insaneneko

I tried listening to the drama CD of Kusama Sakae's manga Hiruma no koi today and had to stop. I liked the manga but had some problems with it, and the drama CD magnified the deficiencies quite a bit. I can't find my manga (I swear I just saw it the other day, too!) and don't want to bother go back to the drama CD so I'll have to go by memory, but the basic idea is that a salaryman is assigned to deal with a one-man machinist shop. They get together pretty quickly and the rest of the manga is about their relationship. Overall, I like it. I like the feel of Kusama-sensei's mangas and I like these two. The machinist is a younger puppy seme (voiced very well in the drama CD, btw) and the salaryman is more uptight (and was always into older guys so is at a loss at times dealing with younger puppy dude) but--and this is the important bit--NOT TSUNDERE. I love younger puppy semes, but most of the time they seem to be paired with annoying tsundere ukes who can never be honest with their feelings. While there are misunderstandings and the such, they aren't made into huge deals. It's sweet. My problem with the manga is that it felt like she jammed more than one volumes worth of material into one volume. It felt disjointed. How they get together baffles me. I actually stopped reading the manga and put it aside once because it was so nonsensical to me. Once I just swallowed the fact that they got together somehow and didn't think too hard about it I could go on and read the rest of the manga. So the drama CD is really cute when it comes to the two of them interacting, but it just throws me when the story just shifts. It doesn't flow.

Oh man, I'm tempted to see if they dramatized the bit with the salaryman's boss meeting up with his daughter and wailing about having just given the subordinate-who-is-like-a-son away. That was so cute.

Also cute is when the machinist asks salaryman about boss's birthday and when the salaryman immediately answers machinist is a bit devastated. His jealousy is so funny!

I've just had my first CD drama is better than the original work experience! I thought 15 cm miman no koi by Sunahara Touko, which featured a silent and socially inept seme and a very tsundere uke, was just so-so--a feeling I think I conveyed in my post on the book. I recently listened to the CD drama and was amazed because it was such an enjoyable experience! The seme's taciturn awkwardness just SHINES. He's adorable! The dude is so clueless, and he's had the misfortune of falling for a tsundere who can't face his own damn feelings let alone help seme out by giving him a clue. Even uke was much cuter in the drama. I almost empathized with the uke when faced with the seme's amazing cluelessness as vocalized by the fabulous voice actor, even though I still think he just needs to suck it and deal. I love how the seme just takes the uke's words at face value, not having any idea that uke could totally be saying things he doesn't really mean because that's what tsunderes do. That is, until the very end when does figure it out and just...semes (goes on the offensive).

I think this is one book that was improved by the editing that must be done to fit into the drama format. Seriously, so much fun. XDXD

I still had to skip the sex scene when the uke is doll-sized, tho. Ick ick icky ick ick...

I saw a post for the CD dramas of Kyuusu wa cheese no yume wo miru and Sojou no koi wa nido haneru by Mizushiro Setona and recoiled in horror. Am I wrong to think it'll be overdone and ruin the wonderful tension the manga creates so well? :P

On the other hand, I am IN LOVE with the CD drama of Tightrope by Natsume Isaku. It has made me love the manga, I take back the bleah post I made on it a while back. I adored Ryu's pure, puppy-dog adoration of Naoki. He was born to be yakuza, but he's grown up so not messed up because Naoki has been there to keep him from becoming a total delinquent and a worthless piece of scum. The voice actors were PERFECT. Ryu is manly when mad but like a puppy around Naoki, I want to pet him and want him so much to have what he so earnestly wants. Naoki has this throaty voice that is perfect for his slightly distant personality. How I wish they had dramatized the side story in the manga because I would've loved to hear Ryu's little spiel on how Naoki had been so sweet when they'd had sex and how wonderful a sweet Naoki is since Naoki is usually so bitter...But then he thinks that a bitter Naoki is pretty awesome and so cool, but then wouldn't it be nice if a bit of sweetness was mixed in? Not like in an unnatural way, but...

