D.C.: Da Capo

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D.C.: Da Capo
Ｄ．Ｃ．～ダ・カーポ～
(D.C. ~Da Kāpo~)
Genre Harem, Fantasy, Romantic comedy
Game
Developer Circus
Publisher Circus
Genre Eroge, Visual novel
Rating 18+, CERO
12+ (console versions)
Platform PC, PlayStation 2
Released 28 June 2002 (CD)
26 July 2002 (DVD)
30 October 2003 (D.C.P.S.)
28 May 2004 (D.C.P.C.)
15 December 2005 (D.C.F.S.)
14 February 2008 (D.C. the Origin)
TV anime
Director Nagisa Miyazaki
Studio Zexcs
Network Chiba TV, Kids Station, TV Kanagawa, Sun TV, TV Aichi, KBS Kyoto, TV Saitama
Original run 11 July 2003 – 27 December 2003
Episodes 26
TV anime:
D.C.S.S.: Da Capo Second Season
Director Masanori Nayoshi
Studio Feel
Network Chiba TV, KIDS STATION, TV Kanagawa, Sun TV, TV Aichi, KBS Kyoto, TV Saitama
Original run 2 July 2005 – 24 December 2005
Episodes 26
Manga
Author Circus (story), Natsuki Tanihara (art)
Publisher Kadokawa Shoten
Demographic Seinen
Magazine Comptiq
Original run January 10, 2003 – March 10, 2004
Volumes 2
Manga:
D.C.S.G.: Da Capo Second Graduation
Author Circus (story), Cherish (art)
Publisher Kadokawa Shoten
Demographic Seinen
Magazine Comptiq
Original run July 10, 2004 – June 10, 2006
Volumes 3
Game sequel

D.C.: Da Capo (D.C. ～ダ・カーポ～ D.C. ~Da Kāpo~?) is an adult Japanese visual novel by Circus, which was released on June 28, 2002 playable on the PC as a CD-ROM; a DVD-ROM version followed in July 26 in the same year. Beginning with a series of prelude short scenarios in the Suika fandisk Archimedes no Wasuremono, Da Capo was the first actual title of the series of released by Circus, and started the media franchise of the same name. Circus is described the title as a "ticklish school romance adventure" (こそばゆい学園恋愛アドベンチャー Kosobayui Ren'ai Adobencha-?). A sequel set 53 years after the end of Da Capo, D.C. II: Da Capo II, was released on May 26, 2006 and features a new cast of characters two generations after the original.

The series is set on a fictional island in modern Japan, Hatsunejima (初音島?), where the sakura trees are always in full blossom. Da Capo is a musical term meaning "from the beginning ", and the game was such named with parts of the storyline going into loop before approaching the "true" end.

The original game enjoyed a port to the PlayStation 2, D.C. Plus Situation, on October 30, 2003 with additional characters and scenarios following the airing of the anime earlier in the same year. The additional material was then used in a renewal of the game, D.C. Plus Communication, released on May 28, 2004. PC fan discs D.C. White Season and D.C. Summer Vacation were released in December 12, 2002 and August 27, 2004 respectively. There were also two series of manga, the second titled D.C. Second Graduation and later sparking the second season of the anime.

Contents

[edit] Plot

[edit] Story summaries

[edit] Game D.C.: Da Capo

The original game centres around the period before Jun'ichi Asakura graduates from the affiliated section and enters the high school section of the Kazami Academy (風見学園 Kazami Gakuen?) where Sakura Yoshino returns to the island after moving to America several years ago. Most of the main stories revolve around the magical unwilting sakura tree (枯れない桜 Karenai Sakura?) and its powers.

[edit] Anime D.C.: Da Capo

The anime D.C. series follows through several events from the game starting from Sakura's return to Hatsunejima, finally centering around also the relationship between her, Nemu and Jun'ichi, a love triangle built since when they were young.

Towards the end Sakura later discovers that the magical sakura tree that granted the wishes of the people on the island has caused Nemu to fall ill due to her jealousy, and resolves to wilt it. The ending of the anime does not specifically follow any of the game's endings, but takes towards Jun'ichi choosing Nemu.

