Da Capo II
I just caught the first episode of Da Capo II and, as a long-time fan of the game and the franchise in general, I must say, “WTF!?” The whole episode is just one huge blasphemy.
But if you have never heard of the series before or if, heaven forbids, you are a Koko fan, then it’s actually a pretty decent first episode of a series that’s clearly trying its best to differentiate itself from its source material. But I am a fanboy and I find the overall lack of Nanaka to be highly disturbing.
For a quick summary of Da Capo II, I quote myself:
For the uninitiated, Da Capo II is the sequel to the popular bishoujo game Da Capo. Both the Da Capo and Da Capo Second Season anime series are actually based on the first game, leading to much confusion amongst casual fans and the non-hardcore. This time the main character is Yoshiyuki Sakurai who has not one but two sisters unrelated by blood, Otome Asakura and Yume Asakura, the granddaughters of Nemu (heroine of the first game).
So yeah, it’s a pretty generic harem series made for the sole purpose of leeching fanboy money. But it’s reasonably good due to a good mix of character types and a generally strong cast of seiyuu, which I will talk about later. But let me first tell you what I think of episode one…
Point number one, this is the single best scene in the entire episode.
Or shall I say the single best split second. Because it’s part of the opening animation and the only other appearance by Nanaka has her surrounded by a bunch of annoying fanboys (I hate fanboys). WTF!? This makes it considerably difficult for me to enjoy the rest of the episode.
Secondly, Yume, the protagonist’s stepsister, is voiced by Yui Horie! WTF!?
Basically, because D.C. II takes place 50 years after the original, a few of the heroines are related to the characters in the first game. Yume Asakura is the granddaughter of Nemu Asakura, while Nanaka Shirakawa is the granddaughter of Kotori Shirakawa.
In the anime adaptation of the original series, and especially in the Second Season, the producers decided to go with Nemu for the happily-ever-after ending instead of Kotori, the bestest best heroine in the entire Da Capo franchise (tied with her granddaughter). This decision pissed me off a great deal and bought them an express ticket onto my list of people-to-be-killed.
Although Yui Horie had no involvement in the games, she played the role of Kotori for both seasons of the original series, so it’s entirely ill-fitting for her to be taking on the role of Yume, the granddaugter of Nemu. If anything, she should be voicing Nanaka.
This brings me to my third point of discontent: Nanaka is not voiced by Hitomi Nabatame!
Hitomi did an exactly job playing Nanaka in the game. Usually well-funded anime adaptations prefer to drop obscure seiyuu used by the original 18-kin games in favour of more recognizable mainstream names, which is why Yume is not voiced by the same seiyuu as the game. But for Nanaka, this is clearly not true as Hitomi has also appeared in numerous high profile titles such as Shana, Marimite and Sukuran. Whatever the reason is, I hate this decision.
In the anime, Nanaka is voiced by Minori Chihara (Yuki Nagato). WTF!?
Sigh.
Well, these are actually all very personal reasons for my disliking of the first episode. In all fairness, the production value appears to be fairly high and the plot is not copied wholesale from the game, making it somewhat original.
Also, I think that an Otome ending is highly possible, and she is quite high up on my list (not the one of people marked for death, the other list), so I shall continue following this series.
Okay, I’m lazy to describe the episode any further (or at all), so I shall do it the Anime Bloggers Way® and spam a ton of pictures instead. Actually, I’m too lazy to do even that, so I’m going to just insert this table of thumbnails which was auto-generated using Media Player Classic. :)
Click to view the full version
I hate Koko.
October 4th, 2007 at 12:18 am
Wasn’t too bad of a start. Didn’t play the game, so I don’t have any preconceptions or bias.
I’m a bit surprised to at Hocchan doing Yume (Nemu II), but oh well, it’ll be interesting to see when she goes jealous.
Also, a bit pissed that Nanaka had no screentime at all. The only line she said the whole episode was “gomenasai”, like wtf? And those stupid fanboys need to die lol.
A bit surprised to that the episode ended with a confession by Koko. While she looks bland, she’s not that dislikable. I wonder how the story would progress.
October 4th, 2007 at 1:42 am
With regards to Nabatame not returning to voice Nanaka, the only valid reason I can think of is scheduling. She’s at least doing 2 fairly high profile shows, Shana II and Prism Ark, so it might be possible that she or her agency declined this role so she can focus on these shows. Sux, but that’s the quirk of anime entertainment.
October 4th, 2007 at 3:19 am
I lol-ed.
The season ended in its first 18 seconds!
OP was so-so -> meh. Nanaka looked good though, I must say. Seems to have suffered the least degeneration from game -> anime transition interms of art.
