Happy New Year! Haven’t updated my review blog for a long time because I don’t have time, but I find it a waste to let this site weather away.  So beginning from 2010, I will try to keep my review short and refrain from long synopsis.
The first drama CD of 2010 I would like to review is “Fujyoshi Kanojo.”.  This drama is basically a boy falls in love with girl CD (with hints of BL here and there).  However, the omake is completely BL with just 2 seconds of and therefore should be suitable for people of all age group!

Story
The story was first published in web format and later collected into a novel but this drama CD is actually based on the manga version by Shinba Rise.  The story begins with falling in love with a slightly older female co-worker at his part-time job,  Ametani Yuriko ( Sawashiro Miyuki).  She is cute and has a reputation for being efficient.  One day he saw her reading manga during break time and he started chatting about a sports manga but she was blunt and asked him to stop talking to her.  He found her attitude strange and thought she did not like him but later that day, she came to apologize and even gave him a strap with characters from the manga he liked.  She even offered to bring him to lunch in a restaurant nearby.  The lunch turned into a date and soon Taiga confessed.  Yuriko then told him her secret, that she is a fujyoshi! Being a normal otaku, Taigo did not realize the real meaning of “fujyoshi” but Yuriko’s strange behaviors, like calling him Sabestian when he served her tea at the school cultural festival, fangirling over his relationship with his best friend Kouji ( Matsukaze Masaya), cohercing him to write BL novels based on pairings in shounen sports manga , texting him about her every move at comiket.  The drama ended at the point when Taiga attended a dinner party with his friends at university and his drunken friends forced Kouji and Taiga to cross dress and then sent a picture to Yuriko.
Review
I like the story though the plot is thin because I completely synchronize with Yuriko as the story progresses.  Although I may not be as crazy as her because I do not think I will have the guts to ask my boyfriend to write BL novels yet, but I certainly believe I will not try to hide my true self in front of my lover.  I mean if I cannot even be honest with the person I am going to sleep with, it’s better to sleep with my Hibari dakimakura and my bear!
I think what makes this drama CD so enjoyable is the cast.  Even I have never read the manga, I can totally feel that Hatano is Taiga and Miyuki is Yuriko! Only a hetare like Taiga will succumb to Yuriko’s selfish requests  and Hatano has just the hetare that is needed to portray Taiga well.  On the other hand, Miyuki is really good with selfish and dominating characters like Yuriko. Sadly the rest of the cast has very few lines and I am looking forward to more scenes with Tatsu and Matsukaze.
One thing I must point out is the omake track featuring alternate Taiga ( Miyake Kenta) and alternate Yuriko (male version) ( Kishio Daisuke).  If Yuriko were a fudanshi (boy who loves BL), what would happen.  There is just two-second aegi from Kishio and I think Kenta and Kishio are really good as an alternate Taiga and Yuriko. This track is just crazy but a nice omake for fuyoshi!

Bottomline
Highly recommend for fujyoshi like myself though you may find certain actions by Yuriko too extreme! Also recommended for Wataru and Miyuki fans because they really have great performances in this drama CD!

P.S. In the freetalk, Tatsu did not forget to tease Wataru.

I am not in the mood of writing a fresh review today so I translate a Chinese review I wrote two years ago.  If you are a HiroC fan, this drama CD is very memorable because this is his first CD after the horrible accident.  Thanks to palmgreen, I managed to listen to this CD almost as soon as it was released.

Story

Fujimoto Shiki(Kamiya Hiroshi) lost his parents when he was a kid and he was raised by his uncle and aunt.  His cousin Fujimoto Shizuka(Oono Marina) is an invalid and as a result of her illness, often has to skip school.  Shiki promised his uncle that if Shizuka had to stay at home, he would also skip school to accompany her.  One rainy day, he meets a classmate of his year who says “let’s graduate together”.  Shiki is already above the average age for his school year and he is touched and also wants to graduate with Seou Kouichi(Sugita Tomokazu).   Kouichi’s mother is a pianist’s lover and his mother committed suicide by running onto the street and got herself hit by a car.  After his mother’s death, Kouichi is taken by his father back home since his wife hasn’t got any children.  His stepmother doesn’t like his piano because he learns it from his father and she hates his father for having other women.  However, she likes his father’s music.  After Kouichi and Shiki met, the two had feelings for each other but Kouichi is jealous of Shizuka when he notices the first time he sees Shiki smiling, the smile is for Shizuka and not for him.  Suddenly Shizuka’s illness aggravates and for her sake, Shiki has to transfer to another school.  He asks Kouichi to play a piece for him.  After Kouichi played Chopin, he raped Shiki! Then he brought Shiki to his mother’s grave and explained his past.  Shiki forgave Kouichi and wanted to be by his side but Kouichi disappeared! A few years later, Kouichi appeared again before Shiki but this time, Shiki’s no longer the weak guy but a more confident and stronger person.

