Pasta Mafia

パスタマフィア

Label: Frontier Works
Based on: Original
Released: 2011.10.26
Official site: http://www.fwinc.co.jp/pasta/pasta.php


Pasta Mafia is a mix of between pasta gijinka (personification) and a mafia story. Although, they didn’t get to be very mafia-ish in this CD. All of the characters are personifications of pasta dishes. Our main hero is Pomodore, who runs his own mafia and uses Amatrice as his base.

One day a young boy named Corzetti (CV: Yonaga Tsubasa) asks him to help him find the lost treasure of his family. Corzetti says his family is very eager when it comes to money, so he wants to find the treasure and get rid of it to prevent them fighting over it. Pomodore (CV: Hosoya Yoshimasa) doesn’t immediately agree but takes Corzetti back to his hideout to consult with the rest of his mafia gang.

Back at the hideout we are introduced to the rest: Pomodore his younger brother Cream (CV: Hino Satoshi), the okama and very feminine Capellini (CV: Terashima Takuma), who is always arguing with Macaroni (CV: Sugita Tomokazu), Paperdelle (CV: Kaji Yuuki) who is the youngest and always eating something, and the calm and silent Penne (CV: Sakurai Takahiro). Also there is Nero - another younger brother of Pomodore- who came to visit, much to the dismay of Pomodore.

All of them agree to help out with finding the treasure, but before they can actually begin Nero secretly replaces the treasure map that they got with a different map because he is jealous of Pomodore giving attention to someone other than himself (he as a bit of a brother complex).

To make things even more complex Bolognese (CV: Okiayu Ryoutarou) steals the -already switched out- map from them before they can start to search for the treasure, so they end up chasing after him first in order to even be able to go and search for the treasure.

The colourful cast makes the CD fun to listen to, although it does feel like there is something lacking. When it comes to hilarious conversations between characters there are other series that are much better. Not everyone gets enough screen time to fully show their personality either, although this might be understandable considering that this was planned as a series. Unfortunately it seems to have sort of died out.

Pomodore and Bolognese get to show off most of their quirks, but the rest of the characters don’t. Which is too bad, because I would have loved to see Macaroni snap and go on an endless rage for example. The same goes for everyone’s weapons; the official character descriptions list a weapon for each character but we never get to hear them use it (Penne fights with a pen for example, I would have loved to hear how that works out).

Still, I like most of the characters. Yonoga his Corzetti sounds incredibly cute, and Okiayu Ryoutarou doing a crack quirky personality is always fun, I really love it when he does roles like that. There is a little bit of dialect in the way Hosoya his Pomodore speaks, which also made me happy. I find Nero annoying, but he is supposed to be so I guess Ishida Akira did a good job with that as well. Terashima Takuma voicing an okama was a first for me, and I loved it.

Thanks to everyone being named after a food I got so incredibly hungry while listening to this. All of the Spaghetti brothers (Bolognese, Pomodore, Cream, Nero) are named after different spaghetti dishes, and the rest of the characters (Penne, Macaroni, Paperdelle, Capellini, Corzetti) are all different types of pastas. I had never heard of the last two by the way. Capellini is a very thin type of pasta, which is no doubt why he is so femine. The name also means ‘fine hair’ – and Capellini is a hairdresser and very proud of his own long hair. Corzetti is a flat, circular type of pasta often embossed with a decoration by stamping them.

In the cast talk everyone talks about what kind of food they would want a girl to make for them. Some of the best answers: Sugita Tomokazu would prefer making something together, Sakurai is fine with anything as long as it is warm, Ishizuka Unshou (who voiced a restaurant owner in the drama) is fine with anything as long as it can be made fast because he hates waiting, and Hosoya thinks the atmosphere is more important.


