Archive for the Drama CDs & Audiobooks Category


Yuri Drama CD: Iono The Fanatics, Ah, Michisuji ni Hikari ari 「ああ道筋に光あり」

October 1st, 2015

IsDCD2Just as Volume 1 of Iono The Fanatics Special Edition was packaged with a Drama CD, so was Volume 2, this time titled Iono The Fanatics, Ah, Michisuji ni Hikari ari 「ああ道筋に光あり」

The cast is the same as in the first CD, with three additional voices:

クラウソラス ：内山夕実 さん
Klausoraus : Uchiyama Yumi (Davi in Dokidoki! Precure)

ヤマ・ノヴェラ・ヴァランティアノズ : 高森奈津美
Yama Noveira Varantianos : Takamori Natsumi (Subaru from Houkago no Pleiades)

ここの・ミト・アルシュライン : 小倉唯
Kokono Mito Arceline : Ogura Yui (Sumika from Yuri Kuma Arashi)

The first 8 tracks are all very short, each establishing a fact, more than telling a story. Iono-sama returns home at last and Eto is suddenly face to face with the fact that her lover is truly a Queen…and she is overwhelmed.

We see Klausoraus as part of Iono-sama’s Special Police, under Argent’s command.

Argent and Yama are established as a couple, and I’m gonna say that I was surprised at how cute they were together. ^_^

Iono-sama, now home and settled in, asks Eto to have a child with her. Eto doesn’t take much time to say yes. This is followed by an introduction to Kokono-hime-sama, the star of the new manga chapters in Comic Yuri Hime. Another quick jump forward in time to the set up of the new manga chapters, as Kokono-hime asks to go to school in Japan and some of the staff volunteers to join her as protection.

Ratings:

Characters – 8
Story – 5
Yuri – 5
Service – 0

Overall – 5

While it was all very cute and breathless, it seemed like a long commercial for the new series, rather than a story on it’s own. You couldn’t hand this to anyone who was not already a Iono-sama fan and expect them to make heads or tails of it, the way you could with any of the Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan Drama CDs.





Drama CD: Iono The Fanatics Ah, Kokorone ni Hahago ari「ああ 心根に 母御あり」

August 25th, 2015

ItFCDAKnHAs I mentioned yesterday, the new Special Edition of Iono The Fanatics is bundled with an original Drama CD, entitled “Ah, Kokorone ni Hahago ari”「ああ 心根に 母御あり」. Written by Fujieda-sensei, this Drama CD does not have a plot, per se, but is a set of light-hearted vignettes following Iono-sama, the charasmatic Queen of a small unnamed Western country, her incredibly talented staff, including the same set of gags that makes us laugh in the manga…until it segues into something quite different.

Main Cast: (Character names are my interpretation/translation at the moment. Subject to change. Roles mentioned are always skewed in favor of the Yuriest I could find, even if it’s not what they are best known for.)

いおの・ミト・アルシュライン：茅野愛衣
Iono Mito Arceline: Kiyano Ai (Kanae Mitani in Tamayura)

鉢辺絵兎（絵兎・ミト・アルシュライン）：日高里菜
Hachibe Eto: Hidaka Rina (Last Order in A Certain Magical Index)

みおと（いおの母）：早見沙織
Mioto (Iono’s Mother): Hayami Saori (Chihiru in Morita-san ha Muchi)

アルジェント・エフェメール：加隈亜衣
Argent Ephemel: Kakuma Ai (Nina Klein from Aldonoah Zero)

キャス・ルーセンス：洲崎綾
Cass Lucence: Suzaki Aya (Mako Mankanshoku from Kill la Kill!)

アイダ・ブルーメール：西明日香
Aida Bleumare: Nishi Asaka (Rika Suzuki from The Devil is a Part-timer)

フレシェ・ヴァンセット：瀬戸麻沙美
Flèche Vancette: Seto Asami (Takatsuki Yoshino  from Hourou Musuko)

There were a number of inconsequentials going on, such as the agonizing gag with poor OL-san and a cute little number in which Eto introduces everyone to takoyaki and suggests that Argent and she think of each other as sisters.

