Title: Sentimental Garden Lover センチメンタルガーデンラバー (26/09/2008)
Pairings:
Horie Kazuma x Kamiya Hiroshi 堀江一眞 x 神谷浩史
Kondou Takashi x Kamiya Hiroshi 近藤隆 x 神谷浩史
Nakamura Yuuichi x Kishio Daisuke 中村悠一 x 岸尾だいすけ
w/ Tachibana Shinnosuke 立花慎之介
Rating: Highly recommended (a must for cat lovers! Nyaa~ =^^= )
Quick Summary:
“Dear God, I wish for arms wide enough to hug him and the body and strength to protect him!”
Fuji (Kondou Takashi) is a stray cat. He loves a kind and gentle man, Hiro (Kamiya Hiroshi) who named him and feeds him everyday. Fuji notices that Hiro is in an on-and-off abusive relationship with a man (Horie Kazuma) and even witnesses the man using violence on Hiro. Although Fuji tried to stop the man, he could not do anything for Hiro because he is only a cat. One day, Fuji sees the bruises on Hiro again and he prays earnestly for the ability to protect his beloved Hiro. Amazingly, Fuji gets his wish!
Shima (Kishio Daisuke) is a cute but proud little kitten who comes by Hiro’s house occasionally for food. Like Fuji, Hiro was the one who gave him his name. One day, he decides to leave the place. Hungry and tired, he faints and accidentally falls into Taki’s (Nakamura Yuuichi) opened bag. When he wakes up hungry and smelly, Taki makes fun of him but treats him kindly, feeding him milk and washing him. The next day, Taki leaves the window open while he goes to work. Taki’s ex-lover (Tachibana Shinnosuke) visits, hoping to apologise to him for ending their relationship. Coincidentally, his name is also Shima…
Based on a manga by Ogura Muku 小椋ムク
Comments:
What is the next best thing after cat boys? Well, cats who become boys! XD
If you’re a cat lover, you’ll definitely fall in love with this drama, Sentimental Garden Lover. Listening to this drama made me smile and laugh a lot, especially at the parts where the seiyuus go Nyaa~nyaa~nyaa in their cat speak. They sound so cute, it’s almost criminal. Such an awesome stress reliever! Seriously, only when it comes to cats can we get such irresistibly cute portrayals. If we do the same for dogs, all we hear are panting and barking sounds ^^;;; For example Goshujin-sama to Inu series – Yasumoto Hiroki x Yusa Kouji, as a super adorable doggy. (I’ll review that next time) Well, dogs can sound cute too but dog speak just doesn’t have the same effect as cat speak.
Nyaa~ X[
Story-wise, it handles human relationships rather realistically for such a fantastical premise. Although it did not dwell in detail about Hiro’s abusive relationship with his ex-lover, it’s not difficult to understand why like many people in such relationships, Hiro could not end it by himself. Kamiya Hiroshi sounds so gentle and sweet as Hiro, I want to kidnap him for myself! Kamiyan! (Hiro…) Suki suki suki! (Like how Fuji does it in the drama XD) Lol~ His voice is a great match with Kondou Takashi’s bright, straightforward, enthusiastic and child-like sounding Fuji. Come to think of it, Fuji behaves more like a dog than a cat lol~
As for the second story, I find it quite touching too, especially the plot where Taki’s lover gave up their relationship because he decided to fulfill his duty to his family by getting married. Tachibana’s voice is very delicate as Shima and he brought across the quiet resignation that his character is feeling very well. I love the narrative from kitten Shima’s perspective and how it reveals the development of these relationships. The human-cat interaction between Kishio Daisuke’s Shima the kitten and Nakamura Yuuichi’s Taki is very adorable as well. The cast did a wonderful job!
Also, the use of music in this drama is brilliant! The well-composed background music is used appropriately and unobtrusively in the drama. The comic timing is almost perfect and it heightens the comedy when the scene requires it.
There isn’t much H in this drama, only a few sweet kisses and just one rather short but nose-bleed-inducing Kamiyan sex scene during a flash back in the beginning with Horie Kazuma. But please don’t be turned off by the lack of H cos it is a very enjoyable drama.