Conclusion:
While this was fun to listen to there are much better series out there. Still, I’m somewhat sad that the series seems to have died off. The characters showed promise and there is still a lot we never got to hear. And I want more Hosoya as Pomodore.

iPhone App: 3D Sound Horror ~Meijou~

 鳴囁～メイジョウ～

Maker: Visualworks / Studio Mausu
Released: 2012.10.05
For: iPhone / iPod Touch


Reviewing something slightly different this time. 3D Sound Horror Meijou is an iPhone app that is probably best described as a mix between and audio drama and a visual novel. It uses some visuals so it is not pure audio, but it isn't as elaborate as a visual novel either (to begin with there are no visuals for the characters). Just as the title implies, it is a horror story that uses the dummy head mic to create 3D sound effects. I guess it is mostly aimed at women, although this only becomes clear near the end of the story and I think you can enjoy the story no matter your gender.

Meijou tells the story of four friends who travel around looking for haunted spots. Chika (CV: Hayami Saori), the only girl in the group, has found an old letter that talks about a haunted cave. Enclosed with the letter was a small charm with a bell on it. The group decides to investigate this.

The story starts with the four of them arriving at the cave. It is raining outside, and while all of them find the atmosphere rather creepy they came here to investigate the cave so they enter it anyway. The cave seems to be made by human hands, and they discover something like a living room inside. But before they get chance to properly investigate an earthquake happens and the entrance collapses. To make things worse, their flashlight also stops working.

Chika  her phone

While they are still panicking Chika her phone suddenly starts ringing. At first they think it is a mistake, but it starts ringing again a few seconds later. Chika answers the call but all she hears is noise. A few seconds after that she gets a text message which reads "go deeper", followed by a lot of gibberish.

As they venture further into the cave the calls continue and you can start to hear voices in them, and to make things worse the group ends up separated from each other and they have to try and find each other as well as the way out again. As you proceed it slowly starts to become clear what happened in the cave.

When the group finally manages to get together and find something like an exit near the end another earthquake happens, and a large rock falls down and all three guys reach out to you to save you. At this point you are presented with a choice: grab the hand of one the guys (you can pick who) or escape on your own. The ending differs depending on what you choose.

The story is split up into two apps, so to get the entire story you'll have to buy both. I think it is worth it though. Also: the app is compatible with both iPhones and iPods (and iPads) but because of the calls you receive I think listening to it on your phone has the best effect. Whenever you get a call the image on the screen switches to the standard call screen so it really looks like you are receiving a call, which adds to the creepiness .

Unfortunately the rest of the visuals are not that effective. Most of them are either to blurry or to dark to properly see what is pictured. Although I admit that the one where the ghosts try to grab Chika really freaked me out (especially because it moves). Still, the concept is interesting and I think the end result is pretty good.

The effect of the dummy head mic can't always be heard. When you are normally talking with everyone it isn't really noticeable, but you obviously do hear it when you are close to someone (like when they try to cheer Chika up or in some of the endings) and it was used pretty effectively during the calls and for some of the scare effects. Personally I like this balance, this way it feels special when it is used.

For those who are not that good with bad endings: rest assured, there is no real bad end. The main difference for the endings is who saves Chika and gets to be her main love interest. None of the endings show you getting together though, it is more like hinted at that there might be something there. There is only one ending where you unravel the entire story though.

When I listened to it I got the idea that there might be something between Yuuma and Chika, which was backed up by the fact that he is the one that stays with you when you pick the "escape on your own" option, but to my surprise it was not his ending that tells the entire story.

I don't really see why they split this thing into two apps though. It is not like it is that big as a whole either, so it feels sort of cheap to have us buy two apps to hear the entire story. Both apps together are still much cheaper than your average drama CD though, so in the end I was fine with the price. Something random that I noticed: when you first start the second app the music playing at the start screen is ominous. After you finished one of the endings however it switches to a more serene music.


Conclusion:
This was a good story, it becomes less scary towards the end but I guess that is natural as you start to understand what is going on. While most of the visuals were not that special, they way they used the call- and message screens was super effective. After hearing more horror stories that make use of the dummy head mic I can only say that the dummy head almost seems to be made for this; there is nothing as scary as ghosts talking right next to your ear.

