Title: ANiMiX Finder no Hyouteki DVD (ANiMiX 「ファインダーの標的」 DVD)
(Target in the Finder /You’re my loveprize in Viewfinder)
Price: 6,200 Yen (w/tax)
Available: 29 February 2012
Official site: http://www.b-boy.jp/animix/
First-press version: Special slip case, cast freetalk CD 特製スリーブ・キャストフリートークCD

Exclusively sold at: Animate Japan and Libre Japan.
Libre store: https://www.libre-pub.co.jp/shop/commodity/00000000/ANMX-002/
Libre freebies include FIXER version postcard set
Animate Japan: http://www.animate-onlineshop.jp/pn/pd/1083467/
Animate freebies include Viewfinder version postcard set
CDJapan Proxy Buying service

It’s been years after ANiMiX for Finder no Hyouteki (Target in the Viewfinder) by Yamane Ayano was first announced back in July 2008…

According to the latest update posted at the site, the DVD will include the stories Finder no Hyouteki 「ファインダーの標的」, FIXER 「FIXER」and Love Surprise 「ラブサプライズ」.

The images in the title pic may be black and white but we can clearly see that the characters look almost exactly like their original designs. They look fantastic!

To recap, ANiMiX is not an anime that has full animation. It’ll be like manga given the anime coloured treatment with sound and voice but has minimum animation of the mouth, eyes blinking etc. More about it in this post about ANiMiX when the productions were first announced.

The last update was back in April 2011 where various screenshots were shown as sneak peeks… it seems that we may finally see it this coming winter 2011 :) Better late than never! And I think we can expect pretty good quality when the production is finally released. I can’t remember exactly how I felt about the new cast when I listened to the short drama CD of the manga quite a while back ^^;; but I think I had a relatively good impression of how they sounded.

A couple of screenshots revealed in April 2011

ANiMiX / New drama cd cast
Takaba Akihito 高羽秋仁: Kakihara Tetsuya 柿原徹也
Asami Ryuuichi 麻見隆一: Kuroda Takaya 黒田祟矢
Liu Fei Long 刘飛龍: Tobita Nobuo 飛田展男

桐嶋 啓: Kawahara Yoshihisa 川原慶久
蘇芳一美: Miyake Kenta 三宅健太
山崎刑事: Ishii Kouji 石井康嗣
コウ: Hirakawa Daisuke 平川大輔
タカト: Tachibana Shinnosuke 立花慎之介

Including a radio recording, Chinmoku Radio 沈黙ラジオ too.

According to official news, there will be one ~ オメルタ～沈黙の掟～ BLCD to be released per month from August 2011, with each main character taking centre stage. Like what Ugajin says, “If you treasure you life, you better listen to them!” lol~

The first CD in the series of seven CDs will be pre-released during Summer Comic Market 2011. More information will be available later

1) オメルタ～沈黙の掟～　ドラマＣＤ　Vol．1 霧生編 「狂犬・霧生礼司の受難」
Pairing: JJ x Kiryuu Reiji
Price: 3,150 Yen (w/tax)
Available: 16 September 2011
Summary: ＪＪがキングシーザーのファミリーとなり、一時を過ごした赤坂の本拠地を離れた後。ある晩、酒に溺れた霧生は、携帯でＪＪを呼び出した。話を聞いてみると、霧生は理由も聞かされずに、キングシーザーの幹部を降ろされるのだというが……

Cast: ＪＪ / cv:城ヶ崎 仁
霧生 礼司 / ：cv:大石 けいぞう
瑠夏・ベリーニ / cv:平井 達矢
石松 陣 / cv:笹木 一馬
パオロ・ピアノ：cv:宮元 登
刑事 / cv:白井 圭

2) オメルタ～沈黙の掟～　ドラマＣＤ　Vol．2 瑠夏編 「相棒は……ボス！？」
Pairing: Luka Belini x JJ
Price: 3,150 Yen (w/tax)
Available: 14 October 2011
Summary: ＪＪが、キングシーザーのファミリーに入った後。ある晩、ＪＪはエピローグバーを訪れ、自分の大切なボス、瑠夏のことでマスターに相談を持ちかける。やがて、ひょんな流れから瑠夏と一緒に、ある依頼を受けることになるが……

Cast: ＪＪ / cv：城ヶ崎 仁
瑠夏・ベリーニ / cv：平井 達矢
藤堂庄一郎　/ cv：星乃 煌児
石松 陣 / cv：笹木 一馬
パオロ・ピアノ / cv：宮元 登
豪沢 / cv：童貞桜
不渡 / cv：遙野 光
情報屋 / cv：白井 圭

3) オメルタ～沈黙の掟～　ドラマＣＤ　Vol．3 橘編 「キャンディー・ブラック・マーケット」
Pairing: Tachibana Youji x JJ
Price: 3,150 Yen (w/tax)
Available: 11 November 2011
Summary: 若さと勢いにまかせて突っ走る橘に、あくまで冷静に仕事をこなすＪＪ。 二人の殺し屋はコンビを組み、今日も龍宮で暗躍していた。 そんなある日、龍宮の闇市に流通し始めた、新しい麻薬「ミント」の存在が浮かび上がる。マフィアと裏ビジネスに翻弄される二人の運命は……！？

Cast: ＪＪ / cv：城ヶ崎 仁
橘 陽司 / cv：藍斗 勇輝
宇賀神 剣 / cv：紀之
王 偉　/ cv：関　エイジ
魚住 哲 / cv：白井 圭

4) オメルタ～沈黙の掟～ ドラマＣＤ Vol．4 宇賀神編「湾岸トワイライトワルツ」
Available: 9 December 2011

5) オメルタ～沈黙の掟～ ドラマＣＤ Vol．5 藤堂編
Available: 13 January 2012

6) オメルタ～沈黙の掟～ ドラマＣＤ Vol．6 劉漸編
Available: 10 February 2012

7) オメルタ～沈黙の掟～ ドラマＣＤ Vol．7 梓編
Available: 9 March 2012

And the radio show wants your input and questions for the Omerta characters in the game. Yeah, let’s all play pretend XD Cute huh~

So send them in before the end of 10 June 2011.

Link: http://omega.karin-e.jp/09_cgi-bin/06_radio_mail/radio_mail.html

Cast:
・JJ ……………… 城ヶ崎仁 (Iida Toshinobu 饭田利信)
・遠野 梓 (とおの　あずさ) …… 金田亮 (Fujiwara Yuki 藤原祐規)
・橘 陽司 (たちばな　ようじ) ……… 藍斗勇輝
・藤堂 庄一郎 (とうどう　しょういちろう) …………… 星乃煌児
・霧生 礼司 (きりゅう　れいじ) …………… 大石けいぞう (Kondo Takashi 近藤隆 )
・瑠夏・ベリーニ (るか　べにーに) …………… 平井達矢 (Hirakawa Daisuke 平川大輔)
・宇賀神 剣 (うがじん　けん) …………… 紀之 (Sugiyama Noriaki 杉山 紀彰)
・劉漸 (りゅうぜん) …………… 青島刃 (Narita Ken 成田剣) … and more?

Big big surprise when I opened my Comi-comi delivery today!

Months ago (like… back in end 2010) I ordered the drama cd Yasashikute Toge ga Aru ~ Nemurenu Yoru no Junjou 優しくて棘がある ～眠れぬ夜の純情～ from Comi Comi because I hoped to win the autographs of the cast… which includes Sakurai Takahiro 櫻井孝宏, Suzumura Kenichi 鈴村健一, Ookawa Tohru 大川透and Chiba Susumu 千葉進歩, etc…

AND MY GOD!!! I DID!!! XD *SCREAMS* XD

I’ve long given up hope since it has been such a long time… When I opened my package, I was wondering what that piece of paper was when I saw it cos I didn’t remember ordering anything that came with autographed paper ^^;; Then it dawned on me… and my heart began to pound in anticipation… OMG OMG IT WAS THE SIGNED PAPER!

In the letter Comi-comi explained that I was one of the two winners and that they apologise for the long delay. Also mentioned about having my name written in to prevent auctioning off the piece. As if I would! My GOSH!! XD

It feels really incredible. (T_T) I’m so glad I mailed that lucky draw coupon.

What an awesome highlight of the year! XD

Part two of Spray’s Valentine’s special drama cd project, STEAL! 愛されWhiteday is released. It was supposed to be released about a week after White Day (24/3/201 1) but was delayed due to the earthquake in Japan on 11/3/2011.

1) Title: 「STEAL！恋するValentine」 (23/2/2011)
Pairings:
Overall uke: Abe Atsushi
Semes: Midorikawa Hikaru, Miura Hiroaki, Tachibana Shinnosuke, Sasada Takayuki

2) Title: 「STEAL! 愛されWhiteday」 (6/4/2011)
Pairings:
Overall uke: Abe Atsushi
Semes: Maeno Tomoaki, Kamiya Hiroshi, Terashima Takuma, Horie Kazuma

Summary: Both CDs are basically love-love situations for each featured pairing. A sweet treat for fans of the game and seiyuus.

If you’re not familiar with the game, this is its background setting:  Kaidou Gakuen 魁堂学園 is an training ground setup by Manus Pica (マ二ュスピカ), an organisation formed of top-notch “bandits” 怪盜 where you can learn all sorts of techniques for covert activities, for example, pick-pocketing, lock-picking, hacker skills, etc. Named, “True Eyes” the protagonist, Kobayashi Asuka will meet and team up with eight fellow trainees who are specialised in their own fields for various missions. In the process, they will uncover the mystery of a huge conspiracy surrounding them…

Looking at the cast list, I’m reminded of the surprise I had when the game was first released. Cos 6 out of 9 seiyuus used their real names in this BL game lol~ Midorikawa Hikaru has always used his real name for BL games but it’s the first time for all the other seiyuus. I read somewhere that said that the H-level for this game isn’t very high. Maybe that’s why? And now they’re probably compensating with lots of ecchi BLCDs to keep the fans happy :3

I didn’t buy this game when it was first released as I didn’t like Abe Atsushi’s uke voice much then. It’s personal preference though cos I’m sure there are fans of his uke voice. I was tempted by the seme cast but it didn’t push me over the ledge cos of budget constraints ^^;; These two BLCDs were quite enjoyable tho and I think Abe Atsushi has improved  a lot over the months.

Have you played the game and how did you find it?

Cast list:

Abe Atsushi 阿部 敦 (神凪儚) as Kobayashi Asuka 小林明日叶
Midorikawa Hikaru 緑川 光 as Fujigaya Kei 藤ヶ谷慧
Miura Hiroaki 三浦祥朗 as Dio T Lotti ディオ T. ロッティ
Tachibana Shinnosuke 立花 慎之介 (皇 帝) as Uesato Hiro 上里ヒロ
Sasada Takayuki 笹田貴之 as Tsuchiya Taiyou 土屋太阳
Maeno Tomoaki 前野智昭 as Nikaidou Ryouichi 二阶堂亮一
Kamiya Hiroshi 神谷浩史 as KiryuTakayuki 桐生崇征
Terashima Takuma 寺島拓篤 御勒院鷹磨 as Nagakawa Matori 中川眞鸟
Horie Kazuma 堀江一眞 as Kusumato Hajime 楠本兴

For the fun of it, this is the email I received from Spray’s mailing list for the release updates.

1) Koi suru Valentine

明日叶「なあ、ヒロ。

Pairing:
江夏孝美 x 冬城温史 Konishi Katsuyuki x Yusa Kouji 小西克幸 x 遊佐浩二

Other cast:近衛達 Hatano Wataru 羽多野渉
石田祐司 – Kisaichi Atsushi 私市淳
柳本孝史 – Satou Takuya 佐藤拓也
鏡花 – Mitsuki Saiga 斎賀みつき

Rating: Recommended for “Attack uke”, H-scenes, Yusa Kouji’s crying voice :D

Quick Summary: (No ending spoilers)

He didn’t say that the confession was forgotten.
How long does he want to keep me waiting?

Forensic doctor Fuyuki Atsushi (Yusa Kouji) is troubled… by the love confession of police detective, Enatsu Takami (Konishi Katsuyuki). Fuyuki is captivated by the hot-blooded older man whose unkempt outward appearance belies his passion towards his job. However, the doctor is unable to express his own feelings toward the detective honestly and reciprocate the confession. It has been two months since then and the two men continue to date occasionally but not as a couple.

One day, the body of an unidentified murder victim is discovered near Fuyuki’s apartment. Fuyuki and Enatsu finally meet each other again at the crime scene after their last date which was almost three weeks ago. However, Fuyuki can clearly feel that Enatsu is trying to avoid him.

Was he lying when he said that he fell in love with me?

Fuyuki found himself shaken by the possibility. His ex-boyfriend, Takashi (Satou Takuya) has not given up their relationship and comes for him again. Adding to the mix, Enatsu’s new work partner, a young, handsome and eligible detective, Konoe Itaru (Hatano Wataru) reveals his sexual preference for men during dinner after work. What is his intention for doing so?

The second novel of Houigakusha to Keiji series is by Shuudo Rena 愁堂れな and illustrated by Takashina Yuu 高階佑.

Comments and detailed Summary with spoilers

This is the much awaited sequel to the first volume of the series, Houigakusha to Keiji no Aishou. Contrary to the first novel, the author placed more emphasis on main couple’s inner thoughts about their feelings for each other and their relationship. Although the detective case this time is not as intriguing as the previous one, it is still enjoyable.

The sequel begins with Fuyuki sending Enatsu back to the police department. The two men are working on a case together but have decided to take a break and go for a relaxing drive at Enatsu’s request. When they reached the station, Enatsu wants to ask Fuyuki to spend the night at his place but can’t get the words out. Noticing his hesitation, Fuyuki asks the detective if there’s anything he wants to do? However, when he reaches for Fukuyi, the man averts his eyes. Discouraged by the reaction, Enatsu retracts his hand. He finds it difficult to make a move on him, not even a kiss. In the end, Enatsu bades him goodbye and gets out of the car. Then Fuyuki drives off.

As Enatsu looks at Fuyuki’s car in a distance. He notices that the hazard lights are flashing and a thought crosses his mind. Flashing a car’s hazard lights five times is translated as a code for “I love you” as sung in an old song in the past (Note: I love you in Japanese is made up of five characters あ-い-し-て-る) However, he thinks that maybe he is being stupid for even thinking about the possibility of Fuyuki dropping such a hint.

After that day, Enatsu and Fuyuki did not meet each other again. Enatsu was busy with his cases and as Fuyuki did not contact him either, Enatsu thinks that the doctor is probably busy too. Three weeks passed by quickly. Enatsu is having a smoke break. The previous case that the two of them were working on has closed and Enatsu is struggling to make the phone call to the doctor. For more than ten minutes, he holds on to his phone, trying to think of a reason to call Fuyuki (lol~ hetare seme indeed but I think most people are like this during the pursuing period of a relationship hehe~). He take a deep breath and finally convinces himself that it is ok to call Fuyuki because they have already closed the case.

Fuyuki picks up the call…

Fuyuki: Oh~ Enatsu-san, what are you calling me for?
Enatsu: Can’t I call even if I’m not asking you for something?
Fuyuki: You only call when there’s something you want, right? (So matter-of-fact. Really not cute at all lol~ :D)
Enatsu: Something… well… (probably wrecking his brain for a reason)… Let’s go and eat monja (もんじゃ焼き is similar to a fried pancake/pizza.) I watched a TV special feature on monja last night and I haven’t had it for some time, so I feel like eating it again. Ah~ that monja place in Tsukishima, called “Momiji”… Shall we go there? (Momiji is the same place that Fuyuki brought Enatsu to when they had dinner for the first time in Vol. 1)
Fuyuki: I already have an appointment tonight. Sorry about that. I’ll contact you again.
Enatsu: Oh…

And Fuyuki hangs up promptly. Enatsu is taken aback by such a blunt rejection and it makes him wonder where his love confession is leading him to. He sighs and wonders aloud that he has completely no idea what Fuyuki is thinking.

Just then, Enatsu’s new partner, Konoe calls out to him. He has been looking for him and says that it’ll be nice if he can join him for monja too. Konoe is a young detective who is assigned to Enatsu’s department recently. Besides having a bright personality, the almost 1.90 m tall young man is well-built, handsome, smart and has a wealthy background. His deceased father was a well-known congressman and he is every bit the eligible bachelor.

Konoe apologises for overhearing Enatsu’s conversation and says that he would like to go for a drink with the older detective since it is rare that they finish work early. Enatsu doesn’t mind and both of them go to Momiji for dinner.

Momiji’s lady owner helps the men fry their monja and Enatsu notices that besides wearing makeup, she is also more well-dressed this time. Konoe wonders if Enatsu is interested in older women because he is staring at the lady owner rather than eating their monja. Surprised by the question, Enatsu explains that he is intrigued because the lady owner feels different from before. In return, he points out that Konoe seems to pay too much compliments to her at frying the monja. At this, Konoe reveals that he is not interested in women because he is actually gay. He treats women this way because he does not want them to find out about his real sexual preference.

Konoe is surprised that Enatsu doesn’t give a strong reaction to his confession. What he doesn’t know is that this is the second time that someone came out of the closet before Enatsu at Momoji. The first was Fuyuki who did it in volume one.

In the background, the lady owner, Yasue continues to be busy and some of the regular customers ask her why her son, Toshiyo is not helping her. When she explains that he hasn’t come home recently, a lady customer reveals that he seems to be hanging out with bad company. Her male companion interrupts her and Yasue excuses herself. Later on he chides her for gossiping but she retorts that it is worrying because the people Toshiyo is mixing with look like gangsters (yakuza).

Enatsu seems to be distracted by the conversation and Konoe asks him if he would like to go to Ginza for drinks. Enatsu feels that it’ll be expensive but Konoe reassures him that it is ok because the bar is run by his younger brother. Enatsu thought Konoe only has an older brother and the man explains that his younger brother is his half-brother by his father’s mistress. Enatsu is surprised by this confession and Konoe says that Enatsu is the first person he revealed the truth to. He offers to give Enatsu a treat and asks him to come along so that he can introduce his brother to him. Enatsu rejects him but Konoe feels that it is alright because he can afford it. Then he humbly apologises for it but Enatsu feels that it’s not his fault that he is rich.

The situation reminds him of Fuyuki, when they first had dinner together. He confided in him about his past and also asked him to go to Ginza after that. Enatsu begins to wonder if he misinterpreted Fuyuki’s feelings since Konoe is also doing something similar. He feels that maybe they are telling him all these things only because they feel that Enatsu is someone they can talk to.

Enatsu asks for the bill and excuses himself, saying he has to attend to something. He turns up outside Fuyuki’s apartment. He stands outside, thinking that he is behaving like a teenager in love for the first time. He is determined to find out Fuyuki’s answer to his confession. Just then, a taxi arrives and Fuyuki gets off with another man called Takashi. Enatsu recognises Takashi as the ex-boyfriend who was stalking Fuyuki and is upset by the thought that Fuyuki rejected him because of his appointment with Takashi.

On the other hand, Fuyuki was asked to attend a gathering that evening with his superior, Masuda-sensei. When Enatsu finally called three weeks after their last date, Fuyuki was actually very happy but he ends up sounding curt again when he rejected him on the phone. Fuyuki feels bad that he can’t seem to express his feelings positively towards Enatsu when he wanted to.

Three weeks ago when they went for a drive, Fuyuki was hoping that Enatsu would ask him to stay over for the night but he didn’t seem to be interested. He also averted his eyes on purpose as he expected Enatsu to kiss him but the man didn’t do anything. Fuyuki had even flashed his car’s hazard lights as a love hint based on an old song too but he thinks that Enatsu probably didn’t notice it either. (Lol~ these two guys are a real match for each other :P)

Then Fuyuki analyses deeper and thinks that maybe Enatsu understood the hint and that is why he didn’t contact him for the past few weeks. He begins to wonder if Enatsu was only feeling sorry for him after he knows that he has broken up with his boyfriend. Enatsu wasn’t even gay when they met each other. Fuyuki decides that he should give Enatsu call immediately after the gathering is over.

However, Takashi shows up and pleads with Fuyuki to listen to what he has to say. He says that he has no choice but to come to him because Fuyuki refuses to take his calls. In the end, Masuda-sensei decides to go for the gathering himself and leaves Fuyuki with Takashi.

Takashi: We were in a relationship for 10 years. When you called me to tell me that we’re breaking up, how can I just let it go like that?