Review
My initial reaction after listening to this CD – “what a pity”.  The story could actually have been quite beautiful – two young boys, each with their own problems, encounter by fate, falls in love, and matures.  However, the way the story is told, the structure and pacing are all poorly done, to the extent that the beauty beneath the plot is suppressed rather than allowed to shine.  Both Shiki and Kouichi are only child who lot one (or both) parents at a young age.  Both grow up in a peculiar circumstance (Shiki is forced to stay with Shizuka while Kouichi is forced to learn piano).  However, as their lives intertwine, both find something they want and not pushed to them by people arround them – each other.  Interestingly, in the beginning Kouichi seems to be the tougher one and he is leading Shiki out of the cocoon (a.k.a. his uncle’s family).  However, toward the end, Shiki becomes much more confident and strong while Kouichi is weaker and vanishes from Shiki’s life.  The sentence I love the most in the drama is:

「俺は、お前のおかげで変われた。お前は、変われたか?」
“I changed because of you, have you changed?”

I suppose Shiki means “have you also changed because of me?”.  I certainly hope so.  Since this is a script written for an original drama CD, I think the writer Kana does cares too much about the audio arrangement to the extent she loses grip of the necessary transitions.  The story jumps from one part to another and all of a sudden comes a H scene with poor sound effects to accompany it.  That really destroys the atmosphere.  I think the story will be better if it’s told from Kouichi’s  point of view, instead of Shiki because Kouichi is the character that is harder to comprehend, and also the character who seems to be weakening as the story progresses. So the last scene will serve as a kind of salvation and gives a much more logical and nicer ending, in contrary to the current ending while leaves a big “?” for the listeners.

Music wise, I think it’s a nice try to include clasical BGM, like “Clair de Lune” by Debussy to highlight the encounter and Chopin’s “Farewell Waltz” to signal the separation.  Problem is the music comes at an awkward timing.  If the BGM plays during the monologues, I think the “touching” effect will be enhanced.

Last but not least, the acting.  I don’t know how to rate it because HiroC has just recovered from a serious injury and you can tell he is not at his best.  His H scene is more gentle than before (probably since he is weakened by the accident) and the poor sound effects aggravate the whole H effect. Still, I think the three male seiyuu managed to capture the characters and Kishio Daisuke (whom I neglected to mention in the main story because he has such a tiny little role, is also cute as usual.

Probably the most touching part of all is the freetalk!

神谷さんは、「こうやってマイクの前で芝居をするということが、非常に特別であるということを噛みしめながらやらせて頂きました」と言ってました。

杉田くんも「ほんと、神谷さんが復帰して僕はうれしい。こういう時、冗談は言えませんよね」

HiroC says it is very special for him to stand in front of the mike again and tackles this role as he keep skidding along the way.  Sugita then says he is delighted upon HiroC’s return.  He also sells it is at this moment that he can’t joke.
Bottomline

No doubt this is a piece that is full of “problems” and I can’t help but scream “what a pity” all the way while listening to this CD.  Yet, for me, this CD generates a special feeling.  It signifies the end to a long period of “sadness” and the beginning of “happiness”.  In other words, it is the end of my “winter” and the beginning of HiroC’s “spring”.

「私は神谷さんのおかげで変われた。
生きてくれてありがとう。
これからも頑張ってください。」

I ended my review then with the words “I have changed because of Kamiya-san.  Thanks for coming back alive and please continue to work hard in the future”.  Now that I look back at my own review (written two years ago), I can’t help but wonder what great power “change” may have on a person.  He is now the winner of three “seiyuu awards” when he was next to nobody at the time he was acting this CD.  His status may have changed but I hope he will never forget the spirit of an actor (even if it’s just voice actor).  Characters themselves are innocent even though the scriptwrit could be guilty.

P.S. Guess what,  I think these reviews are written for myself more than for readers because looking back at old reviews brings back all those memories that seem to far away.  It’s nostalgic and lovely!

The plot of the second story in this law office comedy is a lot better than the first because it is quite touching! Still, I think the writers and myself have different perspectives on “deception” and maybe that’s the reason I can’t like this series as I much as I would like to .

Story
Kuroda Housei (Suwabe Junichi), the owner of Kuroda Housei law firm and a train otaku receives a request from Tanaka Iwao (Kusumi Naomi), asking him to help him with the process of writing his will and in return, he will give him the dream tickets to a suite on the train. Of course, Kuroda agrees.

Back at the office, Matsushita Riou (Taniyama Kishow) is searching for his lawyer badge.  He remembers loosing it two weeks ago and he forces Ikezawa Ryouji (Sugita Tomokazu) to go search for the badge with him.  Ikezawa thinks it is impossible to find the badge after two weeks but he finds it under the vending machine.  Sadly, he bumps into a young man Tanaka Akihiko (Terashima Takuma) and the badge falls into the drainage.  Pissed, Matsushita drags Tanaka back to the office saying he’ll sue him but once he cools his head down, of course he knows there is nothing to sue.  While they’re still thinking what to do, Tanaka says he actually wants to visit a law firm anyway because he wants to find out if his father has other children aside from him and if he is the sole heir to his father’s fortune.  Matsushita accepts the case and begins the investigation. Meanwhile, Ikezawa thinks it is not right for Tanaka to only keep thinking about his father’s money when he knows his father maybe dying.