Otenki Sentai How Weather

お天気戦隊ハウウェザー

Company: R45° / Sousakubou
Based on: Sentai Parody
Released: 2011.01.15
Official site: http://www.how-weather.com/


Otenki Sentai How Weather is a sentai parody in which all characters are based on different sorts of weather. On the good side we have Hare (clear weather), Ame (rain), Yuki (snow), Kumori (clouded), and Rai (lightning). Together they form the group "How Weather" and fight the evil organization Chuuihou (wheather warning). The entire organisation is actually only three people though: Hyou and Arare (hail) and Taifuu (typhoon).

In the first track the narrator explains that "How weather" is a telivision program aired on sunday morning, and that we should see how everyone is doing. Eacht track is dedicated to one of the characters, and one to Chuuihou. Don't expect any real sentai action though, instead the tracks are about the daily lives of all of the characters.

And the characters are what makes this CD brilliant. Hare (CV: Sakurai Takahiro) is a lovable egoistic hero. In his track he caught a cold (because he slept with only his underwear on in the middle of the winter) and no-one really wants to help him because they think he deserved it. Rai (CV: Terashima Takuma) like an impulsive kid. He works part time at a family restaurant, and his adventure is all about him not liking curry and running away from home.

Ame (CV: Toriumi Kousuke) is a major narcissist, and seems to enjoy getting scolded for some reason. His episode is all about, well, him being a narcissist. Kumori (CV: Suwabe Junichi) is a complete otaku, and is always busy playing online games (his latest being Final Dragon Fantasy Quest Online). He is usually muttering complaints in the background, but in his own track he is making entire monologues out of it. His story is about meeting someone from an online game in real life.

Yuki (CV: Hirakawa Daisuke) is like the mother of the family and usually act like housewife. He is usually sweet, but when he gets annoyed his personality switches completely. He is tends to make more severe remarks against Ame. Yuki is bloodrelated to Hyou and Arare, which is the reason why everyone is so friendly with each other. In his story there is a time sale in the supermarket, and absolutely nothing will get in the way of him going there. Not even a properly scheduled battle with Chuuihou.

In Chuuihou their story all of them go to a family restaurant for dinner (the one where Rai works). Hyou and Arare (CV: Toyonaga Toshiyuki & Ichiki Mitsuhiro) act like a bunch of high school girls worrying about stuff like diets, while Taifuu (CV: Ookawa Tohru) is as weak to their manipulation as ever.

As you can see, there is no actual action going on what so ever, the narrator even comments on this at the end. While they are supposed to be fighting everyone is getting along just fine. Taifuu even writes an overly polite letter to announce that they are coming when they do come to fight, and brings proper gifts when visiting. All of the characters are interestingly quirky, and the result is a lovable chaos.  I expected Hirakawa-san to act like a housewife based on his character description, but I didn't expect the switch to a more S side when annoyed, nor the voice drop accompanying it so that made for a nice surprise and a happy me.

There is a secret freetalk track, in which everyone talks about the CD and something to do with the weather, as well as their hopes for future installments in the series. Everything is going pretty normal untill Ichiki-san his turn, by which thime the rest is laughing so hard that he can't get on with his talk. He also does a final bai-bai, after which the recording simply continues ( ´艸｀)ﾑﾌﾟﾌﾟ


Conclusion
I'm not entirely sure my enthusiasm for this series is showing in this review. BUT I LOVE IT. From how it fails to be a proper sentai story to all of the characters, to the seiyuu and everything in between. I picked this up because there is a new CD (vol.4) coming soon, but this together with re-listening Hero Academy-J just might have sparked a new love for sentai parodies.

MESSAGE 4 U vol.3 Thank U a lot

MESSAGE 4 U vol.3 Thank U a lot

Company: Honey Bee
Based on: Original
Released: 2010.01.29
Official site: http://www.honeybee-cd.com/me_top.html

Message 4 U is a series in which the postmen of the Mitsubachi (honey bee) post office deliver a message to you in a very special way. When they receive a letter it gets scattered through time, and you yourself have to find several messages before it becomes a whole letter again. These messages are in places that have something to do with the contents of the letter.

The third CD is titled “Thank U a lot” and the letter is a letter from a good friend to express her thanks. The postmen ‘delivering’ the letter this time are Serge Benoit (CV: Ono Daisuke) and Patrick di Tommaso (CV: Terashima Takuma). In the first track the letter is delivered to the post office, after that they take you on a tour through your memories to find the messages.

