CD Impressions: Diabolik Lovers Drama CDs

(from left to right) Reiji, Subaru, Raito, Ayato, Shu, Kanato

Recently last month, I discovered this thing called drama CDs, more accurately situational CDs. To be more precise, I knew about them, but finally decided to try listening to a couple of them. Thanks to the existence of dummy head mics, I know understand why fangirls like these CDs so much. My initial reaction upon listening to a Tsuda Kenjiro one I was like "Waaahhhhhhh!! I can feel his breath!!" The experience is very intimate. Especially with Tsuda Kenjiro's voice. That man's voice does things to your body. Upon searching for more and more CDs to listen to as well as translations, I remembered that Diabolik Lovers had a vast collection for drama CDs.
I knew Diabolik Lovers beforehand from an otome game review and I was thinking who in their right mind would enjoy this kind of game. After reading the review a couple of times, I went ahead and watched the first anime adaption to get a feel for it. Man, did I feel real uncomfortable. But today I'm not here to talk about the anime! I'm here for the CDs. Approaching with a more open mind, maybe I can find something else from it to enjoy.

I went through most of the Diabolik Lovers Do-S Vampire CDs and the VERSUS CDs. I also listened to the Love, Blood, and Sweat CD as well as the first four volumes of MORE, BLOOD. What I can say that it's very interesting to learn more about characters through their talk. What I didn't like was that some CDs were taking too long to draw out a story. In all the CDs, you as the heroine is helpless and incredibly ignorant like how some characters cruelly describe you. You don't know how to run away and for some reason you keep staying by these Sakamaki brothers. As a listener, it is possible you can easily be bored unless you really like a particular seiyuu. It's blatant from the promotional videos that having a vampire suck your blood is suppose be arousing and make your heart go all doki-doki. That too also kinda bored me because you know, after a shit ton of CDs it kinda feels numbing.

Ayato is the token ore-sama character. He insults you with the name chichinashi and it gets really annoying. But then again all the brothers treat you like utter crap. However Ayato, or Midorikawa Hikaru actually, will always end on a pleasurable note. Kanato is my least favorite character because he will berate you and hurt you with his screaming voice. I wanted to bitch slap him back into his coffin. You are basically dealing with a spoiled brat, props to Kaji Yuki for portraying such a character. Now Raito/Laito is a ... bothersome one. At first I thought he was just a flirty type, but he was more than that. This one here gets highly aroused at humiliating the heroine and I find it a bit creepy. I mean, two minutes into the track and he's all over the heroine. I don't like Reiji at all. I just find him boring as hell. Shu is definitely the laid back type, but he gets annoyed quite easily and the simple reason is that the heroine just "conveniently" bothers him at the perfect time. I'm neutral on Shu. Subaru is my favorite character because I find him a bit more reasonable. He is probably the only vampire to hold some genuine feelings for the heroine. However he speaks like a yakuza and is extremely violent. You will hear him smashing up things like a church for instance. It seems like all the brothers like destroying the heroine's clothes as well. I'm kinda surprised the CD isn't rated. It's kinda borderline in a way.

The VERSUS CDs are always doing the pull and push relationship between you and two Sakamaki brothers. Basically in all the situations you are restrained in one way or another whether it be chains or a locked room. One brother inflicts pain while the other gives pleasure. I skipped the Kanato vs Reiji because I can't stand those two. That's living hell for my ears. I haven't listened to VERSUS II CDs, but I don't think they're any better or different probably. Once again the story seems to drag on for too long. The Love, Blood, and Sweat features a single track for each Sakamaki brother. Everyone's at the beach house and each track has a moment between the heroine and one vampire brother. It's kind of a fun CD because in my opinion they are a bit nicer than usual.

The MORE, BLOOD CDs with the Sakamaki brothers feel redundant because you kinda know what to expect even though it's a different situation. This series however introduces new characters, the Mukami brothers. If you're familiar with the game they are also vampires that take interest in the heroine. Maybe because they are new characters they feel fresh, but I think they offer a different kind of sadism. Like Kou will always giggle and act playful while digs his finger into your wounds. Ruki basically threatens your life by dangling you off a tower. Yuma really like sugar cubes and will from time to time verbally threaten you.

Jesus, at this point I don't think I can continue listening. I think I'll go back to Tsuda Kenjiro's stuff. His Kindan Vampire one is pretty good. I recommend that one alot if you are a big fan of his work.