I also highly recommend the manga this drama is based on too. It is even more fun to listen to when you can see the cats’ and characters’ expressions that Ogura Muku-sensei has drawn. XD
Catalog: BJCA-0098
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i didnt know this had a drama cd D:
i love this manga
so cuteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee x333333333333333
*downloads*
i wish it gets licensed so i can get a copy *-*
Well, I don’t quite understand the conversation, but they showed the pictures of Kondo’s 2 kittens named Fuku-chan and Sachi-chan. It seems he also mentioned something about his cat wagging its tail when greeting him, like a puppy :D Try to search the video in Youtube with keyword: 声優 近藤隆 アニソン☆カフェ ゆめが丘. It’s so cute because eventually Waccha goes all nyaaa nyaaaa when voicing a plushie to simulate the cat greeting Kondo.
Cat is tsundere? Hahaa yeah, I agree with you. I’m a dog person but my flatmate recently brought her cat in. It gets all nyaaa nyaaa and acts spoiled when demanding attention or food, but can suddenly nibble my feet when she’s ignored.. :D To think about it, Shima acts more like a cat than Fuji.. agree again, he’s more like a dog.. can’t think a cat who protect his master.. hahaha…
Thanks for the keyword! I found the video XD My Japanese is sucky but IF I’m not wrong, I think Kondo Takashi was saying that the two kittens he adopted were abandoned kittens that his friend’s friend found. And he thought that if he only adopted one kitten, it would be quite pitiful because it would be alone (or cos he lives alone? Not sure which one). They were female and from the same litter, so sisters! ^^ Yea! Waccha is so cute! kekeke…nyaa~
I’m a cat person but my mum doesn’t like them :( so I never owned one but I played with friends’ cats and fed a stray before. Generally, cats give you attention when they want something from ya :P My friend told me that you don’t own a cat. The cat owns you lol~ But he said his cat can be quite affectionate but only with people she likes (AND -IF- she is in the mood… Tsundere) XD Fuji is such an exception cos he is affectionate towards Hiro all the time! XD Cat with a dog personality lol~
I think dogs are cute too but I don’t think I have so much energy to keep up with them… I’m quite the sloOoow and laid back type. Ah one thing tho’, I don’t like their slobbery licking DX Anyway Konda was so awesome when he did the Tsundere voice at the beginning huh! Completely couldn’t tell it was a guy’s voice!
Hi! I also love this drama so much. I love how you mention you wish to kidnap Hiro, LOL, yeah, his voice is so gentle and somehow erotic in a sense.. but I wish to kidnap Fuji instead.. OMG, the cuteness of Kondo’s voice make me wish to cuddle him.. LOL… I found this TV show on Youtube, hosted by Hatano Wataru and there was Kondo as the guest. He mentioned he owns a cat who greet him everytime he came back home and he loves his cat so much! So adorable!
Yeah, it’ll be sweet to have such a lovey-dovey cat. Most of the time they just run away from ya… unless they’re in the mood to humour you (or hungry or want to play anyway. Cats are generally tsundere :X ) lol~ Kondo Takashi is lucky! XD Did he mention what gender his cat was?
I read it! *_* im a complete fan of her work now, so cute an elegant style! Aww the story an the way the characters acted was just like the drama. Aww i want to see more of her work. she only has two things out though.
There should be more cute dramas like this… TAT
Yeah, her character (and cat) expressions are so funny XD It seems the mangaka is still active and illustrating for novels, so let’s wait for more manga works from her!
i remember listening to this drama a long while back i loved it! The music an story was very cute.
I didn’t know there was a manga though!*_* Thanks for heads-up.
Yeah I also listened to it when it first came out! Didn’t write a review then. The manga is really good and the artwork is pretty ^^ do check it out!
Wah~ thanks for the review *o*
Didn’t know that there’s a BLCD for this manga
Yay~ Kamiya Hiroshi & Kishio Daisuke :9
I really like the manga ^^
So cute~
I re-listened to it again recently and felt inspired enough to write XD Yeah the manga is really cute and sweet!