Hayate x Blade Ultra Drama CD! Ichiban Hoshi! Zekkyoutsumeawase! (はやて×ブレード ウルトラドラマCD いちばん星！ 絶叫つめあわせ！) is a series of 4 short character pieces that aren’t tied into any one particular arc, but are in and of themselves really funny and, in the case of the final track, touching.

The title, for what it’s worth, appears to mean something like: First Star! An Assortment of Outcries!

The first track follows Hayate and Ayana as they patrol the school at night. Hayate gets to scream at just about every shadow and Ayana is allowed to trot out any number of grumpy, rude replies – just the way we like her.

The second track follows Jun and Yuho as they track down the real culprit in a series of underwear and bikini thefts. Everyone in the school is convinced that Jun is the criminal except for Yuho…not because she’s being nice, mind you. She just knows this isn’t Jun’s M.O.. The real culprit is found, but it’s not who you might think. ^_^

The third track was laugh out loud funny as Yukari accompanies Maki in a short walk that wanders across cliffs and into the jungle to find a good place to paint from.

The final track is more emotional than the others. Ayana and Hayate have it out over what Hayate really cares about and Yuho and Jun have a tender moment together. To wrap it up we spend a few more moments with Yukari and Maki, who seems to be able to find Yukari’s softs spots instantly.

Nothing here is really moves the story forward and you wouldn’t be getting this if you didn’t already love the characters. But, for the third and fourth tracks, if you *do* love the characters, this is a nice set of side stories that allows you to spend more time with them, get in a few chuckles and even an “awww” or two.

Ratings:

Overall – 8