That night, Takashi and Fuyuki go to their usual hangouts in Roppongi for dinner, drinks before heading back to Fuyuki’s apartment. They even kiss each other in the taxi but Fuyuki is determined to end the relationship. At home, Fuyuki chides Takashi for creating a scene just now when he kept crying about not wanting to break up. Takashi ignores Fuyuki and reminises that what they did was just like their routine in the past and says that he doesn’t want to break up. Fukuyi breaks away from his embrace to bring him some water.

Takashi confronts Fuyuki about the reason for their break up.

Takashi: Why must we break up? Is it because my sick father wanted me to get married?
Fuyuki: Takashi, please calm down.
Takashi: No matter how much my father wishes for it, I cannot get married. The person I love is Atsushi (you). I think I’m going to make my father understand that I am gay.
Fuyuki: You can’t do that!
Takashi: Why not?
Fuyuki: Don’t you realise how shocked your father will be if he found out? He’ll be so pitiful!
Takashi: Then what about me? Am I not pitiful too?
Fuyuki: What?
Takashi: You’re always doing things to fulfill the expectations of other people, like my father’s wishes. Aren’t you just trying to act like a good boy? Where are your own feelings?
Fuyuki: Well… that…
Takashi: You’re doing it because you don’t want anyone to hate you! You don’t really love me very much, do you? Otherwise, how can you break up with me so easily after 10 years of relationship? … I’ve had enough…

With that, Takashi storms out of Fuyuki’s apartment. Fuyuki sighs in resignation and says to himself that it is not possible to continue a relationship with someone for 10 years, if he didn’t love the person at all. Fuyuki also realises that all this while, both of them seldom get into arguments because he has always gone along with what Takashi wants but it didn’t bother him then. Fuyuki downs more alcohol and thinks that Takashi is probably right about him…

The next day, Konoe asks Enatsu to join him and Ishida from Fuyuki’s work place with some female students. Konoe explains that they insist that Enatsu takes part too. He even points out that Enatsu’s wild and cool appearance are attracting a lot of attention recently. Enatsu is unimpressed but Konoe tries to persuade him by revealing that these dates are a good way for him to be straight-acting. Just then Enatsu’s office phone rings and they are informed about a discovery of a dead body. Enatsu and Konoe leave immediately for the crime scene…

——– Summary to be continued ———

Sorry to disappoint you if you’re expecting a full summary/review. In fact, I’ve had this part of the review written a week ago but haven’t found the energy (and a clear mind lol) to complete it yet. I think I got kind of carried away with the details this time OTL;;; but I enjoyed it cos I liked how the relationship of this couple developed and the addition of Konoe to the mix.

Anyway, hopefully I can up it by this weekend! :3

Catalog: Chara CD Collection MACY-2045

Pairing:
Ono Daisuke x Kamiya Hiroshi
小野大輔 x 神谷浩史

Yomura Kazuaki 余村和明: Kamiya Hiroshi 神谷浩史
Hasebe Shuichi 長谷部修一: Ono Daisuke 小野大輔

Rating: Recommended

Quick Summary:
On Christmas three years ago, Yomura Kazuaki (Kamiya Hiroshi) suddenly acquired the ability to hear the thoughts of his fiancee whom he proposed to the night before. He was shaken and hurt by the real voice of her heart that belied the sweet front that she showed him, as well as the thoughts of all the people around him. Since then, he has not been able to trust anyone as he is well-aware of what they are truly thinking. One day, he meets Hasebe Shuuichi (Ono Daisuke), a co-worker and is surprised to hear his thoughts of love for him. Hasebe is a honest man who has a true heart. Yomura has not heard any of Hasebe’s inner thoughts that proved otherwise and he begins to open his heart toward the man. When Hasebe found out about Yomura’s ability, his reaction is something he has not expected.

Based on a novel by Sunahara Touko 砂原糖子.

First published on 28 April 2008. Updated on 6 December 2010 with a more detailed summary with spoilers.

Detailed Summary (with spoilers):

After Yomura developed his special ability, all sorts of voices keep ringing inside his head. Normal daily life became unbearable. He quit his job as an IT engineer and broke up with his girlfriend, Yuiko since she did not truly want to marry him and only agreed to his proposal out of convenience.

Yomura stayed away from people for about two and a half years before finally taking up a job as a contracted worker in a computer electronics shop. He is now 29 years old.

It is Christmas eve and Yomura is working overtime and distributing flyers outside the shop. Christmas installations near where he is standing fall down. He is almost hit by them but Hasebe manages to pull him to safely just in time. They both fell and Hasebe twisted his ankle in the process. Although Hasebe tries to reassure Yomura that he is not hurt, Yomura can hear his thoughts and knows that he has hurt his foot. Yomura reaches out his hand to help Hasebe and when Hasebe holds Yomura’s hand for the first time, his thoughts sounded inside Yomura…

Hasebe’s thoughts: Yomura-san… Yomura-san’s hand. Yomura-san’s voice. Yomura-san… Yomura-san…
Yomura: Erm… ano… are you (ok)?
Hasebe’s thoughts: Hand… I should let go of his hand quickly or he’ll think it is strange… what should I do… but I don’t want to let go of his hand… Yomura-san’s hand… It’s the hand of the person I love… (Suki na hito no te da…) [One of the main appeal of this drama cd is hearing such cute thoughts voiced by Hasebe and this is the drama cd that made me a fan of OnoD ^^]

…It’s the hand of the person I love…

Yomura is surprised by Hasebe but he is sure he did not mishear his thoughts. Intrigued by the younger male co-worker’s love interest for him, Yomura becomes curious about what kind of person he is. According to other staff, Hasebe is a tall and honest man who doesn’t talk much.

The two of them run into each other in the office pantry the next day. Yomura offers Hasebe a cup of hot tea and the younger man seems to behave normally. Just when Yomura thinks he may have misunderstood Hasebe’s feelings, the man’s thoughts flow into Yomura’s head…

Hasebe’s thoughts: I’m so happy… Yomura-san poured me tea… [Such a cute seme... hehe]
Yomura’s thoughts: Seems that I didn’t misunderstand him.

Yomura thanks Hasebe for his help the day before and asks if his foot is all right. Hasebe is surprised that Yomura noticed it and says he is also grateful for Yomura a while back for giving him medicine for his headache. He wonders if he looked like he was in obvious pain but Yomura replies that he is observant because his mother was a nurse. Yomura wonders if he fell in love with him just because of that. However, Yomura feels that Hasebe is a straightforward person and thinks his feelings are probably platonic… and then Hasebe finishes his tea…

Hasebe’s thoughts: Oh no… (I finished) the tea Yomura-san has poured… [Lol~ how adorable!]
Yomura: Would you like another cup of tea?
Hasebe: Yes, thank you.

Yomura is now convinced that Hasebe is in love with him. However, he does not feel any displeasure at discovering Hasebe’s feelings. After years of hearing unpleasant voices, he feels that it is not a bad thing to hear someone’s genuinely happy thoughts for a change.

After that incident, Yomura and Hasebe starts to talk to each other at work. As their interactions increase, Yomura would sometimes hear Hasebe thinking loving thoughts about him.

Hasebe’s thoughts: Yomura-san’s smile… is great!

Although Yomura is reminded of Hasebe’s affection for him, he does not feel offended because Hasebe is a very trustworthy and honest man whom he enjoys talking to very much.

One day Yomura feels unwell after a day’s work. He has been distributing flyers outside the shop the whole day and caught a cold. Hasebe finds him resting in the office and when they try to leave together, Yomura loses consciousness. Hasebe sends him to the hospital and stays with him while they wait for his turn. As a show of his gratitude, Yomura tells Hasebe that he has some sake (alcohol) at home and would like him to take some of them. In reply, Hasebe asks Yomura if they can go for drinks together since he does not usually drink alone. Immediately after, Hasebe’s thoughts betrays his anxiety.

Hasebe’s thoughts: Does it sound unnatural? Yomura-san maybe turned off. I hope he can give me an answer quickly. I want to know his answer… but I don’t want to be rejected… what will his answer be?

Yomura knows that he should reject Hasebe because he knows about Hasebe’s affection for him but he cannot help but say yes. Just then, the nurse calls for Yomura. When he gets up and looks back, he sees that Hasebe’s face is flushed red and he can almost feel his passion by the warmth of the man’s fingers.

A month later, Hasebe invites Yomura to his home for dinner for the first time. Hasebe has a younger sister, Kana. Their parents passed away in an accident when Hasebe was a first year high school student. After graduation, Hasebe worked to support the two of them immediately. According to Kana, he works all the time and does not know how to enjoy himself. Yomura is the first person he has invited to their home.

After dinner, Kana leaves the two men alone to enjoy their drinks. As Kana is planning to get married soon, they begin to discuss about their own marital statuses. Hasebe reveals that after their parents passed away, he was overwhelmed by the situation and work and that he did not have time for romance. However, he feels that he probably loves a person who is gentle. As for Yomura, he says that he has not met the right person yet. The two of them continue to chat and drink and Hasebe’s thoughts of happiness fill up Yomura’s mind.

Hasebe’s thoughts: Yomura-san is here… I’m so happy. It’s like a dream. (He is sitting right) next to me…

Yomura falls asleep after having a drop too many. Although Hasebe suggested that Yomura stay over for the night, Yomura intended to go home after that. And just as he awakens, hearing Hasebe’s inner desire for him gives him a surprise.

Hasebe’s thoughts: Yomura-san… I want to touch him…
Yomura (surprised): Hasebe-kun… oh… I’m sorry for falling asleep. What time is it? I should get going.
Hasebe: There’s no more transport. Please don’t hold back and stay over tonight (I want to touch him… I want to kiss him)
Yomura (shocked): But… this is the first time I came over… I shouldn’t…
Hasebe: It really doesn’t matter. I can prepare the futon (I want to touch him… kiss him… hug him [can also mean make love]) Yomura-san, how about it?

Hasebe reaches for Yomura but he was so shocked by Hasebe’s thoughts that he slaps away his hand. Visibly hurt, Hasebe rises to leave and says he will prepare the futon. Anxious that he has hurt Hasebe, Yomura hugs him with the intention to soothe him. At that point in time, Yomura does not realise that it may be strange for two grown men to be in this situation. Before he knows it, he kisses Hasebe. Even with his eyes closed, Yomura can still feel the passion in Hasebe’s kisses and his heart.

Hasebe’s thoughts: Yomura-san… I love you… love you…

The next day, Yomura tries to explain away the kiss by saying he was drunk. Yomura is sure he is not attracted to men and he asks Hasebe if he was drunk. For the first time, Hasebe lies to Yomura and says that he returned the kiss because he was drunk too. Yomura promises himself that he will be careful not to read Hasebe’s thoughts from then on, so that they can continue to be good friends. (Note: It was revealed in Yomura’s narration previously that over the past few years, he has learned that as long as he is not emotionally upset or distracted, it is possible to concentrate and shut out voices from his mind.)

However, try hard as he might, it is not possible to keep things as they are after that. As Yomura needs to concentrate on not hearing Hasebe’s thoughts, he becomes overly sensitive whenever Hasebe touches or gets near him. His mixed signals torments Hasebe and the man finally confesses his love for Yomura.

As Yomura already knew about it, his reaction to the confession seems to be calm and Hasebe apologises to him saying he does not think he can keep being friends with him after being rejected.

Hasebe: I’m sorry for hugging you suddenly like that. I don’t think we can go for drinks together anymore.
Yomura: Huh?
Hasebe: I understand that I can’t keep up being friends with someone I’ve fallen in love with because every little thing makes me feel unsettled and irritable. It’s probably jealousy. We’re both men, so it must sound very funny to you, right? I’m sorry. I thought I would never say it. (Even though I know it’ll make things difficult for Yomura-san…) Don’t worry. I’ll pretend that nothing has happened when we go back to work tomorrow.
Yomura: Ano… Hasebe-kun…
Hasebe: If you stop me, I’ll get the wrong idea… I’m thickheaded… so I’ll get the wrong idea that you might like me too.

Afraid of losing him, Yomura invited him home to talk about it.

Hasebe: Yomura-san, are you gay?
Yomura: I don’t think so… what about you?
Hasebe: I don’t know. I’ve never fallen in love with anybody else but Yomura-san. If we base it on one person, then I guess I’m gay. I’m sorry. That kiss we had… I was sober the whole time. I lied about being drunk. I felt strange when I saw your sleeping face and when you slapped my hand away, I thought it was my punishment for thinking lecherous thoughts. Then all of a sudden you hugged me and before I knew what was going on, we were kissing. When you said we kissed because we were drunk, I thought maybe I should go with the flow… and probably I felt relieved too. I’m sorry for lying to you.

Yomura feels that Hasebe did not lie. He was forced to say it because Yomura did not want to face the truth. Hasebe expresses his desire to touch and kiss Yomura and promises he will never lie to him again. The men become physically intimate and has non-penetrative sex that night.

Hasebe: I love you, I love you, Yomura-san, love you…

Yomura does not know how to respond to that. He does not hate Hasebe and probably loves him. But he feels that his affection for Hasebe developed only because he heard the voice in his heart.

After that night, Yomura is sure he would not be able to face Hasebe but the two of them continue to chat as they usually do and he is glad.

A week later, Hasebe’s sister drops by the shop to buy a computer. She thanks Yomura as Hasebe has become a lot happier after knowing him. She even heard him hum a tune that morning after Yomura stayed late at their place. [It was the night they kissed]. And she has never heard him do that before. Just then Kana’s boyfriend, Kawayama arrives. He expresses concern about Kana spending money on a new computer. Yomura hears his thoughts about needing Kana’s money next week and that it would be pointless if she doesn’t have any left. Yomura finds it unusual that a man would want to use his girlfriend’s money and decides to investigate by hearing his thoughts.

It turns out that Kawayama is married with child and has no intention to marry Kana at all. He borrowed money from her on the pretext of paying for his mother’s hospitalisation fees but it was to pay for his own debts. Yomura confronts Kawayama and unintentionally upsets Kana in the process. Hasebe wants to know how Yomura knew and Yomura decides to reveal his ability to read minds. Yomura has faith that a truthful person like Hasebe would definitely not be afraid of his ability and will be able to understand it. However, no matter how many times Yomura tries to prove it, Hasebe cannot bring himself to accept it.

Another week passed. Hasebe looks up Yomura and confirms that Kawamura is a cheat. Afraid of being exposed, Kawamura has returned the money to Kana after Hasebe calls him up at his workplace. Hasebe tells Yomura that he believes him now because he knows that Yomura is not the type who would lie. Hasebe finally finds out that Yomura knew about how he feels right from the beginning. Yomura reassures him that he is not listening to his thoughts right now and explains that with concentration it is possible. However, when Yomura asks him to go for dinner right after that, Hasebe postpones it. Subsequently, Yomura realises that Hasebe is avoiding him.

One day, Yomura is surprised to receive a text message from Hasebe. The man once told him he did not like communicating by text messaging because it cannot convey his emotions. However, now he is texting Yomura, so that Yomura cannot read his mind. Treating the message as a gesture of goodwill, Yomura replies and says that he wants to meet but does not receive a reply after that. He regrets telling Hasebe about his ability. He realises too late that he has fallen in love with Hasebe and wished he had expressed his love for Hasebe earlier.

Two months later, Yomura runs into Kana at the train station and goes for lunch together. She has recovered from the incident and thanks Yomura for his help. She reveals that she is shopping for Hasebe’s birthday present and hopes that Yomura can celebrate with him too as he seems depressed lately. Yomura hesitated initially because Hasebe has been avoiding him even at work but decides that it would be nice to give him something he likes.

On Hasebe’s birthday, Yomura invites Hasebe out for dinner and hands him the birthday present. Hasebe is surprised by the gift as it is exactly what he wanted. Just as he wonders in his mind how Yomura knows about it, a waiter breaks a glass accidentally and disrupts Yomura’s concentration. Hasebe’s thoughts flow into Yomura and by reflex, he immediately denies reading his mind. Unfortunately, it only serves to deepen the misunderstanding.

The next day, Yomura tenders his resignation. He is tired of everything and wants to run away from it all, just like what he had done three years ago. Hasebe finds out about it and tries to dissuade Yomura. Yomura refuses to talk any further and leaves. He gets on the train and notices that Hasebe has got onto the same train too. [It's quite a nice exchange, so I'll translate their text conversation here :)]

Hasebe’s text message:  Thanks for the birthday present yesterday. And I’m also sorry. This is what I was trying to tell you just now. When I returned home that evening, Kana told me about running into you the other day. She wanted it to be a surprise, so she kept it a secret. I’m sorry for misunderstanding you. I’m really very sorry.
Yomura’s reply: It doesn’t bother me. So please forget about it too.
Hasebe: If it didn’t bother you, then why did you avoid me?
Yomura: I didn’t avoid you. But aren’t you the one who avoided me in the first place?
Hasebe: I apologise for that. Can you forgive me?
Yomura: Whether I forgive you or not doesn’t change the fact that I’m a monster who can read minds.
Hasebe: You’re angry.
Yomura: I’m not.
Hasebe: Please forgive me. I’m going to come over now.
Yomura: Back off.
Hasebe: I’m coming over.
Yomura: You better not. If you come, I’ll read your mind and listen to all your thoughts.

Yomura does not expect to receive a reply after saying that. After he gets off the train, Hasebe is nowhere to be seen. Yomura begins to sob and feel regret when it finally dawns on him that he is utterly alone in this world because of his ability. It was revealed earlier that Yomura’s parents divorced when he was a grade schooler. Although his mother took him under custody, he overheard her saying that she could not say she did not want him because she is his mother. It hurt him deeply. It was then he prayed with all his heart to be able to read people’s minds, so that he could understand what his mother really thought about him. But now all he wants is to have this ability taken away, not for anybody’s sake but his own. He cannot bear it any more.

Suddenly, Hasebe’s voice flows into his mind.

Hasebe’s thoughts: Yomura-san. I’ve come. Yomura-san, you can hear me, right? Yesterday, you asked me if I could understand how it feels to be able to read minds… you also don’t understand my feelings at all, even though you could read me. If only I hated you, then I won’t be afraid of you knowing what I think. But because I don’t hate you, it troubles me. Because I don’t hate you, it troubles me that you may know if I have any negative thoughts about you.

Shocked, Yomura looks up and sees Hasebe standing before him.

Yomura: When I knew about your feelings for me, I was very happy. Even though I hesitated because you are also a man, I still feel very happy to be needed by somebody.
Hasebe: If you couldn’t read my mind, Yomura-san wouldn’t have developed an interest in me, right?
Yomura: I guess so. Probably it’s because I know about your love for me, that I became attracted to you too. If I didn’t know how you felt, I would never have fallen in love with you. But when I felt that you probably don’t love me anymore, I cannot stop my feelings for you. Isn’t this what they call love? I love you!

Hasebe hugs Yomura.

Yomura: Hasebe-kun, people are watching us.
Hasebe: Please don’t be bothered by them. (You scare me. I’m so afraid of you but… but I love you, Yomura-san.)

Yomura can feel Hasebe’s mixed emotions for him and realises that he has been too afraid of being hurt to see it. He then begins to wonder that perhaps his mother felt other emotions for him too.

Yomura: Mum…
Hasebe: Yomura-san?
Yomura: I feel a little tired. Please lend me your shoulder…
Hasebe: Ok…

That night, Yomura knows that even though he cannot see any stars in the sky, they are shining beautifully above the clouds.

That’s the end of disk one… I’ll update this post again when I find the time to write a summary for disk two ^^

Comments:
Lovely.
The story is lovely.
The performance is lovely.
The music is lovely.
The sex is lovely.
Sigh~ you don’t find gems like these often. Highly recommended :)

Catalog: ATIS-024

Main Pairing:
Suzumura Kenichi x Sakurai Takahiro (鈴村健一 x 櫻井孝宏)
Sub Pairings:
Ookawa Toru x Sakurai Takahiro (大川透 x 櫻井孝宏)
Sakurai Takahiro x Suzumura Kenichi (櫻井孝宏 x 鈴村健一)

浅倉梁: Suzumura Kenichi 鈴村健一
宝生千裕: Sakurai Takahiro 櫻井孝宏
高階隼人: Ookawa Toru 大川透
神宮司雅臣: Chiba Susumu 千葉進歩

Rating: Recommended for angst and Sakupyon fans

Detailed Summary (spoilers galore):

Set during the period from Meiji, Taisho to Showa era, this drama tells of the romance between Houjo Chiro (Hojo Chiro) (Sakurai Takahiro), the son of a weathly family and Asakura Ryou (Suzumura Kenichi), his best friend and son of a servant in the family.

