Crimson Spell
Original Work by Ayano Yamane
Miki Shinichirou X Kondou Takashi
Cast
Miki Shinichirou as Vali
Kondou Takashi as Hal
Miyata Kouki as Ruuka
Yasumoto Hiroki
Hirofumi Yojima
Difficulty: Almost none, it sticks to the manga pretty closely.
Karami Scene: Anti-climatic
Overall: Over-anticipation led to a sense of disappointment.
I guess most BL fans are very clear with the storyline of Crimson Spell, but just for the sake of it. Val, a prince, is possessed by a demonic power when he released a maken (demonic sword) that had been passed down from his forefathers. Personally, I don’t have an issue with the demonic curse thingy. In facct, it a pretty good blessing ain’t it? It turns the boring goody two shoes prince into a sexy tattooed demonic beast with a Florida-worthy brown tan and perky butt whenever he loses consciousness. Beast Val is like SEX ON LEGS, his butt and smooth thighs are to die for. So anyway, Val doesn’t really share my opinion on his alternate ego and seek out Havi, a quirky powerful mage in hope that he could be released from the demonic curse. As payment for the curse-breaking, Val is to accompany Havi during one of his magic item collection quest. Turns out that the bodyguard job has got quite a catch. That is, hot animalistic sex with employer. Apparently, buttsex helps Val release his demonic energy and strengthens Havi in his magic levels. I think fantasy RPG gotta learn something from this. Mana replenishment and demon vanquishing takes on a brand new level.
And so the story goes… with missions along the way and obstacles to cross like any good ol’fantasy genre. But I find this to be one of Yamane Sensei’s best works. It’s a perfect mixture of fantasy and BL that produce fantastic ecchi scenes. Magic balancing and replenishment through rough animalistic (literally) sex that involves biting, clawing and licking of blood. Ooh thrills. A uke with the cutest butt, sexiest tattooes, olive skin and a crazy beastly sex drive. Double thrills. Not to mention, the seme is L-O-V-E. Crimson Spell carries one of the most sizzling sex scenes in BL mangas. So not surprisingly, I expected alot from the BLCD. When Miki Shinichirou was announced to play seme Havi, it sealed the deal for me. Miki is a hell of a sexy ecchi seme. It could hardly go wrong for me.
But alas, it did.
Since it followed the book by almost word by word, I have nothing much to say about the storyline or the way it was directed. But precisely because it was made to be of close similarity to the original work and the manga contains fantastic moe moments, my attention was very upon the seiyuus’ performances and the karami scenes. In the beginning, I was all hyped up about the karami scenes. There were three in total! But they all came out FLAT. Tease! The third karami scene was supposed to be the best, since horny Val went all out with Havi. It was a rare uke gone wild scene… and it turned out to be so yawn-inducing. Miki did fine as the seme… the crux lies in the uke anyway but Kondou failed miserably. There was no sexiness in the sex. NO MOE. *gasp!* Yes, there was NO MOE. This is BL FAIL, I tell you. What? No moe!?
Miyata Kouki was a perfect seiyuu for Ruruka. No surprise. But there were moments when I thought that he could have delivered some of the lines differently. He was quite off the mark as a Ruruka for me at times. Yasumoto as the head magician(sorry can’t get his name in English) was just bizarre for me. But that was a biased judgement. I was re-listening to Deadshot before Crimson Spell and Yasumoto acting as prisoner/ex-agent was just too much of a testosterone filled image to be replaced by a beautiful long-haired effeminate mage.
Overall verdict? A must listen for all Crimson Spell fans, just for the sake of it. Don’t expect too much cos YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED. Karami scenes are epic fail. Romantic scenes, just one at the end was a moe fail too. Seiyuus’ performances were ok, nothing spectacular. Average and disappointing for all the potential it carried and the fact that that they failed to come through. IThough t is rare for me to say this, I have to say that the cd did no justice to the manga at all. Rather the manga than the BLCD.
Hi imbeleth, this is bangin. I am sorry you didn’t find moe in the BLCD.
By the way, if you have time and interested in, please check the latest entry on my blog(if you did already, I am sorry to bother you).
I tried BL cosplay for the first time. So I hope you could enjoy it!(and in case it makes you sick, I’m saying sorry in advance)
I share your sentiments cos we have MikiShin and Kondou Takashi (one of my recent fav ukes)! It is probably one of the most highly anticipated BLCDs out there and when the H scenes come on, out came the flatliner… =_=;;; Maybe they overdid it with the sound effects for demon moans. They should’ve just kept Kondou Takashi’s normal voice which I find very moe. Have you listened to Decoy? Veeerry sexy.
However, I find some of the comedic moments in the BLCD still rather cute ^^
Hey Ponytale, i totally agree on the demon effects thing. Killed it for me. I have yet to listen to decoy but I will try! =)
shinichirou miki as vald!!!!! yay i didn’t know there was a CD drama for CS, i only saw the one on viewfinder and it was good, mainly because takehito koyasu fits the asami character very well. it seems like all my fav pairings in yaoi CD dramas are either voiced by shinichirou miki, takehito koyasu or tomokazu seki (if you notice, all of them voice the three main characters in initial d as well)
but i cant wait to listen to the “demon moans sound effects” that you guys were talking bout =.=
Hey Kai Lee, ShinMiki is smexy~ I love his voice, he just oozes sex appeal. Especially as a seme!!! Cases in point: Haru wo Daiteita (never knew semes can be this sexy till I heard him in Haru!) and Shinayakana Jounetsu (you shld really listen to this one if you haven’t!!! Uke is Kamiya and he has a fantastic rapport with Shinmiki! I love all three of the seiyuus that you mentioned! Takehito makes a wonderful Asami, I totally agree! Tomokazu… mmmn I have not heard him in Bl but I absolutely adore him as Momotaros in Kamen Rider!
Anyway, heard any drama with ShinMiki as uke yet? If did, please recommend!!!
Demon sound effects for moaning… =( it took away the moe for me. Didn’t like it much at all. But have fun listening! It is a great manga after all! XD
i’ve never watched haru wo daiteita. maybe i should? but i think i’m going to search for the “Shinayakana Jounetsu” in youtube. yup those three are definitely my fav seiyuus, nobody can beat takehito koyasu as a seme, his voice is just so deep and rich! i’m absolutely in love with his voice ^^
Oh my god, I was absolutely disappointed when I listened to the drama CD. I guess I was expecting too much.
As sexy as beast Val was, I was really looking forward to their “intimate love scene” and stuff. But there was none. D:
I enjoyed it at first, since it’s pretty much exactly like the manga. But no!!! It was so rushed!! And the smex scenes didn’t make me nosebleed like the manga did. Don’t get me wrong, I thought MikiShin and Kondou Takashi were wonderful choices for the characters. But the demon moans were so overdone!! I completely agree with how moe Kondou Takashi’s normal voice is! (Which is one reason why I wanted to hear that scene).
I hope they make a second one, just because I’m DYING to hear that intimate love scene. But I doubt it.
How can I agree more with YOU???? Two awesome characters, two awesome seiyuu and COUNTLESS awesome smex scenes… and they failed. NOOOO… Yeah we will wait. I am sure our patience will pay off.