Yoshiyuki? More like Kakkou(Kusuriya Daisuke, Mushi-Uta)
… Horie as Yume? I think not.
zOmg Tamura returns! … expected though. And Harimao looks even more terrible than I expected. Good thing I have a plushie of it.
Oh look at Koko & co.! They’re all deformed!… eh nvm this is the anime.
Where is my Wataru orz
Suginami looks exactly the same as he did in D.C. and D.C.S.S. btw, despite having a new character design for D.C.II(game).
And so on… and so on… passer-by couple B! Don’t they look just like Tamaki and D.C. s1 Junichi? wtf?
I won’t say Minorin isn’t fitting for Nanaka just yet… she barely has a full line so far. Surely it’d be weird. But she might pull it off. No comments on this matter. Yet.
We then fast forward again… ahah! Otome. Not Otome, kthx. This is NOT Otome. THIS IS NOT OTOME.
And then we have the season ending before Minatsu is even introduced.
ED was pretty nice.
And then the next ep’s preview is… lol got to love that radio.
PS: It’s 53 years after D.C., 51 after D.C.S.S. and as far as I can tell this ep is a few months before the main story of D.C.II(game).
- Love, AJ. Or Otaru if you must.
October 4th, 2007 at 5:43 am
Minori Chihara as Manaka?
Yui Horie as Yume?!!
Ok, I’m dropping the bombs…
October 4th, 2007 at 7:47 am
I prefer Nemu chan lol xD Kotori is ok, but I prefer sister-complex
But really, when the SS began I thought that Junichi would go for Kotori. The producers really wanted to make the Kotori’s fans hope, eh? :)
I really think you should put that son of a b**** Junichi in your most wanted list. He’s just the same as that Rin Tsuchimi from Shuffle.
Anyway, DC II is a must-watch. :)
October 4th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
Hi, can anyone tell me which girl is assumed to be “chosen” by the main character of the FIRST game in
a) da capo 2 game
b) da capo 2 anime
?
As in did they mention who is the grandfather of Otome Asakura and Yume Asakura and Nanaka?
October 4th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Why does anime conversions fail in the proportion side of things? They’ve already scaled down the boobs of so many characters like Kotonoha, and now my waifu Akane?!
At least she’s rightfully voiced by Yanase D: not that I’m gonna watch it. I’m on Kimikiss and Prism Ark this season.
P.S. I’ve always wanted Koko for a one-night stand… yarr
October 4th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
Jun’ichi is the grandfather of Yume and Otome. He even appeared in the game as an old geezer.
As for Nanaka, it’s not explained.
Azu: lol…
October 5th, 2007 at 3:34 am
Agree Agree! I hate Koko too….
Hehe…I own the game too but Too bad My Japanese language standard din’t allow me to play it yet.
Anyway, what is your another list, DarkMirage?
October 5th, 2007 at 4:32 am
Well you see I think they had a sequel planned ahead of time that is why Nemu won the “War”. I mean it was all planned to flow with the game. And not to confuse people with paralell worlds.
October 5th, 2007 at 8:47 am
confessions in the first episode never last/end well. Just take a look at KGNE or most recently with a Nice Boat ending: School Days…
And he does question if it love, I have to say no.
I´m at a tie with Nemu/Kotori from Da Capo/Da Capo Second Season and here, well have to stick with their grandchildren.
So good bye Koko and hello Yume/Nanaka :)
October 5th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Yeah i thought it was alright, but the two main characters immediately going out at the end of the first episode? is thing going in reverse? :P I’m so confused!
October 5th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
Yeah obviously Koko is going to get dumped soon. Yay. :P
October 6th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
eh does descendants of all the other girls in the 1st game appear in
a) this anime
b) the second game?
October 6th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
sorry for double posting but dont know how to edit, saw the doctor with green hair in the 1st episode which looks like 1 of the girls in the original game.
October 7th, 2007 at 10:39 am
I lost my hope for the Shirakawa family long ago…
so this time, I’m all for a Koko ending.
October 12th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
What?! Lost hope?? That’s no reason to root for Koko! Dangit I don’t have anything against Koko but I hate her because of what happens to Nanaka in that route. The only reason I honestly watched this ep was to see Nanaka animated but………………. WTF Koko ending?! Damit, my only hope is that she gets dumped and more Nanaka gets put in later, or if a Nanaka ending is impossible then an Otome is fine too.
Still hopeing for the impossible!! Why do the awesome Shirakawa girls always get shafted? Are they not popular enough? *sigh*
October 27th, 2007 at 2:06 am
I think that Yume will be with Yoshiyuki or Nanaka thats why I’m routing for them WOOT!!!!^_^