On the day when Matsushita tells Tanaka that he is the sole heir, Ikezawa suddenly explodes and scolds Tanaka for being uncaring and cruel to think only of money and not of his father.  Matsushita calms him down and tells him that what Tanaka really wants to investigate is not whether he is the sole heir but whether his father really has other children because if so, he wants to let his father meet his other children.  Ikezawa is shocked at the truth and also at Matsushita’s ability to see through the surface.  He then proposes for Tanaka to meet his father and resolves the issues that separate father and son for ten years.  Tanaka also wants to let his father know that his girlfriend is pregnant and he is going to be a father.  At that instance, Tanaka receives a call from his mother, saying his father is seriously ill.

Tanaka rushes to the hospital but his father seems to have already passed away.  He then weeps as he listens to how his father loves him, has no other children, and really wants to ask for his forgiveness.  Tanaka then says he want to see his father’s body but instead comes his father alive and well!! Turns out it’s a trick set up by Kuroda and his employees:Takiguchi Toranosuke (Nakai Kazuya) and Fujiki Takayoshi (Ishida Akira), playing doctor and nurse.

Review
The story this time is more touching, especially for me because I have missed the opportunity to meet my grandmother before she passed away and that has always left a thorn in my heart.  When I thought Tanaka couldn’t see his father for a last time before his father die, it it would be horrible! Luckily this is a comedy and Tanaka manages to meet his father again.   In real life though, few are as lucky as Tanaka and so if someone you love has just a small probability of dying, don’t hestitate.  Rush to see that person before regretting the incident all your life!

Acting wise, Miyano and Nakamura has very small roles here and that’s a bit upsetting but after listening to the story, I like Taniyama’s Matsushita a lot more because he’s not only cute but also truly intelligent! Sugita’s hot blooded acting is also interesting!

Bottomline
The story maybe fictional but I’m certain some of the dilemmas that lawyers at Kuroda law firm face are real.  Lawyers have to balance between profits and morality.  Sometimes even if they know what they’re doing may not be right, may hurt people and even society, they still have to do that because they have a responsibility to help their clients and they are not saviors but ordinary humans who need money to survive.  There are times when lawyers weigh money a lot more heavily than morals, but there are also good lawyers out there who sacrifice time and efforts to do what’s right.  Let’s not forget these lawyers and give them more credit so that more young lawyers will follow their footsteps!

I fell asleep last night and so didn’t complete the second drama (though I really wanted to).  As for the first story, my rating for the plot is quite low not because it’s uninteresting but more due to the fact that there are some moral issues in the story I cannot accept.

Story
The story surrounds the daily activities of the lawyers (as well as workers) in Kuroda Housei’s law firm.   Ikezawa Ryouji (Sugita Tomokazu) is an ordinary, tennen young man who is working for the lawyers at the firm.  They are Kuroda Housei (Suwabe Junichi), the owner and a train otaku, Fujiki Takayoshi (Ishida Akira), who has never lost a single case and always seems to be answering phone calls from women, Matsushita Riou (Taniyama Kishow), who acts more like a host than a lawyer, specializes in divorce cases, and has lost his lawyer badge right at the beginning of the story, and Takiguchi Toranosuke (Nakai Kazuya), who is kind but has serious brother complex.  In addition to the lawyers, there is also an intern Suda Satoshi (Miyano Mamoru), who is intelligent and has high expectations from the field though he has double personality.

The story begins with Ikezawa kun being chased by a man covered in blood all the way to the firm.  Turns out the man’s identity is Yoshioka Toshimichi (Miyake Kenta) and he is looking for Kuroda law firm because he heard there is a lawyer who has never been defeated.  He wants the lawyers to solve his problem:

His wife wants to divorce him because he shoves away her precious train schedule from five years ago. It is very difficult to find the schedule now and he tries hard to search for a replacement copy but can’t find it.  He is only married for half a year and he doesn’t want to be divorced.  Well, the lawyers of course reject his request in the beginning because their job is to provide legal consultations, not to search for train schedules!  However, the owner orders Takiguchi and Ikezawa to help the client and so the two went out to search for a copy of the train schedule.  Naturally, they can’t find any and the last resort is Takiguchi’s brother, Takiguchi Kazuma(Nakamura Yuuichi).   Kazuma used to be very close with Toranosuke but as he grew older, he distant himself from his brother, which made his brother extremely upset.  At first, Kazuma didn’t want to help but the two sincerely begs him and so he helps out.  He finds out that there is a train otaku among his “to-watch” list who is often caught for trepassing without permission.  After cheating, coercing, and threatening the guy, he manages to get the train schedule for Yoshioka and all’s well that ends well, until they find out in the end that there is a copy in the owner’s office right from the beginning.  What a waste of time and effort!

Review
The story is not boring and quite fast paced.  The characters have unique personalities that stand out and the whole atmosphere is very comic and enjoyable.  This drama CD should earn a better rating from me.  Unfortunately, the part about how Kazuma coerces his suspect to giving him the train schedule is a bit unacceptable! I know this is fiction but as a policeman, there are basic ethics that must be abided and Kazuma’s action is no different from a theif, pretty much unforgivable.  Even criminals have human rights! He may let him go free the next time he try to surpass to return the favor but if he really does this, that’s even more unacceptable because he’s ignoring a crime as it happens. Aside from this problematic part in the plot, the drama CD is not bad.

