Forum - View topicAnswerman - Why Don't Drama CDs Get Released Outside of Japan?
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Idgal
Posts: 169 |
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also drama CD are expensive, since the licensing and use of famous seiyuu's voices can cost a lot due to royalties.
I like them if they have a JP seiyuu I love reading but I don't think Americans can appreciate the nuances of the VA reading compare to watching a anime. |
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kyokun47
 Posts: 232 |
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The only time I can remember getting an English drama CD was from the first Code Geass limited edition set that came with Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. It had a few scenarios, all dubbed with the English cast on a CD. It’s still really cool to think that something like that exists and I own it lol
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Juno016
 Posts: 2443 |
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It's mostly just frustrating when drama CDs DO contribute to the characters and story. Digimon's Original Story drama CDs (one per season) add to the lore and often end up tear-jerking us. The new Digimon Tamers drama CD may or may not ever become relevant, but it acts as a new sequel tease. And we mustn't forget Madoka Magica, which had two drama CDs that acted as supplements to the series, revealing spoiler[the first Madoka's original, innocent wish, and Kyouko's original ability she lost later on, alongside her teaming up with Mami.]
I distinctly remember listening to a lot of plot-relevant drama CDs for lots of series in the 2000's, and the lack of Western interest just feels like it's due to a lack of exposure to them. For those of us with vibrant imaginations, they play out like movies in our heads. Then again, I know Japanese, so I don't need subs. I'm gonna guess that severally dampers the ability of someone to close their eyes and play it out in their heads. |
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mgosdin
 Posts: 1302 Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA |
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The fine folks at Big Finish in England have the experience that would be needed to pull off localizing Drama CD's to English, but knowing them if it was profitable they would be doing it already.
Mark Gosdin |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18547 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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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. EDIT: And I'm very sure it was something other than the aforementioned Code Geass, as I never had a physical release for that one. |
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invalidname
 Contributor Posts: 2493 Location: Grand Rapids, MI |
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The only one of these I’ve really checked out are the fan translations of the Kimi ga Nozomu Eien / Rumbling Hearts audio drama CDs on the http://kiminozo.life site. They cover what the characters other than the protagonist were up to during the three-year time-skip, which is useful for a story originally told as a visual novel and thus largely from the POV of the protagonist. In the anime, some of this stuff is implied by the flashback episode, but it has less time to cover things, so the audio dramas really fill in some interesting material.
EDIT: corrected URL above Last edited by invalidname on Wed Jun 13, 2018 3:21 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Stuart Smith
 Posts: 1298 |
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Indeed. I have to disagree with the comment that Drama CDs are just fluff and actors saying fan-favorite lines. Maybe the jokey ones are, but there are tons that are basically another episode of the series, or some manga that only get Drama CD adaptions and not anime adaptions. The Digimon ones are definitely a good example. The one where Mimi is living in America when 9/11 happens and she and her family help make meals for the victims of the attacks is basically what spurred her interest in cooking and prompted her into eventually becoming a chef like you see at the end of 02. -Stuart Smith |
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KutovoiAnton
 Posts: 962 Location: Vladimir, Russia |
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Fate/Zero Drama CD was great. It was an audio adaptation of the book with the voice cast.
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WingKing
Posts: 617 |
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Yeah, those are the only ones I would really want. Like there are some Nanoha characters who are just dropped into the later seasons of the anime without any introduction, because they were formally introduced in an earlier adventure that was only covered in the radio dramas and fans are assumed to already know who they are. Getting those would be helpful. Otherwise I've listened to some of the fan-translated radio plays that are out there, mostly for Love Live and Haruhi, and "fanservicey nonsense" is a pretty accurate description, at least of the ones I've heard. None of them made me feel like I was missing anything. |
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Rika Hue
 Posts: 147 |
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Good question!
From where I 'stand', I definitely see interest in drama CDs. The responses to this thread, and in the Idolish7 review thread (where a person pointed out the value of TsukiPro drama CDs), shows it. 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 that is indeed true, it's a little sad. I like to be idealistic and think that there IS potential. If a company does decide to test the waters though, home video release extras would definitely be a good start. Now, who will take the risk? I believe data from early 2000s are maybe not so credible anymore...but again, I don't have the statistics of modern audience to say for sure... |
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Ojamajo LimePie
 Posts: 772 |
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Kindred Spirits on the Roof had its drama CDs released by MangaGamer.
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Darkabomination
Posts: 89 |
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Kindred Spirits is another good example, there's a lot of neat material detailing what the cast is doing after the epilogue and maybe hints at further material. There's also the soundtrack commentary.
Another big one is the drama CD for Trails of Cold Steel, which straight up is the script of a cut sceneario from the game that was scrapped for time constraints and is fully canon, it's referenced in-game. XSeed translated it and just put up the transcript for free on their site. The other Trails dramas have a lot of juicy material, it's all canon. |
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MarshalBanana
 Posts: 5529 |
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DeTroyes
 Posts: 521 |
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I asked BF about this several years ago. They said they have looked into it and were considering some titles, but nothing seems to have come out of that. They did concede, however, that the language barrier was a big hurtle, as not only would such dramas have to be translated and re-done, but they would need help figuring out which titles were even worth doing in the first place. Odds are the more likely people to try doing these would be the companies already producing the anime translations, like Funimation or Sentai. They're the ones that have the best sense as to which titles are appealing to western audiences, and they are much more likely to be able to round up the cast members from their dubs. |
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IanC
Posts: 685 Location: Essex, England |
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I was about to post that lol. Glad I checked first. They did them as movies with some basic background and the subtitles synced up to the audio. |
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