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Answerman - Why Don't Drama CDs Get Released Outside of Japan?


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revolutionotaku



Joined: 19 May 2011
Posts: 881
PostPosted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 5:40 pm Reply with quote
I get my Drama CDs from used Japanese bookstores like BookOff in NYC.
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Nom De Plume De Fanboy
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Joined: 14 Jan 2011
Posts: 606
Location: inland US west, pretty rural
PostPosted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 5:51 pm Reply with quote
If memory serves, Midori Days had 1 audio ep subtitled on each of the DVDs. I only read the subs for one - I don't understand Japanese - and it was pretty boring. Didn't change the story or add to the characters a bit.
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myochan



Joined: 04 Jul 2008
Posts: 57
PostPosted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 7:37 pm Reply with quote
The drama CDs for Ten Count by Rihito Takarai are nice to listen to while following along in the manga. The voices are so soothing and pleasant, I listen to vol. 2 when I go to sleep every night. All 5 vols used to be on Youtube, but atm I can only find 1 & 2. Am currently saving up to buy them on CD.
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ninjamitsuki



Joined: 15 Sep 2007
Posts: 589
Location: Anywhere (Thanks, technology)
PostPosted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 9:37 pm Reply with quote
I'm echoing the sentiment about the Digimon drama CDs being worth finding fan translations of, Message in the Packet genuinely made me cry.
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dragonrider_cody



Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 2541
PostPosted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 9:58 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
Quote:
The only real hope for getting these released stateside is as a bonus feature on a Blu-ray release. It seems like that would be the only format in which that would work. However, if there's a major licensing fee involved (and depending on how famous the voice actors are, there might be), it's doubtful that a publisher would want to spend the money on a bonus feature that would likely sell few additional copies.

Subtitled audio dramas have been included as extras on U.S. DVDs on at least one or two occasions. Sadly I don't remember what company did it or for what title, but I very distinctly remember watching it maybe five or six years back and I'm pretty sure it was a fantasy title.


I don’t know if it’s what you are thinking of, but Sentai’s release of Shigofumi included subtitled audio dramas.
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gravediggernalk
Space Cowboy



Joined: 13 Oct 2013
Posts: 246
Location: Alabama
PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 12:02 am Reply with quote
I've enjoyed the few translated drama CDs I've listened to/read along with. I've always thought that character CDs would be great additions to BD sets for incredibly popular shows (like Haruhi) or ecchi harem shows (like Infinite Stratos), since the fans usually end up attached to one or more of the characters.

There's also some series that have drama CDs that basically act as sequels/entirely new stories in that series' universe. I'd love to have Gaia Gear (Gundam) in English.
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reanimator





PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 12:42 am Reply with quote
Here's my thought on anime drama CD/audio drama in general:

Localized audio drama = More job for local voice actors

Now, it makes me wonder how many hardcore fans are willing to pay extra for localized audio drama of their favorite anime...
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Nazca Lily #837256



Joined: 01 May 2015
Posts: 30
PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 1:39 am Reply with quote
I've listened to a few anime dramas and haven't felt like they would have added a lot to the show. The only one that I would love a translation of is Psycho-Pass Zero; I guess it could be considered like a prequel to the season one of the show.

Most of the drama CDs that I've listened to have been of the BL category (yes, they run the gamete of chaste kisses to full scenes). Doukyuusei, NightS, and Seven Days are the ones I've listened to recently and enjoy. They do have background noise like high school bell, students chatting, auto mechanics air-wrench, and soda bottles being opened, but they do include music also. Haven't listened to Ten Count yet. These drama CDs are like listening to an audiobook version of their manga.

For the most part I don't understand Japanese other than the few words I can pick out after watching subtitled anime. It's fun to listen and try to identify the seiyu voicing the characters.
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phoenixalia



Joined: 20 Dec 2011
Posts: 1408
PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 2:07 am Reply with quote
Don't know about anime drama CDs, but I vastly prefer the WataMote (Kiss Him, Not Me) early drama CDs to the anime. Same for a lot of shoujo manga where they sometimes add a little extra content which is nice.