Acting wise, every character (including the guest Kenta-kun) is very appropriate and great.  I think Ishida & Mamo’s characters are the scariest ones as they’re both two faced . I feel sorry for the owner Kuroda because it seems Fujiki is more the one in charge.  This time, Taniyama’s Matsushita has little part to play but he has a larger role in the second drama CD so Taniyama fans, need not to worry!

Bottomline
Except for the moral problem in the plot, I  quite enjoy this CD!  I particularly laugh when the otaku wife files divorce just over a train schedule! What’s more heartbreaking for Yoshioka is that his wife probably married him for his name because the kanji of his given name means “train”…!

This drama CD proves that even with an out-of-ordinarily silly story, a fantastic cast can still make a drama CD enjoyable!

Story
On Kozue Hiyoki’s (Nakahara Mai) 16th birthday, her heart was stolen by a guy with platina hair.  He’s not sure if it’s a dream but she finds herself feeling a bit strange after the incident.  Then her parents suddenly go to work overseas and leave her the application for a boarding school .  Hiyoki decides to go to the school because the crest is the same as the one left by the platina buy on her chest.   She applied for the S dorm because she wants to find the thief who steals her heart but even before she arrives at the dorm, she bumps into the president of the student council, Kumoide Kain (Nakamura Yuuichi) and faints.  When she wakes up, she is already in the medical room, accompanied by the manager of the S dorm (and magician) Nousu Kousetsu (Miki Shinichirou) and his assistant.   Nousu tells Hiyoki that her heart is stolen and that’s why she faints.  He inserts a fake heart to help her survive and Hiyoki knows she has to find the thief and gets back her heart soon.  It seems Hiyoki’s heart been stolen because she has the power to look at other people’s dreams.  It also seems the culprit is in S dorm and so Nousu proposes Hiyoki to stay in the room of every member of the dorm so she can peep at their dream.  Hiyoki of course refuses at first but she needs to get her heart back fast to live and there is also no other room available.

All of the residents at S dorm (or so it seems) are guys and the first roommate is Ichikawa Ren (Taniyama Kishow)!  Ren does not like to share the room with Hiyoki at first (of course ) but since it’s the order of the dorm manager, he has no choice but to obey.  In the middle of the night, Ren often sneaks out.  Hiyoki thought Ren didn’t like to sleep so close to her and she couldn’t sleep. After two nights, she’s so tired she fell alseep near the bench where Kumoide’s sleeping.  When she wakes up, she finds Kumoide with an unpleasant look and mocks that she can sleep everywhere .  Hiyoki is really pissed but there is little she can do.  Later she enters Ren’s dream and finds out the reason why he is so alarmed.  He thinks she is a spy who is trying to find out his secret, the fact that he is working parttime! His parents cannot afford his schooling and so he’s working to pay for his school fees .  Poor boy! Hiyoki makes rice balls for him and he is very happy because he’s usually hungry between the time he comes back from work and breakfast.

Soon after Ren and Hiyoki become friends, she has to move to is Reizen Kuga (Ono Daisuke), who collects strange items in his room and hardly speaks.  He hardly returns to his room either and so Hiyoki thinks he doesn’t like her.  However, Ren tells her the reason behind Reizen’s coldness is that he’s a net idol singer and some of his female fans are so agressive he doesn’t like females .  Hiyoki finds out Reizen’s sleeping face and falls into his dream.  There she finds him singing painfully and there are a bunch of annoying women.  Hiyoki drives the women out of Reizen’s dream and the next morning, Reizen and her become friends .

The last small story is about the school’s festival.  Kumoide is organizing a competition and each class or dorm has to produce something to enter the competition.  Usually, S dorm members don’t join but Hiyoki is so pissed off by Kumoide’s attitude and his double personality (nice guy before his fans) and the nasty guy before Hiyoki that she decides to gather S dorm members to join.  What will happen?　The answer is in volume 2!

Review
A lot of people has been saying this story is sorta brainless and to a certain extent, it is because even Japan has become more open, it’s still too much for a girl to stay together with a guy in a room.  What on earth are the school staff thinking to allow such a thing to happen .  Also, Hiyoki’s luggage hasn’t arrived (for weeks) and so she’s forced to use the stuff provided by her roommate so far.  To sum up, the story is hilarious and ridiculous and it is miraculous for such a story to be made into a drama CD with such a cast.

The characters are not particularly dull but so far, none of them (aside from double face Kumoide and Nousu) is outstanding.  There are some other members of S dorm that have only been slightly introduced so I’m not going to highlight them (until their turn comes).

Acting wise, there is little to complain because the cast is so awesome it seems a waste for such a plain story .  Sakurai’s playboy is not common and so it’s quite fresh to hear him and is it just me but there seems to be some hints of BL, like the relationship between Fukuyama Jun and Sakurai’s characters().  As for Hiyoki, I like Nakahara Mai but I think her voice is a bit too sugary in this CD (but it’s the fault of the character setting rather than Mai-chan).

Bottomline
The cast is probably the main selling point of this drama CD and though I don’t think the story is particularly meaningful, it’s still worth listening!

Picaaa recommended this CD with Tatsu and I listened to it last night.  Although the plot and pacing of the story is quite strange (possibly since I haven’t read the manga before), I really enjoy the CD! Thanks Picaaa!