For as long as Chiro can remember, Ryou has always been by his side. They are of the same age and they have fun and grow up happily together.

Time flies and it is now Taisho-era. Due to the huge difference in their social standing, the people around them do not approve of their close friendship as they become older. However, Chiro does not care. The teenager is happy as long as he has Ryou’s company.

It is summer holidays and Chiro’s parents left for a vacation in one of their mansions in Karuizawa. Chiro has always chosen to stay at home during this period to spend time with Ryou.

One afternoon, Chiro joins Ryou at their favourite spot, a bright and beautiful open space covered with sunflowers during summer. Ryou is drawing on the sketchbook that his father gave him and Chiro discovers his best friend’s artistic talent. Ryou is modest but Chiro comments that nobody in school can draw as well as he does. Chiro is very excited about it and predicts that Ryou will be a famous artist in the future. He proposes to talk to his father about it so that Ryou can attend an art school to further his studies. However, Ryou becomes angry and declares firmly that his place in the future is to serve Chiro and be by his side. At that very moment, Chiro feels a sweet pain in his heart. That is the first time he realises his romantic feelings for Ryou and his love for him as a person and not just a best friend…

Years later, Chiro’s parents die in a car accident, leaving behind Chiro and his sister, Kaoruko. Although his parents did not leave behind a will, police investigations pointed to the possibility of suicide. The findings would have grave consequences on the family’s reputation and Chiro’s ability to protect his family assets. Ryou suggests putting the responsibility on his own father, Asakura Kippei who was the driver when the accident happened. Although Chiro protests and is unwilling to do so at first, in the end it is what they did. Chiro feels deep regret over the decision and is unable to forgive himself for taking advantage of his beloved. At the age of 25 years old, Chiro successfully secures his inheritance but he is doubtful of his own ability to protect his family and company.

Unfortunately for Chiro, his parents left him a huge debt which he has no way of paying off. Chiro tries his best to deal with the situation and his only comfort is having Ryou by his side. Out of the blue, Ryou wonders if Chiro would consider marriage as his wife can take better care of him. Shocked and hurt by Ryou’s suggestion, Chiro scolded him. He does not know that Ryou is also in love with him and does not truly want what Chiro to be married.

Half a year has passed since Chiro’s father passed away and Chiro has not yet found a solution to the mounting debts he has. Takashina Hayato (Ookawa Tohru), a young and successful businessman whom Chiro met a year ago enters the picture with an indecent proposition. In return for Chiro’s body, the man will support him financially. As a threat, Takashina also revealed that he got hold of information about his parents’ suicide and how they put the blame on Asakusa Kippei instead. Chiro naturally refuses him but he wonders how much longer he can hold the company together. If he accepts the proposal, he would probably not be able to face Ryou anymore. He decides to confess his love for Ryou before he steps over the edge. He wants to spend the night with Ryou at least once before he becomes Takashina’s lover.

When Ryou finds out about situation that Chiro is in, he also confesses his love for him. The couple consummate their love and Ryou encourages Chiro that they will be able to weather the storm together. He suggests seeking help from Jinguji (Chiba Susumu), Chiro’s good friend from their student days. Jinguji is heir to the most powerful and influential family in Japan but is currently away in a foreign country. Chiro is doubtful at first but is filled with hope again with Ryou’s encouragement.

That day, a massive earthquake struck Japan. Ryou did not return from an errand and is presumed dead. The damage to the country is severe and Chiro’s properties were also badly affected. Jinguji will not be returning to Japan so soon. In despair, he has no choice but to accept Takashina’s proposition. In order to ensure that Chiro would not back out from his decision, Takashina spikes his wine with an aphrodisiac and finally takes possession of his long awaited prize…

It has been two years since Chiro became Takashina’s lover. One day, Chiro hears a familiar voice during a party. It is Ryou and he is alive! Chiro cannot believe his eyes and calls out to him. Why didn’t Ryou contact him if he was alive? When they finally meet, Ryou explains that he has lost his memory except for the name “Asakura Ryou”. He was hit on the head by falling debris while trying to protect a woman during the earthquake. The woman is the wife of a foreign ambassador and to show their gratitude for saving her life, they decided to take Ryou in. They also discovered Ryou’s artistic talents and give their support to him in becoming an artist. Chiro decides to hide the truth of Ryou’s identity as a servant because he now has better future prospects as an artist instead. Chiro has sold his body to Takashina and cannot be Ryou’s master anymore. He lies that they were schoolmates and then bids farewell. However Ryou stops him and asks him to model for his portraits. After some persuasion, Chiro agrees.

The painting sessions with Ryou are short but precious to Chiro. During one of the sessions, Ryou reveals that he first started sketching a year and a half earlier after having a dream. He dreamed of himself when he was a teenager and there was a beautiful boy who said he will become an artist. He wanted to draw the boy but couldn’t make out his face clearly. Ryou says that when he saw Chiro, he thought that Chiro was the boy in his dreams and even confessed that if he was a woman, he would probably fall in love with Chiro. Chiro feels happy that Ryou may have lost his memory but still remembers him in his dreams.

That night, Chiro meets up with Takashina for their usual sexual exchange. Takashina comments that Chiro has become more beautiful but Chiro is unimpressed and brushes him off. However, Takashina feels that there is nothing wrong to compliment the person he is in love with. The man reveals that in the beginning he did not want to use such underhanded methods to take possession of Chiro. He also did not expect Chiro to be so stubborn because even after such a long time, Chiro has yet to submit to him. However, Chiro is not interested in small talk and only wants to get the sex over and done with. In agreement, Takashina takes out a bottle of aphrodisiac oil, something he had not used on Chiro ever since the first time they had sex.

Takashina pours and applies the aphrodisiac oil on Chiro’s lower body and uses a contraption on him to prevent him from climaxing. Takashina demands to be seduced. Chiro swallows his pride and goes on all fours. He raises his hips and begs for Takashina to give him release. Pleased with Chiro’s obedience, Takashina takes him.

Suddenly, Chiro hears a noise outside. He looks up and sees Ryou standing at the entrance. Shocked by what is before his eyes, Ryou apologies and runs away. It was all part of Takashina’s plan. He is long aware of Ryou’s love for Chiro and is glad he went missing during the earthquake. But when he finds out about Ryou’s return and how Chiro seems happier lately, he has finally understood that Chiro too is in love with Ryou. Angered by the discovery, Takashina does not want Chiro to ever get back in touch with Ryou again. Devastated by what transpired, Chiro has no intention of doing so either.

After that incident, Chiro tries his best to go on with his life and forget about what happened. Ryou too did not contact him again. His friend, Jinguji finally returns to Japan. The two men meet up and embark on a new business project together. Chiro keeps himself busy with his work but try as he might, he cannot help but feel the tightness in his chest whenever he thinks about Ryou.

One day, Jinguji brings Chiro good news. Chiro’s father owns some properties which can be developed into profitable assets. Excited, Chiro accidentally reveals the rope burn marks on his wrists. After Takashina discovered Chiro’s mutual love for Ryou, he became very violent in bed. He would tie him up and use all sorts of toys on him. Jinguji confronts Chiro about his relationship with Takashina because he felt there was a strange atmosphere between the two men when he saw them enter a hotel together. Chiro finally confessed about his sexual contract with Takashina for the last three years. Jinguji offers to help Chiro out of the situation and he succeeds. Chiro is finally free from Takashina’s clutches.

Ryou turns up at Chiro’s mansion to the shock of the other servants. The trauma of seeing Chiro with Takashina that night restored his memories. Ryou shows Chiro his winning artwork and it was the portrait he painted of Chiro. Ryou hopes they can finally be back together… but can Chiro overcome his own shame and allow Ryou into his life again?

Based on a novel by Arisugawa Kei (有栖川ケイ)

Comments (/Rant):

I had very high expectations for this title because it’s Sakupyon! It’s Taisho-Showa era! It’s ANGST! And the release date of this CD has been delayed TWICE (postponing my Nessa no Rakuen BL game which was on the same order OTL;;; but that’s for another post) and it was finally HERE!

However, after I listened to it for the first time when I got it in late October, I couldn’t help but feel let down by the main story. I listened to the drama before I slept, so I wrote a long rant about it the next day… I enjoyed the omake side-story track where the couple was in present times but the main story was quite disappointing and I couldn’t publish the review… because I had so wanted to enjoy this CD but I didn’t (T_T)

In the end, I canned the original review and listened to it again with my expectations adjusted. Then again, I may been overly critical of the drama CD because of the long wait… How do you feel about the drama after your listened to it?

Anyway, this drama cd has BL cliches and character stereotypes galore. Well, I don’t mind it very much but I went pfffttt a couple of times when those typical lines and scenarios came up.

Also, the whole CD felt like one big rush *_* Sakupyon was given a lot of monologue to explain the background of the story due to the Taisho setting as well as his character’s predicament. It is OK to have long monologues but it just didn’t translate well for the flow and pacing of the drama as a whole, especially since everything was crammed into just one CD. Because of this, everybody else had little audio time. Each character comes in, says a few lines and exits. Which means, I seriously didn’t care very much for any of them at the end of the Taisho story =_=;;

Also, I feel that the adapted story sounded incomplete and some parts didn’t make sense. I would have also liked to know what Jinguji did to make Takashina give up Chiro so quickly. No explanation. And because many details of the novel were omitted, I was left with the feeling that Chiro really sucked at running his business OTL and jumped into Takashina’s bed too easily. I found the answers from the novel in the end and have written those extra information from the novel into the summary so that it reads more coherently.

But that said, I feel that it could still be salvaged if the smex between the characters are good lol~ :D

Speaking of H-scenes, there are two Suzuken x Sakupyon, two Ookawa Tooru x Sakupyon and one omake track with Sakupyon x Suzuken H-scenes.

The Suzuken x Sakupyon H-scenes aren’t that short but somehow it felt like something was missing. It could be due to the problem with the pairing. Suzuken paired with low-voice Sakupyon didn’t sound right somehow. The chemistry just wasn’t there. Yeah, Sakupyon used a lower-pitched voice for his character Chiro who is usually the seme in the previous installments of this series. Their voices sounded very similar at some points during their climaxing scenes, so much so that I couldn’t tell whose cries they were in both H-scenes OTL;;; Maybe I should go back and listen to them again just for the sake of figuring it out.

Suzuken’s seme didn”t sound strong enough to take the lead in this drama cd. And gosh, he sounded so uke it was as if he was begging to be seme-ed instead OTL;;;

Both Sakupyon and Suzuken didn’t put across the angst and emotions I expected from a Servant x Master pairing either. SIGH.

However, the rhythm between the two in the second H-scene was good, even though it didn’t exactly fulfill my [high] expectations. The sound effects of squishy, wet smex were pretty good though.

On the other hand, since this is a BL universe, I’d forgive the lack of realistic love portrayal between the characters, -IF- the LUST was good lol~ Because Sakupyon definitely sounded yum when he was paired with Ookawa Tooru.

Ookawa Tooru has a deep manly voice of an older matured male. His seme character, Takashina was not very much older than Chiro, and was probably in his early 30s? He was another huge BL stereotype but it was delicious hear him dominate Sakupyon’s Chiro and force him into submission. The second H-scene where Chiro pleaded to be entered gave me butterflies in the stomach and Sakupyons moans when he was mounted was seriously nose-bleeding. Unfortunately, it’s a major pity we don’t get to hear full H-scenes between the two. Full as in the whole sexual act that leads to climaxing for both seme and uke.

Last track side story Sakupyon x Suzuken
Oh welly… but fortunately the last omake side story of Sakupyon x Suzuken was awesome. Fast forward the couple to the present time where Chiro is back as the master and Ryou the servant. The boys are now university students and there I felt the connection between the two again. You can so obviously feel that they are so much more comfortable with each other here. Sakupyon is awesome as a bullying but gentle seme and Suzuken such a cute, playful and pouty uke. Even the short H-scenes (just kissing and touching) sounded so much hotter!

Ookawa Tooru also takes the cake for his lively okama (tranny) character and he sure made me laugh :D I love this track a lot.

In the side story, the Taisho main story is all but a dream and it made Ryou appreciate that Chiro is with him right now. It was an amazing dream because Ryou dreamt of both Takashina and Kaoruko whom he has never met before. It is only then Chiro revealed that he did have a baby sister who had died. He also clarifies that Takashina, the okama pizza shop owner is only an acquaintance (who obviously likes Chiro a little too much lol~) The track ended with the boys reaffirming the love they have for each other…

Some of the music used in the drama cd were kinda… distracting at some points and didn’t feel like they gelled with the flow of the drama. However, a few pieces were very beautiful, especially the main love theme for the couple. Generally I think they would have sounded good on their own but maybe I’m nit-picking due to my high expectations for the drama cd as a whole. At certain parts of the drama, there were some incredibly jarring sound effects used to create a dramatic effect to much cheesy 80′s soap failure. Hated that.

SIGH. I’ve more or less recovered from the disappointment. Yeah. Time heals. ^^;;; Anyway, if you bought the drama cd from comi-comi, you get a lucky draw coupon. The prize is a special paper that will be autographed by the seiyuus. There will be 2 winners.

Please share what you think about this title… cos maybe I really am being too critical of it :P

Catalog: HDA-0022

Related drama: Cherry Boy Sakusen, Wagamama Prisoner

Title: One-coin Trading BL Drama CD Collection Urakare
ワンコイントレーディングBLドラマCDコレクション ウラカレ
Price: 525 Yen (w/tax) per mini drama CD or 3,150 Yen (w/tax) for 1 complete set of 6 CDs
1 CD per case CD (5 types to collect) + 1 Booklet (10 types to collect)
Per CD duration: 15~20 minutes, 1 Box set contains 6 CDs (money suckers :P)
Release date: October 2010
Official site: http://www.mykare.jp/
Available from Animate Japan
Rating: 15+ (Shounen-ai I guess?)

Description: One-coin drama cd collection of love romance of young men. Stories revolve around the protagonist, a 17-year-old, 2nd year high school student and the various guys he meets.

Good news for fans of Lucky Dog 1‘s Gulio cos the protagonist is voiced by the same seiyuu, Iguchi Yuuichi (井口祐一) I could be wrong but this is probably his first non-Tennenouji BL character? Other cast includes: Terashima Takuma (寺島拓篤), Mizushima Takahiro (水島大宙), Hino Satoshi (日野聡), Maeno Tomoaki (前野智昭) and Narita Ken (成田剣).

It feels very much like a high school student BL game setting. The pairing types include the childhood friend, classmate, junior, senior and mysterious older man (voiced by Narita Ken! Hentai-alert? lol~ His voice sample went along the line of: “Don’t be angry. I’m not going to do bad things you. I just wanted to cherish you, that’s all.” Yeah right… lol~) You’ll definitely be able to find what you like. But… surprisingly no megane sensei… (teacher/school doctor in glasses) Why? lol~ it’s probably good to try to break away from the expected.

Anyway, the trading CD concept is hype but possibly irresistible bait for collector freaks lol~ Seems like fun tho. I think it’ll probably be cute if it was an anime cos the character setting/design looks good! But notice the typical everybody is taller than the uke stereotype OTL. Oh well… The voice cast generally have a good BL track record, so let’s see how it goes. But to be honest, to me, all of them are uke types, except for Maeno Tomoaki and Narita Ken. However, they’re definitely well cast since this is a high school setting. You can listen to the voice demos that are up at the official website.

Characters:

Shimizu Yuu 清水優 (Iguchi Yuuichi 井口祐一)
Age: 17/Height: 171cm/Birthday: July 14 (Cancer)/Blood Type: A
Class A, 2nd year student at Yuuzutsu High School夕星（ゆうづつ）学院高等学校
He fell sick and was absent on the first day of school. Thanks to his friends’ recommendation (or sabotage lol), he was voted as the class representative during his absence. His parents are often away for overseas business trips, so he is responsible for taking care of his younger sister. He cooks and does the housework. His dream is to become a businessman in the future and is a very realistic person. He thinks he is just an average, ordinary guy but recently he seems to be surrounded by colourful personalities and individuals.

Nowake Mamoru 野分護 (Terashima Takuma 寺島拓篤)
Age: 17/Height: 173cm/Birthday: September 6 (Virgo)/Blood Type: B
Class C, 2nd year student at Yuuzutsu High School.
Yuu’s neighbour and childhood friend. They were friends and in the same school since kindergarten and known each other for a very long time. He is proud to be Yuu’s number one best friend. They were in the same soccer team since primary school. He is still in the soccer team at high school now but is currently taking a break. His prioritises going home together with Yuu. Recently, he feels an unexplained anxiety about the people appearing around Yuu.

Watanuki Shou 綿貫翔 (Mizushima Takahiro 水島大宙)
Age: 17/Height: 176cm/Birthday: December 11 (Sagittarius)/Blood Type: AB
Class A, 2nd year student at Yuuzutsu High School.
Shimizu Yuu’s classmate. Good in studies. He has graceful looks and a calm demeanor. He is very popular among both boys and girls. His popularity extends to even other schools and is a well-known name. Although he is said to be from a wealthy family and is like a prince, he yearns to be a normal high school student as his family background is complicated. His acquaintance with Yuu began when they were sat next to each other in class.

Nakazato Wakaba 中里若葉 (Hino Satoshi 日野聡)
Age: 16/Height: 180cm/Birthday: May 5 (Taurus)/Blood Type: O
Class B, 1st year student at Yuuzutsu High School.
Nakazato Aoi’s younger brother. He has a scary look but he is actually a good guy with a strong physique. His appearance makes him stand out among the top student types in school. He is strong and can’t help standing up for the weaker ones. First encountered Yuu at the back of the gym and had an impression of him since then.

Nakazato Aoi 中里葵 (Maeno Tomoaki 前野智昭)
Age: 18/Height: 186cm/Birthday: June 20 (Gemini)/Blood Type: A
Class D, 3rd year student at Yuuzutsu High School.
Nakazato Wakaba’s older brother. Captain of Kendo Club. Strong contender and Kendo champion of inter-high school from 2 years in a row. Expectations are high for him as he is the favourite to win this year. Has good leadership abilities and excellent results in his studies. He is also a reliable young man, trusted by the teachers and adored by his juniors. He comes from a distinguished family of bureaucrats and dreams of becoming a top bureaucrat in the police department. Seems to have met Yuu only once but somehow their relationship is..

Tachibana Mutsuki 立花睦月(Narita Ken 成田剣)
Age: 32/Height: 185cm/Birthday: February 4 (Aquarius)/Blood Type: AB
Mysterious man who appeared suddenly before Shimizu Yuu.
For some unknown reason, he seems interested in Yuu, an ordinary high school student and wants to protect him at all costs.  He is actually a successful young businessman who went to the States alone and started his company after graduating from university. He is also well-known in the industry for his shrewdness and cruelty when it comes to business. However, he is surprisingly gentle towards Yuu and very different from his usual persona. Seems to have a very mature adult demeanor.

Comments: Can’t really comment on how good it is yet since it hasn’t been released. Stereotypes galore but I think it doesn’t matter if done well :) There’s a girl’s (otome) version that was released in July 2010 and all sold out already ^^;; That good? I wonder but the cast sure is attractive for that series, including some of the most popular seiyuus, namely: Namikawa Daisuke (浪川大輔), Miyano Mamoru (宮野真守), Okamoto Nobuhiko (岡本信彦), Ishida Akira (石田彰) and Toriumi Kousuke (鳥海浩輔). The girl character isn’t voiced in this series cos the listener is supposed to be the girl :D So it probably means that in the BL boyfriend series, we’ll get some sort of 15+ H-scenes lol~

Pairings:
江夏孝美 x 冬城温史 Konishi Katsuyuki x Yusa Kouji 小西克幸 x 遊佐浩二

Other cast: 石田祐司 – Kisaichi Atsushi 私市淳
近江正克 – Higuchi Tomoyuki 樋口智透
高橋優 – Takahashi Kenji 高橋研二
近江淳子 – Shimeno Junko 〆野潤子
柳本孝史 – Satou Takuya 佐藤拓也
鏡花 – Mitsuki Saiga 斎賀みつき

Rating: Recommended for “Attack uke”, detective plot, H-scenes

Quick Summary: (No ending spoilers)
32-year-old, brilliant and confident forensic doctor, Fuyuki Atsushi (Yusa Kouji) receives a threatening letter at his laboratory one day, accusing him of his guilt of committing a crime . His assistant, Ishida (Higuchi Tomoyuki) worries for his safety as the letter threatened that only by his death can his crime be absolved. Fuyuki dismisses his concerns and explains that he can’t remember committing any crime. The only crime he could probably have committed would be to make a mistake in his forensic conclusions. However, he is confident that it will never happen.

