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Baito wa meido!? (Narita Ken x Sakurai Takahiro, Tobita Nobuo, Okano Kosuke, Fukami Rika)
Okay, I'll admit it. I do other things while listening to BLCDs. It can be to read a book or a manga, or write a review of some completely other title, or clean the room. But I'm always doing something else. I'm sorry. BLCDs are not that important to me. I'm sorry.
(No, I'm not.)
The good thing about this, however, is that by doing this, I can easily measure the goodness of a drama CD. This one is good, and I know because I couldn't read more than five pages of Takahashi Tsutomu's Jiraishin (Ice Blade) while listening. And that has nothing to do with the fact that Jiraishin is a dull manga ... I think. Or maybe not.
Anyhow! Ogata Minoru (Sakurai) is a high school student who needs to find a job to support his family after his father's firm went down. He is recommended a job as a maid by his teacher (Okano) at the house of a trendy actor Ezaka Takeaki (Narita), who is the brother of the teacher's girlfriend (Fukami). Two problems: One, Ezaka lacks any sense for his own living conditions and cannot clean, wash, or cook, and has an apartment Minoru likens to "Dream Island" (the artificial island in Tokyo Bay which works as a dump for all the garbage of Tokyo). Two, Ezaka is gay, and his manager Toba (Tobita) fools him into believing that Minoru is prepared to be more than just his maid, if you know what I mean. Trouble ensures.
All manner of things are good about this CD, but the first thing you notice is the sound effects. When Minoru walks into Ezaka's apartment, flies buzz so you almost reflectively lift your hands to wave them away. The state of the apartment is made even more clear by the next sound effect: feet walking over what sounds exactly like huge piles of trash on the floor (I should know). Hail to the producer.
The next thing you notice is of course the cast. Sakurai-san is a fairly new seiyu (to this genre), and I don't think he has a particularly good or peculiar voice (sort of like a less peculiar Midorikawa Hikaru, maybe?), but he's a great voice actor. His comical timing! His screaming! His moaning! No, really, he's good whatever you make him do. His interaction with the old-timers is priceless; he has been pulled up to a higher ground here, I'm sure.
Five actors in one CD drama is relatively few, but you won't find it lacking at all. Fukami-san is a wonderfully weird beauty, Toba-san a wonderfully weird pervert, and Narita-san ... well, I always like Narita-san. Some of the things Ezaka does is actually really annoying, when you think about it, but Narita-san always manages to act sincere and lovable. The only regret I have regarding his character is that the smut is too short. I mean, I'm not the only one here who likes his sticky seme, am I? Am I? ... Am I?
Of course, there are things to be criticized (beside the length of the smut). Minoru gets too easily carried away by Ezaka, in my opinion, and I didn't really like the sugarly ending. The story isn't a great piece of art, granted. But I can forgive all that because this is a great piece of CD drama, a truly professional and enjoyable work. Make more of those, please.
Category: BLCDs | Posted by Alicia at October 2, 2004 09:32 PM