Yuri Drama CD: Grand Stage Romance Review #5 “Akabara no Kimi” Suoh Yui (グラン・ステージ ロマンスレビュー 第5幕「赤薔薇の君 蘇皇唯」)

July 16th, 2017

If you learn one thing from Grand Stage Romance Review #5 “Akabara no Kimi” Suoh Yui (グラン・ステージ ロマンスレビュー 第5幕「赤薔薇の君 蘇皇唯」), it’s that the sound of a nod and a head shaking back and forth as represented by the movement of material sound completely different. How fascinating.

It’s not the only thing we learn, obviously. We also learn that, under her cool, sophisticated exterior, the woman who goes by the name Suoh Yui, the senior otokoyaku of the Grand Stage Sora-gumi, has a very passionate and possessive heart.

She invites us over her apartment to discuss our partnership, but doesn’t hesitate to note she has a large bed. Classy, Yui, classy. But as we speak, she almost offhandedly points out that she lets us see part of her that no one else can ever see. She is, as one might expect, teasing and seductive, but, also as expected, it’s all a joke. After we leave for the night, Yui starts to fret.

The next day, Yui comes across Hiou Akito shopping at a home goods store. It turns out that Akito and her partner are talking about moving in together and she’s finding herself looking for furniture. As Akito shares her concerns and doubts with Yui, Yui tells Akito that she reminds her a lot of herself. As Akito talks, she finds her her own unease growing and leaves. Akito says that this is the first time she’s seen Akabara like this. Yui starts to call us over and over. When we finally call back, she sounds desperately lonely…and a little frightening. She comes over to bring us back to her place.

When we get there, Yui tells us that we’re her’s…but when she sees us asleep, she realizes how much she’s fallen for us, watching us on stage. We’re awake and we hear everything she’s said. We embrace, as she asks us to be her Shirayuri-hime. We agree. Holding each other, we go to sleep, but not before she kisses us on the neck.

The next morning it’s all love-love banter between us. Again, Yui points out that we are the only one to see her like this. It’s obvious to us that her true self has been a well-kept secret.

Yui meets Akito once more, who asks about her relationship with her previous partner. Yui is glad to talk about it. Akito’s worried about asking her partner to move in, and is looking for a good time to ask. Yui’s advice is applicable to many situations – no one is like anyone else, every relationship and situation is unique. They both come out of the conversation relieved. Yui admits to being nervous about the announcement of the new Top Stars for the new year.

Yui comes home to find us cooking. She tells us that she kind of nervous and kind of relieved at the announcement, and offers us a “partner ring,” then embraces us and asks us to stay with her forever, her beloved Shirayuri.

The final track is a Spanish guitar-inspired song called “You’re mine.” Which you can hear in this Youtube clip:

As everyone had predicted this is a pretty darn Yuri CD. ^_^; And Saiga Mitsuki fans must have been downright swooning as she really pulls out all the stops her in her 10000x Yuri power up. A fine way to end the character CDs for this series.

Technically the Grand Stage Daiundokai is the final CD of the series, but I listened to the group CDs out of order, so I still have one left.

Ratings:

Overall – 10

The only thing I *don’t* know is who was announced in the stage play as the new Top Star! I can’t find any reviews of the play or spoilers. How vexing. I’m also a little bummed that this series is over and I’m not getting any more sexy-voiced Grand Stage Drama CDs, but I’m really glad to have gotten these. ^_^ And seriously we got two series, so I can’t complain too much. 

4 Responses

  1. Tiffy says:

    Hi Erica!

    I’m so happy to see you enjoyed Yui’s CD. It was definitely a fun listen. Saiga-san really delivered a stunning performance. I found myself moved by how well she conveyed the vulnerability Yui so expertly keeps hidden beneath the ‘Akabara no Kimi’ mask. I very distinctly remember feeling a bit unsatisfied with Yui’s first CD because I knew there had to be more to her than that picture perfect image. I even joked that she had a secret yandere side prior to the release of her Romance Revue, but didn’t expect that to actually be the case.

    I think I can answer your question about the stage play. Yui isn’t actually retiring as Akabara no Kimi; she just declines to play the main role in the special Halloween performance Grand Stage puts on every year. I believe the person who takes her place as the lead is Kohaku. I saw some tweets about it from Japanese fans, and if you check out the stage play’s official site, Kohaku is the first character introduced in the cast as opposed to how she’s the fourth character on the CD series’ official site. There was also a little more emphasis in the promotional material on her actress than there was on the other 4.

    But since Yui does seem to be retiring on her Romance Revue CD (some of her anxiety over her relationship with the listener stems from this), and Akito is the guest character, I feel like it’s subtly implied in their conversation that Akito is most likely going to succeed her as the new Akabara.

    Anyway, thank you so much for reviewing the CD. It’s always a pleasure getting to read your thoughts and impressions. I’m really looking forward to your post on the first drama CD. It’s very silly and lighthearted.

  2. Louis says:

    This is a bit late but… eldritch knot! Yui’s tie is in an eldritch knot and it looks amazing.

Leave a Reply to Tiffy