Still concerned, Ishida calls up the police department for help and the latter sends 38-year-old police detective, Enatsu Takami (Konishi Katsuyuki) over to investigate. When Enatsu arrives, Fuyuki tries to dismiss him of his duties. Fuyuki does not have a good impression of the police detective because Enatsu badgered him over the phone two months ago to re-investigate his forensic conclusions of a murder victim’s time-of-death. This was because his suspect had a solid alibi during that time period. Fuyuki was 100% sure of his conclusion and angry that he was doubted. Later on, it turned out that Enatsu gathered enough evidence to prove that the suspect fabricated his alibi and closed the case successfully. Fuyuki was bothered that he did not offer an apology for doubting him.

Just then, Fuyuki is called up to investigate a newly discovered body of a young man who was found dead in his apartment… 

Both detective and doctor arrive at the scene. The young man looks like he was strangled to death. His body is in a sitting position and he seemed to have tied his own legs together with a tie and having no visible signs of struggle makes it seem like suicide. Not one to jump into conclusions, Fuyuki prepares to investigate.

As Fuyuki would discover, the death of this 27-year-old young man, Takahashi Masaru (Takahashi Kenji) is not as simple as it seems. The young man died in exactly the same way as his fiancee, Omi Junko (Shimeno Junko), a suicide victim three years ago. The woman’s brother, Omi Masakatsu, was also the first person who reported discovery of the young man’s body, similar to that time when he discovered hers. He had vehemently refused to believe Fuyuki’s forensic conclusion that his sister died of suicide. Even his alibi for both deaths was the same. His sudden reappearance this time when his best friend and sister’s fiance, Takahashi Masaru was found dead seems too coincidental. Could there be a link between the two deaths?

Bothered by the coincidence, Fuyuki checks Takahashi Masaru’s body again and discovers double strangle marks on his neck. He begins to habour doubts about the accuracy of his forensic conclusion regarding Omi Junko’s suicide and wondered if he had missed that evidence then. However, Enatsu stands by him and reassures him that he would not have made such a mistake. They suspect that this time, Takahashi Masaru may have been murdered by Omi Masakatsu and also think that the threatening letter may have been sent by him too. In the meantime, Fuyuki’s ex-boyfriend of more than ten years stalks and tries to get back together with him…

A novel by Shuudo Rena 愁堂れな and deliciously illustrated by Takashina Yuu 高階佑.

Comments with some spoilers
Unlike most BL dramas, the main plot of this drama isn’t solely about the main pairing, so people who prefer stories that are focused on couple development may be disappointed. However, the author does give us some background to the main characters and how it contributed to their current statuses and personalities.

Fuyuki was abandoned by his real mother as a baby. His father remarried and he grew up without memories of her. His stepmother also loved and treated him well. Later on, Fuyuki and his real mother met again during his parents’ funeral and she expressed her regret for abandoning him. She was working as a hostess/mama-san (Mitsuki Saiga) at a high-class club in Ginza then. He told Enatsu that although he refused her help, she insisted on it, so now he would visit the club occasionally just for free expensive drinks.

Fuyuki had a boyfriend of more than ten years and who was also a doctor, Takashi (Satou Takuya). But Fuyuki decided to break up with him because Takashi’s father had a dying wish for him to be married and to take over the hospital in their hometown. I think some of you may think that Fuyuki didn’t love Takashi enough but I feel that maybe Fuyuki lost both his parents (father and foster mother) five years ago due to a car accident, so subconsciously, he felt that one should respect and fulfill his parents’ wishes when he had the chance. But that’s just my guess. As the drama is compacted into just one CD, there wasn’t much time to give us more insight to his emotional struggles with this relationship. However, I think it wasn’t very necessary to do so, since it is of no great importance to the main plot.

When Enatsu found out the reason why Fuyuki ended his relationship to allow the marriage, he pointed out that maybe Fuyuki could have found a way to save it, because he should not just give up a mutual-love relationship that had lasted so long. He also thinks that Fuyuki should be more truthful to his own desires and not always be bound by his sense of duty. Fuyuki lied to Enatsu that it was his pride that stopped him from carrying on the relationship as Takashi’s lover but he also revealed in his monologue that he had always made his decisions by considering other people’s point of view. I think it fits his character quite well as a cool, rational-thinking and matured individual. Even though emotionally he was upset, he knew what was the “right” thing to do. He even scolded his ex-boyfriend, Takashi for clinging on to him and suggesting to do such a thing after his marriage.

Although Fuyuki was very confident of his abilities as a forensic doctor, he couldn’t help feeling discouraged and vulnerable when his own doubts about his forensic conclusions surfaced. (Note: Fuyuki sounded darn cute when drunk <3 and we also got the excuse for him to attack his seme :D) He was human after all. In came our detective who filled up the emptiness inside Fuyuki. (I just realised that this sentence can be a sexual-innuendo too lol~)

Enatsu was an unkempt, hot-blooded detective, dedicated to his work so much so that at 38 years of age, he was still unmarried. I personally feel that it’s not such a big deal for men but culture in Japan is probably different. He wasn’t gay to start with. Awesome smex with Fuyuki and the discovery that the doctor was also a good person turned him. The fact that he found Fuyuki beautiful helps too :D His straightforward and empathetic personality also made him a good companion with a listening ear and strong shoulder to cry on. A nice guy and rather good match for Fuyuki.

Although the two of them didn’t have a good impression of each other when they first met, spending time while investigating the case brought them closer and eventually together.

What’s an “attack uke” 襲い受?

That’s an uke who takes -it- into his own ass hand by pushing the seme down, so that he can have his way with him, smex and all :D

We seldom get this type of delicious manly uke, interesting plot and characters in one package. Mind you, the seme is a masculine one. Not wimpy/hetare (useless) type. For those hetare semes, the ukes have no choice but to push their semes down if they wanted any action lol~

Funniest thing is both times after Fuyuki attacked Enatsu as a result of his supposedly drunken stupor, he would ask for his forgiveness and for him to treat it like a dog’s bite the next day. Gosh, how is that possible, especially after they had such hell of an orgasmic climax together everytime. And I mean, if Enatsu really didn’t want to have sex with Fuyuki the first time, he could have easily overpowered and resisted him when the man undressed and gave him a blow-job, followed on by full-on sex. Enatsu is after all, a police detective. Although he said that he was too shocked to react but come on… he totally reciprocated by asking Fuyuki to get under him and thrusting into him after receiving Fuyuki’s hot uke-on-top grinding action lol~ And not to forget, when Fuyuki said he wanted to do it again after climaxing, Enatsu gave a one word answer: “oh~” and became hard again while he was still inside Fuyuki :D

***After some good uke-on-top grinding…***
Fuyuki: Good… good… just like this (while riding on top of Enatsu.) [Very realistic and subtle wet sound effects there (^///^)]
Enatsu: … Get under me…
*** pumping and thrusting action ***
Fuyuki: I’m coming… *climaxes* … *after catching his breath, he smiles* Let’s do it again.
Enatsu: O…. (Seems dumbfounded)
Fuyuki: Ah… It became bigger… :)
*** More thrusting, moans and gasps *** [Yum!]

After sleeping with Fuyuki for the first time, Enatsu began to take note of his own appearance too as revealed by Fuyuki’s assistant, Ishida. In one of the scenes where he appeared at Fuyuki’s lab, Ishida pointed out that Enatsu shaved his face and wore a nice looking suit. He asked him if he found himself a girlfriend. Previously, Enatsu looked so unkempt that Fuyuki teased him, saying he thought he looked like a 45-year-old old man with a few children.

As for the second drunken encounter, Enatsu said he wasn’t gay but he was totally looking forward to smexing Fuyuki again when everything seemed like a dejavu. Well, he got his wish and ended up with another apology from the doctor the next day :D As Fuyuki had officially broken up with his ex-boyfriend, Enatsu asked him if he would become his lover instead. Doubtful of the unbelievable proposition as Enatsu wasn’t gay, Fuyuki was moved by the man’s sincerity as well as his confession of love but still not convinced.

According to research, this is the first time that Konitan is seme to Yusa Kouji. They did a great job as a pairing! Very good chemistry. Ah~ we can expect nothing less from these two veterans indeed. Casting Konitan as this type of responsible, hot-blooded, manly and nice-guy detective is spot on. Yusa too is perfect as the proud and capable beauty uke type. Think Mido Takanori (御堂孝典) from Kichiku Megane (鬼畜眼鏡).  Besides his yummy orgasmic pants and moans, Yusa also sounded particularly wonderful during a sobbing scene too. As for Konitan’s seme, his heavy breathing is just too smexy for words.

OHOHOH… I nearly forgot. The first time Fuyuki attacked Enatsu, I totally burst out laughing at the sound of unzipping probably the longest zipper fly in the universe. Gosh. How well-endowed was the seme anyway? His fly was probably the length of a 60-cm long tennis sports bag. There was no way it could be a jacket or something else being unzipped because the sound only came up -AFTER- Enatsu protested about why Fuyuki unbuckled his belt. LOL~ Be amused, be very amused. Go listen to that and have a good laugh XD

Generally, I found the drama very enjoyable, easy to listen to and not too long. I think two or even three CD length, detailed dramas of good stories are great but occasionally a shorter one like this is nice too. Recommended for the good smex, quick pacing and an all-rounded plot.  There’s a sequel to the novel coming up, so very soon, we should be able to listen to the drama’s sequel as well. I’m quite looking forward to it cos this pairing definitely works!

This is for those who want to know spoilers to the detective plot.
The story began with a monologue by the male murder victim narrating words from a letter left by the female suicide victim. It ended with the same narrator, adding his thoughts to the events that unfolded right before his death, explaining the reasons behind his actions.

To sum up the murder mystery:
Blood-related half-sister fell in incestuous love with half-brother. Same father, different mother. She tried to move on by getting engaged to half-brother’s best friend. However, she couldn’t let go of her feelings, so she wrote a confessional and apology letter to her fiance before committing suicide, asking him to take care of her brother and never to reveal her secret to him.

Brother, on the other hand did not believe Fuyuki’s forensic conclusion that his sister committed suicide. He wanted his best friend to tell him the truth but he refused to say anything, so Brother began to suspect that his sister was murdered by his best friend.

Unfortunately for all of them, Brother decided to kill his best friend. The friend did not even try to resist him and brought his fiancee’s secret along to his grave. Only till the end was it revealed that the best friend was also in love with his fiancee’s brother and he was willing to die to protect that secret as well. He also hoped that by his death, he would earn a permanent place within his best friend’s heart. (Reminds me of one of the character relationships in Gankutsuou 巌窟王 anime… made me cry… that one ( T~T) Anyway…)  Right till the end, the brother never knew the truth of his best friend’s feelings and ended up a convicted murderer…

It’s such a tragedy, covering one lie after another and in the end everybody involved suffers. :(

Catalog: Chara CD Collection MACY-2043

Pairing:
Morikawa Toshiyuki x Sakurai Takahiro
森川智之 x 櫻井孝宏

Rating: Recommended for angst, uke-in-denial and people who like master-slave relationships.

Detailed summary: (Spoilers galore~ by request)
Christmas is around the corner. Kurahashi Shuuichi 倉橋柊一 (Sakurai Takahiro) and Saeki Takanari 冴木鷹成 (Morikawa Toshiyuki) returns to work after securing the important Stanley Corporation account for Kurahashi Company.

Saeki informs Shuuichi that police investigation about the incident with Yamawaki Shigeru (Narita Ken) has not concluded yet. Although the incident has happened six month ago, he was requested to assist in the police’s reinvestigation. (See Slaver’s Kiss for more information) He will be attending a police meeting the next day with their lawyer, Wakamiya (Horiuchi Kenyuu).

At that time, Shuuichi did not press charges against Yamawaki personally on Saeki’s advice. In the end, Yamawaki was only accused of forging documents and illegal possession of firearms. Saeki explains that although there is a possibility of Yamawaki getting a heavier sentence after the reinvestigation, Yamawaki may try to argue it was for self-defense and in return, Saeki may be charged for illegal entry, damage of private property and causing personal hurt.

Shuuichi is shocked to hear it and says that he would speak up for Saeki in court or press charges against Yamawaki if that happens because Saeki was only trying to rescue him. However, Saeki scolds Shuuichi that revealing in court that he was nearly raped by Yamawaki will stain his reputation and clean record. Although Shuuichi refuses to let Saeki sacrifice himself, Saeki reassures him that he will mostly likely only be fined if he was found guilty. Instead of worrying about him, Saeki advises Shuuichi to be wary of Yamawaki since he will probably contact him once he is out on bail.

Just then, Wakamiya arrives and reminds Saeki of their dinner appointment in the evening. Saeki asks Shuuichi  to join them and Wakamiya also promises to do his best to defend Saeki.

While the men are at the restaurant, Shuuichi sees a painting by an artist he admired. Saeki also remembers that Shuuichi owns a book collection of the artist’s works. Shuuichi explains that among all his works, there was one painting that depicted the Holy Mother Mary during a winter’s night in Venice and it was exceptional. However that painting has since been sold to a private Japanese collector during an auction and is no longer available for public viewing.

Some business associates arrive at the restaurant and Saeki leaves the table to entertain them. Among them is a capable young woman, Michiko who is of the same age as Shuuichi and Saeki. Shuuichi notices that Saeki seems to be well-aquainted with her.

Wakamiya asks if Shuuichi has prepared a Christmas gift for Saeki. Shuuichi is surprised at the sudden question as he has been too busy to buy gifts for anybody. Wakamiya encourages Shuuichi to come up with something for Saeki and take the opportunity to improve their relationship.

In the background, Shuuichi overhears Michiko telling Saeki she looks forward to seeing him at Christmas.

Back at their mansion, Shuuichi wonders what he can buy for Saeki as he realises that he does not know much about the man’s interests, let alone what makes him happy. He feels that perhaps it is his own pride towards Saeki that took away the desire to learn more about him as a person, especially after Saeki forces him to become his sex slave. Suddenly, the door opens and Saeki enters the bathroom, chiding Shuuichi for taking his own sweet time. Shuuichi has asked Saeki to wait for him, so that they can discuss what gifts to buy for his family. Shuuichi is hoping to discover what Saeki wants while doing so.

Although Shuuichi promises to get out of the bathroom soon, Saeki decides to give him a hand and soap him while waiting for the bath tub to fill up. [*smirks* XD]

Saeki: Saa~ Shuuichi-sama, let me help you ♥ [hehe... he reverts back to calling him -sama :3 You can hear the subtle change in Morimori's voice... to the firm, I won't take "no" for an answer tone. Very very moe XD]

Shuuichi refuses Saeki’s insistent “help” without success and escapes into the tub. Saeki follows him inside. He is intoxicated by his scent and begins to touch and kiss Shuuichi’s sensitive spots. Shuuichi wonders why he is even allowing it to happen. He is aware of how aroused he feels when Saeki touches him and is ashamed of his own moans that are echoing in the bathroom. Even though Shuuichi denies it, he knows his body is hungry for Saeki and is unable to refuse him.

[This is a very sexy and luxurious H-scene that gives the couple ample time to build up a scorching fire before finishing with a satisfying climax. Very smexy, echoing climatic moans and splashing water! I love the bassy timbre of Morimori's voice as he talks dirty to Shuuichi. You really must get a good pair of ear/headphones to enjoy it to the fullest extent! And Sakupyon is unbelievably hot, I wished I was seme-ing him *blushes*]

The aftermath…

Shuuichi (to himself): I’ve done such a shameful thing… getting all turned on in Saeki’s arms and even climaxing in that kind of place… OTL;;;

[LOL~LOL~LOL~ so cute!!! Anyway...]

Saeki makes some gift suggestions for Saeki’s mother and younger brother, Kikyo (Yuuki Hiro). As a Christmas present, Saeki has even signed Kikyo up for a strict tuition class to ensure that he studies properly. Shuuichi feels inept as this is what he as a brother and head of the family should be doing but Saeki has even taken care of it for him. Shuuichi also realises that as the elder son in Kurahashi family who is under the  constant scrutiny of others, everytime he is complimented for his looks or actions, he feels an emptiness within. To protect himself from the loneliness, he has pretended to be nonchalant about everything. He never realised how much he is afraid of being alone and how much he wished to be able to act like a spoilt child until he met Saeki.

Shuuichi asks Saeki what he wants for Christmas. He wants to be able to do something for him and show his appreciation but Saeki replies that he does not want or need anything. Shuuichi persists but Saeki firmly refuses. Just then, the phone rings. Saeki excuses himself and leaves the room to take the business-related call in his study.

Shuuichi suddenly remembers what he overheard during dinner just now. Michiko said she looked forward to meeting Saeki during Christmas. Although Shuuichi knows right at the beginning that his current master-slave relationship with Saeki is not built on any feelings for each other, he cannot help feeling cold in his heart when Saeki refuses so firmly his attempt to get closer to him.

It is Christmas eve the next day and Saeki has already left their mansion by the time Shuuichi wakes up. Shuuichi remembers what Michiko said again. He tells himself that since Saeki is going to celebrate Christmas with his girlfriend, he should also enjoy himself thoroughly without Saeki. Shuuichi calls home but Kikyo and his mother are just about to leave for a Christmas concert where Kikyo is performing. They do not have an extra ticket for him. Although Shuuichi asks to join them for Mass, Kikyo assumed that Shuuichi will be spending the day with Saeki and did not include him in their plans.

This is the first time that Shuuichi spends Christmas alone. In the past, his family will have a Christmas party and celebrate his birthday at the same time but since his father passed away, they have stopped doing so. In the end, Shuuichi decides to open his gifts but as he does so, he feels increasingly empty and lonely. He looks at his presents and at the happy faces of people and couples walking in the streets decorated with Christmas lights and wonders where Saeki is. Feeling frustrated, Shuuichi goes to bed.

In the middle of the night, Shuuchi is rudely awakened by the sound of thunder. He is immobilised by his fear of thunder and unable to close the windows.

A flashback reveals that when Shuuichi was a child, his mother nearly died during a stormy night. At that time, his father was away on an overseas business trip. He tried to appear strong and did not even cry even though he struggled with the fear of losing his mother then. Perhaps it is the reason why he is afraid of the sound of thunder ever since. However, only once did he not feel afraid and it was with Saeki by his side when they were locked in campus during a thunderstorm. Saeki had held him and assured him that they would not die from the cold.

At this point, Shuuchi begins to cry and scold Saeki for not being there for him.

Shuuichi: Why are you not here with me? Leaving me here alone at a time like this. Idiot… Saeki, you idiot! *sobs*

Shuuichi realises that he himself is the idiot because he is hoping for Saeki’s presence now just like the night when they were in trapped in campus. He feels like an idiot for wanting a man who does not want or feel anything for him. Another clap of thunder sounded and it is the last straw…

Shuuichi: I’ve had enough! Save me! ( T~T)
Saeki: Shuuichi-sama!

Suddenly, Saeki calls out to Shuuichi as he enters the bedroom and closes the windows quickly. He asks if Shuuichi is alright but the trembling man pushes his hand away.

Shuuichi: Don’t touch me! [Tsuntsun desu ne~ :3]
Saeki: The thunderstorm is far away now.
Shuuichi: I told you not to touch me! ( T3T)
Saeki: It’s ok now *holds him*
Shuuichi: Let go of me! It’s better that you didn’t come back here! Go back to where your girlfriend is right now! [Aren't you crying for him just a minute ago? XD so cute~]
Saeki: Girlfriend?
Shuuichi: Didn’t you make a date with her on Christmas eve? And proof of the fact is that you don’t even want any presents from me *pouts* [Shuuichi is so cute when he throws tantrums like this :3 How is it possible to not love him...]

Saeki is puzzled and asks what Shuuichi is talking about. Shuuichi -almost- blurted out to Saeki that he is angry with him because he left him alone at home that day. Without hearing the real reason, Saeki tightens his embrace and apologises anyway.

