News Post -Part 4-

Now that all of the Rejet news is out of the way (release dates for Kekkonroku and More,Blood have been added in the previous post btw) it is time to tackle the rest. I'm afraid it is going to become a bit random from here.

Like before, I have a lot to catch up on, so if I miss some details feel free to put them in a comment and I'll add them!



Meisaku Bungaku (warai)
After a long period of silence two new CDs have been announced for this lovable literature parody series.

The first one is おくのほそ道　～そうだ、伊勢に行こう～ (oku no hosomichi ~sou da, ise ni ikou~, The Narrow Road to the Interior ~Yes, Let's go to Ise~) which will be based on Oku no Hosomichi, a famous work by Basho. The release date for this one is 2013.04.24.

The second CD is ドン・キホーテ　～中二病でも旅がしたい！～ (don quixote ~chiinibyou demo tabi ga shitai~, Don Quixote ~I want to travel even if I do have chuunibyou~) which will obviously be based on the story of Don Quixote. "chuunibyou" is a phrase that denotes something like puberty. It literally means "middle school grade 2 illness" so picture the kind of silly things teenagers say and do, as well as their complexes when they are about 14 and you are on the right track. I am guessing that the title is also a shout out to the anime "chuunibyou demo koi ga shitai". This CD is planned for a 2013.06.26 release.

The cast for both CDs is yet to be announced



Sasayaki Micchaku
This series is trying its best to please me or something, first Hosoya, and now vol.6 will be voiced by Sakurai Takahiro!

The title for the 6th CD is 名探偵・蜜之城月彦の密室ミステリー (meitantei mitsunojou tsukihiko no misshitsu mistery, "the locked room mystery of the great detective Mitsunojou Tsukihiko") and like I mentioned above Tsukihiko will be voiced by Sakurai Takahiro.

Tsukihiko is a writer as well as detective. He occasionally comes across a case while he stays at his hotel for long periods (IE. practically lives there). This time you are a witness in a case, so he starts to interrogate you....♥

As always, part of the CD will be recorded with the dummy head mic. The CD is planned for a 2013.04.24 release.

Weekly News Post

Oujisama (warai)
Now that the Oujisama (warai) radio show has officially started airing, they have also announced a Radio CD. This CD will have the first 5 episodes, in which Cinderella, Rapunzel, the Emperor, Genji, and (the princes from) the little mermaid appear as guests, as well as a zadankai like in the drama CD's. The CD is Planned for 20012.08.22.


Risou Kareshi
Finally a bit more info on Risou Kareshi, and an official site. The characters are based on the results of an survey hold at the Animate Ikebukero store. I have no idea how the actual enquete looked, but the results are three different characters and their job, hobbies, personality, and even seiyuu.

The three characters are a 'cool' type (CV: Kamiya Hiroshi), a passionate type (CV: Ono Daisuke) and an amaenbo type (sweet, slightly spoiled. CV: unknown). It is interesting to see that while they have different personalities, certain things overlap. Both the cool and the amaenbo boyfriend have cooking as an hobby for example, while both the passionate and cool types are prone to showing tears...

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.

Weekly News Post

Where is the time I had like 16 reviews ready to be posted, hahaha...*sigh*  Anyway, the news.


Oujisama (warai)
The seiyuu for the next prince has been announced: Yusa Kouji. This series is gathering more and more popular seiyuu.... Also, if you go to the official site you'll see that the top has been changed to an image celebrating the Setsubun (the last day of winter）.


Meisaku Bungaku (warai)
The cast for the upcoming CD 'the Ant and the Grasshopper' has been announced. Hino Satoshi will voice the ant, while the grasshopper will be voiced by Fukuyama Jun, and finally Terashima Takuma will voice the stag beetle, though I have no idea where he comes into the story.

The official blog also states that the parody version will also return in this CD. So look forward to the story of the ant and the grasshopper being adapted into: a band version, an idol version, job hunting, and a marriage proposal.

Weekly News Post

One day late. Managing Christmas holidays at my parents and keeping a steady release schedule turns out to be quite a challenge. Although I have to admit that my PS3 is guilty of stealing some of my time, most of it is taken by amigurumi. I never thought the day would come that I would be crocheting untill 3am because I felt I almost got it this time (as you can guess, I am pretty hopeless with it). But, on to the news.


Kannou Jikan 7

With the start of a new series I expected (hoped?) that Kannou Jikan would end, but instead Hituzigumo just announced vol 7. 春の賛歌と神隠しの岩屋 (Haru no Sanga to Kamikakushi no Iwaya) is a story about a Demon who falls in love with a god and locks her away in a cave. But because he years to see her, he visits her once a year... While I was contemplating whether or not I would force myself to listen this time I noticed the seiyuu: Hirakawa Daisuke. Damn you Hituzigumo, you just know that I will be forced to listen to it now. The release is set for 2012.03.02. And is that Sesshoumaru on te cover on the right?