After postmen with English and German names I expect two French names, but one of them seems to be Italian, hihi. Thanks to being the strong silent type Serge is often seen as scary, while Patrick is very open and more cheerful. Ono Daisuke often voices the perfect boyfriend in situation CDs, but this time his role is very different, which is kind of refreshing.

Serge already manages the person that wants to deliver the message as soon as she enters the post office. Luckily Patrick is there to help. He also wrote Serge a script for explaining how the letters work because Serge apparently often fails to explain things properly. Thanks to the script they actually manage to explain things properly this time. Although Serge is obviously reading stuff from the memo. This is also the only CD where the characters don’t argue about who gets to use the time travel book.

Like always you are taken to different scenes from your past. This time we have a fireworks show, a park at night, in a cafe, at school, and the first day of school when you met. There are a few things different from the first two CDs though. Instead of finding the message after you have seen the scene, there are a couple of times where you find the message and still have to watch part of the memory, or figure out what it means before you can continue.

Serge and Patrick also take a little longer to fall for you. Patrick his attitude towards you remains largely the same, but Serge clearly needs some time to warm up to you. On the other hand, Patrick also realizes how important his friendship with Serge is to him while watching your memories.

One of the biggest changes though, is you actually asking them to read the final letter with you. This was a welcome change for me because that is one thing that really bugged me in the previous two CDs. After that they take you to the beach to watch the sunset, where Serge also shows his kindness by waiting just a little longer before taking you home, so that you can spend a few more minutes together.

Overall it felt like this third CD was a little bit more structured. You asking the postmen to read the letter together with you was more logical than them being the only ones able to read it. And there was a little less focus on the characters liking you and a bit more focus on them. I noticed that the letter have a trump theme, and the way the website would have had room for one more CD in the layout so I’m wondering whether they originally planned one more CD. If so, it is a pity that it was never produced, because this one was definitely better than the first two.


Conclusion:
Still as sweet as ever, but with a bit more structure and therefore my favourite of the three CDs in this series. Ono Daisuke voicing a more silent and stubborn (yet shamelessly honest) character was also a nice surprise.

Ouritsu Ouji Gakuen vol.5: The Little Mermaid

I started with vol.4 first, but somehow grew tired of it (pun not intended) and switched to this one instead, which was a very good decision.

王立王子学園 vol.5 人魚姫の王子様

Company: R45°project / Sousakubou
Based on: Original
Released: 2012.05.15
Official site: http://rpgakuen.com/

Ouritsu Ouji Gakuen (Royal Prince Gakuen, RPG for short) is a school where princes go in preparation of their future career as royalty. That means normal lessons, but also stuff like dancing lessons and other things you might need as royalty. Other than the fact that the entire student body are royal princes, it is a very normal school. It is not like you'll notice any of this in the CD's. Although you are the only girl at the entire school.

In this series you both spend time together with your main prince, as well as with multiple characters. Each CD features three princes, and you get to spend some quality time together with the 'main prince' as well as some -often funny- lively moments with all three. All characters are based of fairytales, and series 2 features the 3rd year students Ibaraki Sei (Sleeping Beauty), Namikawa Takumi (the Little Mermaid), and Yagyuu Ryuunosuke (Beauty and the Beast).

In vol.5 Namikawa Takumi (CV: Taniyama Kisho) is the main prince. Takumi looks like a flirt, but is actually quite sweet. Lately he has been seeing nightmares in which his beloved sinks to the bottom of the ocean. However ever since he bumped into you at school one day the nightmares have stopped. He asked you for your number the moment you met, and you’ve been texting ever since.

Takumi his classmates Sei (CV: Terashima Takuma) and Yagyuu (CV: Morikawa Toshiyuki) are of course also in the CD, although I felt like the times that the 3 characters interact has decreased since the first series. The moments they have together in this CD are brilliant though. Sei has to clean the pool as a punishment for sleeping in class, and he bribes Yagyuu (by giving him food) and Takumi (by giving him a picture of you) to help him.

