天下制覇

 

Same as it ever was.

Impressions:

I make no illusions about detesting the original Da Capo for its thoroughly antipathic cast, and unfortunately, the first episode of the proper sequel seems to be more of the same. Yume replaces Nemu, Nanaka replaces Kotori, Minatsu replaces Miharu, etc etc etc… and Sakura replaces… well… Sakura. It even starts more or less in the same way, with the already jealous ‘sister’ Yume waking up Yoshiyuki and sending him off to school, though this time with less fewer uncomfortable incest overtones. Rest assured that I’m sure they’ll work their way in. Things continue in a pretty generic day about school, ending with Koko confessing to him under the sakura tree and him accepting. Okay, I have to admit that that’s fairly new, but then I remember that the whole point of Da Capo is to make Yume/Nemu (Neme?) as much of a jealous bitch as possible.

As for production values, it was certainly pretty enough. Nothing really happened that would require decent animation, but the confession scene at the end with all the blowing blossoms and  wind did look really nice. On the other hand, they did already resort to a stills montage for part of the episode, so that doesn’t really speak too highly for the budget. The music was alright, nothing to really write home about, but it didn’t annoy me either.

In conclusion, I doubt I’ll keep following it. While I do like that Yoshiyuki and Koko are apparently hooking up, Horie Yume spent too much time glaring out the windows at them and I know that this will not be going the School Days route, but instead the increasingly whiny and bitchy Nemu route, and if I couldn’t survive that in the first season, there’s no way I’d be able to survive that again. If you liked the original Da Capo though, you’ll probably like this one too… assuming you don’t mind a complete rehash of every single character at any rate. Me? I think I’d sooner throw myself to a pack of wild dogs. Besides which, Higurashi Kai is on Mondays now (probably) and that’s all the angry feminine killing instinct that I need to start my week without passive aggressive Horie Yui also thrown in there.

Oh yeah, and I’m also very confused by the Mai Tokiha “Nike Swoosh” in Koko’s hair. That’s Mai’s thing! And I like Mai! Boo, Da Capo. Boo.

No summaries for the first episodes. I write as I watch, and I don’t know if I’ll care about a show until after the first episode.

Da Capo II OP