Shuuichi: Why are you apologising?
Saeki: I’m sorry… for leaving you alone in such a stormy night.
Shuuichi: It’s ok now. It’s not a big deal. I’m used to being alone anyway.
Saeki: This is why… This is precisely why I don’t want to leave you alone… because in a stormy night like this, I know that you’re crying by yourself. *hugs tightly* It’s ok now.

Shuuichi tries to push Saeki away but Saeki holds him tight and declares that he will always be by Shuuichi’s side, just like that stormy night when they were locked in the campus. Shuuichi resists him but Saeki kisses him insistently.

Saeki: What is that about a girlfriend on Christmas eve? Stop talking about strange things. Don’t make excuses for yourself. It’s ok to cry if you’re afraid.
Shuuichi: Shut up. Who’s afraid?
Saeki: Then are you saying it’s better to leave you alone?
Shuuichi (in a small voice): … … Horrible… ( T~T) You are a horrible person…
Saeki *chuckles*: Demon. Monster. Beast… you’ve called me all sorts of names… I’ve finally leveled up to a human being? *deep kiss* Leveling up as a human being is my Christmas present from you then. [Lol~ Katoh Elena-sensei is such a genius.]

Saeki kisses Shuuichi deeply. Although Shuuichi wants to resist, Saeki’s kisses calm him down and he is not afraid anymore. Saeki can see through what Shuuichi cannot express in words and to Shuuichi, it is the best Christmas present. Not a physical representation but something that comes from the heart. Shuuichi wonders if Saeki wishes for Shuuichi to discover the secret that is hidden within his heart, something that he too is unable to put in words…

The next day, Saeki informs Shuuichi that he has an appointment and will not be back till late evening. At the same time, he tells him that Kikyo has called asking Shuuichi to return home for lunch.

After lunch, Shuuichi’s mother leaves to meet her friends while Kikyo goes back to his own room. Shuuichi flips through his photo album and is reminded of his high school days. He sees an old photo of young Saeki standing beside Kikyo with a scary looking expression. Shuuichi has always felt intimidated by the coldness in Saeki’s eyes, like that of a beast which keeps others in a distance. Shuuichi feels that if he understood at that time what Saeki had gone through as an abandoned child, perhaps he would not have rejected him then and offered some words of consolation instead. Shuuichi looks other photos and is surprised to find a photo of Saeki playing soccer. There’s even a photo of Saeki smiling naturally while carrying a young Kikyo on his shoulders. Saeki has never smiled at him that way. Shuuichi decides he should talk to Kikyo who may be able to tell him more about Saeki.

While talking to Kikyo, Shuuichi discovers that his younger brother has grown up to be a fine young man who seems a lot more independent than he was. Saeki has been strict with Kikyo but seems overprotective when it comes to Shuuichi. He also hears for the first time that during high school, he fainted in the library and Saeki carried him all the way home during a thunderstorm. As he developed a high fever after that, it had caused quite a stir in the family. Shuuichi has a vague impression of that night and remembers going to meet his sempai, Yamawaki at the library but he has no memory of what happened after that. Shuuichi is sure that the injury on Saeki’s back was caused around that period of time. He presses Kikyo for more information but his brother tells him it is better to find out from Saeki himself. He points out that Saeki is not good at communicating his emotions and he may even be waiting for Shuuichi to ask him about it.

Shuuichi goes back to the mansion but Saeki has not returned yet. Yamawaki calls him on the phone and requests to meet him for one last time so that he can offer him an apology face-to-face. Although Shuuichi is apprehensive, he agrees to meet him as he wants to ensure that Yamawaki would not take action against Saeki.

Shuuichi meets Yamawaki and his lawyer at a cafe. Yamawaki appears to be remorseful for what he has done and says he is glad that Saeki did not die. He hopes that Shuuichi would not press charges against him. In return, he will not retaliate against Saeki either. He also confesses to Shuuichi he has loved him since high school and even went to the extent of drugging him with the intention of raping him at that time. There was a thunderstorm that night. However, Saeki came in time to stop him. Yamawaki says he regretted it and feels grateful that Saeki stopped him from making a big mistake. Shuuichi tries to question him about the injury on Saeki’s back and Yamawaki steers the conversation back to the recent incident. He blames himself for trusting Shuuichi’s uncle who made use of him to get back at Saeki. Naively, Shuuichi buys his story. Then Yamawaki’s time is up and he leaves with his lawyer, reminding Shuuichi once again, not to press charges.

Back at the mansion, Saeki confronts Shuuichi for meeting up with Yamawaki. Shuuichi explains that he wanted to make sure that Yamawaki would not do anything to Saeki and at the same time find out exactly what happened during high school. Shuuichi feels that if Saeki had told him what Yamawaki did to him then, he would not have escaped with him. The gun wound nearly cost Saeki his life and he does not want such incidents to happen again. Although Saeki is a despicable man who stole his company and made him his sex slave, Shuuichi believes that there is more to it than that. They have overcome many challenges together over the past eight months and Shuuichi believes he can judge with his own eyes who he can trust and depend on. At the same time, he wants Saeki to trust him and share his thoughts with him from now on. He also wishes to rid their relationship of anger and hatred and be able to protect and thank Saeki properly.

In response, Saeki tells Shuuichi he feels a sense of defeat whenever he faces Shuuichi.  How he wished that even if it is only for once, Shuuichi would fall to where he is [Sorry for the somewhat direct translation again. Can't seem to find the right words to paraphrase this well.] Saeki added that he does not wish for Shuuichi’s gratitude nor protection because it is his duty as a servant to protect his master. Saeki kisses Shuuichi deeply again and begins to devour his body. Shuuichi tries to resist, admitting his fear of being physically intimate with Saeki.

Shuuichi: No, you can’t…
Saeki: You are already so sensitive here…
Shuuichi: That’s why I’m afraid… it’s like I’m losing myself…
Saeki: And that’s why I’m so happy… because your body has always fallen towards where I am...
Shuuichi: *moans and gasps* Ah… Saeki… stop!
Saeki (clearly aroused): Is it ok to stop? Here… * ♥ squish squish ♥ * it is already craving for me… *unbuckles his own belt and lifts Shuuichi towards him*
Shuuichi : *gasps* Saeki…

Shuuichi cries out in sweet pain as Saeki enters him…  [Kyaa~ (^///^) Sakupyon's little pants and gasps that go in rhythm with Morimori's grunts when Saeki is thrusting inside Shuuichi are seriously realistic. *dies from bloodloss*]

xxx xxx xxx

That evening, it is snowing. Shuuichi is glad to be able to spend a peaceful and quiet Christmas with Saeki. It feels like a dream. He thinks in his heart that perhaps this is the best Christmas present for the both of them. As they watch the snow fall onto the streets decorated with Christmas lights, Saeki whispers to Shuuichi.

Saeki: Shuuichi-sama…. It’s alright if you never come to where I am. I will always go to where you are just like in the past, and will continue to do so in the future…　This is my decision/determination.

Saeki kisses him, silencing the questions that are at tip of his tongue. As Shuuichi returns the sweet, warm and gentle kiss, he wonders and hopes he can discover the real meaning behind Saeki’s declaration one day.

The next day, Saeki leads Shuuichi to the president’s office and surprises him with his favourite painting. Although the painting was meant to be Shuuichi’s Christmas present, Saeki will hang it here as Shuuichi’s punishment for breaking his promise to not meet Yamawaki. Nevertheless, Shuuichi is pleasantly surprised by the gesture. Then Saeki leaves for an appointment.

Wakamiya enters Saeki’s office and notices the painting. He reveals that Saeki had skipped a Christmas party with their business associate in order to meet and buy the painting from the previous owner. He then asks Shuuichi what present he has given Saeki but Shuuichi admits that he did not get Saeki anything. Wakamiya muses that to Saeki, having Shuuichi by his side is probably the best Christmas present for him. Shuuichi wonders why and Wakamiya points out that it is obvious that Saeki is in love with him. Shocked, Shuuichi denies the possibility but Wakamiya explains that Shuuichi maybe clueless about Saeki’s feelings but Saeki would not have taken so much trouble just to get painting for Shuuichi if it was not motivated by love.

Reeling from the shock of the revelation, Shuuichi excuses himself. He bumps into Saeki at the corridor and is overwhelmed by embarrassment and confusion. Concerned that Shuuichi may be feverish because his cheeks are flushed red, Saeki tries to touch his forehead. Unsure of how to react, Shuuichi pushes his hand away by reflex. The two men take the lift together and Shuuichi cannot find the right words to ask Saeki about what Wakamiya said. In the end, Shuuichi reaches his floor and excuses himself, leaving a puzzled Saeki. As this part draws to a close, Shuuichi believes that  if what Wakamiya said is true, perhaps one day they will be able to transcend their current master-servant relationship and spend their days just like the peaceful white Christmas the night before. He would definitely discover what Saeki really wants and sort out his own feelings towards Saeki by the time the next Christmas arrives…

Comments:

Slaver’s Nude is volume three of a five-part novel series by novelist Katoh Elena (華藤えれな).

Ah~ that was the last dramatised volume of this series, considering two volumes of Slaver’s Zenpen and Kouhen drama cds were based on one novel, this is the fourth Slaver’s drama CD (excluding Freezing Eye which is focused on another couple)!

A very enjoyable volume to listen to… this one :) How I wish they would complete dramatising all the volumes!

In the freetalk, the seiyuus mentioned that they first recorded the series in 2003. Everybody was praising Morimori about how cool (kakkoii) he was which he modestly disagreed. Almost a year has passed since the seiyuu last recorded the previous volume, Slaver’s Lover (Kouhen) and Morimori admitted that he forgot how he was supposed to sound as Saeki already. Morimori said he relistened to the previous CDs and felt the revelation like: “Ah~ so that was how it was like then…” and tried his best to voice him. Sakupyon agreed and said that both the characters had matured since then. Although four years has passed, the actual time-frame of the story till Slaver’s Nude was only about eight months.

Morimori pointed out that Saeki was only 23 years old and he tried to sound as young as he could. Sakupyon added that Saeki was 10 years younger than he was (in 2007) and Morimori said… “I’m already 40!” and Sakupyon was like: Ooooooohhhh….. *awkward laughter* Sweat is appearing all over me now!” Lol~ and everybody else joined in and laughed… Some parts I don’t get so… skipped :P

Next Narita Ken commented about his character Yamawaki Shigeru and said that he forgot how the character was like too. When he read script, he felt that Yamawaki seemed truly sorry for what he did and didn’t seem like such a bad person now. In response, Morimori said something about Narita Ken’s character being like a sniper in the story… [erm, as in somebody who lays in ambush?] which made Sakupyon laugh out loud lol~ Narita Ken then said that he wished he could also act as somebody cool like Saeki too, etc. [skipped] Sakypyon mentioned about the scene where Shuuichi met Yamawaki. In the script he was supposed to only take a sip of water but Narita Ken was heard swallowing water at least a few times. Although it was at a cafe, Morimori said it sounded like Yamawaki was drinking from a bottle. Narita Ken admitted that he was really thirsty at that time and he wanted to do his best since Yamawaki may not be coming back to the series again.

Yuuki Hiro was next and he said he also listened to the previous cds again to get a feel of what it was like. In the previous volume, his character was eight years old. He actually voiced the character from age six to the current age at sixteen years old. Everybody voiced their admiration at his ability to so. He commented that his character seemed a lot stronger both physically and mentally than his older brother, Shuuichi this time. He felt that Kikyo had become dependable and grown-up, unlike some other characters who clearly did not. At that point, Sakupyon asked… “Wait a minute now… who are you looking at?” And everybody burst out laughing. Narita Ken sheepishly blurted out that their eyes met when Yuuki Hiro said that and everybody laughed again. Yuuki Hiro quickly denied and said he was referring only to the characters.

Finally Horiuchi Kenyuu commented that although Wakamiya didn’t appear in many scenes, he felt that the character was cool in the sense that he gave the men advice at crucial points and helped them along in their journey. He hoped he could also be such a mature adult at that age. He also found Saeki’s character very cool too. He mentioned something about Shuuichi’s fear of thunder… and also said something like he would love to be able to experience such a deep love relationship with someone at least once in his lifetime.

At the end, Sakupyon asked what followed Slaver’s Nude and Morimori said Slaver’s Bone? And they went on to joke about the scope of the story which may grow and extend to even become Slaver’s Earth and Slaver’s Cosmos ^^;; Sakupyon said it almost seemed like robots would come out any moment. Anyway they ended the freetalk and wished listeners the best till the next CD in perhaps a year. Unfortunately, till date, no Slaver’s drama continuation (T_T) Well, that’s all for now! Let’s pray for dramatisation of all the Slaver’s volumes in the future. Hope you enjoyed this review!

Catalog: INCD-2235

Related drama cds: Slaver’s Kiss, Slaver’s Lover (Zenpen and Kouken) and Freezing Eye.

Pairing:
Morikawa Toshiyuki x Sakurai Takahiro
森川智之 x 櫻井孝宏

Rating: Recommended for angst, fiesty uke and people who like master-slave relationships. (Warnings: non-con but I think this will encourage even more people to pick up this cd LOL~)

Detailed summary: (Spoilers galore~ but I think it doesn’t really matter here :3 )
Slaver’s Lover Kouhen continues from where Slaver’s Lover Zenpen left off.

Slaver’s Lover Zenpen ended with an ugly confrontation between Saeki Takanari 冴木鷹成 (Morikawa Toshiyuki) and Kurahashi Shuuichi 倉橋柊一 (Sakurai Takahiro) after the latter discovers accidentally that Saeki deceived his father, elder Kurahashi in order to gain ownership of the Kurahashi company. In a fit of despair, Saeki forces himself onto Shuuichi again.

The next day, troubled by the unexpected turn of events, Saeki soldiers on as they have an important meeting with Stanley Corporation in the afternoon. With a lot in his mind, he gently strokes Shuuichi’s hair as he sleeps. However, Shuuichi is awake and only pretending to be asleep as he did not know how to face Saeki after what happened the night before.

Shuuichi’s heart aches at the warmth he feels from Saeki’s loving gesture. He wants to know what Saeki is really thinking about but Saeki never reveals anything and continues to hurt him time and time again. Unable to contain his emotions any longer, Shuuichi pushes Saeki’s hand away. Taken aback, Saeki asks Shuuichi to rest and that he will pick him up after he returns from the meeting later. However, Shuuichi rebukes him and says that he does not want to stay with Saeki anymore now that he is aware of what Saeki had done. Saeki asks for Shuuichi’s forgiveness and wishes to talk to him at the end of it all but Shuuichi refuses. He is too afraid of what lies ahead. Putting all the blame on Saeki in a fit of anger and confusion, he declares that he will not forgive him no matter what he says. In response, Saeki admits that since he did use underhanded methods to gain ownership of Shuuichi and the company, he shall not ask for forgiveness anymore.

Saeki: Do you wish to kill me?
Shuuichi: Kill you? I would if I could! For as long as I can remember, there is nothing else in a world that hurts me except your existence.
Saeki: You are suffering because I am here?
Shuuichi: Yes. If you never existed, I would have lived without having to know what it means to hate somebody.
Saeki: So you’re saying I’m the cause of everything that happened?
Shuuichi: That’s correct. Now, get out!
Saeki: I had a good time… hurting your pride. If I had not done all this, I would not have been able to touch you at all.
Shuuichi: Get out now and get out of my sight! I hate you! Go to hell! [I think Shuuichi threw a pillow at him or something lol~]
[Sorry for the crappy translation... I skipped some parts I didn't understand ^^;;;]

With that, Saeki left the room. Although Shuuichi threw those angry words at Saeki in his rage, he feels only sadness. He laughs bitterly and before he knows it, his tears begin to flow. Physically and emotionally exhausted, he falls asleep, only to be awakened by the recurring nightmare of the day Saeki was shot. The nightmare had not resurfaced since Saeki discharged from the hospital. Shuuichi feels uneasy and finds himself dressing for work. He reaches into his own coat pocket and is surprised to find the same Christmas souvenir plate that was inside the coat he gave Saeki when they were fourteen years old.

Shuuichi is reminded of the sorrow in Saeki’s eyes. He cannot help feeling guilty towards Saeki, every time he sees that flicker of sadness. Shuuichi cannot understand why he feels this way since he is the one who is suffering. He does not know if he can forgive Saeki but he finally decides that he should have a good talk with him to set things straight once and for all.

Shuuichi leaves Saeki’s private room at the office and bumps into their lawyer, Wakamiya. Weakened from what happened the night before, Shuuichi feels light-headed. Wakamiya suggests that Shuuichi rest at his office as Saeki has already left for the meeting with Stanley Corporation. During the course of their conversation, Shuuichi complains to Wakamiya about Saeki’s devious way of seizing his company. However, Wakamiya chides Shuuichi for his lack of understanding of all that Saeki has done in order to protect him and his company. [Wakamiya is obviously unaware that Shuuichi is also forced into a sexual relationship with Saeki *shrugs*]

Wakamiya explains that he was moved by Saeki’s passion for the company even though he did not want to accept the younger man’s request for help in the beginning. According to Wakamiya, Shuuichi’s father did not want Saeki to shoulder the burden of running the failing Kurahashi company. However, for someone who is young and the same age as Shuuichi, Saeki seems more than willing to sacrifice himself for Shuuichi. Shuuichi realises how lonely Saeki is. At the same time, Shuuichi blames himself for their strained relationship as he had always kept Saeki at a distance because of his own pride and attitude towards Saeki’s excellence and strength. Wakamiya encourages a sobbing Shuuichi that they still have a lifetime to make things right again.

After that, Shuuichi goes to his own department. His colleague, Kawana tells him that she has been trying to call him as Hayase needs his presence urgently at the meeting to explain their proposal. Eager to do what he can for the project and Saeki, Shuuichi makes his way to the waiting car as directed. He realises too late that he has fallen into a trap when he notices that the chauffeur is a different person. Shuuichi is overpowered and kidnapped.

At Stanley Corporation, Saeki reveals to Hayase that Kurahashi Company has already won the contract although it has not been officially announced yet. Saeki’s intention is to secure Kurahashi Company’s stability and get rid of its enemies before handing the ownership back to Shuuichi. However, he did not have a chance to tell Shuuichi yet since he refused to listen to him now.

Saeki meets Takashima, who hints openly to Saeki that Kawana is on their side. Saeki realises that Shuuichi is now in their hands. Takashima threatens that the result of the meeting will determine Shuuichi’s fate. Saeki is desperate. He has made a fatal mistake. Shuuichi would have been able to attend the meeting with him today if he did not force himself on Shuiichi the night before. Just then, Takada calls him to inform of Shuuichi’s kidnap. Saeki asks him to search for Shuuichi’s location with the tracking device. At the same time, Saeki has no choice but to inform Mr Stanley of his decision to pull out of the contract…

Shuuichi wakes up to find himself tied up and left on a bed inside a cruiser boat cabin. He hears a sinister laughter coming from the side and sees his uncle. The older man switches on the television and a news bulletin reports that the car that Saeki was travelling in had exploded. Shuuichi is shocked by the news and upset that his last words to Saeki was “Go to hell!”

Takashima enters the cabin and announces that they have won the Stanley Corporation contract. [How did he get there so quickly?] He muses that if he knew it was so easy to get Saeki to back down, they wouldn’t have had to plant the bomb in Saeki’s car at all. However, Shuuichi’s uncle feels that it is better to get rid of Saeki once and for all to prevent him from causing any trouble in the future.

Shuuichi’s uncle has asked for Takashima’s help to take revenge against Saeki for taking ownership of the company. Now that Saeki is dead, Shuuichi’s uncle will step in and take control over Shuuichi.

Uncle: Isn’t this the freedom that you’ve always wanted?
Shuuichi: Freedom… that I’ve been wishing for? I don’t wish for it. If I lose him, I’d rather continue to be bound by him instead!

Shuuichi sobs. He feels that if Saeki had not taken up his burden, he would have been able to live on and lead a different life.

In return for his help, Takashima gets to lay his hands on Shuuichi. Takashima was his father’s love rival for Shuuichi’s mother, Yuriko. After losing her, he has set his sight on violating Shuuichi who is just as beautiful as his mother and triumphing over Saeki as revenge against Shuuichi’s father. [Strange preoccupation I'd say.] Shuuichi’s uncle gives him an aphrodisiac which he gladly injects into Shuuichi. He threatens to hurt him with a knife if he resists.

As the effects of the drug kicks in, Shuuichi cries for Saeki in his heart. He despairs because Saeki is dead and can no longer come for him. Takashima cuts away Shuuichi’s rope, leaves his knife on the side and starts molesting him [the poor baby...]