While reading up on their blog I discovered that the series would continue; it is stated that it would continue in a blog entry posted on 17 november. But there was anothing interesting (and useless) discovery. Remember Hituzigumo their Aprils Fool joke? The so called exercise video? Yeah, that is Subaru, the character for the first Amemakura CD.


Lovers Only
A somewhat surprising new was announced by Momo & Grapes. Lovers Only is described as a CD "in which popular seiyuu whisper a love story that is slightly adult, just for you". The short summary describes the sales manager Ichiyanagi who goes to a business trip to China with a subordinate (I assume, that will be you). The business part is going well, however during the trip the already married Ichiyanagi falls for his subordinate...  The CD is voiced by Morikawa Toshiyuki, and is set for release on 2012.02.28.

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.

Weekly News Post

Hello again! I've been changing little things around the site. To begin with the link to audiowiki has been removed, because it has been on hiatus for quite a while now, and several new links have been added under the 'drama label' section. I'm still working on the by now impossibly long list of tags, but I have yet to find a proper solution for that one.


Oujisama (warai)
The covers for Oujisama (warai) Gakuen and Oujisama (warai) Variety 2nd Season have been uploaded on the official site. I like the cover for Oujisama (warai) Gakuen a lot, but compared the the 1st Vacation CD, doesn't the cover for 2nd Season look a bit simple?

 

Bokutachi Otoko no Ko

A new episode in the lives of our three little cross-dressing idols has been announced: ”Bokutachi Otoko no Ko　~Masaka no Scandal~. Not much info about the plot yet, except that as the title implies there will probably be some sort of scandal.

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.

Oujisama (warai) Yomikatari CD Vol.1

 

王子様（笑）シリーズ 読み語りCD ～君に捧ぐ物語～ 第1集

Company: Frontierworks
Based on: Fairy tales
Released: 2010.09.08
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 fairytales. 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.

Just to be clear, I use the names 'Cinderella' 'Snow White' and 'Rapunzel' for each of the princes just like in the CD.

This first CD has the princes from the first CD in the main series reading their own story, while the other two make comments. Just to refresh your memory, the first CD featured Cinderella (CV: Suzumura Kenichi), Snow White (CV: Nakai Kazuya) and Rapunzel (CV: Ishida Akira).

They've kept the exact same order as before, meaning Cinderella is first in line. And he tries to simplify things with "A long time ago there was a girl named Cinderella, and then some bad stepsisters, some magic, and glass shoes and a lot of other stuff happened and she married the prince" xD Unfortunately for him Snow White forces him to properly read the story, so he reluctantly does so.

Next is Snow White, who reads his story. As things progresses the others keep making comments about the princess being a monster, which Snow White keep ignoring. In the end he himself can't finish the end of the story because he is reminded of a certain event though xD (the end of the story referring to the second half of the story, the original story doesn't end when the prince and princess marry).

Rapunzel is last, and by that time Cinderella and Snow White have started on drinks and snacks because they are relieved now their own turn has ended. Despite that Rapunzel actually does a pretty good job at reading the story. The most brilliant thing is how Cinderella and Snow White seem to be surprised at the lack of magic in the story xD

Even though they are 'supposed' to be reading the original story, the constant remarks makes this a lot of fun to listen to again. They are also constantly breaking down the fourth wall again, like how they are commenting on the previous CDs in the beginning and make references to the 3rd volume (which wasn't released yet at that point). The entire CD is pretty short, just under 30min in fact, but I don't think that it should have been much longer, this was just good.

Nakai-san his cast comment is pretty hilarious. He is always doing his recordings for the series alone, so in the middle of lamenting this and hoping that if the series continues long enough he'll get a chance to do the recording together with the rest he runs out of time and suddenly ends the comment xD



Conclusion:
You need to have heard the first CD to enjoy this, otherwise the personalities of the three princes make no sense. Not to mention all of the references to the CD make no sense either. At under 30min this is nice snack material, and while not being nearly as funny as the main series it is still a good CD.

Warumono (warai) series: Okami ha tsurai yo

 わるもの(笑)シリーズ 狼はつらいよ

Company: Frontierworks
Based on: Fairytales
Released: 2011.10.26
Official Site: http://www.fwinc.co.jp/www/


After the Oujisama (warai) and Meisaku Bungaku (warai) series we now also have the Warumono (warai) series. This time the so called 'bad guys' are in the spotlight, and this is the second vol. which centres on the (big bad) wolf. First things first though: the jacket illustration!! *drools*  I'm sorry, I'll get back to reviewing...

