nenena | LOL @ Fanboys. LOL @ Japan. PART DUEX

The second Sorezore no Tsubasa drama album is out, and at the end of the album we have a sequel to the last album's creepiness! Yes, it's two new tracks of "Belldandy no Omake Voice" for all of you lonely otaku out there. So here are the tracks to download, and my translations:

Belldandy no Omake Voice 1: Belldandy Sends You Off

"It's almost time to get going! Are you sure you haven't forgotten anything? ...Okay, here's your handkerchief! What time do you think you'll be home? ...Okay. Please look forward to dinner! Goodbye! Take care of yourself! Please come back soon!"

Belldandy no Omake Voice 2: Belldandy Welcomes You Home

"Welcome back! You must be very tired. Shall I serve dinner soon? Or would you like to take a bath first? Eh, what's for dinner? Well of course, it's your favorite... (*giggle*) Just look forward to it! All right, while you take your bath, I'll prepare dinner. Well then, take your time. Oh, and be sure to call me when it's time to scrub your back!"

ETA: "Belldandy no Omake Voice" tracks are now permanently hosted on Megami Media, in case the above links expire.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

This is just creepy beyond words. Okay, I could actually understand the alarm clock one a little, but what should a fanboy do with those two? Play them on his ipod when opening/closing his apartment's door? Anyway, just LOL. Thanks of sharing!

By the way, what are the OMG drama albums about in general? Just silly scenes played out by the voice actors or do they somehow contribute to the plot/character development?

Honestly, I haven't had the patience to listen all the way through the drama tracks. I think the first Variety Album (from the first season) had some sort of story about Sora and the motor club... I tried listening to the first SnT Drama Album, and I got about five minutes into it (Keiichi got a phone call and was notified that he had won a contest), and I had to quit because my attention span just isn't that long. Marller is credited in the cast of the SnT Drama Album, so I'm assuming that the overall story is a mixture of funny and character-development and actual, er, plot. (Marller tends to bring teh plot with her.)

Sounds...um... exciting. I was asking because some of the shows (like Mai Otome, I think) sometimes have rather informative drama scenes or at least funny crackpot humour.

And in that medium, what Mara is most likely to bring is the "Fear my another incompetent evil master-plan of DOOM! OMG, rock music! OH NOES!" sort of "plot". But it still should be much more fun than Keichi on the phone.
By the way is it just me misunderstanding translations or they really did dumb Mara's character down in the anime?

Oh, and thanks for all the Suzumiya Haruhi goodness you've been posting.

No, I think they really did dumb down Mara's character in the anime. I mean, you go back and look at the manga, and... She's really not that incompetent. I mean, her evil plots are *damn good ideas* and most of them *succeed* except that Belldandy usually bumblefucks her way into "thwarting" them at the last minute. (I.E., The Scales of Love, Queen Sayoko, the Soujiki. The only time the Goddesses really actively *plotted* to "thwart" Mara was at the end of the Demon Urd arc, and that was when Mara was helping them.) Of course, there are exceptions - yeah, the ninja thing was a stupid idea, Mara - but mostly Mara isn't dumb or incompetent at all. The fact that she has fatal weaknesses, like her allergies to rock music and good luck charms, sometimes makes her look dumb, but still...

I think a lot of it may have to do with Takano Urara's voice, too. I mean, I love Takano Urara's voice for Mara and I think it's perfectly suited to a more comic medium like the anime and the drama albums, but it DOES make Mara sound a lot more over-the-top and idiotic than she comes across in the manga.

First of all, while we are on this topic, have you, by chance, heard the rumours about the 22nd episode being the last one to air on TV for this season? Do you happen to know whether there is any truth in that?

As for Mara's talent as a demon, I can’t say I’m inclined to see her as completely competent. She definitely did have some really good plans, like Scales of Love or Queen Sayoko, which failed mostly due to her being royally unlucky or Bell simply being the ridiculously overpowered protagonist of the story. That much I agree with you on.

But I certainly do think that in addition to rock music and good luck charm allergies Mara also suffers from a much more serious flaw, called "inability to plan ahead most of the time". Just how many times has she come up with evil plans which were stupid and doomed to fail just because Mara didn't actually know what their effects would be or how they are going to help her in the long run? Megumi as a Car, Keichi as a lizard, Ninjas, LOT (to an extent), Devil Urd, to name a few. Okay, I've always seen the latter one not as an “evil plan” but as a personal business, but still…

Oh, and Soujiki falls into the same category, I think, since all that Mara did was producing a teapot, which no one in their right mind would have kissed. On the other hand, it did look like it was actually half-finished project and she brought it up mostly to have at least something to show Hild...

I don’t know. She seems like she a pot of really awesome ideas, which she doesn’t really think through properly. (Not like that would help, with her being a villain in a romantic comedy manga, and all that.) But despite being more than a bit loony and not the best schemer out there, she’s never actually as grotesquely bad at her job as anime makes her look. Which sad, because I’ve always thought she was an incredibly interesting character, with her many internal contrasts and contradictions, and she could use some development instead of… stuff like episode 18 wtfkery. Which was funny anyway…

Oh, and "word" about the Takano Urara. Strangely enough, she seemed to be less screechy in the beginning of the first season.

Sorry about the rant, by the way. *hides in a corner*

It's not a rant, it's a discussion. ^_^

First, about the 22nd-episode thing... I haven't seen anything posted on the official website or printed in Afternoon that would indicate that 22 is the last episode to be aired on TV. Afternoon recently published episode teasers that curiously *stopped* at episode twenty-two... But then again, maybe that's not all that curious seeing as how episode twenty-three, if it airs, will be right before if not after the release date of the NEXT issue of Afternoon, so it's not that surprising that this month's issue stopped at episode twenty-two.

So in short, I don't know what's up, I just know that I haven't heard or seen anything that would indicate that twenty-two is the last episode on TV.

About Mara: You brought up some good points and I'm inclined to agree on most of them. Mara's most fatal flaw is that she really doesn't think things all the way through, which is why she not only comes out looking stupid in the end, but it would be justified to call her not-that-bright. And yeah, episode 18 wtfkery was like, wtfkery. But I still enjoyed it because it WAS funny even if I don't like to see Mara cry and I rankled when Urd told her that she had no ability as a demon.

True. I suppose, rant is what I do when somebody brings up the "Belldandy is ridiculously overpowered" topic. :)

Thanks for the information. Apparently, it was a false alarm and 24 episodes will be aired. (Then again, ending the TV part of the series on the "WHAT THE HELL" cliffhanger would certainly help to boost the show's slipping DVD sales...)

Re Mara: I never meant to argue that she really wasn't bright. She is pretty intelligent in her own "too emotional, easily carried away and lacking foresight" way. :)

And the part of ep 18 that you mentioned just annoyed me. Unlike the earlier silliness it wasn't particularly funny and it seemed kind of OOC for all parties involved.

I never thought I'd hear "bumblefuck" and "Belldandy" in the same sentence.

Good to know the Japanese are putting their hyper advanced technology to good use. :p

LOL @ Fanboys. LOL @ Japan. PART DUEX

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