Archive for the Drama CDs & Audiobooks Category


Canaan Radio CD and Aoi Hana Sweet Blue Radio CD

May 29th, 2010

I’m still making my way through the last of the items I bought while in Tokyo. Not surprisingly, the Light Novels take the longest. And since I’m now working from home, I no longer have a commute during which to listen to my Drama CDs. (I know, I know, poor me….) Today I happened to be driving down the office, so I had a chance to listen to the Aoi Hana: Sweet Blue Radio CD. It has very little Yuri. I had listened to the first Canaan DJCD a while back, but as it also has only the vaguest hint of Yuri, I decided to not review it.

Well, while it’s true that both of them have very little Yuri, they both have something much more important in common – the content is primarily the voice actors and actresses screwing around and cracking themselves up. I figure that’s worth mentioning.

To start with, the Canaan Drama Cd was backwards. That is, although Maria and YunYun are on the cover, the content actually features Tanaka Rie (Liang Qi) and Ohkawa Toru (Cummings.) The two of them really don’t need us during this CD, because they are perfectly capable of amusing themselves without us. There were times during the conversations where they had themselves laughing so hard I couldn’t for the life of me understand a word.

They also both slip in and out of their roles freely so, when Ohkawa-san makes a bad joke, Qiang Li suddenly threatens him with punishment. I recall (it was a few months ago that I listened to it) that there were at least a few scenarios in which Tanaka-san, as Qiang Li, moaned with desire over Alphard. That was pretty much what Yuri there was.

Likewise, in Sweet Blue Radio, Gibu Yuuko (nicknamed “Gibuling”) and Takabe Ai (“Rabuling”) really didn’t need us so much. :-) The bulk of the radio CD was the two of them doing their best impressions of other kinds of voice jobs – AM and FM radio announcers, the person in a department store that calls for lost people, the women on all those ubiquitous food shows who ooh and ah over mundane items like the sandwich she gushes over. Of these scenarios, the one in which Takabe-san does her impression of an AM radio DJ actually made Gibu-san snort out loud. That was worth hearing.

Also amusing was the next to last track in which Okudaira Akira was a special guest and when she “leaves” the studio and “forgets’ her handkerchief, Gibu-san “runs after her” and “misses” guest Manjoume Fumi when she comes to visit the studio. It was idiotic, but they were having fun with it.

In this CD, there is a ‘memory’ of Fumi telling Akira that she likes her and Akira responding that she didn’t mind, no…she was happy about it. That’s about it. But it was a sweet moment.

Both CDs are more silly than special. If you love the series and/or the voice actors and actresses, its worth it for the giggling, the puns, the utter goofiness when people who get along screw around in front of the mic.

Ratings:

Canaan DJCD – 7

Sweet Blue Radio CD – 8





Aoi Shiro Drama CDs

April 21st, 2010

Thanks to the generosity and kindness of Japanese blogger, Okazu Hero and my friend, Komatsu-san, I had the pleasure of listening to two of the Aoi Shiro Drama CDs – “Glass Shoes” and “Engage.” These CDs are not available for purchase – they were probably included in magazines as extras.

Both disks are more similar to the Yuri Hime version of the story than the Jive Comics version. The emphasis is on character and “fated meetings” rather than on plot or game elements.

In the first CD I listened to, “Glass Shoes,” we meet Shouko through the eyes of Momoko, much as we do in the YH comic. In “Engage” we get both Sawacchi and Shouko’s thoughts as they find themselves attracted to one another as if they were meant to be together.

Through no fault of anyone’s, I kept imagining frail Sawacchi as Hyatt from Excel Saga. It completely ruined the dramatic tension for me.  ^_^;

Much more than either of the manga series, these Drama CDs dwelt on the gravitational pull these women have on each other. Shouko’s thoughts are the closest to something that approaches falling in love.

Both Drama CDs are short – about 25-30 minutes, and neither would need prior knowledge of the series, although it definitely helps.

Ratings:

“Glass Shoes”
Overall – 7
Yuri – 3

“Engage”
Overall – 7.5
Yuri – 5

Of all of “other” media I’ve seen for this particular Visual Novel/game, I think I actually liked this one the best. The Jive comic was utterly choked by it’s own sense of destiny, while the YH Comic was scattered and didn’t really tell a story. As prologues go, these CDs weren’t too bad.





Yuri Drama CD: Sasamekikoto ~ The Longest Day of Sumika

February 22nd, 2010

The Birthday Gambit. We all know it as one of the most tedious plot complications possible in anime and manga. Whether it devolves into the “What, it’s your birthday?” series of painful lies that end up in a surprise party or the “Invite everyone, even my enemies” style party in which chaos consumes the plot, anyone that has read or watched more than a few anime or manga series will be familiar with the mortification that consumes us as we watch yet another agonizing birthday celebration. What could possibly be worse?

Well…it could be rendered into a musical number about your hopeless one-sided love for your best friend, sung by everyone else in your life.

And this, my friends, is the plot of Sasamekikoto~ The Longest Day of Sumika.