Because Takumi texted you that he had to clean the pool you come to visit, and Sei bribes you with two movie tickets. While you are all cleaning Yagyuu and Sei start messing around, and Takumi gets splashed with water, causing him to faint because he is afraid of water in any way shape or form. The discussion on how to wake him up is priceless.

Of course those movie tickets are used for a date with the two of you, and Takumi is surprisingly nervous for it. About halfway through that condition has completely healed though, and I would take several of things he says love confessions, but they are not apparently, because you’ll get a proper confession later.

Of all the CD’s, I think this one had the most ‘normal’ relationship. Fine, Takumi might be a bit overconfident that you’ll eventually start dating, but you start out as friends, it takes a few weeks before you reach the point of daily texting, and the movie date you have is normal as well. Not that the other CD’s were that unrealistic, but somehow this one felt like the first one where you go through several steps, instead of from friends to rabu rabu date mode. (although technically, all of them have a date where you are still just friends and one where you are couple).

The characters from the first series are mentioned as a shout out as well. Because they are 2nd years and your classmates, Takumi feels jealous of them and keeps wishing he was born just one year later.

The cast comment wasn’t too special, but it did have some info that I find very interesting: apparently the script was 43 pages, and Taniyama-san finished the recording in 2hrs (which was fast). If the script of a CD like this is already around 40-45 pages, imagine how long the script for a fully voiced game has to be!


Conclusion:
So far I think I like this CD the best, but Yagyuu also sounds like an interesting character so we’ll have to see how the ranking ends. Despite his looks Takumi is a  really honest and sweet character, if a bit melodramatic at times. The interaction with the other guys was fun as well, and personally the balance between your time with Takumi and with the others was good too.

Shiro Ari!!

  

白アリッッ

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


Shiro Ari!! is based on the manga of the same name, and mixes the characters Snow White and Alice in one story that has little to do with the original stories but is rather hilarious.

Snow White (CV: Kugimiya Rie) is seen as a demon child in her own world due to her red eyes and white hair. The fact that the animals always defend her when she is bullied by other kids don't really make things better either. Despite this she continues to believe that there are people in this world that are purely good.

In the beginning of the story the Mirror (CV: Terashima Takuma) takes her to Wonderland. Where Alice almost falls off a cliff due to a waysign being mirrored. She is saved by Alice (CV: Suzumura Kenichi). Although saved, he almost immediately pulls a gun on her thinking she is in league with the White Rabbit. After some complications he decides to take home, by knocking her unconscious and dragging here off.

Snow White regains her consciousness in the cafe run by the Mad Hatter (CV: Onosaka Masaya) and the March Hare (CV: Yusa Kouji). While Alice is still trying to hear out Alice they are attacked by the Jack of Hearts (who looks like a girl but is actually a guy, CV: Yonaga Tsubasa). And Snow White learns that Alice and the Red King have been fighting over who rules the country since hundreds of years.

While staying at Alice his house Snow White runs into the Cheshire Cat (CV: Morikubou Shoutarou), Who pulls a vanishing act when they run into Alice. Turns out that the Cheshire Cat was coming to pick up the weapon that Jack left. He makes a few more remarks about the Red King and Blue King (Alice) fighting and leaves.

And that is about as far as we get with the plot. The part after that switches into a sweets making contest. The next day the Dormouse (CV: Kaneda Tomoko) comes dropping in. Turns out she has a huge crush on Alice (and one hell of an annoying voice). Snow White, Jack, and the Dormouse end up making a sweet in Alice his image. The end results are of course... interesting.

The drama keeps pretty close to the chaos of the manga, although some scenes are slightly shorter or in a different order (mainly Snow White her flashbacks). This also causes one weird moment: In the manga Snow White comes crashing out of the sky, lands on Alice and in the process they have an accidental kiss. In the CD they skip this part, yet they do talk about it a bit later on.

The CD only covers the first few chapters, so the plot isn't very deep yet, but it would have been nice if we would have seen a bit more of it. Instead the plot is literally abandoned halfway though for the sweets contest. I suppose it does show more of Snow White her mindset, but to use half of the CD for it might have been a bit much.