Story
Kanai (Hatano Wataru) used to be a good baseball player who was scouted by good schools.  However, an accident damaged his sight and he was kicked out of his current school.  He applied elsewhere but only one school accepted him – the school that’s famous for “bad students”.   The first day of school, Kanai was already chased around by people who wanted to recruit him.  Well, all those members belonged to fight clubs because that’s the only type of clubs available in the school.  Accidentally, he takes shelter at the only cultural club in the school, the biological school and inside he meets a yanki type boy with blonde hair.  That’s Shinonome (Suzuki Tatsuhisa).  Shinonome challenged him to a duel but was accidentally knocked out by him. Shinonome admitted his own defeat and wanted to follow Kanai but Kanai doesn’t need a follower.  Instead, he wants a friend who will play catchball with him.  Somehow, Shinonome says it’s his dream to with someone stronger than him in the biological clubroom and he’s fallen in love with Kanai and Kanai starts to have strange dreams . Shinonome becomes Kanai’s friend and plays catchball with him and gradually, Kanai finds Shinonome. One day, Kanai comes late because he daydreams in class and is detained by the teacher.  Upon arrival, he finds Shinonome just finished some guys from another “shima” and is cleaning his wound.  He bandaids his wound and really finds him so cute he confesses to him but he is rejected!!! Turns out Shinonome confuses Kanai with his first love.  Kanai is upset but decides not to give up on Shinonome.  One day, when he comes home, his brother (Miyake Kenta) tells him his classmate, who’s waiting for him outside is summoned by some scary guys over to the park.  Those guys actually want to challenge Kanai but Shimonome goes over and start fighting with them.  Worried, Kanai goes to rescue Shinonome and his brother gives him the gown that symbolizes the undefeated guy.  When his classmates see Kanai going over to the park with the legendary gown on, they follow.  Shinonome is being beaten up by the badies but when the latter sees Kanai with the legendeary gown and the big crowd following him, they’re scared and flee.  Kanai brings Shinonome home for treatment and wants to but Shinonome runs away.  The next day Kanai’s classmates, who already befriend him asks  Kanai if they can join the biology club and use the clubroom.  Shinonome says he’s already promised to give the room to Kanai so he can do whatever he likes but he doesn’t seem to like it.  Kanai wonders if Shinonome wants to in the room.  Anyway, the two finally  after Shinonome confesses he dreams about  with Kanai.   In the end, the two are really ba-couple!

The last track is simply a bonus track talking about new members of the club cleaning the biological clubroom.  Shinonome has moved over to the health station because he doesn’t want to stay in the clubroom and Kanai goes over and…and…!

Review
This story is really confusing occasionally because there are in the dreams and so at times I wonder when’s the real and when’s the dream . I think the story is simple and the pacing .  What really attracts me though is the characterization.  Of course, Wataru is cute and his reactions to the dream is really funny but his character doesn’t stand out as much as Tatsu’s Shinonome.  What’s with this guy??? He’s tsundere to the MAX(). He’s so he’s probably the major moe point in the CD.  OMG, I just can’t help but shout (along with Wataru’s Kanai) throughout the CD.  Even a normal baseball boy will fall for such a cute little kitty ,.  I think Shinonome’s a really really shy boy with brilliant fighting skills.  He stays alone in the clubroom because he doesn’t like other people around (except a stronger guy who will sleep with him.   Finally, I think Miyake’s oniichan is also a cute character.  Rather than oniichan, he sounds more like oneechan, seriously. He definitely suits being an okama.

Bottomline
A light comedy that’s recommended for people who love TSUNDERE and don’t mind cuteness attacks!

Yesterday I was disappointed by the drama Chocolate no you ni, but this drama totally cured me! The story is not particularly fantastic but the pacing, acting, characterization are so well balanced that once you start listening, you simply can’t stop!!

Story

The story begins with an AV scene (female ), after which we are introduced to Tokisaka Ei ( Nojima Kenji).  Ei is a descendent of a yakuza family but when his father passed away, he gave up being a yakuza and opened a tiny restaurant instead.  Most of the members of his yakuza group seeked jobs elsewhere but Tsuda ( Yusa Kouji) chooses to stay with him at the restaurant.  Ei has a childhood aquaintance, Higa Soujun (Sugita Tomokazu) who is also the son of a yakuza group and has now become the leader.   Soujun likes Ei (and so does Tsuda) but Ei doesn’t recognize that.  One day, two yakuza-like guys came to Ei’s store to cause trouble.  Soujun kick them out and Ei learn that the guys belong to a group called Xanos.  Then Ei’s tricked by Soujun  to work part time at a host club and there saw Ryou ( Suzuki Tatsuhisa), his younger brother selling drugs to a woman.  Soujun seems to know something about Xanos and after some investigations, it seems Ryou is the leader to this newly formed mob Xanos.  Ei wanted to help Ryou because he knows Ryou doesn’t want to be yakuza but a doctor.  Yet, it seems Ryou is gutted by Ei disbanding the yakuza group.  Then one night, Soujun came to Ei’s place covered in blood.  He was stabbed by Ryou and Ei is really worried.  So Ei went to confront Ryou. In the end, Ei is all love-love with Soujun and Ryou also joins Soujun’s yakuza group.

