Archive for the Drama CDs & Audiobooks Category


Drama CD: Mai HiME Destiny, Ryuu no Miko, Volume 2

August 28th, 2008

In Volume 1 of the Mai HiME Destiny Drama CD, everyone ran around screaming, with a few thoughts here and there for the mystery of the new girl with the Dragon handcuffs and the incredible power.

In Volume 2, all of that is set aside in favor of an extended investigation into who is taking, copying and selling pictures of the various girls with their underwear down. This issue takes up about half the CD. The short answer: It’s Tomoe.

The second half of the CD is far more interesting, as we actually briefly touch upon the mystery of Mayo and her powers. Because, it turns out, some of the photos appear to have been taken in the past – or perhaps the future. More importantly, there are people in the photos that are not *at* the school right now. Several of the older students and staff recall that Mayo’s powers were held by a previous student, the legendary Mashiro. And the equally legendary Yumemiya Arika is mentioned as being one of the people in the pictures.

Quite suddenly, a bunch of the characters find themselves in an alternate world (past, future, we don’t know) and we meet both Mashiro and Arika, who are exactly the same as in the Otome anime, except now they are the previously mentioned legendary former students of this Garderobe. Like Mai and Mikoto in Otome, this Mashiro and Arika simply live outside the confines of the normal world. Everyone is appalled to find that the legendary students act like a squabbling couple of 17 year olds, but then the dragon arrives!

Mayo’s powers as the Dragon’s priestess take a hold of her – and the Dragon, accompanied by severe winds, attacks. The wind is felt in Garderobe, where Fumi and Reito comment on what will befall them should the Dragon not be stopped.

Just as it looks like it’s too late to turn the tide, Shion leaps in and kisses Mayo, sealing her powers and putting Mayo to sleep. She admits to having had that ability since childhood (and so, admits to having known Mayo since childhood, which she had completely denied up until now.)

And you know…I don’t have the vaguest clue how the Drama CD ends. I think with Mashiro and Arika arguing. ^_^

This DCD is set up just like an anime epsiode – it has an opening scene, an OP, commercials, and EP and a “next time on…” segment. It also has more Yuri in the commercials for Mai Otome than it has in any of the actual story segments. At least once Shizuru makes suggestive comments to Natsuki, and Tomoe says something suggestive about Shizuru.

The best thing about this series is the way in which they’ve integrated the HiME and Otome characters into yet another alternative Garderobe that has some slight sense of three-dimensionality. I’m kind of fond of the constant rehashing of the same characters in mostly the same situation, but everything is slightly different, setups. I’d like to see them continue this ad nauseum, just to see how crazy they’ll become trying to come up with the fifteenth version of this story and these characters. ^_^

Ratings:

Story – 3, then 7
Characters – 6
Yuri – 2
Service – 6

Overall – 6

The bits of this story which are not pandering to bottom-feeders are actually quite good. If you skip the first couple of tracks or so, you’ll get to the bits which don’t suck. ^_^





Drama CD: Hayate x Blade, Volume 3

July 11th, 2008

At last, we have another chance to wallow in the company of the competely dysfunctional students of Tenchi Academy, in Hayate x Blade Drama CD, Volume 3.

And wallow we do, as amusing dysfunctions are paraded past our bemused ears, in this collection of 6 unrelated, original stories that showcase a remarkably large cast.

In the first track, Ayana’s room is filled to breaking point when pretty much every character ever mentioned in the manga shows up and crowds in….including all 80 of Akira’s fan club, the A-team.

We follow Mizuchi and Sou on a shopping trip to town, so Mizuchi can shed her old lady image – an objective that seems to be working until someone calls them mother and child.

Jun visits Yuho for the usual touching moments, then – wait for it – the Amachi conglomerate’s helicopter comes to pick her up. Yes! Tenchi Gakuen *also* has a private helicopter! Isn’t that wonderful? Now I have three helicopters in my Yuri army air division! LOL In return for the visit, Yuho sends Jun inedible cookies to give to everyone. Listening to Ayana trying to bite into the cookies was funny enough to make me laugh out loud.

Momoko has a weakness and in track 4 we learn what it is – she really, really, really, hates bamboo shoots. Kiji hypnotizes her into pretending that they are shiitake mushrooms, which she loves, but of course there are unintended consequences. And Kiji and Moka are renewed in their mutal hatred…and the awesome otokoyaku slash affair that doujinshi artists love so much gets new fodder.

The last track spends time with the remaining white-uniformed council members as they end up torturing Kureha, because they can. ^_^

For the cast credits, the theme picked by Tatewaki is ditched in favor for the theme chosen by the fans – who would you pick for your shinyuu? It will comes as no surprise that many of the actresses picked the character that is their character’s shinyuu, but notably, several other actresses pick Akira – not just Sae’s seiyuu, Itou Shizuka (Rei, from Marimite, Nadie from El Cazador.)