And then his thoughts are interrupted by Naoki and he jumps back. Oh, how wonderful it'd be dramatized! XDXD

I think I hadn't appreciated Ryu's pure devotion and his sweet earnestness. I love how he can't even imagine ever doing anything to make Naoki cry, even if it means being tortured with lack of sex. So cute!

I forgot to mention that the March issue of CIEL will contain a new installment of Sekaiichi hatsukoi by Nakamura Shungiku...with a new main character! ARG! Does that mean that the Onodera arc is over or that she's going to take turns with this new character?

I'm a bit interested in "News na kare" by Yamato Nase, which is coming out in TresTres right now. It's December's rec on the CIEL page (here). It's about an ordinary kid (who has grownup without TV) who lives next door to a very popular actor, gets sucked into the actor's world and is loved muchly by the actor. Sounds really stupid, but I'm a sucker for these types of stories drawn by Yamato Nase. I especially love it when the kid is nothing special and a bit snarky and the older dude is disgustingly indulgent (I still have to mention this one really bad BL novel illustrated by Yamato Nase that totally fits this mold that I like to reread....Maybe when I get around to buying a new scanner?). It's so unrealistic but still fun to read.

Speaking of Yamato Nase, I didn't realize there was a drama CD of Benriya-san! I wouldn't mind listening to this one, I like this manga a lot. XD

Read two fun bonus stories in the Deadlock series. One is set in the first book when leader of the Latinos Net (?) is released from solitary and sees Tonia, his "girl." You know...I didn't know Tonia is actually his younger brother but they are not a real incestuous couple. Did this come out in the original series and I somehow missed it or was it in the offshoot book that I hadn't bothered reading? In any case, I enjoyed hearing their impressions of Dick and Yuuto. Love how Net agrees with Tonia that Yuuto "is like a prince." XD The second story is set after the series and features Yuuto's protective older stepbrother being a macho protective older brother towards the bad, bad man that turned Yuuto gay. Yuuto, you are so protected! And then the obligatory bed scene where Yuuto and Dick throw around more gag-worthy declarations of love before they have mad sex (in many positions!). They are uploaded here.

I also listened to the CD drama of Arashi no ato, the Hidaka Shouko manga I loved so much (and squeed over here). It was fabulous! Morikawa Toshiyuki (seme) and Nakamura Yuuichi (uke) were spot on. They made lovely salarymen being professional and cool. Uploaded here.

I learned some new terminology today...Fascinating doesn't begin to describe it.

I can't believe TurboTax doesn't allow online purchase of their program when installing with one of their CD mailers. I called and went through their tedious automated phone system, getting an installation code. Of course the code didn't work, so I sent an email to support. The response instructed me to call during business hours (not much longer than typical business hours, luckily Pacific Time and not something like Eastern or Central). What do I find out when I call? That I basically got the code right, except that I misheard the "D" as "B." I listened to the damn code twice to double-check, too! GAH.

Are there a lot of drama cd translations? It seems like quite a lot of work, in some ways worse than doing a scanlation. It's very nice of people to do stuff like that, since I always wondered what people who didn't understand Japanese do. On a whim I downloaded a translation of Nijuu Rasen 1 (a great drama based on the novel by Yoshihara Reiko and illustrated by Enjin Ranmaru) and it's 19 pages! I laughed at the translator refusing to translate part of a sex scene...I can totally relate. It's a) kind of embarrassing and b) rather silly since half the time it's pretty damn obvious. XD

Lately I've been seeing some real possessive behavior regarding scans. Not scanlations, but straight scans. People who bother to watermark their illegal scans of copyrighted material and go around demanding that people stop sharing "their" scans really drives me bonkers.

oyceter posts about alpha males in romances and starts what looks to be a really good discussion (I haven't had a chance to read past the first one or two comments). Personally, I see too much alpha male bastards raping and controlling their way through too many BL novels to have a generally positive reaction to the word "alpha male." ^^;

Huh...The TV is playing one of those Animal Planet shows about animal welfare law enforcement right now and I happened to look up to see an owner get arrested for animal cruelty. The owner, whose face is obscured by pixillation, asks in a completely bewildered tone, "Why?" The deputy who is to arrest her, after an awkward pause, just repeats that "Because it's animal cruelty." The depths of some people's unconcern re: their pets' welfare is really depressing.