Review
If you just read my review, you may find the story interesting but if you actually listen to the drama CD, the story is amazingly fascinating because it moves so fast.  Scenes shift quickly and there are also moe points along the way.  Of course, the biggest moe point is Nojima Kenji’s ex-yakuza deep voice.  I only know the cute side of Kenji and I’m pleasantly surprised by his deeper and rougher tone. The way he pronounces the word is also very cute and though it doesn’t match the artwork (on the cover because the uke is the short haired guy), I must say his acting is superb! Ei’s tsundere personality is also a mega moe point and the signature of a tsundere is “kawaii to iuu na!” (don’t say I’m cute) but he’s really cute!!! Sugita’s Soujun is also sexy and cool but when he’s in front of Ei, he’s also cute! Ahh, what’s with this couple! They’re both manlike and very powerful but they can be so cute!!! Yusa’s Tsuda is also a funny character who adores his waka Ei but got defeated by Soujun. Finally, two days in a row, I listen to Tatsuhisa’s bad boy voice.  Well, unlike his role in Chocolate no you ni, this time, he is a bad boy with a good heart and a brother complex.  Obviously he likes Ei and is disappointed by the fact that Ei disbanded the yakuza group and descends from a powerful leader to the owner of a small restaurant.  He hoped his brother would be a great man.  Also, he mistook his mother from being kicked out of the family.  Instead, she left at her own will so Ryou won’t have to stay in a yakuza family.  There’s a spin off featuring Ryou’s romance and probably one day, that will get dramatized too! Maybe we need to send to ask Cyberphase to do that.

Bottomline
I recommend this CD for those who like speedy stories and of course, it is a MUST LISTEN for Kenji fans because his acting is so fresh and good in this drama CD. The BGM is also OK and so my only complaint is that sometimes, it’s difficult to differentiate between monologue and dialogue, especially of Ei.  Had the sound effect been more different between BGM and monologues, it would be even better!

Betrayed by Hichiwa sensei! Apparently the uke is not the poisonous uke I expected!! Harsh review ahead so please be careful!

Story
Shizuka Kyouichi ( Takeuchi Ken) works as a programmer in a company, along with his best friend Nagase Kouji ( Suzuki Tatsuhisa).  He designed a brilliant program but Nagase stole it and claimed the credit.  Kyouichi was pissed and went drinking alone in a bar.  There he met Kajimoto (Yasumoto Hiroki), who was crunching chocolate all the time.  The guy came over to talk to him and soon learned he was unhappy because his program was stolen by his friend.  Kajimoto then offered Kyouichi a plan for revenge.  First, Kyouichi would have to alter his appearance, then use his own body to seduce Nagase.  Deeply wounded by Nagase’s betrayal, Kyouichi went with Kajimoto’s plan and transformed from a dull programmer with no fashion sense to a decent looking guy.  During the process, of course, Kyouichi slept with Kajimoto and gradually fell for him along the way, to the extent that he almost gave up his revenge.  Yet he knew Kajimoto had a lover and when he saw the photo at Kajimoto’s place and a man walking into his apartment, he jumped to the conclusion that Kajimoto still loved his lover.  So he proceeded with the revenge again.  In the end though, Kajimoto revealed the truth that he was actually the head of the project and he was really impressed by the program.  At the bar when he saw Kyouichi, he fell in love and when he learned the brilliant program was actually written by Kyouichi and not Nagase, he wanted to help (and along the way own) Kyouichi! Well, all’s well that ends well, Nagase is replaced by Kyouichi in the project and Kajimoto and Kyouichi are now all love love.

Review
Although I wouldn’t say Kyouichi is a brainless uke, I can’t say he is very brilliant either… and he’s simply fooled around by Kajimoto and Nagase.  Of course Nagase is wicked for stealing Kyouichi’s project, but the latter should really fight for his own right!! You can’t blame people when you sit around doing nothing after knowing someone has stolen your project.  Also he keeps saying he doesn’t want Kajimoto to help but he keeps on going back to Kajimoto, definitely not the type of uke I like.  As for Kajimoto, he is SO TYPICAL of Hichiwa sensei’s seme, a.k.a. tough, intelligent, but stubborn, self-centered, and hardly listen to what others have to say.   He is surprisingly hetare though ,eating chocolates and watching classic anime. Overall, I think the two may be a pretty good couple (a.k.a. ba-couple).  Finally, Nagase! He is not much different from a villager A in a RPG game.  If he is the “horse”, at least give him a bigger role! Suzuki’s “bad boy” acting is actually quite good so I feel it would be better had he appeared in more scenes.  ??Finally, I find the pacing of the CD extremely slow .  Hichiwa sensei is famous for her speedy dialogues but somehow I can’t feel the speed in this particular story.  Maybe it’s not the best story to be dramatized?

Bottomline
Sorry if my review is a bit “spicy” but I had high hopes for this CD (cast and author) so when my expectations were not met, I feel a bit angry .  I certainly think there is not much “plot” in the story so it’s not necessary for a 2-disc package.  If you have plenty of time and interest to listen to a very sweet story, I think this is for you.  Unfortunately, I don’t like sweets and so this is just not my taste.

P.S. I think Kajimoto won’t last too long if he keeps eating chocolates and pizzas as they’re not good for the body. Hopefully Kyouichi can change his diet .