[edit] D.C.: Da Capo Side Episodes

Thirteen short Side Episodes were aired along with the anime episodes 8 to 14 and 16 to 21. Some of the episodes were strictly comedy or drama with no continuity with the main series or other Side Episodes, but other episodes trace the story of an anthropomorphic black cat person that the girls call "Mr. Mysterious (不思議さん Fushigi-san?)" (at Sakura's suggestion). Fushigi-san had once lived on Hatsunejima in his junior high school days, and knew members of the Yoshino and Shirakawa families who strongly resembled Sakura and Kotori. In the time of D.C., Moe, Sakura, and Kotori see the elusive Fushigi-san during their free time.

The young Yoshino girl in the flashback was voiced by Haruko Momoi. Her remark about the Sagisawa family purchasing the first color television on the island indicates that the time of the flashback sequence in the 11th Side Episode was after 1960, when NHK broadcast the first color Japanese television program. Her quote of Neil Armstrong places the exact year close to 1969, the year of the famous Apollo 11 moon landing.

[edit] D.C.S.S.: Da Capo Second Season

The D.C.S.S. anime, set two years after the events of the original, is centered around Aisia, a magician girl like Sakura. The series starts with her adventures with the cast as well as D.C.P.S. characters introduced into the second season. Nemu, having left the island to attend a nursing school, returning early in the series as an apprentice student nurse in Kazami Academy. Sakura, having left for America again, returns towards the end of the series, starting the major conflict in the second season.

Aisia has an idealistic and carefree use of magic taught to her by her grandmother, and believed that it could bring happiness to people. Sakura however, after the events of the original series, understood that magic could not bring happiness to everyone. Aisia manages to revive the magical sakura tree in order to grant the desires of all the girls who felt affection for Jun'ichi, but discovers that the tree has no compunction against hurting anyone to grant this wish, and magic cannot bring true happiness to all people. She finally arrives at the same conclusion that Sakura did two years ago and wilts the tree once more. She later reappears, years later, at Nemu and Junichi's wedding, where Junichi shows that no-one forgot her, by saying her names, in which she then jumps into his arms saying "Junichi!"

[edit] Characters

[edit] Da Capo

Characters in the original game.