What if the Wolf from Red Riding Hood, the 7 little Goats, and the Three Little Piggies was the same wolf?? That is the concept behind this CD. We start with the wolf (CV: Shimono Hiro), who is writing a letter to his mama mother about how well he is managing living on his own, only to break down crying saying that he hasn't managed to catch a single thing. Just at that moment Red Riding Hood (CV: Yoshino Hiroyuki) passes by. With a basket full of ingredients to make curry, and carrying a stun gun. And to top things off, Red Riding Hood is a HE.

After getting into a lot of trouble with Red Riding Hood the wolf sees Mother Goat leave her 7little kids behind to go shopping. And thus he tries to get in the house. The door is opened by one of the little goats (CV: Yasumoto Hiroki) and... no words can describe his. Picturing a little goat with that voice, it just doesn't work xD  Anyway, they eventually decide to play hide and seek, with the added difficulty that the entire house turns into a ninja-trapdoor-and-hidden-mechanic-mansion.

After turning completely vegetarian for a while after the that the wolf decides to eat the three little (gourmet) piggies. So he makes a phone call whether he can arrange an interview with them but the three of them have their own plans with the wolf as well... He first arrives at the house of the oldest (CV: Yasumoto Hiroki) where he is burried in herbs, then he arrives at the house of the second (CV: Yasumura Makoto) where they try to turn him into smoked wolf, and after surviving all that he arrives at the house of the youngest one (CV: Yoshino Hiroyuki) where they confess they wanted to try and cook him xD

As expected from the warai series, the stories are brilliantly transformed into something hilarious. Red Riding Hood being a male (delinquent), the much too mature sounding little goat, and the three little piggies trying too eat the wolf instead of the other way around. All of them were brilliant. Also, was that a Tiger and Bunny reference in the last story???

I loved Shimono-san his wolf. So cute. And no wonder he can't catch a thing if he gets distracted by how cute a rabbit is when it is hopping around xD Yasumoto-san his voice is to die for in any situation, and the three little piggies all just sound too sexy. I think I was going to say something insightful but I forgot.

The cast talk was ok. Shimono, Yasumoto and Yasumura are just fooling around and leave weird messages for Yoshino (who did his recording later). Although Yasumoto-san does talk a bit more serious about Yabu no Naka (which you really should listen to if you haven't yet!!).


Conclusion:
The first vol. was already good, but I like this one even better! Although that might have something to do with Yasumoto-san his voice. I really really hope that they will make more entries to this series. (although I have no idea what kind of stories I'd like to hear).

Also, Shimono's wolf in no way matches the cover. But that is totally irrelevant as soon as I stare at the picture again.

Weekly News Post

To start with some non drama CD news: I officially have a tumblr now. It's over here. Of course drama CD's are heavily featured, but there is also other stuff that interests me. Just keep in mind that, while this blog and the tumblr are somewhat related, this blog is for proper reviews while the tumblr is for random remarks and incoherent posts.


Oujisma (warai) series
Both Oujisama (warai) Variety drama 2 and Oujisama (warai) IF ~Oujisama Gakuen~ will go on sale on 2012.01.25, but both will be available beforehand at the winter Comiket.

For those who have bought both the first vacation CD and the second vacation CD (the variety drama's, they shouldn't change the titles, it is confusing): a special CD called 'Hadaka no Oujisama' will be gisfted as a bonus if you send the special coupons found on both CD to frontier works. (I have no idea whether this will also work for those living outside of Japan). Thanks to Annadiel for pointing this out!!


Kannou Mukashi Banashi
The staff just posted a picture of the Kannou CD box on their blog. It looks like besides the first 6CD's (the box is for the first season, meaning the first 6CD's) a seventh CD which includes a story for Puss in Boots. Which is kind of strange considering that the cover of the box is from Bluebeard. Let's just hope the box holds more surprises.

Another blog post mentions a limited edition drama CD that will be sold at 5pb's "Otome Carnival": a dramatized version of how Kannou Mukashi banashi came to be (if I'm understanding this right, the announcement has me majorly confused). A version of 'the ugly duckling', done by 10(!) seiyuu will also be read live.


La Storia della Arcana Famiglia
The release list on frontier works their homepage lists a drama CD for Arcana Famiglia titled  アルカナ・ファミリア」capitolo 1　～アーレ！ ノヴィーツィア！ 頑張れ新米幹部～ (Arcana Famiglia capitulo 1 ~Ale! Novicia! Ganbare shinmai kanbu!~) to be released on 2012.01.25

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 (^-^;;)

Warumono (warai) series: Wataru Sekai wa Oni Darake

わるもの（笑）シリーズ　渡る世間は鬼だらけ

Company: Frontierworks
Based on: Japanese folklore
Released: 2011.09.22
Official Site: http://www.fwinc.co.jp/www/

After the Oujisama (warai) and Meisaku Bungaku (warai) series we now also have the Warumono (warai) series. This time the so called 'bad guys' are in the spotlight, and this first vol. starts with the Oni (demons) from various stories.