After a long break, really long, I’ve finally gathered enough energy to listening to CD and writing reviews again.  The first CD I pick to review is a suspense mystery which has no H but a very rich plot.  In fact, the script won the 50th Buruli Bonaward.  In addition to a novel and movie, there is also a drama CD released by Momogre and the latter is the subject of my review.

Story
A year ago, net idol Kisaragi Miki ( Horie Yui) committed suicide.  A year later, five of her fans gathered at Iemoto’s house ( Ono Daisuke) to commemorate her.  The members include:

Iemoto, a police officer;
Ono Daisuke ( Sugita Tomokazu), a well-mannered young man;
Snake ( Miyano Mamoru), a young man with high tension;
Yasuo ( Nakamura Yuuichi), a young man who seems to be very concerned with following the crowd;
Ichigo Musume ( Fujiwara Keiji), a middle-aged and weird man.

A funny note about the character names is that the handle name “Ono Daisuke” is different in the drama CD than in the movie.  In the movie, it’s Oda Yuuji but in the drama CD, they changed it to Ono Daisuke to tease on the poor Ono Daisuke (seiyuu).  They even emphasized the “famous seiyuu” Ono Daisuke , very funny.   The gathering began with Iemoto showing off the others his precious collection of all the pics with and stuff with Miki, including a letter she wrote and addressed to him.   The gathering took off in a warm atmosphere but everything changed when Ono Daisuke suggested that Miki’s death was not suicide but murder.   At first the members were reluctant to discuss the issue but gradually all joined the discussion and slowly, their real identities begin to emerge.

The following contains spoilers to the story and is only intended for those who want to know the story better.  The text is written in white color, please highlight to read.

Ono Daisuke starts off by explaining why he thinks Miki’s death is not suicide.  First, judging from Miki’s personality, there is no reason why she has to choose to burn herself if she just wants to die.  Setting the house on fire causes trouble for her neighbors as well (nearly burn the apartment next door) and Miki could have used alternative methods if she simply wanted to kill herself.  Also, Ono explained that Miki had been stalked and attacked by a stalker before, the stalker also broke into her house and took away one item.  Ono then accused Ichigo Musume of being the stalker.  Ichigo Musume admitted he peaked and even went into Miki’s house but he wasn’t the stalker and definitely didn’t kill her.  Ono phoned the police department and confirmed that Ichigo Musume was being investigated by the police at the time and couldn’t be the murderer.  The deduction process continued and this time, it was revealed that Snake actually also entered Miki’s house! He worked at the Lucky?Lucky shop and Miki often went to buy stuff from them.  She ordered bottles of various types of oil because she couldn’t distinguish the liquids very well.  Snake delivered the bottles to her apartment and she made him tea but she did not get further into the house than the kitchen.  Then came Ono Daisuke himself, actually he was Debu-chan (little fat guy), MIki’s manager.  He loved Miki and wanted to know why she died. Since he was so stressed, he lost a lot of weigth and so the others didn’t recognize him.  Then came Yasuo, who wasn’t just an ordinary fan but actually Miki’s childhood friend and the guy who made a promise to marry Miki when the grow up.  Finally, Ichigo Musume is no ordinary hentai oyaji but really Miki’s papa who went to her house because he wanted to see how his daughter was living.   After a long process of deduction, the group came to the conclusion that everything was just a tragic accident.

On the night of her death, Miki wanted to kill a cockroach so she rang Yasuo for advice.  Yasuo recommended Miki to pour orange marmalade detergent on the floor.  However, after 20 minutes, she still couldn’t kill the cockroach, so she went to bed with her candles still burning.  She mistook salad oil for orange marmalade detergent because the bottle looked similar and she couldn’t tell the liquids apart.   She wanted to leave a message telling Yasuo she couldn’t defeat the cockroach but instead dialled the wrong number.  So the message went to her manager Ono Daisuke and was later mistaken by the police and the mass media as her suicide note.  The candle fell to the floor following an earthquake and spread quickly because of the oil.  When she realized her house was alit, she rushed to the place where she kept all those fanletters Iemoto sent her because she felt the letters supported her and she valued them over her own life.

Once the mystery was solved, the guys watched a video with Miki singing and they joined in, then they left Iemoto’s house without realizing there’s still one mystery left… the identity of the stalker who stalked Miki before she died.

Review
This story reminds me of Anthony Berkeley’s “The Poisoned Chocolate Case” because the whole story only focused a group of people deducing a case.  The script has a nice balance of humor and suspense and the pacing is very good.   Probably the most interesting part is the ending, which is not hard to guess if you take a deeper look at the real identity of each character.  With regard to acting, I think everyone’s done a great job, especially Fujiwara whose tone changes as the identity of his character clarifies .  Nakamura also shocks me a little because his initial high tone voice is so high I must admit I didn’t recognize him immediately.  Still, I think Yasuo is a bit miscast because Nakamura sounded a bit unnatural when he spoke with that tone and tension…made me feel like he’s stretching the limit of his voice.  I think Kakihara, Ueda Yuuji, etc. may have been a better choice… hmm.  Sugita’s Ono is quite sexy and Ono’s Iemoto is in his calm and intelligent form.  However, I think if Ono’s voice is a bit “darker”, it maybe even more interesting.  Spoiler: He lacks the darkness and wildness of a killer.  Finally, Mamo is completely amazing! He’s like chorise personality in Gundam 00’s drama CD , mega high tension and mega cute .  Rather than the cool “Light” type of chara, I think he’s better with this kind of hetare, tennen character .

