Drama CDs are all the rage these days (well, actually, they’ve always been the rage at my house) – not only does every anime have a few floating around, but many more games and manga which have never been made into anime do as well. Of course, there’s a Maria-sama ga Miteru Drama CD (which I will review later this week.) And now, from Sun Publishing, the people who brought you Yuri Shimai, comes Koi Shimai, the first “Girl’s Love” drama CD.

Koi Shimai is the sound drama of the first story of the first volume of Yuri Shimai, the tale of Haruna and Chika and how they met and fell in love. (This story was the printed story in the first volume – not the first manga. The cover is an illustration of Chika and Haruna.) Their story is melodramatic and predictable – pretty much like all the stories in Yuri Shimai, but as it had pretty color pictures, I have to give it a thumbs up.

The CD begins with Chika, as the new kid in school. She’s feeling a little out of her depth when cool upperclassman Haruna shows up and offers to help her. It turns out that Haruna has been sent to find Chika and take her on a tour of the grounds. They get along really well immediately, so Haruna takes Chika to a quiet, pretty spot that she knows. Of course, Chika falls pretty hard for Haruna while sitting with her in this romantic place. So, when Chika falls and Haruna bandages her with her handkerchief, Chika’s in seventh heaven.

But, when she tries to give the hankie back, Chika realizes that she likes Haruna, but the older girl isn’t sure of her feelings. When Haruna offers to tutor Chika, the younger girl thinks things are going well – but her score on the test is so high that she is accused of cheating! Haruna tells Chika that she believes in her – that Chika is her most important person…

The voice actors are pretty good – fairly typical of their kind. Cute girly voice for Chika, polite sweet voice for Haruna, kiddy voice for Haruna’s little sister Akiho (and one of Chika’s classmates) and a deep, cool voice for Hiiragi Touko, the plot complication for the next CD . ^_^

If you can understand basic Japanese – and I mean *basic* – you’ll be able to understand this CD. It’s that predictable.

Nonetheless, how many Drama CDs do you know that are girl/girl romances, with a kiss scene and everything? For that reason alone, Koi Shimai is totally worth having. ^_^

Ratings:
Story – 7
Yuri – 10
Characters – 8
Voice Acting – 8
Music –

Overall – 8