This is the second series I know with a male Alice, and his personality is just as bad as the first one. In front of everyone Alice is the perfect nice guy, but he actually has an incredibly bad attitude - causing Snow White to call him "sadist guy" (he calls her bitch so I suppose they are even). Snow White her naivety can be a bit annoying, but together they make a balanced combo.

The one character I found incredibly annoying was the Dormouse. Of course she is intended to be annoying, but her voice makes my ears bleed. And when you listen to the cast comment you discover that Kaneda-san her actual voice isn't that much better either. It just annoys me to no end.

I had just one glaring problem with the CD; The cast. Not that the cast is bad, on the contrary they are good if you ask me. But I have become so used the cast of Are you Alice? that hearing anyone else as Alice/Hatter/Jack/Cheshire Cat just doesn't feel right to me. (the March Hare and Dormouse I'm less used to so there were less problems there). Especially hearing Morikubou Shoutarou -who is the White Rabbit in Are you Alice?- voice the Cheshire Cat caused my brain to short-circuit. This is just a personal problem though.


Conclusion:
The story seemed promising, until they just decided to shelve it for a sweets making contest. The characters are funny though (barring the annoying Dormouse) and the amount of hilarious chaos is what you would expect from a series set in wonderland. I do hope that they make another CD (with more plot) because in my opinion the CD is better than the manga: the manga is written slightly to chaotic for my taste.

Meisaku Bungaku (warai) Yabu no Naka

I wrote a review for this ages ago but for some reason I didn't post it? Anyway, as per request:

 

名作文学（笑）ヤブノナカ

Company:  Frontierworks
Based on: Literature
Released: 2009.08.26
Official Site: http://www.fwinc.co.jp/www/


A version of the famous literary work 'Yabu no Naka' in which all of the characters are male. Despite the title, there is not much 'warai' about this story. It is  very serious, and I actually have a lot of respect for how this adaption of  Yabu no Naka was made, if you see to which extent it mirrors the original.

The opening sounds far to sexy xD Other than that it is a very serious story. The same story is told from the perspective of three people, however their versions differ immensely from each other. In the original the story a man who is traveling with his wife is attacked and murdered. Three witnesses tell a completely different story of what happened.

In this version Tamaru Joutarou goes on a trip to Kamakura and saves a boy who is drowning in the sea. Afterwards the boy introduces himself as Kanazawa Masago. Only after saving him Joutarou notices how pretty he is. Soon afterwards Masago his older brother, Takehiro, comes running as well. However Takehiro seems strangely suspicious. To makes things worse, Masago whispers "you are a terrible person" when they leave.

Masago and Takehiro are brothers but don't have the same father. Which resulted in a rather twisted relationship. However the nature of this relationship also varies with each version. Likewise, It is always Takehiro who gets killed but the motive and killer differ. The dialogue is also partly the same, partly different in each version. Personally I like the third version best.

Track 7, 8 and 9 are parody trailers for different versions of the story; Renai game, re-imagined novel, and a movie. Especially the weird English in the movie trailer is hilarious, but the second one is also brilliantly over the top.

Track 10 is the cast comment, in which all three seiyuu seem to be somewhat tired and no longer able to be serious. Yasumoto-san also comments on the fact that the story parallels the original to a large extent. I especially like the comment on how if this were a 2hr tv drama a new character would appear in the last 15 minutes claiming to have done it all xD


Conclusion:
Whether you know the original story or not, this is a very good drama. I'd almost say whether you like BL or not this is a drama worth listening. Yes, technically this could be considered BL, but expect no karami, this is a drama filled and dark story.

However if you compare the original version and this one you can see how well this version is constructed. Most, if not all, of the characters completely parallel the original.

Mousou Esthe II

妄想エステⅡ

Company: 5pb
Based on: original
Released: 2010.12.22
Official Site: http://5pb.jp/moso

Mousou Este is a combination between a drama CD and virtual beauty treatments. You hear the staff of the fictional beauty salon 'Etreinte" talk among each other, and between that there are beauty treatments by one of the staff. The treatment tracks have been recorded with the dummy head microphone, so be prepared to hear them whisper into your ear.