I listened to two CD dramas today to take a break from a marathon podcast session...There's only so much gloomy business news I can listen to before going nuts, after all. ^^;

Yome ni konaika is from a manga that I've mentioned before about a normal salaryman who has a "bride" move in with him without his consent. The bride is a man, gorgeous and skilled in all that a housewife should be good at (He's also skilled at fucking his husband good! XD). The salaryman is a bit slow and a bit dense and stands no chance against his smart and insistent bride. In any case, the drama is hilarious. Morikawa Toshiyuki is the logical choice to play the put-upon salaryman husband and he does a fabulous job. The "bride" is played perfectly by Koyasu...I love how he voices him with a high pitch and with that wonderful humble politeness that comes from the traditional housewife role. I'm glad they decided to concentrate on the comedy aspects and not bother voicing the sex scenes...It made the narrative run very smoothly.

The side story about the poor neighbor of the happy newlyweds is hilarious as well. Whoever the voice is for that is just...perfect. I love his incredulity as he watches the entire neighborhood treat the "bride" as a normal wife...

Aikagi is based on a novel by Yuuki Kazumi and illustrated by Sakuragi Yaya, which I read a long time ago and hadn't bothered talking about. It's a very conventional story about a normal salaryman who is raped by his younger brother, falls down the stairs while trying to leave afterwards, and loses his memory. What follows is some angst between the two brothers as one tries to regain his memory (and deal with these unnatural feelings he develops over the course of the story for his younger brother) and the other tries to get over his feelings that had caused the whole mess in the first place. It's silly and fluffy and tries to be angsty but ends happily, of course. I don't know the voice actors who play the two brothers, but I do like the husky voice of the older brother. XD The voice of the younger brother sometimes sounded like he's just reading a script instead of acting the part, but he got better deeper into the story. The drama, like the novel, is supremely conventional...But it was pleasant to listen to.

I hadn't realized that the shoujo manga Moonchild by Shimizu Reiko had been licensed. I vaguely remember attempting to read this a LOOONG time ago and failing. I think I was confused and slightly traumatized. In any case, enthusiastic pimp posts do make me want to try it again...

Speaking of shoujo, I realized that I have a bunch of Rose of Versailles manga in my house....This puzzles me greatly. How did it get there? I thought we only had the anime. It's next to the very very traumatizing Hi Izuru Tokoro no Tenshi by Yamagishi Ryouko, which no child should ever be allowed to happen to come upon. *shudders* I wonder if I can get over that childhood trauma and read it now that I'm older.

I find it so odd that the shonen-ai classics were all introduced to me by older women long before I had figured out that I actually liked anime/manga: Hi Izuru Tokoro no Tenshi by my mom (who LOVED this manga to death), Song of Wind and Trees by my aunt (who, in her defense, probably had no idea what kind of story this was--she gave me the videotape of the anime along with a bunch of other random anime from her family's video rental shop), Poe no Ichizoku and Thoma no Shinzou by my mom's friend (both my mom and her friend LOVED these manga). Now that I look back on it, I don't think these were very appropriate for a young person to consume. The only thing that was more traumatizing than those were Tezuka Osamu's stuff. Some of the images from Hi no Tori in particulary are seared into my brain permanently. I had some bad nightmares thanks to that manga.

And onto the less traumatizing...

Yume wo miru hima mo nai by Yamada Yugi is a lovely little manga that apparently has been completely scanlated by Nakama. It's currently being posted at yaoi_daily, so far chapter 1 (parts 1 and 2) is up. It's about two guys who work at an airline, who had been roommates for a brief time in high school. I don't know how to describe it succinctly, sadly. It's funny and cute and sweet and dorky. I love how much the main character (and others) loves airplanes and never ever outgrows that love. The sempai side story is hilarious, as well. All I can say is that I really like it and am glad to see it's been scanlated. XDXD

I'm trying to listen to the drama CD of Aiteru door kara shitsurei shimasu yo by Yamada Yugi and having a really hard time accepting Okiayu as Shouichi. Inoue throws me off as Shunji, as well. It's quite well done so far...But it just feels odd for some reason. *shrugs*