Shuuichi grabs the knife and demands that Takashima stay away from him or he will slash his own face with it. He is losing consciousness because of the aphrodisiac and cuts his own hand in the attempt to stay sober. His mind swirls with thoughts of joining Saeki in the other world as he makes his way out of the cabin towards the sea. However, he becomes so weak that he falls before he could reach it. Takashima catches hold of him and Shuuichi is too weakened to resist anymore.

At that moment, Shuuichi remembers Saeki once said to him that he wants to make all of Shuuichi, every strand of his hair, fingers, and even his soul his own.

Shuuichi (in his heart): Saeki… you said those words and you embraced me so forcefully. Yet you have gone and left me! Have your way. I want Saeki to come here… come to me and hold me tightly. Save me… Saeki, don’t I belong to you?

Just as Shuuichi gives up all hope, Saeki appears miraculously, punches Takashima and holds him down. Saeki is alive! Shuuichi thinks he is dreaming. Suddenly, a group of men run onto the deck with Shuuichi’s uncle. They point their guns at Saeki and demand that Saeki let go of Takashima.

Laughing triumphantly, Takashima seizes Shuuichi. Saeki stops him and offers to hand over Kurahashi Company if he releases Shuuichi. At this point, Shuuichi screams that if Saeki relinquishes his position, he will not forgive him for real. Saeki is shocked to hear it and asks bitterly, “For real? Is it even possible that you’ll ever forgive me?” Shuuichi is silenced and does not know how to respond.

Looking on, Takashima purposely provokes Saeki by doing lecherous things to Shuuichi. Agitated, Saeki tries to stop him but is restrained. Takashima tells his men to throw Saeki into the sea while Shuuichi’s uncle snatches the document from his hand, saying that Shuuichi is now the president of the company.

Shuuichi intervenes and says he will do whatever they say if they let Saeki go. Saeki protests but Shuuichi says that he needs to repay Saeki for what he has done for him and he wants him to have happiness. Shuuichi’s uncle is delighted by his decision. However, Saeki breaks free of his rope and wrests a gun from his captors.

Saeki: Bastard! I’m going to kill you! Let go of Shuuichi-sama now or I’ll shoot!
Uncle: You… monster. You snapped the rope!?
Saeki: Yes. I am a monster. Now keep your hands off Shuuichi-sama… if you treasure your life.

Shuuichi hides behind Saeki as he orders Shuuichi’s uncle to drop his gun. The older man throws his gun away and tries to escape. Before Saeki can fire at him, Shuuichi stops him in time as he does not want Saeki to commit a crime. Takada reaches them and asks Saeki to give up his gun, calm down and let his men do the work. He chides him for taking action rashly before the police arrives.

When Takashima overhears that the police are on their way, he tries to negotiate his way out of the situation by offering to relinquish the contract with Stanley Corporation. Mr Stanley enters the cabin and Saeki explains to Shuuichi that Stanley Corporation has already decided on Kurahashi Company. The police arrive and take the perpetrators under custody.

Mr Stanley’s cruiser will reach land in about two hours’ time. Shuuichi and Saeki excuse themselves and rest in one of the cabins. Shuuichi apologies to Saeki for what he said and asks him about the car explosion. Saeki explains that they managed to get out of the car in time before the explosion and escaped with minor injuries.

Shuuichi wonders if the souvenir in his coat pocket is a tracking device that led Saeki to him every time he gets into trouble. Saeki says that the souvenir is his protection charm. Shuuichi’s heart pounded. He is reminded of that white snowing winter’s night when they first met. Young Shuuichi felt an unexplainable sorrow when he saw Saeki standing at the gate with such a lonely expression. Shuuichi tries to tell Saeki what he felt that night but the effects of the drug return.

[Time for some smexy action! I enjoy this H-scene very much cos Shuuichi's reactions are cute and I love him as hungry uke for a change even though it is due to the aphrodisiac and he is still in denial. And Saeki's bullying and teasing is so hot! *steam gushes out of nostrils* And gosh... the luxurious sound effects! *nosebleeds and dies*]

Shuuchi struggles between his pride and asking for Saeki’s help to release the sexual hunger that is building up within him. He does not want Saeki to see him in such an ugly state.

Saeki: This is why you can never fall in love with anyone because you are too proud to let anyone see your own desires.

Saeki asks him very gently to set himself free. Shuuichi gradually loses his resolve as he falls under the drug’s effects and Saeki’s loving kisses. Shuuichi knows that only Saeki has power to unsettle his heart this way. He resists weakly as Saeki prepares him for sex and is unable to stop his own body from reacting eagerly to the stimulation. [Why am I writing all these lol~]

Saeki teases Shuuichi that he was on Mr Stanley’s cruiser and monitoring the tracking device when he heard Shuuichi declaring he rather be bound by Saeki than have him dead. When he heard that, nothing can stop him from jumping into the sea and coming straight for him. Shuuichi denies what he said. [What comes after is usual banter between a seme and his uke-in-denial...]

Saeki: You’re not being honest again… Then should I stop? *removes his finger*
Shuuichi: Uh… no, don’t stop… I mean… that’s not what I… [meow~ Kawaii!!! X3]
Saeki: Seems like your other mouth is more honest? *happily inserts his finger in again and does smexy things to Shuuichi’s other mouth* [*cough* yep THAT other mouth lol~]
Shuuichi ♥gasps♥

Shuuichi knows it is not enough. He hungers for something stronger and more forceful.

Saeki: You feel incredibly hot today. This is the first time I’ve seen your body crave so much for it. *kisses him all over* I wonder what drug was administered. [He probably wants to buy it too lol~] Even your body tastes so terribly sweet.

Shuuichi feels Saeki’s touch and warmth and a sweet pain surrounds him. Subconsciously, he reaches out and clutches Saeki’s shoulders with his hands.

Shuuichi: I’m so glad… that you’re alive.
Saeki (surprised): You don’t want me killed?
Shuuichi: Couldn‘t you tell that I was lying?
Saeki: You do know that I am a despicable man…
Shuuichi: Yes, I know that…
Saeki (bitterly): You even told me to go to hell!
Shuuichi: I don’t really mean what I said… *hugs Saeki tightly* I was so scared when I thought that you were gone. I thought I can’t live on anymore.
Saeki: I will not leave you. I would come back to you even if I ended up in hell.
Shuuichi: That’s right… I’m so glad… truly. Saeki, stay with me always.

[Long yummy kisses follow ♥]

Saeki: Shuuichi-sama, if you give me your permission, I want to continue binding you to me.
Shuuichi: Saeki…

♥♥♥ Saeki enters Shuuichi ♥♥♥

Enjoy the moans everyone! XD

Kyaa~ Shuuichi is so sexy when he gasps “Motto…” (meaning: I want more…) and Saeki goes “Konna… iin desu ne?” (Like this… *thrusts deeply* is good? (^///^)]

I find it difficult to translate properly Shuuichi’s monologue during this scene… I think he was saying that unbelievably, he feels emotionally flustered by the thought of having Saeki, alive, embracing him, taking control of his body. With his own feelings like this, he does not even care that he is Saeki’s slave anymore and submits himself to the pleasure of the sexual act. At this point, Saeki asks him to let go of his pride and take him deeper inside him… what follows is a lovely, dramatic and satisfying climax scene ~sigh~ Looks away at the sunset….

♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥

The evening after the kidnapping incident, Mr Stanley visits Saeki and Shuuichi’s hotel and expresses his wish to withdraw the contract. He does not want to subject his own company to unnecessary risk. He thinks that Saeki is very impulsive because he jumped into the sea before the police arrived in order to get to Shuuichi first. However Shuuichi speaks up for Saeki and explains that Saeki is a human and not perfect but he hopes that Mr Stanley can look beyond it and at to the enormous potential that he possesses. Mr Stanley is finally convinced and agrees to the contract.

At the airport before he leaves, Mr Stanley asks Saeki to join Stanley Corporation after the project completes and possibly become his heir since he does not have a son. However Saeki rejects him because much as it is a tempting offer, he cannot go to a place without Shuuichi. To Saeki, Shuuichi is his soul, his reason for living, his everything. Even if Shuuichi does not forgive or allow him to, he wants to protect him from the shadows. He wishes that the two company can continue to work together in the future.

Mr Stanley later chides jokingly at Hayase for leaving Stanley Corporation even though they pay him so much better. However, Hayase is point-blank at answering he is attracted by Kurahashi Company which has a great enough potential to overtake even Stanley Corporation.

Although Shuuichi has been resting after the kidnapping, he manages to go to the airport to send Mr Stanley off. He wants to speak to Saeki about working together and propelling Kurahashi Company into the number one spot in the world. However, he can’t get the words out of his mouth when he sees Saeki face to face. With the Stanley Corporation contract secured and their enemies removed, everything is set in place. Saeki tries to relinquish his position to Shuuichi as was promised to elder Kurahashi. He gives Shuuichi the contractual document for him to take back his company as the president. He feels that he is no longer needed because Wakamiya and Hayase is by his side and Shuuichi is ready to lead the company. He will do whatever Shuuichi wants him to and disappear if he asks.

Shuuichi notices that Saeki’s eyes no longer display the heavy burden that Saeki is carrying and his need for salvation seems to be gone. It is then Shuuichi realises that by setting Shuuichi free, Saeki is also set free from his bondage. Shuuichi questions Saeki that by doing so, does he expect his sins to be forgiven? In his heart, Shuuichi cannot bear to allow him to leave like this after he has made him go through so much.

Shuuichi: You must stay with me, take responsibility and walk all the way with me till the end.

Then Shuuichi tears up the document and says that he does not need freedom. Shuuichi realises that he feels a bittersweet pain in his heart when Saeki is around but when he is not, his heart cannot bear it.

Shuuichi: When you said you wanted to bind me even in our next life… was it a lie?

Shuuichi says that although he feels that it is not in Saeki’s best interests to continue staying by his side but even then he hopes to have him. So, the couple renew their master-slave contract with Saeki promising to stay on with Shuuichi. Saeki explains to Shuuichi that contrary to what he thinks, he does not feel that he is unfortunate. As he has told Shuuichi before when he took the bullets in his place, he was very glad to be able to do so. And he feels very contented with what he has now. Saeki kisses Shuuichi and Shuuichi is finally aware that all this time, he was searching for the gentle Saeki he knew and fell in love with during the stormy night when they were both locked in at the university. However, he also wants to treasure the Saeki who is right in front of him now. Shuuichi realises that he was already bound by Saeki with the look in his eyes that very night he saw him standing outside his mansion.

Shuuichi: If you want to keep binding me, it’s ok… do what you will…

And Shuuichi reaches for Saeki and kisses him willingly for the first time. Even Saeki was shocked. Shuuichi thanks Saeki and they hug each other. As the wind blows, paper shreds fly around them, and it feels just like the same snowing winter’s night when they first met…

Comments:

Slaver’s Lover is volume two of a five-part series by novelist Katoh Elena (華藤えれな).

Strangely, Kouhen was so much more difficult to write =_= I wonder why… hmm maybe because there were quite a number of monologues that needed to be explained and written in a coherent manner. But I had a lot of fun when it came to writting about the H-scene lol XDD *hides* and the sex on the sea setting this time… clashing waves and sounds of seagulls gave it a rather nice flavour. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it too :3

One of the things I really love about this series is that they always allocate enough time to build up the mood and give us indulgent and realistic sex scenes that end in climatic satisfaction, like the one at the end of this volume ♥ Absolutely fantastic chemistry between Sakupyon and Morimori ♥ It is no wonder some fans started having fantasies of the two of them as a couple in real life at that time. I think I read somewhere that there were even BL fan fictions written about them then lol~

Anyway, what you do think of the English voice overs? I find it very distracting to do additional voice overs for the English script spoken between Mr Stanley and the rest of the cast. If they wanted to do that, they should lower the English volume even more. You guys agree?

And Kamiyan sounded like a robot lol~ XD I was quite amused and gosh… I was trying so hard not to listen to their Engrish and concentrate on their Japanese. I would’ve skipped them if I could (but I kept replaying them cos I have to write the summary… Gaaah~ *twitches*)

Have you listened to any BLCDs where the seiyuus actually spoke English and sounded yummy? :-\ I can’t think of any… even the BLCD “Repeat after me” which is about learning English didn’t have anything close lol~

No freetalk in this volume either… And Slaver’s Nude would be next! :3

Catalog: INCD-2223

Related drama cds: Slaver’s Kiss, Slaver’s Lover (Zenpen), Freezing Eye, and Slaver’s Nude

Pairing:
Morikawa Toshiyuki x Sakurai Takahiro
森川智之 x 櫻井孝宏

Rating: Recommended for angst, fiesty uke and people who like master-slave relationships. (Warnings: non-con but I think this will encourage even more people to pick up this cd LOL~)

Detailed summary: (Spoilers galore~ but I think it doesn’t really matter here :3 )
Continuing from the previous volume, Slaver’s Kiss, Slaver’s Lover novel is split into two volumes of drama CDs. The first part, Zenpen will be summarised below.

A month and a half has passed since Kurahashi Shuuichi 倉橋柊一 (Sakurai Takahiro) lost everything he has to his former servant, Takanari Saeki 冴木鷹成 (Morikawa Toshiyuki) and became his sex slave.

Unable to forgive himself for indirectly causing Saeki’s injury, Shuuichi chooses to continue the master-slave relationship with him. Shuuichi also begins to realise that Saeki has ambitious plans for Kurahashi Company and wants to know and be part of what Saeki wants to achieve. He also believes that his father wants him to gain working experience within the company and that is why Saeki was chosen to head the company instead.

With Saeki’s permission, Shuuichi begins to work in the operations department alongside Hayase Yoshihiro 早瀬義弘 (Kamiya Hiroshi), a capable executive headhunted by Saeki. He would assist him and other colleagues in that department with overseas business development..

While having dinner at a restaurant, Saeki tells Shuuichi that he wants him to be part of the group of executives in charge of pitching for an important project tendered by Stanley Corporation in a month’s time. Shuuichi is glad to be given the challenge. Saeki reveals his desire to secure the full contract that is meant to be split among several companies, as it is a chance for them to become a top company. Shuuichi cannot help but express his admiration for him and wishes in his heart that working together can change their current strained relationship.

They run into Takashima, Shuuichi’s father’s friend who is the head of Takashima Company. Saeki later reveals his suspicions about Takashima’s intentions as he is photographed to be in a secret meeting with Shuuichi’s uncle and an employee from Stanley Corporation. As Takashima’s company is their greatest competitor for the project, Saeki suspects that they may be plotting something against them. He wants to assign a bodyguard for Shuuichi to ensure his safety. Puzzled at why a bodyguard is necessary, Saeki explains that as the descendant of Kurahashi, he is pivotal in getting support for the Kurahashi Company. His uncle too has no intention of protecting him or the company and only wants him like a trophy. He tells Shuuichi to trust in him if he really wants to atone his guilt for causing his injury. Moved by the look in Saeki’s eyes, Shuuichi is reminded of the night when they were locked together at campus and the warmth that he had in his eyes then. However he knows that they will never be able to go back to the past again…

The team of executives presents an initial project proposal but it is rejected by Saeki. Shuuichi provides an alternative suggestion and Saeki wants him to lead the team instead to develop another proposal. Saeki announces that he will take responsibility if the costs exceed the company budget and Shuuichi notices that all the employees, regardless of their age, give him their full attention. Shuuichi believes that his father has probably made the right decision and also thinks that his choice to stay with Saeki is no longer motivated by guilt but rather by his need to validate the man’s ability with his own eyes.

Hayase offers his support for Shuuichi if he needs any advice for the project. On the other hand, Supervisor Tsukui 津久井 (Hirakawa Daisuke) questions Shuuichi about the necessity to pitch for the whole project, putting Saeki’s health and the company’s interests at risk. It makes Shuuichi wonder if Saeki is actually happy with his life right now, having to shoulder so many responsibilities at his young age…

Saeki receives information from Takada 高田 (Majima Jyunji) that a spy has infiltrated their company and is supplying information to Takashima Company and spreading rumors at work. The company lawyer, Wakamiya 若宮法顕 (Horiuchi Kenyuu) suggests that they wait for the right time and accumulate more evidence before luring the spy out. Saeki wants to secure the contract and protect the company from his enemies. He is resolved to do whatever it takes to protect Shuuichi after discovering Shuuichi’s uncle’s ulterior motives while working overtime at the company in the past. Although Saeki’s intention is to protect Shuuichi from these lustful men, he realises he loves and desires for him. Thus he has been planning since high school to gain control of the company so that he is in the position to best protect Shuuichi.

Shuuichi works late into the night to prepare the proposal. He asks if Saeki planned for him to take on important projects like these right from the beginning. He realises that his prevous tasks included documenting and sorting client information. His business namecards and seal were also available immediately when he transferred to the operations department. Although Saeki refuses to admit to anything, Shuuichi is appreciative and wonders quietly if there is anything he can do for Saeki to give him happiness.

The project proposal is accepted and Hayase warns Shuuichi to be careful about the spy and information leakage. Later on, Saeki reveals to Shuuichi that they discovered another information leak in another department. Shuuichi criticises their underhanded ways and says he is proud to follow Saeki who is the man his father selected. In reply, Saeki says he too is despicable and wants Shuuichi to stop pushing him onto the cross. Shuuichi sees the pain in his eyes but he does not understand what Saeki meant when he said that.

The night before an important meeting, Saeki asks Shuuichi to return to their mansion first as he still has some work to attend to. Shuuichi leaves the office but he feels that Saeki seems strange lately. He decides to turn back and hopes he can share Saeki’s burden.

At the office, he sees Supervisor Tsukui wielding a knife against Saeki, Wakamiya and Takada. Their conversation reveals that Tsukui is the spy planted by Takashima. Tsukui’s wife used to work under Hayashi, an employee who was part of the group within the company that plotted against Saeki. Tsukui threatens to spill the beans about Saeki if he calls the police. However, Saeki says that he only kept some information from Shuiichi’s father and denies committing any crimes that can land him in jail. Shuuichi gasps at the revelation. Tsukui says that Shuuichi’s father planned to have him succeed the company eventually and asked Hayashi to act as his guardian. However, Saeki altered the official documents in order take over the company. Saeki counters Tsukui’s accusations and says that if he had not done it, the company would have fallen into the wrong hands. Wakamiya agrees and as they take Tsukui away, he hopes that Shuuichi can understand that it is for the sake of protecting the company that called for the drastic measure.

Shuuichi cannot believe what he just heard. He wants Saeki to deny it but the man confesses to what he did to ensure that he is the only person who will take over the company. It is all for the sake of having Shuuichi in his possession. Devastated by the truth and confused by his emotions of admiration towards Saeki, the many times he protected him from danger and the realisation that Saeki seems to be hiding his pain beneath his cold exterior, Shuuichi does not know what to feel anymore. He wants to know the reason behind the pain in Saeki’s eyes but he can no longer be Saeki’s slave.

However Saeki tells Shuuichi that he is only a slave in his own mind because no matter how many times his body is taken, Shuuichi has never once allowed his heart to be conquered. In despair, Saeki forces himself onto Shuuichi…

Comments:
Slaver’s Lover is volume two of a five-part series by novelist Katoh Elena (華藤えれな).

Detailed summary… gah~ tsukareta.. OTL. I planned to write the summary for both CDs, Zenpen and Kouhen together since they are continuous but… I guess I’ll save the next CD in the next review cos this is too long.

I think the story is ok… chugging along and there’s nothing too exciting (except for the sex lol~). However, it does give us a better picture of what Saeki needed to do to attain his goal. It also reveals that Shuuichi is a capable person too but very emotional and naive. His emphathy for Saeki will be his downfall :3 The seiyuus did a fantastic job in conveying the roller-coaster emotions Saeki and Shuuichi feel whenever they go into despair/cold/angst mode.

Saeki did say some moving lines in the drama but maybe… cliched? It works for me tho’ lol~ and opps… seems that both were said during sex scenes ^^;;

Saeki: If I knew this injury can bind you to me, then I’m willing to take any number of shots to do so.

And at the last track during the angsty-H.

Saeki: You are mine… Please say you belong to me!