So, it’s Sumi’s birthday and all she really wants is for Ushio to come over and spend some time with her. Ushio, ever insensitive to Sumi’s feelings, begins to obsess over getting Sumi the perfect gift. Of course, the perfect gift would have been for her to come over, but no, that’s not likely, is it?

Sumika ends up inviting Kyori, Miyako and Tomoe, and Kyori ends up inviting Akemi-chan and of course there’s Nori and Sumika’s brothers and father. Everyone arrives for the party, including Sumika’s homeroom teacher except – you guessed it – Ushio.

At which point the Drama CD becomes an overproduced and slightly snarky musical number that I’m singing in my head even now. Whatever you might expect from this…don’t. This is a brutal commentary on what other people think Sumika’s life ought to be like and it doesn’t make her happy. In the original track, which is the longest on the CD, Sumika resists being dragged into the musical number as long as she can.

When Ushio does eventually show up, very late, she accompanied by her sempai, because you see she wanted to get Sumika something perfect, but ruined the dress she was making so took the train out to the beach and forgot her cellphone and purse and couldn’t get back and…here’s a really pretty shell for your birthday.

Oh, Sumi, please forget Ushio. Please. She’s a clod. Be slightly hurt and grow up and find someone wonderful, okay? Thanks.

In any case, this CD is perfectly in keeping with the anime, in that it’s unfocused, mostly in Sumika’s head and silly. You could do worse for a Drama CD.

Ratings:

Story – 7-WTF
Characters – 7
Yuri – 3
Loser Fan – 1

Overall – 7

Really, the song is incredibly sticky. Someone needs to make a AMV to it.





Yuri Drama CD: Maria-sama ga Miteru Premium CD Volume 1

January 19th, 2010

Maria-sama ga Miteru Premium CD Volume 1, which should not be confused with the Maria-sama ga Miteru Special CD, Volume 1, because they are two different things with the practically the same name, was wonderful. Absolutely squee-worthy.

The dramas alone were a full hour or so and cover the most pertinent bits of Souer Audition, i.e., Tsutako and Shouko reunited for the first time since they first met (squee!), and “Joanna,” the short in which we see Yumi manipulating Touko by being honest, sincere, enthusiastic and loving. (squee!) Poor Touko…there was no hope for her after that. lol You’d have to be a very evil person to not love Yumi at that point and Touko was never evil.

The discussion portion had Ueda Kana and Nabatome Hitomi discussing – among other things – cream-filled doughnuts and Russian fairy tales. I love the idea that they are on the clock eating shu-cream filled doughnuts. If I didn’t know that the rest of their job was beastly, I might envy them.

We now have all of the Tsutako x Shouko story on various CDs. If they are smart – and they are, I have no doubt – they will package them all together as a Drama CD with figurines of Tsutako Shouko and we’ll all cough up *another* pile of cash to get it. ^_^

Now all I need to make me happy is Kira Kira Mawaru and Margaret ni Ribon on CD and I will be the happiest of fangirls. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 9.5, because this is just about the best Tsutako x Shouko scene until Kira Kira Mawaru

Squee!





Drama CD: Maria-sama ga Miteru Rainy Blue

November 11th, 2009

In case you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, drop by Anime News Network’s “Chicks on Anime” for a segment with me on Yuri, and the following comments from people about how I don’t know anything about it. ^_^ Thanks to those of you who have weighed in with positive feedback! I’m kind of sad that no one thought my line describing the typical Yuri fan as being bipedal, with two front-facing eyes, was funny. ^_^

In any case, my thanks to Bamboo and Casey and ANN for hosting that chat!

Now, from fun to misery, as we turn our sights, hopefully for the very last time, to Maria-sama ga Miteru: Rainy Blue. Like the Drama CD before it, there was a little rewriting going on, but ultimately it remains the same uber-depressing story, as Yumi sees her love for Sachiko cast aside in favor of Touko’s.

This is not true, of course. Sachiko is dealing with issues of her own and is only barely aware of how badly Yumi is suffering. Not realizing just how bad Yumi is feeling, Minako and Yoshino fan the flames of her unhappiness. In the end, the only one Yumi feels she can turn to is Sei.

As with the every version of this story, for me the lowest point is when Yumi collpases in hysteria in the foyer of her house, railing at the symbolic loss of her umbrella and what feels like the loss of her beloved onee-sama. I was very careful to listen to this part of the Drama CD on the way home in the car, so I didn’t ruin my day.

Ueda Kana carries the bulk of this story, but the rest of the cast subtlely adds to the story. In fact, when the cast credits were listed, I was surprised that so many of the cast had had lines. In my mind, it had been Yumi and maybe a few others. In fact, almost everyone had a line or two.

The bonus track was a discussion about “rain.” There were a few interesting anecdotes, but nothing that withstood the test of a few really busy weeks. I remember that I wanted to remember them, but, uh, forgot. ^_^

The absolute best part of this Drama CD is, we’re done. That was it. We’ve gotten over the hump once more and can finally move into what are, IMHO, some of the best story arcs in the series.

Ratings:

Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 3
Service – 1

Overall – 8

Parasol wo Sashite is one of my favorite novels of the series. Can’t *wait* to hear it!