This time the CD starts with Kagami Subaru (CV: Suwabe Junichi) as guest in a radio show, where he introduces his beauty salon. The hostess of the show seems very charmed by him. The next track is back at the salon, where Kagami, Maya Shinnosuke (CV: Taniyama Kisho) and Misaki (CV: Yusa Kouji) are talking about the radio show and... comparing their hands. But the way they keep talking about 'who has the largest' directed my mind in a whoooole other direction.

Back to the order of the day, it is time for Misaki his treatment. He gives you a face massage, although the wording, while describing exactly what he is doing, can still put your mind on other things. The same goes for Shinnosuke his treatment afterwards. Both their voices are so relaxing that my mind simply drifted off and their voices just floated around me, while I completely forgot that they were actually saying something.

In the next scene Odagiri Eito (CV: Terashima Takuma) is worried because this will be the first time to actually give a treatment to a customer. The rest somewhat tries to comfort and tease him at the same time. His treatment is a footmassage, but he talks a bit too much for my tastes (can't help it, he is nervous after all). His comment that this 'is the first time for both of you' made me laugh though. However I remained giggly for the rest of the CD, so whether that is actually a good thing. Anyway, he is a really pure and cute character.

After Eito is finished the rest also enters the room to give you a special treatment. I find it hard to imagine 4 estheticians working at the same time, but their various voices together are highly lethal for sure.

I have to say, this series has a way with words. While they really are just talking about the treatments my mind is definitely thinking of entirely different things. That aside, I fell asleep multiple times while trying to listen to this CD, especially during the first half.

The characters are less quirky than in the first CD, except for the parakeet Noel (CV: Hatano Wataru) who returns in this instalment as well. This made the day to day conversations of the staff a little less interesting, but at the same time they are less noisy than last time, avoiding the 'wake-up call' issue.


Conclusion:
The focus definitely shifted a bit more from relaxation to adding a little ero in here, but they did it in a good way and if you don't want to hear it you can simply ignore it. Above all else it is still very relaxing to listen to. My only problem was that I'm not very knowledgeable about how various parts of your body are called, so at times I wasn't quite sure what they were doing to me exactly (yes yes, you're massaging my head, but how exactly... xD)

News: 調律葬交 Zyklus;CODE

Last week the site for Zyklus; CODE officially opened, still without information on the seiyuu but with more information on the story and characters. However the seiyuu have been announced during Comic City the same day the site opened, so their names are floating around on the web.

Story-wise the description on the site is still rather vague. The story page doesn't mention much that makes sense:

科学, 魔導, 繁栄と共に,

生物兵器 「AX(アクス)」が産まれた

人間と寸分違わぬその小さな躯から生み出される旋律は、

人間には到底奏でることの出来ない美しい断末魔となり、

失われた歴史を紡ぐ。

これは人とアクスが織り成す

死と再生を哂う遺伝子組曲である

"Along with the prospering of science, magic, and civilization

the biological weapon known as "AX" was born.

The melody that is born from it's body that is exactly like that of a human,

becomes a beautiful death agony that humans can not play,

and it sets a lost history in motion"

"This is a genetic music piece that interweaves humans and AX,

and sneers at death and rebirth."

Don't worry if it doesn't make sense yet, it makes little sense to me as well. lets just assume that music and death and rebirth are important themes, and that there is a biologic (or 'living' if you take it a bit more literally) weapon (ﾟ∇^*)

Where the biological weapon comes in is not hard to guess, only two characters have been announced so far, and Petrouchka (CV: Saitou Chiwa) her character bio states that it has been "98 days since she was manufactured". Apparently she has lost her ability to sense beautiful music and due to a turn of event was taken in by our second character;

Shiryuu Rentarou (CV: Terashima Takuma). Who builds the worst music organs in town, and needless to say doesn't manage to sell them either. Other than that his character bio states that he isn't used to dealing with woman, nor tries to understand them. And that he is a heavy smoker.