Jun'ichi Asakura (朝倉純一 Asakura Jun'ichi?)
While loathing trouble and bother, he seldom turns his back on someone in need. He can create wagashi with magic as taught to him by him and Sakura's grandmother. He is one of the two returning characters in D.C. II: Da Capo II. Otome and Yume from D.C. II: Da Capo II are his granddaughters with Nemu. Jun'ichi's hair was light brown in the first season and black in the second and as well as the original game. He is unvoiced in all game releases of the except for the DVD-PGs. His first name is customisable in the original game.
CV: Jun Fukuyama (Drama CD), Mamiko Noto (Young Jun'ichi, Drama CD), Yuuki Tai (anime), Reiko Takagi (Young Jun'ichi, anime)
Nemu Asakura (朝倉音夢 Asakura Nemu?)
Nemu is Jun'ichi's adopted sister. She wears a bell as an accessory, given to her by Jun'ichi when they were young. When her mood turns sour, she becomes excessively polite and antisocial, a condition that Jun'ichi calls "hidden Nemu (裏音夢? Ura Nemu)". Her cooking is described as lethal, to the point that Jun'ichi quietly calls her the "Murderous Chef (殺人シェフ Satsujin SHEFU?)". Her ending is considered to be the canon one, leading to Second Season and D.C. II: Da Capo II. Absent at the start of Da Capo Second Season, she reappears in episode 6 as an apprentice school nurse. Otome and Yume from D.C. II are her granddaughters with Jun'ichi.She has a penpal named "lovely burning",whose real name is Sayaka Shirakawa.
CV: Kanon Torii (PC), Sakura Nogawa (anime/P.S.), Oto Agumi (Circusland I/ D.C.P.K)
Kotori Shirakawa (白河ことり Shirakawa Kotori?)
Kotori is the school's idol. Through the power of the magical sakura tree, she can hear other people's thoughts, but she carefully hides this ability. She became close to Jun'ichi because he was the only one in the male student body that did not try to idolize her. In the anime's first season, she is Sakura's classmate. She is also the younger sister of Koyomi Shirakawa, Jun'ichi's homeroom teacher. In the game it was mentioned that she was adopted into the Shirakawa family, and is the cousin of Shirakawa Sayaka from Suika. She is usually the cutest of them all because of all the detail the artists use.
CV: Yura Hinata (PC), Yui Horie (anime/P.S.)
Sakura Yoshino (芳乃さくら Yoshino Sakura?)
Jun'ichi's elder cousin. She is a very lively girl who, much to Nemu's dismay, shows great affection towards Junichi. She is sometimes seen with Utamaru and understands what it says. While older than than Jun'ichi, she addresses him as onii-chan (お兄ちゃん?), hoping that Jun'ichi would act like an elder brother to protect her. While sporting a great love for Japanese culture, she appears to be more of the mistaken foreigner. While having an IQ of 180, she is inept with kanji. She inherited her grandmother's magical ability. Despite the passing of several years, her appearance remains unchanged from what Jun'ichi and Nemu remember when she first left for America, which was explained as such that she will always be as Jun'ichi remembers. She reappears in Episode 18 of Da Capo Second Season. She is one of the two returning characters in D.C. II: Da Capo II.
CV: Minami Hokuto (PC), Yukari Tamura (anime/P.S.)
Moe Mizukoshi (水越萌 Mizukoshi Moe?)
Moe is a gentle girl who is often seen throughout the series sitting on the roof at lunchtime cooking and eating Japanese steamboat dishes with her younger sister Mako and is very knowledgeable about them. She is very polite but can be dim-witted at times, and can fall asleep anywhere at any time, even when she's walking. In the game this was explained to be due to her constantly takes sleeping pills so that she can keep dreaming to meet a boy she liked but died in a traffic accident long ago through the powers of the magical sakura tree. She is often seen carrying a small xylophone.
CV: Himawari Natsuno (PC), Yui Itsuki (anime/P.S.)
Mako Mizukoshi (水越眞子 Mizukoshi Mako?)
Mako is a close friend of Nemu and is often concerned about her. She can be angered easily. She is often found quarreling with Suginami as he teases her. During lunch, she can often be found on the rooftop with her sister Moe enjoying nabe. She plays the soprano flute for the music club. She and her sister Moe are daughters of the hospital director, and they have a younger brother (seen only once in the anime).
