Audio Only? - The Case For Drama CDs （´-`）.｡oO( ... )
Drama CDs.
Put it roughly and it’s an anime without the visuals. What’s
so great about that right? We want to see the moe faces! The explosive action!
The almost kisses (and the actual kisses)! The tense expressions! That’s right
we want to see the character designs! From the lemons to the melons (*cough
cough*), to the flick of that perfect bishounen’s hair. Not to mention the
animations in the opening and ending songs, not just one liners of title
reading in those drama CDs.
Well, I guess you do have a point, considering that if the
Japanese language eludes you probably would be thinking if drama CDs are worth
your time at all. But hopefully I can change your mind about drama CDs~^^
Here’s the best thing about drama CDs, they often contain
scenes that are not in the anime. Yes, granted there are a few that seem like a
repetition of the anime condensed into fifteen minute of episodic dialogue,
most drama CDs are of the omake (outtakes or short sides) nature. They are
(mostly) hilarious and also give insight to either the character’s backstories
or just daily banter and interactions that don’t make the final cut for the
anime. If the anime originated from a light novel, you can be sure to find the
special chapters of the light novel fully voiced as well. Oh, not to mention
the large amounts of fan service. Like colossal amounts of fan service… Fancy
Kaname or Zero (from Vampire Knight) talking you to sleep? Yep… wish granted.
(Not that I listened to them…or anything…>>)
 |
| Rin and Gou~ Fan art from drama CDs |
Without the visuals, drama CDs give you the space to
visualise the scenes in your heads, from the scenery to what the characters are
wearing to the expressions they have on their faces, having not to focus on a
picture lets you fully think about the words and what’s going on in the story. Perhaps spawn some fan art or even some fanfictions. (Maybe you’d have to read the translations if you don’t know Japanese but it is
still a more minimalistic way to enjoying a story. Creativity and imagination
yes?)
It’s even better if the seiyuus (voice actors) for the drama
CD are good. Since you can only listen to the seiyuus to imagine the mood and
expression of the characters, it really helps you pick out the better seiyuus
from the good ones. The difference might be minimal, and after listening for
some time, you’d realise that some voices just stand out above the rest. Or
you’d just be distracted by the sexy voices constantly sounding in your ear…ah
haha.
Last thing about drama CDs, since they are probably much
cheaper than anime to produce, most likely that manga or light novel you’re
reading already has a drama CD released, sometimes released together with the weekly/monthly
magazine they are published in. Not only that, but independent studios also
produce numerous drama CD, so that’s a whole other medium to discover the
wonderful world of Japanese media culture. Though whether or not the drama CDs
you are interested in are translated is another thing.
Nevertheless, drama CDs shouldn’t be overlooked and deserve
a chance to be heard! (The ones that have translations can mostly be found here.)
~^^"
/slinks back to listening to drama CDs
Written by Neko
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