Well, drama CD's and image songs, really. I never bothered with them in the past, no matter how much I liked an anime. My current obsession with Hetalia has kind of driven me to this, though. There aren't nearly enough episodes or webcomics to satiate my thirst for this series, unfortunately, and while some of the fanfiction is great, it's just not the same.
So I decided to go look up any official media I could. Turns out there's quite a few extras for Hetalia, which is good. Extra stuff is always good. Most of the image songs are just fun to listen to, though they can give you some epic alternate interpretations of the characters. Germany's song Einsamkeit is depressing and very different from Germany's actual personality, and China's image song... well, I never liked China. But his song Aiyaa, Yonsennen is so, so sad. I hadn't looked up the lyrics when I first heard it... all I knew was that the vocals were extremely emotional and that the melody itself almost brought me to tears. The second half of the track is heart-wrenching.
And then you look up the lyrics.
Oh God, the lyrics. It doesn't go into depth about Japan's betrayal. It just explains the love and adoration China still has for Japan, despite the hurt that he left behind. And the spoken paragraph at the end is so heartbreaking, regardless of whether you've read the English translation or not. As I said, this is a song about a character I don't even like, yet I was driven to tears. Maybe I'm just overly emotional, but trust me when I say that it's been a long time since I last felt that way over a song.
...anyway, that wasn't the point I was trying to make. Back on topic!
I kind of maybe downloaded the drama CD's because I can't get enough of Arthur's/England's voice. In the dub he has an overly attractive British accent (naturally) which automatically endears him to me (Have I ever mentioned how much I love British slang? Because I really, really love British slang). However, after listening to his image songs, I realised that the original Japanese voice actor was just as amazing if not more so. I mean, I don't think he has an accent or anything cool like that (and if he did, I'm certainly unable to detect it), but the VA doesn't need one. He's just... amazing. Noriaki Sugiyama voices him, and seriously, he's epic. I can't believe I'd never noticed before. I mean, he voiced Rivalz in Code Geass, and I certainly didn't notice then...
Anyway, I downloaded the drama CD's so I could fangirl over his voice. And I was not disappointed. Being a drama CD, you need to put a lot of emotion into your acting to get the point across, seeing as there's no images to go with it. Noriaki does an amazing job. A seriously amazing job. His voice is like... there are no words to describe how easily he can portray a character's emotions. I'm in love with his voice~
Wait, wait, bollocks, that wasn't supposed to be the point of this post, either. Ahem.
I'm very into drama CD's, and not just because of the hot VA's that may or may not be voicing them. A drama CD is exactly what it sounds like; a CD (well, a track. On a CD. You get the idea) that features a ~dramatic~ scene depicted entirely with vocals alone. There's no image, obviously. There are sound effects though. It's like the shows that used to air on radio's before the television was created. They aren't usually a part of the main plot (though they can be), instead they're mostly just side stories for those who are bothered to look them up. And, at least in the case of Hetalia, they can be better than the show itself. As I said earlier, you need to overdo everything to get your point across, and that's where the VA's truly shine. That's kinda why I love them at the moment. It's all very raw sounding and has the ability to draw you in even without a visual aid. Hell, not having the visual aid makes it better as you're able to let your imagination run wild.
I'm rather enjoying them, actually. I wish western television companies would create things like this.
Random: I find it very amusing that listening to England's drama thing took up as much time as three episodes of the anime would have. x)
More random: England is now my favourite character. Like, ever. Screw all my previous loves (yes, including Hinata from Angel Beats! and Inuyasha from Inuyasha (obviously) and... yes, even Matt, bloody Matt from Death Note), this guy is where it's at.
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