Japanese drama CD’s are not something I would have ever expected international publishers to really pick up. Given their dialogue-heavy nature, the only way to really enjoy them without being fluent in Japanese would be to read alongside Japanese text written somewhere else. Should this be just a written document, it wouldn’t be the easiest thing to follow along to – at least from my perspective. However, during Anime Boston last weekend, international visual novel publisher MangaGamer announced they will soon be breaking into the drama CD market.
MangaGamer will be localising and releasing four drama CDs based on the Kindred Spirits franchise, each of which will serve as sequels to the stories of each couple in the original games. The first follows Ano, as Yuna, Hina, and Nena pretend to be her girlfriends in order to throw off some stalkers. In the second, Youka and Kiri realize they’re repeating the same dates with their partner, so they both agree to have the other plan their next date. The third showcases Miki, Maki, Matsuri, and Miyu as they all share a vacation to the beach. Then, in the final drama CD, the broadcasting club hosts a radio show during a sale at the local shopping district. In addition, each drama CD will also feature special voice samples for each of the characters featured on the CD.
All four of these drama CD’s will be sold both of Steam and the MangaGamer website for $9.99 each. In a very logical approach, these will be released as subtitled video files – which will have localised English text syncronised with the Japanese dialogue. Easily the best approach in my opinion. The first Kindred Spirits drama CD will be available in April, and the plan is to have subsequent videos released roughly one month following the previous volume’s release.
Don’t want a video file but the actual Japanese audio CD? MangaGamer will be carrying limited copies of the original Japanese drama CDs at future conventions throughout the year. There is no word on if or when they will be available for purchase officially online.
