The Day the Orange Blossoms Wither

At first, I bought this thinking it was a "being watched over at death" type of audio, expecting to feel some kind of relief or comfort. But once I actually listened to it, my feelings were overwhelmingly pulled toward the brother's side. Even listening twice, I just couldn't get into the sister's perspective, which left me with regret. The following is the impression of someone who sympathized with the brother, so it may not be a very useful reference. Also, I think impressions will vary depending on one's own circumstances. This is a recommended work for those who want to be scolded/reproached, or who want to experience a sense of loss! There were parts I could and couldn't relate to, but since he rattles on about things he'd normally never be able to say out loud, it left me with a complicated feeling—both heavy-hearted and letting out a dry laugh at the same time. It also felt like even Onii-chan was saying things he didn't fully mean. Even so, what a kind older brother, visiting every day and never abandoning his sister until the very end. I hope this brother, so bad at venting his frustrations, can go on to live his own life as a man from now on. Since my own heart is still being worn down right now, it made me a little curious about what will become of me in the future. I suppose most people would just accept the facts and that would be the end of it. That's why I envy and respect this Onii-chan, who was able to pour so much energy into his anger and get every last resentful word out. I love this circle's works because they make me feel like "tomorrow, it could be me." Thank you for giving me such a rare emotional experience once again!

Having lost every sense but hearing, you listen to your brother's words—somewhere between resentment and grief. As a setup for a situation-voice work, this concept fits perfectly, and I think the idea itself is already a win from the start. Flat.-san's way of dropping words out bit by bit is also so good. Aki-oniichan's voice could only ever be this person's voice. I could vividly picture the bones showing through his exhausted brother's thin back, the slightly dry hair casting shadows on his face—to the point of feeling almost entranced. Onii-chan, please eat properly. The words spoken under the assumption "you probably can't hear me anyway" are quite harsh (though considering the burden the sister placed on her brother, maybe he's being gentle, relatively speaking), but somehow I could feel the remnants of family love at the core of it, which made it all the more heartbreaking. The mere fact that he comes to visit despite having a job to begin with is already a lot of love, perhaps. About the endings: Listening to it, the A ending feels more like salvation, but the one I keep coming back to again and again is the B ending. I really love the line "Go somewhere that doesn't hurt." It's followed by "by yourself," which makes it feel like being abandoned, but I think this is the ultimate parting gift given precisely because he has let her go. The gentleness in his voice at that point is also wonderful—people who have given up on everything regarding you can be incredibly kind, because they no longer expect anything from you. It's a painful work to listen to, and afterward it leaves you feeling hollow, but I've already listened to it many times over. I'm sure I'll keep listening to it many more times in the future. Thank you for creating this.

Since I had bought this circle's past works, I was prepared for another harsh story this time too, but Akinori-kun, despite harboring anger toward his sister, is quite a warm-hearted, compassionate older brother, so the overall "sweetness" felt slightly higher than in previous works. Or rather, the fact that, despite resenting her this much, he's still earning money for her treatment and coming to visit every single day means there's already too much lingering affection—so it's basically a guaranteed win from the very start. This work presents the unusual concept of a "being watched over at death" experience voice work, and on top of that, the script is far from the typical image people have of such a deathbed scenario—it's a fairly gloomy story centered on the conflict and complicated love-hate feelings unique to family. The older brother in this story, for his sister who has been left in a near-vegetative state due to a traffic accident, visits every day despite his exhaustion after work, yet at her bedside he keeps piling on all the past grievances he'd never been able to say before. That disjointedness—wanting to love her but also wanting to hate her, being unable to love her yet unable to hate her either—that ambivalence really came through and felt extremely real. Also, beyond the excellence of the script itself, the voice actor's strained, wrung-out voice and the literally tearful performance in the A ending felt very true to life, and I couldn't stop my heart fluttering the whole time, thinking "he's going through all this heartache just for me..." Personally, I think that being born as a younger sister comes with at least some degree of guilt in childhood, a feeling like "I'm getting in the way of my brother's life" (and if this feeling is strong enough, it turns into a brother complex), and this circle's works have a sort of painfully satisfying quality, like scratching at the scab of that old childhood wound. It gives me a one-of-a-kind emotional experience I can't get from any other work, so I'm sure I'll keep buying from them going forward.