Despite this, there is little Yuri in this volume, which is really okay, because all the couples are well-established in our heads now and it almost seems silly to beat the concept to death. Kiji and Momoka’s hate/love thing was clearly fanservice of Yuri proportions.

This drama CD was significantly longer than most of the others I have – closer to an hour, than the usual 45 minutes. And it was all original stories, which was extra nice. You know how I love having more time to spend with the characters. And for physical extras, the insert booklet has an original short manga by Hayashiya-sensei, special for this Drama CD.

The *only* downside to the whole thing is something that you simply can’t really get past – the cast is now so HUGE, that there’s not enough time to spend with everyone, and although pretty much every character makes an appearance, that’s about all they do – make an appearance. The vignettes worked well to counteract this, because they each followed 2-8 characters (except the first, which quite literally shoved everyone in) so we got to spend at least that much time with those characters, semi-exclusively. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 3
Service – 1

Overall – 9

A great addition to what is the most unique and interesting manga series, (while of course actually being completely generic and derivative ^_^) currently running.

Oh, and I would definitely pick Ayana as my shinyuu – she’s competent, nasty *and* violent. She’s practically perfect. ^_^How about you?





Mai HiME Destiny: Ryuu no Miko Drama CD, Volume 1

April 11th, 2008

This may well be the dumbest review I will ever write because, to be honest, I didn’t understand a bloody thing that went on in Mai HiME Destiny: Ryuu no Miko Drama CD, Volume 1. And it basically followed the book, so there’s really no excuse for me, is there? ^_^

If you’ve read the Light Novel, Mai HiME Destiny, you know that the focus of the story is Kagura Mayo, a girl who wanders onto the campus of distant Fuuka Academy, a school for young people with extraordinary powers, wearing a pair of unbreakable dragon handcuffs and bearing an uncontrolled and uncontrollable ability. The first novel was mostly expository, re-introducing for the umpteenth time the characters that inhabit Fuuka. Shizuru is cooler and more adult (and favors black,) Natsuki is a bit more sociopathic, Haruka and Yukino are as we remember them, Nao is a troublemaker (duh,) Chie and Aoi watch everything and comment like a Greek chorus on events, Nagi is annoying, etc, etc. The only other new item is another student with a mysterious past, Shion, who Mayo claims to know but who insists she’s never met Mayo before.

In between the random bits of pointless service, a story slowly develops: the clubs are battling it out for supremacy and Nagi, for reasons of his own, is trying to pull strings. Shizuru, the Principal and the Chairman (one of whom is Fumi and one Reito, but I can’t remember which is which) all seem to know that something else is afoot. Mayo’s mysterious powers, which she can never remember using, and her handcuffs, are never explained, although the author quite exhaustively speculates on how she gets dressed and goes to the bathroom and other important stuff, with those handcuffs on.

The Drama CD covers much of the same material as the LN, without most of the plot. That has been sacrificed, because it was obviously too complex for the audience, in favor of the panty battle between Mayo and Nao and the kissing scene between Shion and Mayo. There’s a lot of screaming too, and some sound effects that lead me to believe that there is fighting.

What makes this DCD so hard to follow (aside from the sneezing and coughing on my part) was that every other track is a *commercial* for something else. These inserted tracks are so jarring – and so full of screaming – that it made it almost completely impossible for me to figure out what anyone was saying. Threw me off every time. The other thing that made it hard to figure out what was going on was that there’s was an awful lot of silly voices being used. Natsuki was practically barking her words, and Chie – what on earth was going on with that voice? I have no idea what she said at all.

The Light Novel stopped just after all the players were introduced (or, I should say, all the players from the original Mai HiME anyway) and I kind of wondered where the story was going, if anywhere. Looks like the story continues in the Drama CDs. The end of this DCD covers a bit of Mayo and Shion’s back story – in a frameless memory kind of way. Looks like, if we want to know what’s going on in this universe’s Fuuka A., we’ll need to tune in once again.

Ratings:

Story – 6
Characters – 6
Yuri – 2 (1 point for Shizuru pursuing an especially passive-agressively closeted Natsuki, and 1 point for the faux Yuri Shion x Mayo thing)
Service – 4

Overall – 6

It’s nothing as traumatizing as the one Mai Otome DCD that I listened to, or as blatantly disgusting as any of the manga series. But other than a lot of screaming, I’m still not sure what actually *happened*.





Drama CD: Twinkle Saber Nova, Crossing Star

March 17th, 2008

Once again, lured by the siren call of a Drama CD extra, I found myself picking up the third volume of Twinkle Saber Nova. (For a brief review of the story, please read my comments on Volume 1.) Volume 3 is more of the same, with two notable exceptions: Hayana, the leader of the “Ally of Justice” Club, gains a new, personal rival from the “World School Uniform Club,” Shouko. And the Ally of Justice Club gains a new member, Ryou.