My impression of the long-awaited G Senjou no neko III by Miyagi Tooko after a fairly quick skim? Disappointment. First, the art...It is different. I can't put my finger on it, but it just doesn't make me sigh with its beauty like the first two volumes did. I guess I'll have to stare at the art longer to see if my first impression is unfounded. Second, the story kind of takes a wacky turn. Yes, the premise was already kind of extreme, but then it...fell off a cliff and went into free-fall or something. And the end! The end! GAH! Did she just want to finish the thing off and provide a "satisfying" ending?? I think I'll put this aside and let my disappointment cool before picking it up and giving it another chance.

Another disappointment is the Hakkenden drama CD. My fears regarding Paku Romi were realized. She's talented, yes, but (at least for me) ALL WRONG! I just kept thinking, "Ed! It's Ed!" because she voiced Shino just like Ed...It doesn't help that the characters are kind of similar. Toshiyuki Morikawa obviously fits like a glove into the role of Sousuke...but perhaps too well? I dunno, he fell a bit flat for me. The only one I really liked was Hamaji...But then, I only managed to listen to about two tracks before giving up. Besides my problems with the casting, the story was waaaay too choppy for me. I hate it when they edit manga/novels into tiny bits and pieces that only really make sense when you have already read the original work. I want my drama cds to stand on their own. I guess I'll eventually give this one another go after a while...a long while.

I was amused to see scans of Ari no mama no kimi ga suki by Kifu Kaname online. It must have been because the illustrations were done by Yukifuna Kaoru, but I have to admit this particular novel doesn't have anything near the prettiest Yukifuna illustrations I've ever seen. The story, on the other hand, is novel and amusing. Basically it's about a character who is ugly and fat, stupid, gullible, and cowardly. But he has a naive personality that (while probably irritating to 99% of the population) is appealing to his father (who dotes on him) as well as the guy who turns into his suitor. Kind of reminded me of Don't Worry Mama by Konohara Narise, but without the cop-out ending with the fat bastard turning into a skinny guy with a decent personality. In this one the guy actually does try to lose weight because he thought he should try to look better to be with his hot and sexy lover--only to be told by his father and his lover to not bother. Even if he lost weight he'd still be ugly and hulking, and to deny his love of eating is just foolish and tortuous. The novel was at times a bit tedius (Kifu-sensei likes to get a bit too simplistic at times), but overall pretty fun (even the sex, in a rather disturbing way). I think I read on her website that Kifu-sensei will be writing a sequel, which I look forward to reading.

Speaking of sequels, I was thinking of some of the books I've summarized that have sequels/are in series. I don't know if anyone cared enough to read summaries of the others, so I figured I'd do another poll (my second poll ever!).

[Poll #1087769]

Hyakujitsu no bara (Maiden Rose) Drama CD download links:

Sendspace
Mediafire

Initially, I was rather hesitant to listen to it. On the one hand, I didn't really want to because the first volume is full of sex, but on the other I was curious about how both of these veterans would sound:

Taki: Chiba Susumu
Klaus: Inoue Kazuhiko

In the end I did listen, and....Well, I can say that this was one of the best cd drama adaptations of a manga or novel I'd ever heard. I am not too sure about the suitability of the choices of voice actors for the roles, but they are damn good. And the narrative is tight and flows really well. They moved scenes around, added lines here and there to make things clear--clearer than even the manga at times, cut out a lot to keep the story on track. The drama, pathos, whatever effect desired of each scene is heightened at every point (well, i don't know about the sex scenes because I skipped them--I'll probably listen to those eventually since there's drama in them too). Seriously, my reaction can be summed up as "wow wow wow wow wow!"

Now I want this to be animated! Though I suppose I'd settle for the second volume becoming a drama CD for now. ^_~


( the fabulous and gorgeous mini-manga in the insert )

As a warning to anyone who doesn't understand Japanese, the drama doesn't follow the manga faithfully (as I had mentioned earlier). I had to flip around to find the correct scene in the manga while listening. ^^; If anyone is interested, I can provide a guide to correlate scenes between the drama and manga...