I buy those from Japan and they're lovely. I think I prefer shoujo manga drama CDs to anime since the adaptations are usually lackluster for me.
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MoonPhase1



Joined: 29 Nov 2007
Posts: 492
PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 6:33 am Reply with quote
I will admit that the only Drama CDs I own are the ones for the Ar tonelico games.
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rizuchan
Collector Extraordinaire



Joined: 11 Mar 2007
Posts: 974
Location: Kansas
PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 10:41 am Reply with quote
Rika Hue wrote:
I also think that there is a group of people - I don't know how large - who has the Japanese knowledge to find or buy the drama CDs and listen to it without a translated script. I know I have. But is this group profitable? Has market research really shown that it isn't?


If one doesn't need a translation... why would they buy a localized version at all? If you have the Japanese skills to understand a drama CD, they you certainly have the Japanese skills to buy an imported copy.

I could go into a lot of reasons why drama CDs will never, ever take off in the west, but honestly, the simplest explanation is that Anime CDs just don't sell in the west. And Anime music absolutely has overseas fans. Companies like Bandai and Geneon tried and tried to sell localized versions of OSTs and even character CDs, but as is evident by RightStuf's bargain bin, no one bought them. And I'm willing to bet there's a lot more AniSong fans in the west than drama CD fans. And honestly, I understand why. I like anime music and physical CDs, but $10-15 for 2 songs is a hard price to swallow, especially when it's usually still pretty easy to find pirated copies online. The same goes for Drama CDs.

Digital copies might have some hope. Maybe there will be a publisher that doesn't see the harm in putting their drama CDs up on iTunes, if they haven't already. But unless they can provide a translation (and somehow control it so it doesn't just end up on tumblr or youtube the next day), I don't know why anyone here would bother to buy them.
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belvadeer





PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 6:54 pm Reply with quote
Drama CDs would be nice as some sort of incentive bonus item that comes with a game or Blu-ray purchase along with providing a translated script, which would be no problem to follow as I'm listening to the VAs. I guess the sad fact is that appeal is limited, despite the fact some of them are amusing.

Tales of the Abyss had a particularly amusing one where the main cast called Dist the Rose "cockroach beeeeeep" (they're using the Japanese word for cockroach, "gokiburi", and the second word is always bleeped out). I keep wondering what they were calling Dist, but it was hilarious because Guy added two bleeps and Dist added three to his own new unflattering name. XD
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Heishi



Joined: 06 Mar 2016
Posts: 1314
PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 11:13 pm Reply with quote
I'd like to hear some "hard" yuri drama CDs...
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Hitokiri Kenshin



Joined: 14 Feb 2012
Posts: 291
PostPosted: Fri Jun 15, 2018 4:30 am Reply with quote
Like he said, there's not much of a market for them in the US anymore. The closest to one I believe was many years ago when they used to make those records that narrated Disney movies, and other films. I remember there was a record retelling ET that was narrated by Michael Jackson. Other than that, the closest to audio drams was when I was a little kid and they used to have those children's books that would come with tapes that had narration and a bing sound to turn the page. Don't know if they still make those with cds or whatever.
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Polycell



Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Posts: 4623
PostPosted: Sat Jun 16, 2018 6:53 pm Reply with quote
There was one short I found on YouTube from a Love Live! drama CD. For visuals, whoever made the video showed sprites from SIF for the character that was talking at the moment(annoyingly, these flashed on and off precisely with the audio; I'd personally have preferred they stay on screen(but darkened) as long as it's implied they're there). But the cost could definitely be a factor: the audio dramas don't always use the same actors, especially if they're made separately from the anime adaptation(usually done for manga that are somewhat popular, but not enough so to rate an animated adaptation).
Hitokiri Kenshin wrote:
Other than that, the closest to audio drams was when I was a little kid and they used to have those children's books that would come with tapes that had narration and a bing sound to turn the page. Don't know if they still make those with cds or whatever.
Books on tape never went anywhere. You have plenty of people who will listen to a book while they're driving their daily commute(or any other time many people would turn on their radio). I'm pretty sure the page-turn alert is just for the kiddie books, where the tape's more to help understand the words on the page.

As far as actual audio dramas, I don't know of anybody who puts them out on a regular basis(in fact, the only "recent" one I know of is Adventures in Odyssey, which has been running continuously for decades at this point - hence the quote marks).
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