CV: Minami Nagasaki (PC), Yuki Matsuoka (anime/P.S.)
Miharu Amakase (天枷美春 Amakase Miharu?)
Miharu is a childhood friend of Nemu and Jun'ichi after Sakura left, being one year younger than them. She is deeply affectionate towards bananas, especially eating them. She adores Nemu, and behaves much like a little puppy around her - in fact, her nickname is Puppy (わんこ? Wanko). In the original game and first season of the anime, an android patterned after her was put in place after an accident rendered her unconscious. Having no experience of the real world beyond certain memories copied from the real Miharu, Jun'ichi was tasked by Koyomi to look after her. Like the real Miharu her enthusiasm often overrules her common sense, and Jun'ichi often has to get her out of sight when her circuits start to overload. At the end of the game and the first season her life expectancy runs out and stops functioning, spending her last moments with Jun'ichi.
CV: Hiyori Haruno (original/W.S.), Rumiko Sasa (after D.C.P.C.), Akemi Kanda (anime/P.S.)
Misaki/Yoriko Sagisawa (鷺澤美咲/頼子 Sagisawa Misaki/Yoriko?)
Misaki is a young girl who stays at home, looking out at the world through her room window, and Yoriko is her cat. In the game, the magical sakura tree granted her wish, and she possessed Yoriko's body, which transformed into a copy of her original body, but with cat ears. In the anime, Yoriko jumps out of Misaki's window to see the world in her place, and was transformed into a maid resembling Misaki with cat ears. Yoriko has a fear of people after an incident with some children, and her events detail her settling in as a maid as well as slowly venturing into the outside world. Reappearing in Second Season from episode 9, Misaki appears in the park every noon and often offers Aisia advice.
CV: Junko Kusayanagi (PC), Miyu Matsuki (anime/P.S.)
Suginami (杉並?)
Suginami is Jun'ichi and Nemu's classmate and the school troublemaker. Although he is an excellent athlete, a top student, and good-looking, his eccentric personality causes most people to keep their distance from him. He enjoys teasing Mako and dragging Jun'ichi into various situations.
CV: Shin Azuma (PC), Daisuke Kishio (anime/P.S.)
Kanako Saeki "Mikkun" (佐伯加奈子 (みっくん)?) and Tomoko Morikawa "Tomo-chan" (森川智子 (ともちゃん)?)
Mikkun (nicknamed after her brother Mikihiko(幹彦) as she feels affection towards him) and Tomo-chan are Kotori's best friends, and are commonly known as "Kotori's advisors". Their faces are mostly hidden from view in the first season of the anime, but the Second Season displays their faces completely. Mikkun wears glasses in the first season, but does not in the second. Together with Kotori, they form a band with Kotori on vocals, Mikkun on piano, and Tomo-chan on guitar.
Mikkun
CV: Minami Hokuto (PC), Ryoko Shiraishi (anime/P.S.)
Tomo-chan
CV: Rino Suzuki (PC), Kanako Hattori (anime/P.S.)
Koyomi Shirakawa (白河暦 Shirakawa Koyomi?)
Koyomi is Jun'ichi's homeroom teacher, one of the faculty's science teachers, and Kotori's older sister. She is also a researcher at the Amakase Laboratory, and in charge of the Miharu android. In the Second Season, she is a new mother, and her strict composure rapidly crumbles when she talks about her baby.
CV: Komugi Nishida (PC), Naoko Matsui (anime/P.S.)
Utamaru (うたまる?)
Supposedly a cat. Her appearance is rather unusual, and he often moves by hopping rather than crawling. Sakura claims that she does not own Utamaru.
CV: Hiyori Haruno (original/W.S.), Rumiko Sasa (D.C.P.C. onwards), Haruko Momoi (anime/P.S.)
Grandma (芳乃のばあちゃん Sakura no Baa-chan?)
Jun’ichi and Sakura's grandmother. Half Japanese, half British. She was said to have looked young until she was about a hundred years old. She passed away 7 years before the storyline of the original, but often appears in Jun'ichi's dreams during Nemu's and Sakura's paths in the game. Also, the magical sakura tree started blooming all year round since her death.
CV: Minami Hokuto (PC), Miyuki Ono (anime/P.S.)

