Archive for the Drama CDs & Audiobooks Category


Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta Drama CD, Special Edition (ドラマCD 気になってる人が男じゃなかった)

September 30th, 2024

Pictured: On a green background, a person in a hoodie, glasses and a mask, with a wrist tattoo of a musical frequency, crouches down to look at us, while a high school girl with long, wavy hair stands above them, looking down at them with a shocked expression.Last week, I was able to review the upcoming Yen Press release of Sumiko Arai’s popular manga The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All. It was a pleasure to share that review because Yen had done a very good job.I hope you’ll all read that review, and pre-order the book.

While I was on vacation, I took the Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta Drama CD (ドラマCD 気になってる人が男じゃなかった) with me to listen to on the plane.  And it, too, was fun. The cast did a terrific job, with the OTT reactions of the story. Ise Mariya as Mitsuki and especially Kito Akari as Aya really carried the narrative.

Going into this, I was very interested in how they would handle the issue of the music, since 90s 00s music are at the heart of this story. As popular as this series is, there was no way they were going to license every song mentioned in the manga. The approach they took was interesting. We mostly hear the music as if we are listening to someone else listening to them on earphones, so the notes are muted and the tune is implied by a short riff or a bass line. It worked well if you are familiar with the songs in question.
At the climax of the CD, they did license one song, Radiohead’s Creep – a great choice for the story and for Ise’s voice.

The Special Edition includes an booklet with a new, short manga showing us little Aya’s discovery of western rock, and a cute scene between her and Miysuki in story time.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Music – 9 The climax is on point
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 7

Overall – 9

Like most Drama CDs, nothing new is added to the story, but it gives us a new perspective on the characters as we hear them now as they torture themselves. ^_^ It was a fun time with characters we’ve already grown to like, which is what we want from a CD. And if Ise and Kito are the voices used for the anime…they’ll be great. 





I’m in Love with the Villainess Audiobook, Volume 5

May 3rd, 2024

Two women, one with long blonde hair, one with medium length dark brown hair, wearing lab coats, hold hands and smile gently into each other's eyes, while sparks of lightening flash behind them.In I’m in Love with the Villainess Audiobook, Volume 5, Rae, Claire, the main cast and we, the listeners, learn the “Truth of the World,” and it is not anything we could have expected.

But, first, the combined power of Rae and Claire and their children, Aleah and May, will unlock powerful magic, will complete a coup, and remake the world entirely…. and then they will take on the three Archdemons and finally the powerful Demon Queen herself.

And we will marvel as this fantasy isekai turns into something else, entirely.

And, then, they will all go home to live, one presumes, happily every after.

This final volume of inori’s epic fantasy series pulls in a lot of the random loose ends that had been strewn about the narrative. Why, for instance, does Rae keep running into people with her exact face? Why does magic work the way it does? Why does the Demon Queen want to destroy humanity? All these questions will be answered. If you have not yet read the ending, I expect it will surprise you. It certainly made me rethink everything I knew about this story and the characters.

Once again, the whole has been narrated by Courtney Shaw and she has done a fine job. She committed to the choices made in earlier volumes, so anything that rubbed me the wrong way remained, and, once again, a choice was made for pronunciation that was at odds with my choice, but I’ll get over that. ^_^ I hope inori-sensei was happy with the choices made and that really is all that matters.^_^

Ratings (for the adaptation only):

Overall – 10

If you haven’t been moved to read the books (and I am not the person to insist you do) or you have, and really love them,  I highly recommend listening to the audiobooks for a new way to appreciate them, to engage with the story or just to sit back and hear the characters come to life.

And the story is not quite done with! Next moth will see the debut of I’m in Love with the Villainess: She’s so Cheeky for a Commoner Audiobook, Volume 1, the first of three volume telling the story from Claire and others’ points of view. As I said with the LN editions, these contain a lot of original content, so don’t skip them. There is a lot happening from other people’s perspectives. Only the Google Play link is available so far, but I’ll add the rest as they become available.

 





I’m in Love with the Villainess Audiobook, Volume 4

March 3rd, 2024

We left Rae and Claire in the Nur empire at the end of Volume 3, and in I’m in Love with the Villainess Audiobook, Volume 4 we get into the weeds of so many plots that I’m still reeling from the tone shifts.

Rae and Claire may be “exchange students” but they have revolution on their minds and spend the beginning of the book thinking how they can train Princess Philene up to be the revolutionary leader they need.

But first, we have a cooking contest! And a formal ball. And a murder mystery, and a mysterious magical item, and a kidnapping. And helping out many different people in their various personal issues.

And, of course, that revolution.

There are so many plates being spun that the foreshadowing is barely noticeable, except when it’s a bat to the back of the head.

This is a story that, despite the light-hearted opening, becomes quite serious by the end. Nonetheless, there are many funny scenes* here, as well as a number of sincere discussions of queer existence. When all of that is set aside, the story digs in and becomes both politically and magically, dark.