There was a more dramatic track in which we meet Mioto-sama, Iono-sama’s mother and learn where the Queen gets her heartfelt affection for her sobame. Mioto-sama was clearly a good role model – as Queen she was beloved by all her subjects. This track gets very melodramatic; it includes Mioto-sama’s final words to Iono-sama and her death.

The longest track is the cast talk in which the actresses above, and the others I left unmentioned, discuss what would you want a sobame to do for you. Most of them seemed to want a personal secretary most. ^_^

The voice actresses do a nice job, but based on the character we see in the manga, I felt that Eto’s voice was a little breathy and girly. I expected a more grounded, even slightly morose, voice. But everyone else sounded pretty much as I’d expect them to. ^_^

Ratings:

Characters – 8
Story – 6
Yuri – 4
Service – 0

Overall – 6

Not, IMHO, the best CD from Fujieda-sensei. That award goes to
Kotonoha no Miko to Kotodama no Majyo to “Madrigal Halloween”, but as always a nice way to get a better sense of the characters through voice acting – and a way to spend a little extra time with them.

I hope this edition shatters Yuri Danshi sales records.





Yuri Drama CD: Grand Stage #1 “Hiou Akito” (グラン・ステージ　第１幕「陽央あきと」)

August 16th, 2015

61nJzN3SPAL._SX425_Imagine, if you will, a dating sim, without your participation. It would sound like half a conversation. Now take away the visuals. You’d have half a conversation, with random bits of exposition that wouldn’t actually need to be said if you were part of the conversation.

Grand Stage is a Drama CD series by étriere that introduces us to 5 women who play men on the “Grand Stage” of an engikidan, a musical revue troupe, (not that famous all-female musical revue troupe.) Each one of the 5 otokoyaku have a individual Drama CD, in which they discuss their lives and love with us, their “partner,” as we share a day with them.

 

 

 

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The first track is a group song, which features all of the otokoyaku (I’ll get to them in a sec). This is followed by 3 longish tracks in which we and Akito spend an evening and morning together before we perform Romeo and Juliet on the stage. Apparently we are very nervous, so Akito and we share a bed and snuggle to settle our nerves. Akito jokes about seducing us, but does not go so far as to actually do so.

The next morning we make Akito oyakodon, (which is very delicious) and we leave to  make our appearance on the Grand Stage. This is followed by another song, this time a solo piece called “Always be myself” sung by Akito.

Needless to say, this is a blast for those of us who are Yuri fangirls of seiyuu who have a habit of being cast as male characters…and lesbians. Oh yes, this is a six degrees of Yuri series. Akito is played by Ogata Megumi, best known to us as Sailor Uranus/Tenoh Haruka, but trust me when I tell you the rest of the cast is just as much geared towards us.

Here are the promotional videos for the series on Youtube:

Hiou Akito – Ogata Megumi

Subaru Ryoya – Toyoguchi Megumi (You might remember her as Satou Sei from Maria-sama ga Miteru)

Peter Pan – Kazmiya Eru – Inoue Marina (Naitou Shouko in Maria-sama ga Miteru)

Kohaku Minami- Kitamura Eri (Sayaka in Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

Akabara-no-kimi/Soukou Yui – Saiga Mitsuki (Chie from Mai HiMe and Mai Otome) Akabara-no-kimi is a Heian-period Top star, so all the credits are in Japanese calligraphy.

All 5 character CDs, plus the group CD are available through the Yuricon Store on the Drama CD page. Collect the whole set. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall  – 8

This was a very fun little waste of time crafted specifically for us, I hope you’ll listen to the song tracks on Youtube at the very least. ^_^





Yuri Drama CD: Shishunki Seimeitai Vega, (思春期生命体ベガ)

July 15th, 2013

Special Edition With Drama CD The deluxe edition of Hayashiya Shizuru-sensei’s manga,  Shishunki Seimeitai Vega (思春期生命体ベガ) comes with a Drama CD.

As with so much of Hayashiya-sensei’s writing, it’s pretty much beyond my language skills, so don’t expect a coherent review. ^_^

First up, The Cast: Vega was played by Hikasa Youko, Arisa by Yahagi Sayuri, Ariide by Kobayashi Yuu (in crazy mode,) and poor Tanabe by Hayami Saori.