[edit] Since Plus Situation

Characters added since D.C. Plus Situation on the PS2.

Tamaki Konomiya (胡ノ宮環 Konomiya Tamaki?)
A miko at the local Shinto shrine. She inherited her mother's ability to see into the future. She first appears in Jun'ichi's class in D.C.P.S. as a transfer student, declaring him to be her fiancee. In D.C.P.S. and the anime's Second Season, she uses her archery skills to prevent people from getting hurt in foreseen accidents.
CV: Yumiko Sawamura (P.C. onwards), Nami Kurokawa (P.S./S.S.)
Kanae Kudou (工藤叶 Kudõ Kanae?)
Part of a trio with Jun'ichi and Suginami, and a good friend of Kotori. While being a girl, she keeps up a male appearance to attend school under her grandmother's instructions. Only Kotori and several teachers including Koyomi know of her true gender. She is always absent during physical checkups to prevent her gender being found out. In Second Season she was never explicitly depicted as female and only appeared as a male classmate of Jun'ichi, but it was hinted during certain events in the series. Originally only mentioned by last name in the first game as a sub-character with no dialogue.
CV: Ayumi Kashima (P.C. onwards), Miyuki Sawashiro (P.S./S.S.)
Izumiko Murasaki (紫和泉子 Murasaki Izumiko?)
Izumiko is an alien dressed in a pink bear suit which is actually a protective suit. While appearing by projection to most people as a "beautiful, slender girl with long black hair", Jun'ichi could never see this image and only sees her in a pink bear suit. Stranded on earth about 820 light years from home, she works part time (amusingly, as a pink bear mascot) to support herself. Her name is actually only an alias, based on the names of the Japanese poets Murasaki Shikibu and Izumi Shikibu, and her real name is not known. Izumiko has no dialogue in either anime series but occasionally appears as a passer-by.
CV: Kappa Mizuno (P.C. onwards), Natsuko Kuwatani (P.S.), Aya Tachibana (Circusland I/D.C.P.K.)
Nanako Saitama (彩珠ななこ Saitama Nanako?)
Classmate of Jun'ichi, Nanako is a young shōjo manga artist with a serialisation published on a weekly shōjo manga magazine under the pen name of Ayako Tamagawa. She has trauma with goats as her drafts drawn overnight get eaten up by Bridge Yagi, a goat introduced since D.C.P.S..
CV: Midori Chiba (P.C. onwards), Masumi Asano (P.S./S.S.)
Alice Tsukishiro (月城アリス Tsukishiro Alice?)
Alice is a half Japanese, half northern-European. Having lost her parents at an early age, she lives with her butler, Seba, and several other helpers in a mansion on Hatsunejima. Incapable of speaking for herself or presenting her feelings, she communicates with others through her puppet Philos (ピロス Pirosu?) (Philos(φίλος) is a Greek word meaning that which is important, beloved. Pilos gets the ability to speak for Alice through the power of the magical sakura tree). In D.C.S.S. Philos is no longer seen, and Alice is able to speak with others by herself. Having spent time in a circus she has exceptional reflexes, but she is unable to swim. She is also good friends with Miharu who is in the same class as her, and Aisia who has came from the same region as she did.
CV: Pirosu (P.C. onwards), Emiko Hagiwara (P.S.//S.S.)
Kasumi Kiryuu (霧羽香澄 Kiryũ Kasumi?)
A mysterious girl who only appears for one night in the game, forced by Suginami to go ghost-hunting with Jun'ichi in Kazami Academy. Like Mako she is a tomboy and also easily frightened. She is looking for the spirit of her younger sister Asumi who supposedly died in a traffic accident. In actual fact, she is the one who had died in said accident, and finally departs this world after being told so by Asumi. She appears in D.C.F.S. as a sub-character.
CV: Aoi Kamitsuki (P.C.), Yumi Kakazu (P.S./F.S.)
Asumi Kiryuu (霧羽明日美 Kiryũ Asumi?)
Kasumi's younger sister and much unlike her, Asumi is a gentle and quiet girl, and attends school in mainland Japan. Born with heart problems, she received a heart transplant from Kasumi when she died in a traffic accident, and has lived healthily since. After hearing of rumours of a the ghost of a female student in Kazami Academy, she goes to Hatsunejima to see if it was related to her elder sister.
CV: Aoi Kamitsuki (P.C.), Misato Fukuen (P.S./F.S.)
Seba (瀬場?)
Butler of the Tsukishiro family, he takes care of Alice. Suginami calls him Sebastian, and is one of the few character he respects hearing that Seba was once in the special forces.
CV: Tooru Sakura (P.C. onwards), Shigenori Souya (P.S./S.S.)

[edit] Others

Mostly characters who only appeared in the anime.

