Choco Heart☆
[Voice Drama] Reimu and Marisa's Chocolate★Heart, also known as "Kusso☆☆☆"/"Kusso☆S3" (as the continuation of Kusso☆S2), the author's choice "Choco★", or "Choco Heart☆", is a voice drama produced by Atouda Ako as the third installment of the Kusso☆ series, published on 15 August, 2015. Other nicknames like "Choco☆", "Chocolate☆" or "Chocolate★" and the rest variations exist, since chocolate plays a major role in that voice drama, generally all allure to this voice drama.
The voice drama as a whole is a deliberate parody of the story of the OG Cookie☆, making it one of the earliest and most famous of the "farmed voice dramas". After its release, Choco Heart☆'s netas and characters grew in popularity so as to reach a level matching and sometimes eclipsing their counterparts from Cookie☆'s earlier years.
Plot Summary
On Valentine's Day, when Reimu was busy making chocolate for her crush Marisa, Alice came searching for her as well. Reimu wanted to give Marisa the chocolate but couldn't express herself. Marisa went to the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
Meanwhile, Alice recalled suddenly that she almost forgot it was Valentine's Day. She went to the nearby confectionery store run by Nazrin and bought two chocolate bars in a hurry, and returned to the Hakurei Shrine.
When Marisa came back to the shrine, she saw Alice and Reimu together. Alice gave out her chocolate like last year, and Marisa was super happy. Reimu, however, seeing her own Valentine's chocolate losing all significance, cried "This damn thing!" and threw it on the ground, shattering the bar into pieces. When Marisa saw the remaining chocolate, she took a bite and praised the taste, yet not to the extend she did to Alice. Reimu was left heartbroken.
Around the same time, at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Meiling was searching the chocolate she made for Sakuya. However, while she was sleeping, Marisa stole her self-made chocolate and smeared her mouth with chocolate, making it seem like she ate her chocolate already. Sakuya then licked of some chocolate off of her face and praises the taste; Meiling showed gratitude.
Cast
- Hakurei Reimu: Rurima
- Kirisame Marisa: Suzu
- Alice Margatroid: Ichigo
- Nazrin, Patchouli Knowledge: Nyon
- Kazami Yuuka: Akira
- Hong Meiling: Otoha
- Izayoi Sakuya: Ruko
Voiceless characters:
- Murasa Minamitsu: Milk/Gyuunyuu
- Kumoi Ichiron: Flour/Komugiko
History
In production of Kusso☆S3, the risks involved with Cookie☆ are clearly stated in the recruitment process, but the voice actresses still barely understood was Cookie☆ actually is. Rurima was the only one who knew about Cookie☆ but she skipped over the precaution section and starred in the story.
As compared to the previous Kusso☆ voice dramas, where Atouda handled the visuals by himself, Choco Heart☆ employed not only voice actors but also extra artists. This lead to the variation of the voice drama's art styles, similar to the original Cookie☆. Interestingly, despite the ample use of illustrations making it a picture-heavy story video, it still got branded as a "voice" drama (like Kasu☆ and most other Cookie☆ dramas).
As the full title suggests, the voice drama is quite self-aware and plays around with the parodies of the story of Cookie☆OG. For example, Choco Heart☆ is a Valentine's Day love story just like the original, but this time it's Reimu making the chocolate at night in the opening scene. These "Reversal Netas" that subverted the original plot and the comparatively downer ending made Choco Heart☆ remain a subject of heated discussion. Due to its meta nature and popularity, the voice dramais often cited as a prime example of "voice drama farming", where creators deliberately inject Inmu and Cookie☆ elements into the voice drama in attempt to attract the Inmu-Cookie community's attention. The controversy around such acts became a major plot line in the later deconstruction voice drama Self-Contradiction☆.
On Niconico, Rurima and Super Fast-talking Obasan generated big impacts and were promptly integrated into MAD creations. Some time later, Nyon would take the lead and became a central figure for Kusso☆—and, soon enough, Cookie as a whole☆—on Niconico and beyond. These character booms led to the Kusso☆ series as a whole being evaluated with greater reputation and importance.
On 10 April, 2023, Choco Heart☆ broke 1 million views on Niconico.