Archive for the Drama CDs & Audiobooks Category


Yuri Drama CD: Kyuusei End Contents Positive:Encount (九彩エンドコンテンツ)

April 25th, 2019

It’s been a good long while since I had a couple of hours to just sit and listen to a Drama CD. Honestly, it felt really good to stick a giant headset on and unconnect from reality. ^_^ One of the several CDs I had backed up on the to-listen pile was by Fujieda Miyabi, Kyuusei End Contents Positive:Encount (九彩エンドコンテンツ). This independently produced Drama CD is the prequel of his Kyuusei End Contents manga, which has appeared in Comic Cune magazine.

The CD begins with a track of Nagomi with her lover Tsurugi, demanding a little attention. The story then backtracks to how they met. Tsurugi is a clothing designer suffering from creator’s block and Nagomi is a young woman she meets on the street. Nagomi has nowhere to go, so Tsurugi takes her in. Nagomi is blown away by Tsurugi’s work and, it turns out, is a huge fan. Nagomi’s cheerful enthusiasm and her cute look inspires Tsurugi, who has found her muse at last. The block is broken and Tsurugi gets to work.

Nagomi and Tsurugi have an extended conversation about what to call one another now that they are a couple. They settle on Tsurugi-chan and Nago-chan. By itself, this is not breathtaking, but come back tomorrow and we’ll do it again for a completely different CD!

This CD is short and, compared to Fujieda-sensei’s Kotonoha no Miko to Kotodama no Majyo to series, thin on content. But as the Kyuusei End Contents manga was itself a series of super-short shorts, it fits in well with the style and isn’t much lighter and fluffier than Ame-iro-Kouchkan Kandan. More than anything, it was just nice to see something new from Fujieda-sensei!

Ratings:

Art – 8 Always cute and sweet
Story – 7 Fairly simple girl-meet-girl, girl-moves-in-with-girl
Characters – 7 We don’t spend long enough with them to get to know them well. I’d like to know more about Tsurugi
Service – 6 We start off with some suggestive conversation
Yuri – 7 Same as above

Overall – 7

I have no idea where I picked this up, though. Maybe at Comitia? Or was it at Comic Zin? I honestly don’t know, but it was one of his Winter Comiket 2018 original works.

 

 





Yuri Voice Manga: Omoi no Kakera (想いの欠片) on A-Koe

April 1st, 2019

A-Koe is a fascinating newish site that brings various manga to life in an unique way – these manga are voiced along with moving readable panels. These are presented to the public for free with, it appears, the creator’s approval. (It was Takemeiya-sensei’s tweet about this voiced manga that drew my attention to it, in fact.)  The selection at A-ko is primarily BL with a number of manga from Rakeun le Paradis magazine, including Kazuma Kowo’s Dear Tearand the subject of today’s review, Takemiya Jin’s Omoi no Kakera.

You may recall that Omoi no Kakera was a three volume series, following young out lesbian Mika who falls for older women. I’ve reviewed all three Volumes here (Volume 1 | Volume 2 |Volume 3) and consider it an excellent manga and a unique one, as it has more than one character identified as a lesbian, and uses lesbian and gay slang in context.

A-koe’s team is excellent. The visual transitions of the manga really help make the words simple to follow, the voice actresses (who are all credited on the page linked above) do a fine job of bringing the characters to life.
It helps to be able to understand spoken or written Japanese, but if your Japanese is not great, the combination of the two really helps attach word pronunciation to kanji. The quality of the visuals is high and can be easily expanded to full screen. Readers can access the chapters by either creating a free account or logging in with Twitter or Facebook.

Ratings:

Overall – 10

This is a genuinely delightful way to experience an excellent Yuri manga. Quite possibly my favorite combination of voice and text so far. Instead of having to click through endless screens, I can sit back and let an excellent story teller tell me a story, with her own visuals animated and given life and form by talented actresses. Akasaki Chinatsu does a bang up job as Mika.





Yuri Drama CD: Ryoukakuiin to Kase-san (緑化委員と加瀬さん。)

August 2nd, 2018

Included with the deluxe volume of Sakura to Kase-san (さくらと加瀬さん。), the 4th volume of the Kase-san manga series (which will be released in English by Seven Seas as Kase-san and Cherry Blossoms in late 2018) is an original drama CD, Ryoukakuiin to Kase-san (緑化委員と加瀬さん。) This CD contains two tracks, both from Apron to Kase-san (released in English by Seven Seas in early 2018 as Kase-san and an Apron). 

The first track begins with Kase-san telling Yamada (and therefore us) about how she came to know who Yamada was…and how Kase-san became inspired by her, just as her own motivation for running was flagging. Yamada’s drive to enjoy being the sole member of the greenery committee gave Kase-san the desire to run again for fun. 

The second track is a short in which Kase-san is desperate to find something to get Yamada for her birthday, so she enlists the questionable help of Miwacchi. 