Bottomline
This is a MUST LISTEN for seiyuu and mystery fans because the plot is well written, the acting is fun, and they even have a free talk session in bonus CD with Ono advertising his Spica-mos CD . I hope more mystery drama will be released in the future as I really love mystery and suspense.

Story
In this volume, there are three stories in total, all linked to the story PET. Pretty much pet is story about master and sex androids in half human and half animal shaped. The title story is the second story which is about two kids growing up together in a war ridden period. Rou is an orphan and when he was young, he learned martial arts from Seishin’s grandfather. Seishin did not speak much but was very strong even as a kid. Rou always wanted to beat him but he hardly ever succeeded. In the beginning, Seishin seemed cold but after Seishin speaking to Rou for the first time, Rou realized that Seishin also wanted to be his friends with him and so the two became friends.

Some years later, Seishin’s grandfather died and the two survived by picking metal from dump sites to earn money. When they grew up, Seishin became a bodyguard and got a much better salary while Rou worked at a bar. One night, Seishin came home looking very distressed and he was also covered in blood. Rou wondered what happened but all Seishin said was that he killed people. Seishin seemed so traumatized by the murders he committed that he did not resist when Rou tried to sleep with him. Since then, their relationship crossed the “borderline” of friend. Rou wanted to undersatnd Seishin’s feelings more. When he met a contract soldier at the bar, he decided to become a contract soldier and he went to the front line. There, he tasted the horros of war and faced the time when one had no choice but to kill. One time, they encountered a frightened kid on the battlefield who fired at Rou because he was so scared. Rou managed to calm the kid (who resembled Seishin) but he got injured and was removed from the frontline. He survived to go home to meet Seishin and was then more prepared for a more stable relationship because he could understand and face “death”.

Compared to the more depressing Yakusoku no Tsuki, the next story: Higana Ichinichi is lighter and would give the audience a good laugh. In Higana Ichinichi, we see Tasuku (guy on the right) entering the dormitory because his parents were going abroad to work. Since Tasuku entered at an unusual time, there was only one place left in the dormitory and he had to share his room with an extremely strange guy Koumei. Koumei aimed at becoming a “housewife” in the future and he could sew, cook, clean perfectly. In addition, he also had a strong sense of justice and later on became the “seigi no mikata” in the neighborhood (forcing Tasuku to go along). At first, Tasuku disliked living with Koumei because the latter would sew chicken and kitten onto his collar or alter his clothes without his permission. Still, when he realized that Koumei was doing this because he was trying to make others happy (Koumei used to go to his mother’s workplace where he sewed things for older ladies and made them happy), Tasuku could not refuse Koumei.

As time went by, Tasuku realized that Koumei was kind to EVERYONE but he wanted Koumei to be kind to him in a special way. Koumei overheard Tasuku while he was letting his feelings out when watching the cats which were taking shelter in the school and since then Koumei and Tasuku moved a HUGE LEAP forward . The funny thing is that actually Koumei was pretty STRONG because he also learned martial arts when he was young and so in bed, Tasuku couldn’t stand a chance.

Review
After reading a huge chunk of Himawari sensei’s work in a short period of time, it’s obvious that she has a unique style in laying out her stories. The keyword to all her stories is – child -. Regardless whether the story is shouta or not, you’ll get a feeling there is always “children’ in her manga. For instance, in Yakusoku no Tsuki, it began with the time when they were children. In the short story from “Pet” though the “pet” looks like an adult, he seems to know very little about the world and in a sense, is a child. In Hagana Ichinichi, Koumei obviously behaves like a child though physically he is completely grown up. That’s the interesting “style” that really attracted me to Himawari’s world. Her children-looking characters usually are more mature and strong while her adult looking characters are the child-like ones. The use of monologues and the references in the background also add to the flavors of her manga. This “style” may take a little while to get used to, especially for people who dislike shouta. However, for those who don’t particularly dislike shouta, the “child” element can be a BIG attraction. In terms of characterization, unfortunately, I don’t have anyone I like in particular in Yakusoku no Tsuki. On the other hand, I really really like Koumei (sweat). I suppose it’s because Koumei is so sweet and cute and feminine on the outside but once on bed, he’s so dominating and masculine. He’s also very honest with his feelings and is so innocent he’s almost surreal (well, not almost… he IS NOT REAL -period). He kinda reminds me of Forrest Gump in a way and I am REALLY WEAK to this kind of SEME (sweat).

Bottomline
To be honest, I really dislike short stories and if not for collecting Himawari Souya’s work, I would probably not have read short stories. Unlike long stories, they don’t have enough room to develop the character. Having said that though, these two volumes (along with Ongakushitsu) really show me just how diverse and unique Himawari Souya sensei can be. I wouldn’t recommend all her works to everyone because it’s a matter of taste I must say and I don’t think she is the type of author whom everyone will like. However, I highly recommend readers to at least give one book or two a try and to see if you like it or not. The best one to start would be one of her short story collection because that would give you the idea of what I mean when I say the common element that defines Himawari’s world is “child”.