There are two sex scenes in the drama and both are G.R.E.A.T. The seiyuus and their chemistry is fabulous. Very realistic sound effects and some dirty talking to help you visualise what is going on. Slavers series definitely has some of the best non-cons I’ve heard in BL dramas cds. Sakupyon’s angsty uke moans in this series is a classic already <3 Morimori’s seme is relatively loud too, so people who likes noisy semes will enjoy it too.

Another thing I like about the drama is the use of well-composed background music to heighten the atmosphere of the drama. Anyway, until then… the next review for Slaver’s Lover Kouhen.

Catalog: INCD-2219

Related drama cds: Slaver’s Kiss, Slaver’s Lover (Kouhen), Freezing Eye, and Slaver’s Nude

Pairing:
Morikawa Toshiyuki x Sakurai Takahiro
森川智之 x 櫻井孝宏

Rating: Recommended for angst, fiesty uke and people who like master-slave relationships. (Warnings: non-con but I think this will encourage even more people to pick up this cd LOL~)

Quick Summary: (No ending spoilers)
Kurahashi Shuuichi 倉橋柊一 (Sakurai Takahiro), a beautiful, young heir of a company President loses his inheritance to to another man of his same age, Takanari Saeki 冴木鷹成 (Morikawa Toshiyuki) after his ailing father hands over the company and all his possessions to him before death. Saeki has served as Shuuichi’s servant since they were fifteen and now he holds the power over Shuuichi and the remaining members of his family. Ordered by Saeki to become his sex slave, Shuuichi has no choice but to submit his body to him, promising himself he will never forgive Saeki and will take back all that he has stolen. Even as his hatred for Saeki grows, Shuuichi cannot help but admire the man’s strength and abilities and the hardwork he put in for the company. Will Shuuichi have what it takes to overcome this cunning man whom even his father had acknowledged and fend off the other men who are also lusting after his beauty?

Comments with detailed spoilers (by request ^^)
I just realised that this story is rather long x_x when I was writing a detailed summary. After I completed the first part, I was re-reading and editing it and found myself feeling quite tired with what I wrote *_* Eeks. That’s bad. I decided I should try to make the text more engaging by weaving the details into the comments instead. So here goes :)

Slaver’s Kiss is volume one of a five-part series by novelist Katoh Elena (華藤えれな), followed by Slaver’s Lover, Freezing Eye (Side-story of two sub-characters), Slaver’s Nude, Slaver’s Dear and Slaver’s Grace. So far, only the first 3 volumes were made into BLCDs.

The main draw of the series for me is definitely the casting of Morikawa Toshiyuki and Sakurai Takahiro as the leads. These two seiyuus have fantastic chemistry when they are paired together in BL roles. Fangirls of Final Fantasy, where Morimori voices Sephiroth and Sakupyon as Cloud, have a field day because Morimori is said to use the same tone as Sephiroth in Slaver’s Kiss when he “terrorises” Shuuichi in his kichiku 鬼畜 best. Lol~ Although Cloud isn’t as helpless as Shuuichi in Slaver’s Kiss, the angst and determination they share definitely comes across. *grins*

Back to the story.

Saeki and Shuuichi shared a complicated master-servant relationship that dated back almost 8 years before Saeki took over his company and made Shuuichi his (love) slave instead. The two first met each other on a cold, winter’s day when young Saeki made his way from Hakodate to Tokyo to look for his mother. Standing and shivering in front of Kurahashi mansion where his mother was employed as a servant, the boy felt despair and questioned his own purpose for being there. He realised that his presence would not have made any difference to the fact that his mother had abandoned him. Suddenly, a car pulled up near the entrance and a boy dressed up like an angel, called out to him and handed him his coat. Wearing only a thin piece of clothing and jeans, Saeki would have refused charity from the rich but the boy’s smile was sincere and he accepted the coat, promising to return it. And the boy replied, “Christmas next year then!” To Saeki, this encounter was like a Christmas miracle. In the end, he did not meet his mother and returned home. Later, he found out that the boy was Kurahashi Shuuichi.

A year later, Saeki became the top student in the whole country. His mother had passed away and Shuuichi’s father took him into the Kurahashi mansion (which was the size of a castle in Saeki’s words). Saeki would attend the same priviledged school as Shuuichi and look after his needs as well as Shuuichi’s younger brother Kikyo (Yuuki Hiro). Thus the two boys met again on the day Shuuichi celebrated his fifteenth birthday. However, Shuuichi had no recollection of their first meeting. He found himself feeling unease and displeasure as Saeki looked at him with eyes of a wild beast. Very soon after, Saeki appeared to treat him, the young master, with respectful distance and performed his daily duties as a servant.

Seven years later. Saeki continued to serve both Shuuichi and Kikyo. And as Saeki grew older, he became tall and manly in physique, similar to Shuuichi’s father while Shuuichi looked beautiful and slender like his mother. Shuuichi also became acutely aware of Saeki’s excellence in his studies. Shuuichi had never overtaken the young man academically no matter how hard he studied. This hurt his pride deeply and he could not help behaving coldly towards Saeki despite his envy and admiration for his ability. Once Saeki saw Shuuichi weeping in frustration over his loss of top position to him yet again. Shocked at how much he was affecting his young master, Saeki made a resolution to always top Shuuichi in everything he did, so that he would always come first in his mind even if it was motivated by hatred. What a strange preoccupation and budding sadistic love… lol~

The young men shared a tender moment without strife once. Trapped in school with Saeki due to a power failure during a stormy night, claps of thunder paralysed Shuuichi who had a nurtured this fear due to an incident in the past. They huddled together for warmth in the cold as Shuuichi’s fear made him drop his hurtful pride towards Saeki…

After graduating from the university, it was time for Shuuichi to start work at his father’s company. The company was found to be deeply in debt and much to everybody’s surprise, Shuuichi’s father ordered him to start from the bottom level of the company and work his way up. Saeki, on the other hand, was named the Vice President of the company as he had been working at the company secretly for the past four years. After the announcement, Shuuichi’s father who had been hiding his illness, fell gravely ill and was hospitalised.

Shuuichi’s uncle requested for Shuuichi to join him in toppling Saeki but the young man believed his father must have a reason for appointing him as the Vice President. When he visited his father, he overheard the older man thanking Saeki and promising to hand over the company to him the next day. Everybody involved in Shuuichi’s uncle’s plot was asked to leave as Saeki asserted his ownership over the Kurahashi company. Shuuichi too was told not to come to work any more. Shocked but powerless at what happened, Shuuichi did not know how to retaliate.

A week later, Shuuichi’s father passed away. Before Shuuichi could pick up the pieces of what was left of his life, Saeki cornered him with an offer he could not refuse. If Shuuichi wanted to keep the painful truth from his mother who was weak in health and to secure his younger brother, Kikyo’s future, Shuuichi was to become his slave. He would live together with Saeki and take care of his daily needs.

Although Shuuichi was angry and unwilling, he had no choice but to agree.

Shuuichi: “From today onwards, I belong to you, master.”

As he knelt down to kiss the back of Saeki’s hand to profess his subjugation as a slave… the poor guy had completely no idea what it really meant to be a slave to Saeki… Why, you must have sex with him of course!

[cue sadistic seme laughter]

So that very night, Shuuichi was raped as a fact that he was now Saeki’s “property”.

Shuuichi: “Do you hate me that much [to want to do this to me]?”

Saeki: “How is that possible? I like you so much… ♥ (Masaka… daisuki desu yo)”

Well, tell that to someone you’re going to rape and ask them how convincing your love is…

Anyway, this is one of the best rape scenes I’ve ever heard in a BLCD. Morimori was intimiating and you can hear his beastly hunger *slurp* and Sakupyon’s voice was quivering with fear, despair and anger as he struggled against Saeki. The first time I heard him, I had goosebumps *_* and felt bad for the character. Well, I still do… in a way. Ah~ how I love a fiesty uke. Shuuichi was cursing Saeki throughout his ordeal. Sakupyon was just too awesome here ♥ Go~ enjoy it, fellow pervs!

For the days that followed, Shuuichi just could not understand why Saeki wanted sex everyday, since they were both men. Saeki continued masking his real intentions towards Shuuichi and said that as a man, Shuuichi was a beauty and he enjoyed his lovely body very much *sweat* Upset that Saeki kept him naked in the house like a prisoner without even a change of clothes, the two men got into an argument. In the end, Saeki allowed Shuuichi to return home and retrieve his belongings. Forced to swallow his pride and ridiculed by Saeki for behaving like a prostitute to get what he wanted, Shuuichi suffered much humiliation to convince Saeki to let him work in the company.

At the office, Shuuichi ran into his sempai (upperclassman), Yamawaki Shigeru (Narita Ken) who was working in another department in the company. He had treated him kindly back when they were in school but they lost contact when he left the country suddenly. Little did Shuuichi know that this man also had ulterior motives towards him. Seriously, Shuuichi was the only one who was oblivious to the effect he had on the libido of these men. But thanks to Yamawaki-sempai, we get to enjoy very hot, non-con office lunchtime man-sex when Saeki got angry with Shuuichi for having lunch with Yamawaki.*shrugs*

Saeki: “It is necessary to make you to understand your place as my slave… again.”

[Gaa~ Hot, non-con office man-sex]

Saeki: “If you make so much noise, people in the next room will be able to hear you…”

I can just imagine that sadistic grin on Saeki’s face as he silenced Shuuichi’s mouth with his hand while he continued thrusting into him. *perving uncontrollably, somebody save me!*

Shuuichi: “I… will never forgive you!!!” *muffled moans ♥*

In keeping with what we expect in a BL universe, although Shuuichi was an unwilling partner in the master-slave relationship, his body was beginning to enjoy all the sexual loving it was given by a skillful seme. And coupled with his envy and admiration for Saeki and occasional times when Saeki showed feelings of gentleness towards him, Shuuichi became confused. Should we blame Saeki’s unhappy and deprived childhood as a cause for his inability to express love for Shuuichi in a normal way? ^^;;;

Yamawaki looked Shuuichi up at Saeki’s mansion and confessed his love for him. Yamawaki broke down the door and offered his rescue. Physically and mentally worn-out by all that had happened to him, Shuuichi dropped his guard and followed Yamawaki home, abandoning all the responsibilities that had been weighing on his shoulders. Unfortunately for Shuuichi, he discovered that Yamawaki had been plotting with his uncle to frame Saeki by planting false evidence from within the company. Unable to accept such underhanded methods, Shuuichi tried to leave but was captured instead. Yamawaki revealed that Saeki foiled his plans to sleep with Shuuichi seven years ago and he regretted not killing Saeki with his Japanese sword at that time. Saeki was injured so badly he had to be hospitalised, while Yamawaki was banished overseas for his deed. Shocked at the revelation, Shuuichi wondered why Saeki never uttered a word about the incident when he asked Saeki about the huge scar across his chest.

Before Yamawaki could go further with Shuuichi, Saeki burst into the room and stopped him in his tracks. What followed were police sirens. In retaliation, Yamawaki opened fire at Shuuichi but Saeki jumped in front of him and took the two gunshots in his place. (Narita Ken’s crazy laughter was awesome lol~)

Saeki was badly wounded in the stomach by one of the bullets but he was lucky as the other bullet was deflected away from his heart by a metal plate he was carrying in his breast pocket. When Shuuichi saw the metal plate, he recalled that it was a Christmas souvenir he received during a church event where he dressed up as an angel. He had left the souvenir in the coat pocket and finally remembered that it was Saeki that he had met at his doorstep. He began to emphathise with what Saeki had gone through and wondered if his behaviour towards Saeki might have been the cause for his coldness towards him. Honestly, this isn’t the right time to feel sorry for your arch enemy now, is it?

Anyway, Saeki survived and in a moment of weakness, believed that he would probably never obtain Shuuichi’s love. He even decided to let Shuuichi go without penalties, promising the well-being of his family. But Shuuichi refused, saying that he wanted to be able to take the company and his possessions back by his own strength! Oh well, our uke is a real softie and sweet boy at heart. No wonder his father could not entrust the company to him. ^^;;;

Looking at Shuuichi’s crying face, Saeki professed his devotion to Shuuichi without overtly expressing his love.

Saeki: “If you run away, I’ll catch up to you and make you mine again.”

And If you refuse to leave, I will follow you no matter where you go and continue to chain you to me, no matter how much you hate it, that’s right, for as long as I live.

So this part of the story ended with Saeki and Shuuichi kissing and continuing their master-slave relationship…

Phew~ finally… the end of volume 1! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. As for volume 2 of BLCDs Slaver’s Lover (Zenpen and Kouhen), let’s leave that for another day… ^^;;

Catalog: INCD-2206

Related drama cds: Slaver’s Lover (Zenpen & Kouhen), Freezing Eye, and Slaver’s Nude

Pairings:
Yusa Kouji x Kamiya Hiroshi 遊佐浩二 x 神谷浩史
with Horiuchi Kenyuu 堀内賢雄, Ichijou Kazuya 一条和矢, Shibuya Shigeru 渋谷茂

Rating: Recommended for the smexy H-scenes, especially people who love noisy semes

Summary: [There are some spoilers but no ending-spoilers ^^]

This drama is based on a novel by Toono Haruhi 遠野春日 and made up of two continuous stories of the pairing.

“I want to reveal the beast underneath that innocent-looking face.”

Matsubae Daisuke (Yusa Kouji) is a managing director of a large corporation, Matsubae Group. A beautiful and innocent-looking Hanamoto Yukihiko (Kamiya Hiroshi), an artiste manager of Kaji Production catches his attention one day. When the man notices the 25-year-old’s loving gaze towards the older actor, Yasuike Shun (Horiuchi Kenyuu) who is under his management, he feels a strong displeasure at the sight. Matsubae is determined to tear away Yukihiko’s innocent face and reveal the beast within.

A week later, Matsubae’s secretary, Sayama Yoshitaka (Ichijou Kazuya) contacts Kaji Production and requests for Yukihiko. He explains that in order to get his actor, Yasuike, special recommendation for a coveted role in a drama the company is sponsoring, he needs to meet their company’s managing director Matsubae Daisuke.

Matsubae offers Yukihiko an indecent proposal to sleep with him and satisfy him in bed if he wants to help Yasuike. Although Yukihiko is shocked by the proposition, he accepts it even though he has never had sex with a man before. Yukihiko’s decision convinces Matsubae that he is in love with Yasuike as he is willing to go this far for him. Thereafter, Matsubae wants Yukihiko to continue sleeping with him whenever he demands for it to ensure his continued support for Yasuike’s recommendation.

Later on, a misunderstanding occurs between the two and sends Matsubae into a jealous rage. He gets back at Yukihiko by manipulating Yasuike and causes Yukihiko to lose his job. However, after the vengeful act, he feels guilty and regretful of his actions. He also realises he has fallen in love with Yukihiko but will Yukihiko forgive him? And what kind of relationship does Yukihito and Yasuike have?

Comments [some more spoilers]:

Given the limited scope of the stereotypical material, the seiyuus’ performance is probably the only reason that will make you sit through the whole story.

Yusa Kouji’s arrogant sounding seme is enjoyable but I think he can also piss people off. Matsubae is petty and doesn’t seem to hesitate using underhand methods to have his own way. I really don’t see what is there to like about this character ^^;;; His guilt and sudden transformation into a loving and possessive seme once his discovers that he has fallen in love with Yukihiko isn’t very convincing to me. He is probably very good in bed… that’s why Yukihiko can’t get enough of him whenever they have sex. lol~ As for his voice, he sounds like Mido Takanori from Spray’s BL game, Kichiku Megane (鬼畜眼鏡). Kamiyan is beautiful as usual and his sweet, good-boy uke is a cutie. He reminds me a bit of his Natsume from Natsume Yuujinchou but don’t take my word for it. It could be just me ^^;;

All the sex scenes are long and relatively graphic. There are subtle but realistic sound effects mostly contributed by the seiyuus themselves. Their voice acting of all the licking, sucking, kissing, swallowing… you can visualise what is happening quite clearly. Delicious. The characters’ first encounter is a full 4-minutes from stripping, foreplay, preparation… till the end. Phew~ *fans self* Kamiyan’s “frightened rabbit“, obedient uke character is refreshing to listen to. His portrayal of the inexperienced uke is very convincing and I feel quite guilty for enjoying his deflowering. It is as if I’ve violated him myself ^^;;

I admit. Minds of fujoshi are scary indeed.

Fortunately, Yukihito is not an annoying and weak uke that you usually expect from this type of story setting. That is a major plus. Later on in the story, he becomes a hungry uke who enjoys sex. I definitely prefer this to weepy ukes who cry about it all the time *rolls eyes*

This drama is also recommended for people who love a noisy seme. Yusa Kouji’s loud moans can rival Kamiyan’s in the H-scenes. Very yummy (^///^)

The second story is rather bland. A third party, Chikami Ryouichi (Shibuya Shigeru) who is Yukihiko’s sempai from university, is introduced into the relationship but without spark or spice. I feel that Shibuya Shigeru’s acting sounds a bit unnatural too. Only the lovey-dovey and H-scenes between the main couple are good.

I particularly like the oral sex scenes *cough* of this drama. Yusa is hot and Kamiyan sounds sweet and hungry. I want an uke like him too *glomps* lol~

Ah~ as a side note, people who don’t like ukes with a high-pitched voice will probably not enjoy this as much I do but this is definitely recommended for Yusa x Kamiyan fans :)

Catalog: MMCC-3075

Pairings:
Toriumi Kousuke x Kamiya Hiroshi 鳥海浩輔 x 神谷浩史
Takase Akimitsu x Yusa Kouji 高瀬右光 x 遊佐浩二
with Suganuma Hisayoshi 菅沼久義

Rating: Recommended

Summary: [There are some spoilers but no ending-spoilers ^^]
This drama is based on a novel by Aida Saki 英田サキ and made up of two related but separate stories.

1) First story (Toriumi Kousuke x Kamiya Hiroshi):
Desperate for money to repay his debt to loansharks, Kaji Satoru (Kamiya Hiroshi) is forced to take up a job to shoot at an unknown target. When he meets his designated victim, he is shocked to see Minato Akihiko (Toriumi Kousuke), his sex-friend during their university days. Kaji is easily overpowered by Minato, who is now the member of a Yakuza gang and held captive instead. Although Kaji expects the worst for being caught, he is handed over to Minato’s men, Takei Yasuyuki (Takase Akimitsu) and Satomura Shiro (Suganuma Hisayoshi) for questioning. He is lucky that Minato decides to spare his life and not dealt with in the usual manner by the Yakuza for attempting to shoot him.

During his captivity, Minato wants to know if Kaji still hated him for causing his girlfriend, Yuri’s death ten years ago. Taken aback by the unexpected question, Kaji admits that he has not forgiven him but he has long moved on with his life and does not have the strength to continue holding a grudge against Minato. In fact, he has not thought about Minato or the incident for quite some time. Angered by the answer, Minato humiliates Kaji and rapes him.

Thereafter, Kaji is locked inside the apartment and watched over daily by Takei and Shiro. As their investigations slowly come to light, Kaji is also forced to face his troubled past with Minato and his  insecurities about his own sexuality. He tries to apologise for leaving such a deep scar on Minato’s cheek when he cut him with a knife in anger over Yuri’s death at that time. Minato refuses to accept his apology and rapes him again. Why does Minato want Kaji to hate him so much?

However, Minato promises to release Kaji once they locate the instigator but will Kaji be able to leave when the day finally arrives?

2) Second story (Takase Akimitsu x Yusa Kouji):
The second story rewinds and goes back sixteen years in time. It is about Takei Yasuyuki and his relationship with Suzuhara Ryouichi (Yusa Kouji), his brother-in-law he met one year after his sister’s death…

Suzuhara Ryouichi is a school teacher. Although he is gay, he fell in mutual platonic love with Yasuyuki’s sister, Asako who was afraid of having physical relationships with men. They were married and led a happy and contented life of a couple, enjoying the companionship they gave each other, without having sex.

Asako did not talk much about her past but she kept in touch with her brother, Yasuyuki through letters. Ryouichi knows that she cared a lot about Yasuyuki who was serving time in prison. Ten months into their marriage, Asako met with a car accident and passed away. In her last words. she wanted Ryouichi to look after her brother.

One year after her death, Yasuyuki turns up at Ryouichi’s doorstep after being released from prison. Yasuyuki wants to visit Asako’s grave and also meet the man who has given his sister happiness as she has described in her letters to him. He is very grateful to Ryouichi as Asako has only experienced a life of misfortune before she met Ryouichi who has treated her so gently.