The cast remains the same as the previous Drama CDs and the OVA animation, so we’re starting to get a body of voice acting for Yamada and Kase-san and can now settle in, knowing who and what they will sound like.

This deluxe edition also includeds a mini-clearfile, with imagines of the Kase-san series LINE stamps that were released last spring…and which, I inexplicably have. When I got to Japan for the Yuriten, coins magically manifested on my LINE account and I was able to pick those stamps up. I have absolutely no idea how, as I do nothing on LINE to generate coins. I think it was just the Yuri gods smiling favorably upon me. ^_^ Anyway…the clearfile is cute. 

Ratings: 

Art – 7 Adorable SD characters adorn the disk 
Voice Acting – 10 They sound perfect, I couldn’t ask for better.
Story – 7 
Character – 8
Yuri – 4 Implicit since we know that they are a couple now, but not overt
Service – 1

Overall – 7

I haven’t yet read all the chapters in Book 4 and I am looking forward to it! Chek back in a few days for the revew.





Yuri Drama CD: Jitensha to Kase-san (自転車と加瀬さん)

June 20th, 2018

The Asagao to Kase-san movie is still in theaters (and has added some new theaters this week, which will be getting it in July). It’s really all kinds of wonderful. Typically anime OVA/theatrical releases hit theaters for a week, then go straight to DVD. This Blu-Ray is available at theaters with proof of a ticket. In fact, they’ve had to restock theaters. So, wow! 

Earlier in the year when the tickets first hit the stores, our YNN Kase-san Correspondent Verso S kindly offered to buy one on my behalf so I could have the Drama CD which was one of the very first rewards for ticketholders. ^_^ Never beyond abusing a friendship in order to get a Drama CD, I jumped on that. (The ticket itself went to the lovely Uchida-san from the Yuriten to thank her for her help.)

Jitensha to Kase-san (自転車と加瀬さん) is a 20-minute long voice drama version of the first two chapters of Asagao to Kase-san, (published in English by Seven Seas as Kase-san and Morning Glories). Yamada is voiced by Takahashi Minami and Kase-sen by Sakura Ayane.

The story is told from the point of view of Yamada as she notices and begins to have feelings for Kase-san, the school’s track star. It’s pretty much told word for word, so if you’re familiar with the source material, it’s a simple and entertaining listen. 

Ratings:

Art – 7 Adorable SD characters adorn the disk in a clear jewel case
Voice Acting – 10 They sound perfect, I couldn’t ask for better.
Story – 7 
Character – 8
Yuri – 6 First love is sweet, but I’ll never quite *like* it. I always feel a bit squicky when I’m in a high schooler’s head as she notices another girl romantically or sexually for the first time. ^_^;
Service – 2 

Overall – 8

As an appetizer to the movie it’s perfect. The voices fit the characters well and all I want to do now is get my hands on that Blu-Ray! Right now it’s only available through 3rd party sellers for usurious rates and against the whole point of it being available to ticket holders. As soon as it gets a general release, I’ll get you a link.





Drama CD: Kara no Shoujo Tenni Musubuyume (虚ノ少女-天に結ぶ夢-)

May 27th, 2018

You may be familiar with the Flowers Yuri Visual Novel franchise, with it’s classic girl’s school setting. We’ve had several reviews here on Okazu of the VNs, Jye’s discussion of the VN in Japanese and mine in English.

Last year, as I was perusing one thing or another, I encountered a suggestion for something a little different – an Original Drama CD from Innocent Grey. Kara no Shoujo Tenni Musubuyume  (虚ノ少女-天に結ぶ夢-) is a two-disk Drama CD set from the same team that brought you Flowers. The first disk immediately recalls the tone of Flowers – gothic depression meets ‘S’-informed school.

Yukiko is a girl with a dark past. People she cared about have died, several of her friends among them. But these have all been classified as “accidents.” She is surprised and pleased when Mie wants to be her friend. The two of them become close and then very close. Yukiko feels a bit bad this time, one hopes, when she kills Mie. But at least it allows the police to finally arrest her.

The second drama CD is obscure and vaguely Dante-ish. A wooden doll finds herself in the afterlife with no memory of her life. She is first met by an angel who brings her to Purgatory, where she is handed over to a goat-man who acts as a guide. He pushes her to remember her sins in life and, when at last she does, she recalls that she had been a rabbit. 

The vocal tones of the series are grim and gothic, the music tends towards atmospheric and angelic.  The voice acting was done well enough. I’m not entirely sure if I enjoyed either story, but I am deeply disappointed that Mie did not kill Yukiko first, and that the goat-man’s name was not Baphomet. These were missed opportunities in the story-telling and the whole gets points off for blowing both. 

Ratings:

Overall – 6

Like the VN authored by this team, the intentions were good, but they needed some help in execution. I think I would make a fine Drama CD and/or VN editor, if overly an overly critical one. ^_^