Tomoya Mizukoshi (水越智也 Mizukoshi Tomoya?)
Moe and Mako's younger brother. He is only mentioned in the game, and only appears once in the anime.
CV: Megumi Kubota (anime)
Aisia (アイシア?)
Aisia appears in the D.C.S.G. manga and the D.C.S.S. anime. A similar character called the "Mysterious young girl (謎の少女 Nazo no shōjo?) appears in D.C.F.S., with similar features and the same seiyũ as In D.C.S.S., Aisia came to Hatsunejima to study magic with Sakura's grandmother, with her hopes crushed upon hearing that she has already passed away. Although she has knowledge of how to use magic, her control of her capabilities and her judgment are, at best, erratic. She firmly believes that magic can and should be used for the good of all, something her own grandmother always practiced. Her presence and antics were mentioned in D.C.II, making D.C.S.G./S.S. part of the official timeline. She also appears as a character in D.C.II.P.S.
CV: Ui Miyazaki (S.S./F.S./D.C.II.P.S)
Akishima (昭島?)
The school physician in D.C.S.S., he was an instructor at the nursing school which Nemu attended. He was responsible for the return of Nemu as the apprentice school nurse. While being part of the cause, he played a major advisory role for Jun'ichi when he was squabbling with Nemu. His sister started the rumors of Sakura's return in episode 18 of S.S. as she also had blonde twintails.
CV: Tooru Furusato (S.S.)

[edit] Media

[edit] Visual novels

  • D.C.: Da Capo (D.C.～ダ・カーポ～?) (PC, Windows) June 28, 2002
  • D.C. White Season: Da Capo White Season (D.C.White Season～ダ・カーポ　ホワイトシーズン～?) (PC, Windows) December 13, 2002
  • D.C.P.S.: Da Capo Plus Situation (D.C.P.S.～ダ・カーポ プラスシチュエーション～?) (PlayStation 2) October 30, 2003
  • D.C.P.C.: Da Capo Plus Communication (D.C.P.C. ～ダ・カーポ～ プラスコミュニケーション?) (PC, Windows) May 28, 2004
  • D.C. Summer Vacation: Da Capo Summer Vacation (D.C.Summer Vacation～ダ・カーポ サマーバケーション～?) (PC, Windows) August 27, 2004
  • D.C. Four Seasons: Da Capo Four Seasons (D.C.Four Seasons ～ダ・カーポ～ フォーシーズンズ?) (PlayStation 2) December 15, 2005
  • D.C. II: Da Capo II (D.C.II ～ダ・カーポII～?) (PC, Windows) May 26, 2006
  • D.C.: Da Capo the Origin (D.C.～ダ・カーポ～ ジ オリジン～?) (PlayStation 2) February 14, 2008

[edit] Manga

  • D.C.: Da Capo
  • D.C.S.G.: Da Capo Second Graduation
  • Numerous comic anthologies/character stories

[edit] Anime

Both seasons of Da Capo start as light comedy harems but slowly develop into intense dramas.

See also: List of D.C.: Da Capo episodes
  • D.C.: Da Capo: a twenty-six-episode series that began airing July 25, 2003. The main story of the initial episodes only last about 18 minutes, first seven episodes aired with promotional videos of the seven major girls' character songs, episode 8-14 and 16-21 were aired with side episodes. Episode twenty-two onwards were aired in full length (about twenty-four minutes)
    Opening theme
    1. Sakura Saku Mirai Koi Yume (サクラサクミライコイユメ?) (Love dream of the future where the Sakura blooms) by yozuca* (ep 2-25; ep 1, 26 ED)
    Ending theme
    1. Mirai e no Melody (未来へのMelody?) (Meldoy to the future) by CooRie (ep 2-7,9-14,16-20)
    2. Utamaru Ekaki Uta (うたまるえかき唄?) (Utamaru drawing song) by Haruko Momoi (ep 8,15)
    3. Sonzai (存在?) (Existence) by CooRie (ep 21-25; ep 26 OP)
  • D.C.S.S.: Da Capo Second Season: a twenty-six-episode series that began airing July 2, 2005.
    Opening theme
    1. Sakurairo no Kisetsu (サクライロノキセツ?) (The Cherry Blossom-coloured Season) by yozuca* (ep 1-26, ep 1 OP is off vocal)
    Ending Theme
    1. Akatsuki ni Saku Uta (暁に咲く詩?) (The Verse Blooming in Dawn) by CooRie (ep 1-23, 26)
    2. Kioku Love Letter- (記憶ラブレター?) (Remembrance Love Letter) by CooRie (ep 24-25)

[edit] External links