The first track is primarily a nasty rant by Ariide about how lovey-dovey Vega is about Arisa-sempai. It *really* pisses her off. ^_^ There’s some Vega x Arisa love, which pisses Ariide off more.

The bulk of the story follows the four on a camping trip, I think, where they make curry, get yelled at by Ariide and Arisa learns that Tanabe has a first name.

Third track is a Cast Talk and the Bonus Track involves more Vega getting kissed and fighting monsters – as it should.

It’s definitely worth your time if you like the kind of vocal gymnastics and acting a Hayashiya script forces from the actresses – there’s no cutesy-poo stuff going on here, for sure. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 8





Yuri Drama CD: Ame-iro Kouchkan Kandan (あめ色紅茶館歓談) Blue Christmas

December 23rd, 2011

Christmas is coming and the Ame-iro Kouchakan is filled to the brim with cheerful, energetic young women. Not that anyone is complaining, but…where did they all come from? Sarasa really wants to know what the deal is, but in the meantime, she and Seriho are doing everything they can to keep up with demand.

More important than the mystery of why their tea house is so popular all of a sudden, is the much greater problem of Christmas. They did a special for Tanabata, and another for Halloween, and Sarasa is torturing herself trying to come up with a super-special special for Christmas.

But first, before all of this, we have yet another thing that must be dealt with! Sarasa’s college roommate, Saiyuki, is visited by an old friend, Shuuri. There’s some tension between them and it seems awfully likely to blossom into something more, if they can just get a push. EVERYONE in the series gives them the push they need.

Which allows us all to deal with the issue of where the hell are all these girls coming from, anyway. Well…it turns out that word’s gotten around that Manaka-sensei (creator of the St. Lotecia series, surely you must be aware that Fujieda-sensei never ever throws away a character) hangs out here, and these girls – including Saiyuki and Shuuri – are fans. Mana-chan-sensei’s editor Shiko is “helping” by leaking the story that Mana-chan-sensei might, just, you know, be doing a signing here too.

And while all of this life-or-death stuff is going on, Sarasa’s exhausting herself trying to come up with the perfect Christmas special dessert. Which, she does. Did we ever, for even a second, doubt she would? For Christmas, the Ame-iro Kouchakan will be presenting a Cherries Jubilee, with flambe’, with their own special touch. The sakura scent fills the teahouse and the blue flower of flame delights everyone. Great, everything’s set, but…now they are really in a bind. With such a fantastic table-side show, they’ll need every hand on deck. Unfortunately, Hinoka is spending Christmas Eve with her girlfriend and Haru is getting together with some friends, leaving Sarasa and Seriho needing some backup staff. How about Letty and Tsumugi? They are going to visit Letty’s home in…wherever that was. Saiyuki and Shuuri offer to fill the gap and so, a fabulous Christmas event is had by all.

You remember what I said about a paragraph ago? About how Fujieda-sensei never throws away a character? He doesn’t. During two quiet, lovey-dovey scenes between Sarasa and Seriho, just when it’s getting really good…the phone rings. I felt this gag coming for a mile and even guessed who was on the other end of the phone both times. Can you guess?

Think about it for a bit.

The first time on the phone is one “Hachibe-sama” who is ordering cakes for the Queen and the second call is from “Aihara-sama” ordering cakes for the shop. Yep, there were your Iono-sama and Alice Quartet cameos. ^_^

Kotobuki Minako (Tsumugi in K-ON!) plays Saiyuki, so we’re bumping up that six degrees of Yuri even further than usual.

The bonus track was done in pairs and among the embarrassed giggling, they have a serious discussion of the next holiday they’ll have to do a Drama CD for. New Years? Nope, they all realize with a sense of fate, it’s gonna have to be Valentine’s Day. Dear Yuri gods, I so hope they are right.

Ratings:

Overall – 9

Squee. This companion Drama CD to the second volume of the Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan manga was a perfect companion to a train ride into NYC. I kept laughing out loud, which kept the seats around me clear. ^_^

I only wish we could have heard from Letty and Tsumugi.