The Aka-Oni (from Momotarou, CV: Fujiwara Keiji), Ki-Oni (from Issun Boushi, CV: Okiayu Ryoutarou) and Ao-Oni (CV: Konishi Katsuyuki) are meeting at a karaoke bar to hang out. Apparently the've booked some kind of special arrangement where they can play the handheld game "Momotarou Quest 2" for some time (instead of actually doing Karaoke xD)

The Aka-Oni thinks it is absurd that they are playing a game in which they have to try and beat themselves, but the others seem fine with it. From here on the story switches between one of the demons telling his story about how it actually happened (as opposed to the legend) and the three of them sitting in the karaoke bar, sometimes joined by one of the employees (CV: Sakurai Takahiro, who also voices all of the heroes btw).

The Aka-Oni his story is that they never took any gold, and that the village was simply enjoying slow-life when Momotarou came barging in and demanding gold, the Ki-Oni his story is that he and Issun Boushi were actually friends who fell in love with the same girl, the Ao-Oni tells how his attempt to convince people that Oni don't eat children backfired.

The original folklore stories are twisted brilliantly, as expected from the series. Like Fujiwara-san explains in the cast talk, the aim is not to make you cry with laughter, but to make you smile every few minutes, so don't expect any extremely funny moments but in overall it is very amusing. Some of the things I loved were the reference to Urusei Yatsura and when they are talking about how Oni are different from humans (as they look almost the same) and that they conclude that Oni are simply extremely weak.

Another nice touch is the final track, where the employee returns to the staff room and is talking with a colleague. As it turns out he might not be just a normal employee...

The cast talk was pretty funny. Sakurai and Fujiwara-san their part is semi-serious, but Konishi-san and Okiayu-san mostly go on about how they want "Momotarou Quest" to become an actual game xD Interestingly enough, they mention that there might be another with all of the Oni. But no details on whether that are just speculations or that there are actually plans for more entries to the warumono (warai) series...


Conclusion:
Another nice work by the people behind the warai series. Like I said, no laughing out loud, but it is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. That is all there is to say really (^-^;;)

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.

Weekly News Post

Comiket 80 starts today, making me almost depressed about all the tokuten I am missing. I really really need to go someday. But as it is I'm not in Japan at the moment, and even if I were, I'm much to scared to go by myself xD


Oujisama (warai)

a rough sketch of the prince for the upcoming little mermaid story has been released. In the description they say that his character is "sweet", but for now his sketch looks everything but sweet to me. The first thing I thought was "another Cinderella?!".

Maybe he'll look sweet if he smiled a bit more (^-^;;)


Bokutachi otoko no ko
a mini drama will be released on the mobile distribution site Pocket Drama. The mini drama is called タマのドキドキ☆妄想デート (Tama no dokidoki☆mousou date, Tama his dokidok☆fantasy date) so I suppose Tama will be going on a date?! It is only distributed for mobile, so unless you have a Japanese phone there is sadly no way of listening to it.

Weekly News Post

A little late, but here is the news!



Yandere Heaven
The official site has been updated with voice clips for both characters and a short preview! It might just be my love of butlers, but Minase is... ♥. The preview is surprisingly fun, until things go yandere of course. After that is is just love~ 


Momogre
Versailles no Bara, one of momogre their men's only stories, will get a side story. Not much is know yet except the title and a (very) short plot description: ベルサイユのばら外伝～黒衣の伯爵夫人～ (versailles no bara ~kurogo no hakushakufujin~, the Rose of Versailles ~the countess in black~). The original cast will meet a mysterious countess at Oscar his sister her mansion... and that is all that is known for now, other than that the release date will be 2011.10.27

Weekly News Post

Mousou Este
Ever wondered what Noel was doing at a beauty clinic? Well, it turns out that he is an esthetician too! Or at least, in his dreams. The special CD ノエルの白昼夢 (noel no hakuchuumu, Noel his daydream) will be released during Comiket 80. If anyone is there and planning to get it, keep in mind that it will only be on sale during the second and third day!

                                             Yandere Heaven 4

Appearently they made a whole new site for yandere 4, no wonder they didn't add anything to the existing one *grumbles*. Ah well, at least that means there is an offical site. No preview or cast interview yet, but lots of other yandere goodness to look at.

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!