a guild, Genji (CV: Yoshino Hiroyuki) already signed up because the girl behind the counter was cute, they need a fourth member to go on a quest to fight a red dragon, so Genji forces the Emperor (from Taketori Monogatari, CV: Okiayu Ryoutarou) to join xD


Genji is as annoying as ever, the Emperor his classic speach clashes with everything, Sleeping Beauty is a complete RPG otaku, and Snow White is the only sane person. Eventually Sleeping Beauty loses his confidence and Genji decides he will go and steal save the princess.

The previous two CDs were good, but this volume was absolutely brilliant, there is no other word for it. Just throwing all these princes (with their strange personalities) in one story was already funny, but when everything turned into a RPG it turned even better. Every RPG cliche is used, from all the different classes to collecting the four legendary thingamajigs to continue the story. If you play a lot of RPGs or know something about them it gets funnier by the minute. But don't worry if you don't know anything about them, even then it will be plenty funny (Snow White is in the same position anyways)

Just like the previous volumes there is a zazankai after the main story in which the characters talk together. Sleeping Beauty never had friends to drink with so  they first need to explain what they are going to do, and the Emperor decides to get drunk right from the get go ("as if I could do this while sober" xD).

The freetalk was also interesting. The theme was 'a dream that you don't want to wake up from'. Yoshino talks about soccer and the world cup (which made me realize just how recent this release is somehow), Onosaka told that he wants to be popular, Okiayu that he wants to lose weight and Takemoto thinks that their dreams are to normal xD The last three did the recording together making their part of the freetalk hilarious. Especially Okiayu and  Takemoto ignoring Onosaka Masaya when he asks whether he wasn't popular enough to do a story on his own was just... wow xD Nakai talks about that it was his dream to become a seiyuu so that he doesn't want to wake up from his current life. His talk is about to get deep and meaningful when time is up and he abruptly (and I mean abruptly) ends it.

The fact that Yoshino and Nakai did their free talk alone made me realize that they did the recording alone, and how difficult that must be. Especially because there is a lot of tsukkomi, mainly fron Nakai. The zazankai in particular sounds as if they really are talking all together so they really have my respect for some awesome voiceacting!



If you haven't heard the first two CDs yet you should listen to those before listening to this one. Firstly because they are also hilarious and absolutely worth listening, but also because the characters constantly reference to it and you might miss some injokes. (Especially the deal about princess Snow White xD). That said, this vol. is absolutely brilliant so go and listen to it NOW :D