Are you sitting down? I hope so, because I’m going to say something that might shock you. Kannazuki no Miko Drama CD: Kimi no Mau Butai is…good, maybe even excellent. Seriously, it is. In fact, I can’t actually think of anything about this Drama CD that was bad, and parts of it are laugh out loud funny.

Since this DCD is actually made up of several interconnecting plots. I’ll do my best to summarize here:

It all begins with a bizarre gag with Souma and his brother Tsubasa, where they appear to be fighting but are actually playing baseball. Or maybe it’s the other way around. In any case – this gag with varying alternates on the gag part is repeated endlessly throughout the CD. Keep this in the back of your mind. It’ll be back.

It is school festival time. Both Souma and Chikane are starring in an original play as Prince and Princess. They are, of course, princely and princessly and everyone is squealing with delight as they swear their love, etc, etc. Himeko is also moved, even from her place as the person who cleans up backstage.

One night, after a meal (full of shitake mushrooms, thanks to Otoha’s loving care) Chikane asks Himeko to help her practice her lines. At first Himeko plays the prince, but Chikane asks her to play the princess, her role, so she can get a feel for Ohgami’s role. Himeko assents, and Chikane gets to swear eternal love to Himeko via her lines. There are several very amusing interruptions (complete with romantic violins screeching to a halt) by Otoha as Chikane attempts to get into the part. Himeko is freaked out by her reaction to Chikane’s embrace and muses out loud that it’s as if she’s in love with Chikane. Which freaks Chikane out.

Later, as the festival approaches, Souma asks Himeko if she’d help him practice his lines. Same scene, minus Otoha’s interruptions, but this time the tension is broken when Chikane appears and interrupts them at the crucial scene.

The play is a great success, but Chikane blows off her hordes of admirers to accompany Himeko around the festival grounds – to their great annoyance.

At this point, we get scattered scenes to let us know that the Orochi are all here at the festival and wreaking havoc wherever they go, some of which are rather amusing. In fact, throughout this CD, we get little vignettes which give us a pretty good idea of how and why these particular people became Orochi and what their major malfunctions are. Like the opening gag, put this concept on a back burner, but don’t lose it.

Chikane presents Himeko with a volume of manga by her favorite mangaka, and my third favorite Orochi, Reiko-sensei. Chikane has things to do, so she leaves Himeko on line for an autograph. During the signing, Reiko is really rude in response to Himeko’s fangirlishness, which puts Himeko in a sad mood. This is followed up by a cruel scene in which her former roommate, Mako-chan’s, sempai on the track team lays into her. Mako-chan pulls sempai away, but doesn’t have a word to say to Himeko. It is this moment that the Orochi choose to attack.

The Orochi who is a pop idol wannabe, Korona, calls this her ultimate performance. Korona throws herself at Souma, trying to seduce him to the dark side of the force and a little Orochi-doushi. Himeko’s screams breaks the spell and he rejects her forcibly, which pisses her off. Reiko-sensei who had her buttons pushed earlier joins in and of course, the rest of the Orochi jump on the chance.

Chikane runs away with Himeko, leaving Souma to fend for himself. Which he does, but pfft, who cares, Chikane got the girl – again.

After the carnage is over and the destruction is being cleared away, we get a framework of Reiko-sensei working on her next manga chapter. Chikane, in a separate but related scene, asks Himeko what she likes so much about Reiko-sensei’s manga. Himeko tries to explain but fails, until she tells Chikane all about the scene in which Asuka, the heroine, confesses her love for the princess. Chikane is all of a sudden much more interested in the manga, who’d have thunk it? Himeko acts out the part of Asuka’s confession of love to her dear friend. After she’s done, she asks why Chikane has that expression on her face and Chikane, in a moment of incredible genius says that she was thinking about something else and didn’t hear Himeko – could she go over that all again. Guileless Himeko complies happily, so excited that Chikane is interested in her manga now. ^_^ The framework ends with a bizarre scene of Reiko being extra super-duper rude to her editor. I really have to listen to this bit again, because I know there was important stuff I missed.

The final track is pure genius. Sister Miyako is holding confession for your sins. Each one of the “confessions” is funnier than the last and with each one, Sister Miyako loses patience sooner with the confessor and punches them out. The best one, by far, is when Himeko comes in to “confess”. Her hemming and hawing makes Miyako more and more impatient. When Himeko digresses into a long discussion of what Chikane is wearing, Miyako finally punches her out with a curt “Shut up already.” It’s hysterical, trust me. This track is where we really get a detailed glimpse of the Orochi and their issues. The whole track is really unique and interesting for that alone…but Sister Miyako whacking everyone just cracks me up.

After the end of this final track, we get a two minute long silence, and one last repeat of that weird gag with Tsubasa and Souma. Souma’s confused screams end the Drama CD.

Okay, so can anyone guess why I don’t dislike this CD? It’s not that it doesn’t have angst. It’s that it doesn’t have inexplicable behaviors. Everyone’s behavior and choices are entirely consistent with the personalities given to us in the anime. (And it is based on the anime, not the manga, for what it’s worth.) Internal consistency=win. The fact that my three favorite Orochi (Sister Miyako, Korona and Reiko, in that order) and Chikane and Himeko Yuri-service all get big spotlights helps, too.

The fact that it’s damn funny is icing on the cake. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – not entirely applicable, but I like what’s on the cover and in the booklet – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 8
Service – 3

Overall – 8

If only the anime or manga had been more like this.