fangirlyBut it was okay, because the slip said they'd come again. So on Friday we were alert, in case there was the slightest knock on the door. And indeed, there was a knock! ...It was the regular mailman, with the DVDs we ordered from Rightstuf. Well, that was exciting, but not what we were waiting eagerly for. So we got back to doin' stuff, and lo and behold, there was another, much fainter knock at the door! ...It was UPS, with work materials. That, too, was exciting, but not what we were eagerly waiting for. And we decided it was too late in the day to get to work.
Finally, we decided to track the package again, because sometimes they just bring the packages to the office and fail to tell us. So maybe the site would say the package had been delivered, and we could go to the office and get it. Instead, the site said they had tried to deliver the package, but no one was home. What!? We did not believe them, because we didn't even have music going at the time they claimed the attempt had been made. In fact, there's a possibility we were sitting in the living room, right by the front door. We are inclined to believe that the person in charge of delivering the package that day is a slacker, but without the full story, I guess we shouldn't judge too harshly. I guess.
So we called FedEx and said, "Hey, what's the deal?" and the lady on the phone said they would try to deliver the package again on Monday, and I was like, "I know, and that makes me sad," because we didn't want to wait that long. So she said she could make it available for pickup, and thankfully, Mom was kind enough to take us to the FedEx location to pick it up yesterday.
And that's how we finally got the second in the Koe no Ouji-sama Disney CD series! We took
lyschan's advice and emailed CD Japan's customer service. The very helpful representative informed us that Disney has asked them not to sell the CD outside of Japan, and was just as confused about it as we were. It doesn't make sense! I mean, it kind of makes sense if, for example, they don't want to sell the Japanese Cinderella Blu-ray outside of Japan, because that might create competition with the American release, and maybe the money goes to different departments, and they want to direct the profit certain ways or something. But there's no CD comparable to this one in the States, and only people with very specific interests would be interested in it. It doesn't make sense. And so Disney has succeeded in getting us more angry with them. But we don't think about it too much, because really what's the point?Fortunately, we received a very helpful and friendly tip, and were able to procure a copy through a different route (which I think is still legal, but of course I'm not going to say what it is, because I don't want Disney going to them and saying, "Hey, could you, like, not sell these CDs outside of Japan?" (that's also why I didn't mention the CD again until now; we wanted to make sure it was in our hands)), and now we are happily listening to it again.
I think the first reaction is "SQUEEEEEEEE!", and then the next reaction is "hrm," because that's how we can be sometimes. Like when we saw Tangled. We have to see/listen to it again. But I think I do, in fact, like the first one better. There are two main reasons I can think of for this, and the biggest one is Under the Sea. None of the songs on this CD are anywhere near as fun and happiness-inspiring as Miyu Irino's performance of Under the Sea. It's a little sad, too, because Nobuhiko Okamoto was voted the most adorable voice actor in Japan, and not just the most adorable male voice actor--the most adorable voice actor of all the voice actors of any gender in all of Japan. By a landslide! (If we remember correctly.)
The other reason is that there are two Phil Collins songs on this CD, which would normally be great, because we really love Disney Phil Collins songs, and especially Tarzan ones, and especially ones sung by people like Tomokazu Seki who very clearly love to be singing them. But the person who arranged the music for this CD seems to have decided to always associate Phil Collins with twangy guitars, and to us, twangy guitar equals country music. To paraphrase a famous Disney Emperor, we no likey. So when we listen to You'll Be in My Heart, we're filled with very conflicting emotions, because we love the song so much, but that twangy guitar. Fortunately, there's a violin that is definitely not a fiddle (although bluegrass music is fine, so I don't know), and Seki-san's voice is very not country, so we think it's okay, but it might take some getting used to.
But anyway, Akira Ishida is so adorable narrating the entire movie of Snow White. They play the movie soundtrack in the background, which really just...it's just nice and nostalgic. And makes us think, "Hm, maybe we should watch that..." On the other hand, when Kouichi Yamadera narrates the whole movie of Tangled, they don't use much Tangled music (they only use the incantation), so it's really just not the same. We think that, too, probably had something to do with copyright or something weird that Disney America is doing (to make the world a sadder place, Athena adds).
Ryoutaro Okiayu singing Bella Notte is kind of amazing, because he uses the bassest voice we've ever heard him use! We're not sure if it's because he wants to show off his amazing bass voice, or because he wants to be like the bass singer from the Mellomen, or because he's just messing around and not taking it seriously. But it's pretty either way. He also uses the amazing deep voice when singing the Beast's part in the Beauty and the Beast duet, and oh my goodness, let me tell you about that.
On the official website, Seki-san has a video comment, and in it, he mentioned Beauty and the Beast, and said that Okiayu-san sang the Beast's part (they sang it like in the pop version with Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson), so he sang the beauty's part...and then he started cracking up. We just assumed that he was laughing because he was singing as the beauty, which is specifically bijo (beautiful woman) in Japanese. And then we heard the song yesterday and had to start wondering if the laughter was because of his beautiful soprano voice. The really amazing thing about it, thinking on it now, is that he wasn't singing falsetto--just really high.
What else did I want to talk about? Takahiro Sakurai. His voice is beautiful as usual. He sings Flynn's part in See the Light (with Hikaru Midorikawa playing the part of Rapunzel). The lyrics to Flynn's verse are just so fitting of just about any Takahiro Sakurai character we can think of. Speaking of Flynn! As Yamadera-san narrated the whole movie, we realized that in Japanese, Flynn's name is furin, which is also the word for "unfaithfulness," as in, in a romantic relationship. As the story went on, we realized that Eugene is yuujin, which is also the word for "friend." No wonder Rapunzel prefers that name! It's such a perfect fit that I almost have to wonder if the writers were considering Japanese words when naming the characters. (And now Yamadera-san just said, "Furin ga uragitta (Flynn betrayed her)," and we cracked up.)
Let's talk about the photo booklet. It looks like they took the voice actors to the Disney Store and said, "Go find a prop to pose with!" Ishida-san found a Mickey Mouse pointer, which I kind of want, except that I have no use for a pointer. Okamoto-kun lived up to his cute reputation, not with his prop so much (Vinylmation figures of Phineas, Ferb, and Perry the Platypus), but with his pose. He held the figures up to his shoulder and looked at the camera like, "Aren't I adorable?" It reminded us very much of Honey from Host Club. I think one of my favorite pictures is of Okiayu-san, posing with a Minnie Mouse plush. The plush is on his shoulder, and he's pointing at it, like, "Wow! Look who's on my shoulder!" Oh, and Midorikawa-san with the Duffy bears... Awwww...
So yeah. It's fun. We'll never watch Fushigi Yuugi or Fruits Basket the same way again after listening to those duets. Bwahaha. But the real fun is singing, for example, Rapunzel's part with Sakurai-san as Flynn in the karaoke tracks♥♥♥
Today I'm thankful for having our copy of the second Koe no Ouji-sama CD, Mom taking us to the FedEx...place, adorable seiyuu photos, having shiny new manga to read to today, and having lots of yummy options for snack time.