Once again, narrator Courtney Shaw does a fantastic job at voices. Pronunciation is still an issue, however. Pronouncing Lene “Lean” is a matter of interpretation. But sakura? How is sakura being pronounced “sa-KOO-ra” in 2024? Please.  Oh well. I blame the director. This kind of thing is easy to check. I had some qualms about accents, but I’ll get over listening to a German cook with a Italian accent and a lisp. It was kind of funny after a while.

This 9 and half hour book is a lot of entertainment for the money and while it sets up the final volume of the series, doesn’t really prepare you for it when it arrives

Once again, I think this audiobook allows for a different appreciation of the story for those of use who have read or watched it, and offers accessibility to folks who use audiobooks as an assistive tool. I’m 100% for that and glad to see more Yuri available in this format with Yen’s The Executioner and Her Way of Life added to the roster this winter.

Ratings (for the adaptation only):

Overall – 10

*I even laughed out loud at a breast size scene, possibly for the first time ever.

Volume 5, the final volume, is available this month from Seven Seas Siren.





I’m in Love with the Villainess Audiobook, Volume 3

February 16th, 2024

Two young women, wearing white dresses, one with blonde ringlets and one with medium length brown hair stand with two blonde children, one in a pink dress, the other in a blue dress.When I reviewed Heimin no Kuse ni Namaikina!, Volume 3 (平民のくせに生意気な！), I said I would tell you all about my weakness. Well, as I read this volume I realized that my weakness is, of all things, the twins. I don’t much like children, or children characters and stories that show or use violence or exploitation against children usually make me really angry. But these two….youch. They gouge me right in the feels.

So Courteny Shaw’s narration of I’m in Love with the Villainess Audiobook, Volume 3 had me a blithering mess for pretty much every scene that covered the changing circumstances and lives of twins May and Aleah, the adopted daughters of Rae and Claire.

Shaw’s voices for the characters are very good. I could half-listen and still know exactly who was speaking. Her iteration of Aleah’s voice is especially interesting, as we know Aleah grew up int the slums, but she speaks with an approximation of Claire’s highborn accent and style.

The story wraps up the final pieces of the Revolution arc, then quickly launches us into the Nur arc, which gives Shaw a chance to crete voices for key characters like Philene and Dorothea, as well as Frieda’s excruciating mishmash of accent.  ^_^

By this point in the story, inori-sensei’s writing had really settled into a rhythm which makes this book move incredibly quickly. It helps too, that this volume includes many side stories from other character perspectives…and a big ole’ goopy happy scene for us to enjoy.

Ratings (for the adaptation only):

Overall – 10

As I have said of Volumes 1 and Volume 2, the only downside is the occasional odd pronunciation, but as the audiobook is in every other way, an excellent production, I’m just rolling with it at this point. Most importantly, this series makes the light novels more accessible  and I am 100% for that! Maybe reading the LNs wasn’t to your taste, but you want to know what happened after the anime? Try the I’m In  Love With The Villianess audiobooks – they are worth a listen.

Volume 4 hit devices this month, so we can even more demons, Sword Gods and food battles in the empire!





I’m in Love with the Villainess Audiobook, Volume 2

January 12th, 2024

A girl with collar-length brown hair wearing a fanciful red school uniform grips the shoulders of a blonde girl in the same uniform as she kisses her. Pink flower petals fly around them.Rae and Claire are about to face their reckoning, once again, in I’m in Love with the Villainess Audiobook, Volume 2.  The revolution is upon them, the various forces are arrayed against them and their allies are dispersed. Will Rae Taylor, reborn into this world, be able to save her Villainess love?

This second volume is even better than the first in terms of story. Everything between Rae and Claire moves more quickly, as the forces pushing the revolution increase the pressure. The wave of change catches the two of them up and some significant things are done and said. Narrrator Courtney Shaw is absolutely brilliant, especially as Claire at the climax of the narrative. Equally, she’s delivers devastating pathos in the final chapters of the book. Those of you who have read it know why. Those who have not, may wish to have a tissue or hanky at the ready. The only complaint I have is the continued (and in this volume, expanded) odd choices for pronunciation of a few names, but it’s not worth getting upset over. It’s just a small minor objection to what is otherwise a fantastic narration.

If you reading the light novel did not appeal to you, or you’d just like to know what happens after the anime ended, this audiobook version is highly recommended. If you are already a fan of the series, I’d say this a really terrific way to experience the feels all over again. Shaw does a very good job giving Claire and Rae personality and charm. She makes Rod slightly unpalatable, Yuu fragile, and Thane impenetrable…until we understand him better.

And for those of you already enjoying this audiobook series, Volume 3 was released this week and is up on the Yuricon Store, with a number of purchase or streaming options. Book 4 is coming in February, you can pre-order it now on B&N and Bookwalker Global. It is clear that Seven Seas Siren is getting these out with alacrity, while the series is popular. I have a fannish hope we’ll hear some news about a second anime season before these are completed in March. ^_^

Ratings (for the adaptation only):

Overall – 9