[Bonten Bamboo Ear Cleaning & Shoulder/Neck Massage] Ie Kano ~ A Day of Japanese Elegance with Your Refined Rental Girlfriend ~ [CV. Shuri Kimura]

Looking at the illustration and the work's synopsis, some of you might have worried, "A hero mask!? Won't that be distracting when I'm trying to immerse myself in the healing?" But that turned out not to be an issue at all. The mask is only touched on briefly during the talk parts at the beginning and end, and it's basically never mentioned during the healing parts like the ear cleaning. The heroine, Hitone-chan, is an assertive yet proper and elegant girl who really pushes forward. She's a high schooler who's started an outrageous business, and an equally outrageous, driven high schooler who serves customers herself as a cast member, but as you can tell from the sample, she heals us listeners with a beautiful, calm voice. During the ear cleaning, she lets you press your head against thighs just as plump as her best friend's. Within the 45-minute ear cleaning session, there's only a very brief moment, but there's a part where she presses firmly and rubs vigorously. When she presses firmly like that, you just can't help but press half your face into her thighs, right? You might want to say to the listener character who's shying away from such an adorable heroine, "Why did you even request this service if you're gonna act like that," but thanks to the heroine's assertiveness, the scenario flows smoothly, making for a very easy-to-listen-to experience.

I bought this after learning that Kimura Shuri would be appearing. The demure personality of Hitone-chan, the character she plays, matched perfectly with Shuri-san's voice, and I think you can enjoy a gentle, soft, healing time with it. Being whispered to in your ear was really heart-fluttering, especially combined with the breathing sounds, and having her call you "anata-sama" as she guided things along also made for a healing experience, I think. The sounds of making a bonsai-style tray landscape and preparing matcha felt fresh, unlike anything I've heard in other works. Personally, I found the massage sounds and such to be very pleasant, but I was a little disappointed that the ear cleaning sounds felt a bit lacking in sound pressure. Since it ended in a way that suggests there's more to come, I'd love to see a sequel with a different situation as well.

A woman who's a company president while still in high school, yet embodies the ideal of a modest, graceful Japanese woman (Yamato Nadeshiko) — that's Hitone-san, the heroine of this work. Hitone-san speaks politely and carries herself gently, truly fitting the Yamato Nadeshiko image. Personally, what I enjoyed most were the bonkei (tray landscape) and tea ASMR in tracks 6 and 7. This was actually the first time I'd ever learned what bonkei was through this work, and the rustling, grainy sound of the sand being moved around was incredibly soothing to listen to. Also, in the tea scene, the sound of water being poured and matcha being whisked was very healing to listen to. Other scenes' ASMR were also great, like the lullaby in track 9 and the music-box-like sound of the kalimba. Overall, it's a wonderful work that really conveys a sense of Japanese tradition, so if you're even a little interested, please check it out!