While returning from the cemetery with Yasuyuki, Ryouichi injures his wrist and has to wear a cast for at least a month. Although it is the summer holiday, he is required to return to school daily for work related matters. Living alone with an injury has thus become an inconvenience. Yasuyuki requests to stay with him while he ponders his future before returning to Tokyo. He ends up helping Ryouichi with all the household chores and cooking while Ryouichi recovers from his injury. As the two men spend more time with each other, Ryouichi finds comfort in Yasuyuki as he too share a common love and grief for Asako. Before he knows it, he finds himself increasingly attracted to the quiet and tough-looking younger man who has a very gentle demeanor when he smiles.

After visiting a natsu-matsuri (Summer fair) together one fateful night, Yasuyuki confesses his love for Ryouichi and the couple consummates their love. The two lonely men bask in their passionate love but their happiness is short-lived. Yasuyuki has to leave for Tokyo. What does fate have in store for this couple?

Comments [some more spoilers]:
1) First story
Now… to be honest, I found the first story to be quite typical BL fare… Kaji and Minato’s relationship is fraught with non-communication. Kaji is fearful and tries to hide his sexual preference for men but he cannot help but fall for Minato after meeting him at the university. When Minato notices his longing gaze and confronts him, Kaji does not refuse him when he asks for sex. He falls deeper but feels more and more insecure. So he jumps into a relationship with Yuri when she confesses to him. As for Minato, he is a BL-universe seme who does not know how to express himself and thinks that if he can’t have his uke’s love, then he wants to be hated and continue living in his uke’s life in that way. Ah~ emo-kid alert.

And so we have Kaji saying: “You never said you loved me all that time when you slept with me!” and Minato goes: “You seem to be afraid of me and want to hide our relationship from others. But you’re always more than willing when I want to have sex,  that’s why I thought you only wanted a physical relationship.” Oh the bickering couple… ^^;;; But at the end of the day, these guys are still so much in love with each other after so many years! Can they survive the Yakuza feud that they have got themselves into? Listen to the drama to find out.

One of the highlights of this drama is *sweat drop* Kamiyan’s reluctant gun fellatio. It was an interesting H-scene to hear (I’m a perv!) And then we also get to hear Kamiyan’s character raped by ToriKou’s character at gunpoint and at other parts in the story. I know some of you pervs like that too ^^;;; There are a number of H-scenes with realistic sound effects to make most of us happy. Well, it’s not like I don’t like the story cos it is still quite entertaining if you understand what is going on. The H-scenes helped a lot. Lol~ It is also important because it establishes a better overview of the setting in the second story…

Before I get to the next story, I have to draw your attention to Kamiyan’s sneeze here. He sounds so cute! Kinda weird to like this kind of thing but… gaaah it’s so cute! Like a baby sneezing XD I also fell in love with his cute little sneeze in Seikanji-ke series 04:Tsumi no Shitone mo Nureru Yoru 清澗寺家シリーズ 4 罪の褥も濡れる夜 (25/07/2008) which is also a highly recommended drama on the top of my all-time favourite list.

2) Second story
As for the second story? It is a simple, straightforward and believable love story that is just plain awesome.

I listened to this drama a couple of years back. When I started my blog, I made a mental note to review it some day because… *drum roll*

*************** It was the first BL drama that made me cry! ***************

I have to say, it is one of Yusa Kouji’s best performances ever. It woke me up (from falling asleep to the first story because I didn’t understand much Japanese then) to -CRY- my eyes out. Yes, even when I didn’t understand much of what they were saying at that time! Seriously. Yusa Kouji’s acting is that good.

Yusa Kouji’s character Ryouichi is your average nice man and guy-next-door type. He sounds like he is speaking with his usual voice and his monologue is fantastic. As the story progresses, you can hear the growing affection in Yusa Kouji’s voice towards Takase Akimitsu’s character. Takase Akimitsu also complemented him very well with his no-nonsense but sincere and gentle-sounding seme. You WILL definitely believe that these two people are in love with each other and wish they get a happily-ever-after ending. You have to listen to it to feel it. ^^ I love the rabu-rabu scene where Takei piggybacks Ryouichi while they walk home from the matsuri. It has an awesome link to the ending and I’m very sure it will break your heart when you finally get there. And the amazing thing is, the story never fails to make tears flow even though this is the nth time I’ve re-listened to it.

Definitely recommended for any quiet or peaceful night when you’re in the mood for something emotional.

Oh yes, the H scenes deliver as well. ;)

One major gripe with the drama is the music. I hated the background music at many parts of the first story. It was distracting and mismatched. The humiliating rape scene was accompanied with a soothing, “elevator-music-like” (uplifting even) BGM. I’m like… huh? *shakes head* Fortunately the sound effects and seiyuus more than made up for it. Some BGM of the action parts like dangerous or shooting scenes also reminded me of 70′s/80′s police soap drama music which sounded very out of place. Thankfully, the second story is well-executed enough (BGM was also better than the first story) that I’m willing and happy to pay the full price to have this 2-Disc drama in my collection.

In fact, that ending scene alone is well-worth the price, so don’t miss it!

Catalog: INCD-2506 (Get it from Comi-comi for the freetalk tokuten! Also available without tokuten at CDJapan)

So, I decided to test playing a hard-sex track from Netsujou no Ori de Nemure (when I’m at home of course) at my current listening volume.

Having no other test subject to report the findings, I pressed the earphone against my own wrist and played the track… 

OMG… Waccha’s moans can be CLEARLY heard!!!!!!!!

So if a person is right next to me, which is really common if you’re squeezing with other commuters on a bus or train during the morning/evening rush hour, it’s all there, ecstatic moans, breathless pants, climatic cries and all   *MEGA-sweat drop*

Then I tested the same track with my headphones… Since the audio playback is clearer than the earphones at a lower volume, I don’t have to turn up the iPod as loudly. But the sound leak result is nearly the same, although a lot softer, the audio clarity is MUCH BETTER than earphones. Well… yeah, I suppose if I’m using headphones, the person has to stand a lot closer to me to enjoy the smexy audio with me but even then… it’s kinda… o_O lol~ *dead*

Maybe it’s not such a big deal but… I’m an idiot to not to realise this early enough *_* I used to be a little irritated when I sit or stand near commuters who play their music really loudly and the noise spills over from their earphones, so I’ve always been careful to lower my own volume in case it becomes a nuisance to others. But now I think maybe I’ve been gradually turning up the volume on my iPod higher than before. It’s scary cos my ears could be slowly dying on me as I can’t seem to be able to hear as clearly as before at the same volume? x_x

Any experience to share? Hope I not being too paranoid here XD

Pairings:
Kamiya Hiroshi x Nojima Kenji 神谷浩史 x 野島健児

Rating: Recommended

Quick Summary: [There are some spoilers but no ending-spoilers ^^]
When university student, Canna Yuzuki (Nojima Kenji) and Oka Tomochika’s (Kamiya Hiroshi) eyes met, it was love at first sight.

Chika caught Yuzuki’s eye at a night club and the two had a brush with each other when he accidentally burnt Yuzuki with his cigarette. Chika apologises and kisses the burnt area on Yuzuki’s shoulder. Yuzuki is shocked by the unexpected gesture but pretends to be unfazed. As fate would have it, Yuzuki’s best friend, Igarashi Ryouya happens to be Chika’s acquaintance. Yuzuki thought that it is the last he would see of him after they parted ways, but the two meet again at the bar where Ryouya works at and the night ended with Yuzuki following Chika home.

Although Yuzuki is incredibly drawn to Chika, he tries to tread carefully, holding back his intense attraction to the younger man. He was badly hurt by his first love three years ago. It was an older man, Tsukasa who taught him that love is a game and the moment either party puts his real feelings into it, it becomes boring and the game ends. Since then, Yuzuki has learnt to play love games with all his pursuers and has never gone deeper with anyone of them physically or mentally. But this time, Yuzuki seems to have met his match in Chika…

Chika is very gentle and has a disarming friendliness towards everyone he meets. His body language often creates the impression of attraction. He never refuses anyone, male or female who wants to become his lover when he is single. However Chika’s relationships always end soon after they started. Yuzuki is hesitant about revealing his feelings for Chika and thinks that once he confesses, Chika would probably get tired of him quickly. But Ryouya explains that Chika is not a player who is frivolous with love. He thinks it is a miracle that Chika’s involvement with Yuzuki has lasted so long and encourages Yuzuki to make up his mind and get together with Chika before somebody snatches him away. Shaken by this piece of advice, but afraid of losing in the game of love, Yuzuki agonises over his feelings.

With the sudden appearance of a girl named Maina who seems to be too familiar with Chika, Yuzuki succumbs to his insecurities. Chika is the only person after Tsukasa that Yuzuki wants to give everything to right now. However Chika rejects him, saying, “Sex is something I can only have with my lover.”

Devastated, Yuzuki finally realises that much as he tries to act tough by playing the field with many admirers, he has never really recovered from his experience with Tsukasa. Tsukasa taught him that kisses are just a greeting gesture and do not mean anything more but Yuzuki’s heart hurt then. He now understands why his heart feels the same pain he felt with Tsukasa when Chika kisses him.

Adding to the complicated mix, the return of the older man, Tsukasa. Will Yuzuki and Chika overcome their own crippling pasts and future challenges to stay together in the end?

Based on a novel by Tachibana Benio 橘紅緒.

Comments:

Ah~ how often do we get to hear our beloved Kamiyan in a seme role? It is so rare that he himself also commented about it in the cast talk lol~ XD Throughout his BL career till now, he has so far voiced only around 13 or so seme roles in BL drama… (I’ve not included his handful of BL game seme roles, but in fact some of the BL dramas were also based on BL games.)

I haven’t listened to all his other seme dramas yet… yes yes, I really should listen to Reload (リロード Apr 2008) soon *_* cos that’s probably his most famous seme-role with Ono Daisuke recorded after their insanely popular Dear Girl Stories radio show (but I’m honestly not too fond of OnoD’s uke… *hides from his fangirls*). Anyway this is the first Kamiyan-seme drama that I’ve listened to and really really liked (^///^) I re-listened to this drama many times and I still enjoy it very much.

Both Kamiyan and Nojiken are awesome with their portrayals of these two repressive characters. On one hand we have a character who is extremely lonely and insecure but subconsciously looking for love in any and everyone who comes his way, and another who is hurt before and afraid to give his love fully.

There are a number subtle misunderstandings between various characters in the story which you may miss if you’re not paying attention, so do find time to listen to the drama undisturbed ^^ This story is generally retrospective, with flashbacks mainly from Yuzuki’s point-of-view about Tsukasa and many thoughts and internalised struggles he feels. The depth and vulnerability which Nojiken injects into Yuzuki with his voice is quietly moving. I especially love the way Nojiken’s voice wavers as he conveys the insecurities of his character. He is definitely one of my absolute favourite seiyuus in BL drama since discovering him in Doushite mo Furetakunai (どうしても触れたくない Mar 2009) Well, that’s for another overdue review in my mental list ^^ And Kamiyan’s voice is such a joy to listen to, I feel so happy I can cry (T_T)

I love the way the drama is directed and the intimacy I feel when I listen to it, especially during the scenes between Yuzuki and Chika. Also, the music is lovely, whether it is the non-intrusive piano piece or the calming acoustic guitar during the quieter and calmer moments in the story. They play a supportive but important role in bringing forth the atmosphere of these scenes.

And if you love good H-scenes as much as I do, you’ll be pleased to know that this drama has very delicious sounding kisses <3 bed-ruffling noises and other realistic and natural sound effects.

When Nojiken whispers Chika’s name in a slightly quivering, hungry and breathless voice during the H-scenes gaaa~ it is so sexy! And their chemistry is just…. seamless. It’s really hard to believe they’re not really having sex and are just standing there across each other, facing their microphones and readng out from their scripts. ^^;;; These seiyuus never fail to amaze me. Their interaction and the way they speak to each other somehow makes me feel really close to them. I realise too that I sometimes hold my breath during their H-scenes… ah~ I wonder why (^///^)

The use of sound effects to indicate a flashback can be quite jarring to the ears at times but the main gripe I have with the drama is the casting of a female seiyuu with a super high-pitched voice as Maina. It’ll probably pierce your ears when you listen to it for the first time and getting used to it isn’t easy -_-;;; but our boys are just too good not to enjoy over and over again :)

Catalog: CPCD-1121 (CD seems to be only available from Comi-comi ^^also includes an exclusive FUNBOOK tokuten!)

Upcoming in 26 November 2009, alternate universe Lamento Gakuen!

Looking forward to it! Cute megane Asato! XD I’ve pre-ordered my copy… but most of the time the rips surface on the web way before the CD arrives ^^;;;  Anyway, some info…

Title: Lamento -BEYOND THE VOID- Drama CD　ラブラブラメント学園
Lamento -BEYOND THE VOID- Drama CD　Rabu Rabu Lamento Gakuen (26/11/2009)

Damage: 3150 Yen (w/tax) (1 disk)
First press edition comes with an illustrated “media protector”

Cast:
Konoe: Hatano Kazutoshi 波多野和俊
Asato: Hatano Wataru 羽田野渉 (春野風)
Tokino: Mizushima Takahiro 水島大宙 (木島 宇太)
Rai: Morikawa Toshiyuki　森川智之

Apparently Konoe, Asato and Tokino are all first year students in the same class. Rai is their sensei a second year student ^^;; sounds like a comedy.

Catalog: BJCA-0098

Also, to be released in 30 December 2009
Title: Lamento Drama CD – Beyond The Void – Rhapsody To The Past (2-Disk)

Seems like a serious story involving the background of the devils.

Damage: 5,040 Yen (w/tax)
First press edition comes with a set of 2 illustrated “media protectors”

Cast:

Asato: Hatano Wataru 羽田野渉 (春野風)
Tokino: Mizushima Takahiro 水島大宙 (木島 宇太)
Rai: Morikawa Toshiyuki　森川智之, etc

Pairings:
Horie Kazuma x Kamiya Hiroshi 堀江一眞 x 神谷浩史
Kondou Takashi x Kamiya Hiroshi 近藤隆 x 神谷浩史
Nakamura Yuuichi x Kishio Daisuke 中村悠一 x 岸尾だいすけ
w/ Tachibana Shinnosuke 立花慎之介

Rating: Highly recommended (a must for cat lovers! Nyaa~ =^^= )

Quick Summary:
“Dear God, I wish for arms wide enough to hug him and the body and strength to protect him!”

Fuji (Kondou Takashi) is a stray cat. He loves a kind and gentle man, Hiro (Kamiya Hiroshi) who named him and feeds him everyday. Fuji notices that Hiro is in an on-and-off abusive relationship with a man (Horie Kazuma) and even witnesses the man using violence on Hiro. Although Fuji tried to stop the man, he could not do anything for Hiro because he is only a cat. One day, Fuji sees the bruises on Hiro again and he prays earnestly for the ability to protect his beloved Hiro. Amazingly, Fuji gets his wish!

Shima (Kishio Daisuke) is a cute but proud little kitten who comes by Hiro’s house occasionally for food. Like Fuji, Hiro was the one who gave him his name. One day, he decides to leave the place. Hungry and tired, he faints and accidentally falls into Taki’s (Nakamura Yuuichi) opened bag. When he wakes up hungry and smelly, Taki makes fun of him but treats him kindly, feeding him milk and washing him. The next day, Taki leaves the window open while he goes to work. Taki’s ex-lover (Tachibana Shinnosuke) visits, hoping to apologise to him for ending their relationship. Coincidentally, his name is also Shima…

Based on a manga by Ogura Muku 小椋ムク

Comments:

What is the next best thing after cat boys? Well, cats who become boys! XD

If you’re a cat lover, you’ll definitely fall in love with this drama, Sentimental Garden Lover. Listening to this drama made me smile and laugh a lot, especially at the parts where the seiyuus go Nyaa~nyaa~nyaa in their cat speak. They sound so cute, it’s almost criminal. Such an awesome stress reliever! Seriously, only when it comes to cats can we get such irresistibly cute portrayals. If we do the same for dogs, all we hear are panting and barking sounds ^^;;; For example Goshujin-sama to Inu series – Yasumoto Hiroki  x Yusa Kouji, as a super adorable doggy. (I’ll review that next time) Well, dogs can sound cute too but dog speak just doesn’t have the same effect as cat speak.

Nyaa~ X[

Story-wise, it handles human relationships rather realistically for such a fantastical premise. Although it did not dwell in detail about Hiro’s abusive relationship with his ex-lover, it’s not difficult to understand why like many people in such relationships, Hiro could not end it by himself. Kamiya Hiroshi sounds so gentle and sweet as Hiro, I want to kidnap him for myself! Kamiyan! (Hiro…) Suki suki suki! (Like how Fuji does it in the drama XD) Lol~ His voice is a great match with Kondou Takashi’s bright, straightforward, enthusiastic and child-like sounding Fuji. Come to think of it, Fuji behaves more like a dog than a cat lol~

As for the second story, I find it quite touching too, especially the plot where Taki’s lover gave up their relationship because he decided to fulfill his duty to his family by getting married. Tachibana’s voice is very delicate as Shima and he brought across the quiet resignation that his character is feeling very well. I love the narrative from kitten Shima’s perspective and how it reveals the development of these relationships.  The human-cat interaction between Kishio Daisuke’s Shima the kitten and Nakamura Yuuichi’s Taki is very adorable as well. The cast did a wonderful job!

Also, the use of music in this drama is brilliant! The well-composed background music is used appropriately and unobtrusively in the drama. The comic timing is almost perfect and it heightens the comedy when the scene requires it.

There isn’t much H in this drama, only a few sweet kisses and just one rather short but nose-bleed-inducing Kamiyan sex scene during a flash back in the beginning with Horie Kazuma. But please don’t be turned off by the lack of H cos it is a very enjoyable drama.

I also highly recommend the manga this drama is based on too. It is even more fun to listen to when you can see the cats’ and characters’ expressions that Ogura Muku-sensei has drawn. XD

Catalog: BJCA-0098

mix style: STAR-BLACK / PINK: MIX260105

Update 10 Nov 2009: Please note that I -DON’T- recommend buying this pair of headphones… thought I better mention first in case you don’t have time to read the full review ^^;;; so with this out of the way… on to my review… XD

I saw this on a one-day-only sale at about 40% off the retail price of  3,675Yen! Did some research, it looks cute and the specs seem ok, so I bought it. Impulse buy!!! (again cos I already have a really fantastic pair of headphones that has great voice clarity essential for voice dramas)

Anyway, the new pair of headphones arrived today! Quickly took it out of its box (great space saving packaging btw) and tested it on one of my favourite BLCD H-scenes XD *what a perv!* lol~… Well, maybe I shouldn’t have expected so much…

Okie before I go on to rant… here are the specs:

Comments/Amateur review:

Honestly I’m not a true sound buff (don’t really understand all the specs BUT my ears know the quality of sound piped into them) For the little bit of knowledge I have, I know that frequency response is important but I didn’t realise that the difference would be so great *_*

Okie mix style MIX260105 has the lowest frequency response at 500Hz vs Creative HQ-1900′s 20Hz. OMG. If you want to listen to dramas with your headphones, your frequency response range (probably) has to be low enough cos mix style MIX260105 voice comes out muted and muffled (slight echo-ey) while HQ-1900 is crisp and clear. Music also sounds waaaay better on HQ-1900 too.

Oh well, in case you start to think I’m like a noob trying to act smart… I’ll stop commenting on the technical specs ^^;;;

Conclusion (based on my ears/brain response):

If listening to BL dramas is one of the main reasons you’re investing in a pair of headphones, it is definitely more WORTH it to save a bit longer and spend on a Creative HQ-1900 for the sound quality. Since it is not too much difference from the non-sale price of mix style MIX260105. I’m glad I got it at a discount and not the full price otherwise I would’ve been even more disappointed.

But if you’re in it for the LOOKS, I guess then that’s a different story :) Cos mix style does look cuter. I think mix style headphones is worth the sale price for its specs and looks but not its usual price…

And as for comfort level, well… I have a big head (LOL~) so mix style headphones were much more comfortable to wear for longer periods than Creative headphones. It took me months to “stretch” my Creative headphones wide enough with my head(?) without it clamping my skull in hahaha XD BUT yeah it was worth the suffering for much better sound. So now it is stretched out just right, comfortably tight, loved and feels awesome when playing starts <3 (does that sound like H in BL dramas? XD)

Crazy huh. The things we go through for BL *shakes head*