I am now trying to imagine Terashima doing a heavy smoker voice, and failing. The cast really surprised me. No Sakurai yet, and if we are talking about a heavy smoker character I would have bet my money on Hirata Hiroaki (because Ninomiya Ai loves using the same seiyuu in many of her works). Still, I'm confident that both of them will still show up somewhere in the castlist.

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 =)

黒薔薇アリス

Kurobara Alice

Is it obvious that I am attracted to anything that has 'Alice' in the title? If not let me warn you now; if somewhere in a title the words 'Alice' or "Wonderland' can be found you can be sure that it has my attention.

Same with this one. I didn't read the original manga, so little did I know that it has very little to do with anything 'Alice' and is actually... a vampire story. A bit of a surprise there, but it was still a very good listen.

The original manga is by Mizushiro Setona, and the Drama CD is the same as volume one of the original manga. Because there are more volumes this also means that it is only the beginning of the story, in fact it feels much more like a prologue.


The story begins on the 16th birthday of Anieska (CV: Yukana), who is thrilled to find out that her childhood friend -and now famous opera singer- Dimitri (CV: Nakamura Yuuichi) visits her birthday party, as he had told her he would be in Vienna. Even though Anieska has a fiancee, Theodore (CV: Terashima Takuma), Dimitri truly loves her. A fight between Theodore and Dimitri causes him to rush out of the place and he gets hit by a horse carriage due to not watching where he walks.

Everyone thinks Dimitri died, but he suddenly wakes up as if nothing is wrong. As he has, contrary to earlier reports, only minor injuries he is immediately released again to start rehearsing for his next performance. However, strange things start happening at the rehearsals; most of the people involved commit suicide or die of accidents. Not much later a mysterious figure suddenly tells Dimitri that he is now a vampire...

A few dramatic turns of events later (I'm not telling you, go and listen :P) the story suddenly switches to the present time, Japan. Where we meet the English teacher Kikukawa Asuka who has a secret relationship with Ikujima Kouya, one of her students. Their relationship however takes a turn for more drama as they become involved in a car crash. Asuka survives but Kouya sustains life threatening injuries. Just as everything seems lost a mysterious figure appears that promises Asuka to Save Kouya if she helps him with something.


As most of the story takes place in the past, and only the last minutes in the present this really feels like some sort of a prologue. Not to mention the drama ends with a cliffhanger. The cast themselves also comment on this in the cast talk, saying (or hoping) that there might be a second drama someday.

The story starts quite cheery, and that takes a rapid turn for dark drama and twisted feelings. Despite this I laughed out load at one of Dimitri his lines, simply because I never expected to hear it (if you really want to know, somewhere in a discussion where he is accused of 'doing all kinds of things to get higher up' he suddenly boldly responds with something along the lines of 'I don't do fellatio, it's not good for my throat'. I didn't see that one coming, and I was baking cake at the time so it was a really weird combination xD)

In my opinion there is a liiiitle bit too much drama overall, but it was still a very good story. I really hope that there will be a second volume someday, because this way you are literally suddenly left in the dark.

New Series: 週刊添い寝CD

Black Butterfly (the Company that also did Brother Android and Dolly) is starting a new CD series: 週刊添い寝CD (shuukan soine CD). In other words, the weekly sleeping together CD. No I am not kidding you.

The concept is that every week they release a new CD in which a boyfriend stays by your side until you fall asleep. They advise you to listen to it with a headphone or earphones. Meaning that the characters will probably really whisper into your ear.

Due to previous experiences with dramas that also advise that due to the characters talking into your ear or really close by (I am looking at you, Kannou Mukashi Banashi), I doubt I'll be sleeping much~ None the less, the first CD starts of with Hirakawa Daisuke, so I am interested (haha).

For now there are four volumes planned,. Even though all four voice actors are already known, the artwork for the last two hasn't been released yet. Hmmm.

- Vol.1: Hirakawa Daisuke
- Vol.2: Yasumoto Hiroki
- Vol.3: Tachibana Shinnosuke
- Vol.4: Terashima Takuma

The first CD releases on 2010.11.19, with the next one being released one weak later and so on. More info can be found on the official site.