Shouko’s rivalry with Hayana is intense – so intense, you can easily see it as that love/hate thing that happens in nearly every manga series. And, in fact, Fujieda has paired Shouko and Hayana in his 2008 Yuri calendar. It came as a bit of a shock to me, since I always mentally paired Hayana with her admiring protege, Satsuki. But no. I’m wrong. And here’s why:

In the Drama CD, Crossing Star, a new restaurant is opening, so of course Hayana needs to run off and see what’s up. But there’s something special and different going on at this openiing. The shop is selling accessories guaranteed to win the love and friendship of the person whose name you write down.

Hayana goes over to the new shop, where she encounters practically every single member of the World School Uniform Club, including her shiny new arch-rival, Shouko. ^_^ Meanwhile, back in the Ally of Justice Club HQ, Satsuki asks club manager Aoi for advice on how to become closer to Ryou.

Hayana returns bearing gifts. For Satsuki, matching rings for her and Ryou, to foster, you know, kouhai-doushi, a bonding between her cute club juniors. Satsuki runs off breathlessly excited. Hayana turns to Aoi, her long-time best friend, and someone with whom she would like to become even closer, and shows her the rings she had made for them. Blue for Aoi, pink for herself. Aoi is embarrassed, but accepts.

Satsuki offers the ring to Ryou, who says she’s not ready to get married or engaged yet. lol Satsuki explains that it’s a way for them to become more friendly, but Ryou responds that they are already close in her mind. She also bought something for Satsuki, a nice selection of pudding. Satsuki and Ryou share pudding, rings and close friendship.

The whole thing is hideously adorable. ^_^

As I mentioned in my earlier review of this series, Fujieda himself has said that there is implicit Yuri in this series. I think that this Drama CD went a couple steps into making that implicit a tad more explicit, although I would have liked to see Hayana and Shouko get a little closer too. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – N/A, but Yuri Cover art.
Story – 6 Very fluffy
Characters – 7
Yuri – 4
Service – 3

Overall – 6

This Drama CD has motivated me to re-read the whole series over again and pay attention this time.





Yuri Drama CD: El Cazador de la Bruja, Volume 2

February 28th, 2008

My goodness,the El Cazador Drama CD, Volume 2 is a cute Drama CD. Set somewhere just past halfway into the series, after Ellis has started to realize that Nadie is more than a friend, but well before Nadie clues in, this Christmas story finds our two adventurers on the run with Santa Claus.

Not *the* Santa Claus, of course. In this case, the story begins with Nadie telling Ellis that she remembers a Christmas in New York City. Ellis presses her for details, which Nadie is loathe to share. When she – reluctantly – begins the story, it goes something like this. “Santa Claus was running away.”

At which Santa Claus comes running out of a store and into their car, importuning them to floor it. After some banter, they take off. Nadie is amazed at the irony when Clive, the Santa in question, turns out to be the *same* Santa as that in her New York story.

The opening credits are an opportunity for Ellis to keep changing the title of the story, inserting “New York” in every version, until Nadie puts a stop to it.

Eventually Ellis learns the New York story, and why Clive is (still) on the run. There’s gunfights and poignant moments, and Ellis using her newfound powers, and LA being a freak, and Ricardo being whipped by Lilio into dressing as Santa (red poncho) and walking around with a llama with a red nose. And each scene narrated dryly, as usual, by Jody “Blue Eyes” Hayward.

In the end, Clive was wearing a red shirt for a good reason, and Ellis and Nadie are forced to confront Clive’s mother, now a nun, with the gift he had made for her. Ellis’ innate honesty and goodness force Clive’s mother to forgive her son and they move on, having once again changed the world one person at a time.

The story is a little thin, but there were a few excellent scenes and one very un-excellent scene. ^_^

The best scene, IMHO, is Blue Eyes asking one of her henchwomen to stay for a drink, since it’s Christmas Eve and all. She begins interrogating the woman – likes, dislikes, hobbies, etc. None, comes the answer. Blue Eyes makes fun of the woman a little, but when the questions are turned on her and she doesn’t have any better answers, the henchwoman notes that they are the same. Scene fades out. My imagination doesn’t. ^_^

The most horriblest scene involves LA singing the Amigos tacos song. Try imagining it. That’s not nearly half as bad as it actually was. 0_0

And the funniest scene comes right at the very end in a 12-second track, when Ricardo, Liliio, and the llama, drive by Nadie and Ellis. ^_^

The bonus track was very long, with quite a lot of conversation from the main cast. Miyano Mamoru, LA’s actor, is quick to point out that LA is not, in fact, a pervert or hentai – his feelings are genuine love for Ellis. I agree, but it doesn’t make him any less horrible.

Hisakawa Aya is bemoaning the fact that Rosenberg’s voice actor, Miyake Kenta, isn’t with them this time and wouldn’t you know it – he walks in at that very moment! “Uso!” Hisakwa says, and a conversation that has nothing at all to do with us listeners erupts. ^_^

No physical extras, but the cover art is just about exactly as cute as the story inside.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 3
Service  – 4

Overall – 7

While not as love-love as the first El Cazador DCD, the second is still fun.