D.C. III ~Da Capo III~ (Game)

[relentlessflame]

D.C. III ~Da Capo III~ (http://circus.nandemo.gr.jp/sakuhin/dc3/)
Sequel to D.C. ~Da Capo~ (http://circus.nandemo.gr.jp/product/dc/index.html) and related to D.C. II ~Da Capo II~ (http://circus.nandemo.gr.jp/product/dc2/index.html)
Produced by: Circus (http://circus.nandemo.gr.jp/)
Type: Visual Novel
Genre: School romantic drama/adventure
Scheduled Release Date: 27 April 2012

Story Premise:
This appears to take place again two generations after the original Da Capo, and is speculated to be an alternate sequel based on Sakura's ending in the first game. When the sakura trees suddenly go in full bloom out of season, the journalism club at Kazami Gakuen discover a strange message from the distant past: "When the sakura trees bloom... at that promised place..." Led by the energetic school idol Rikka Morizono, the journalism club is compelled to investigate.


This is a thread to discuss expectations and other thoughts related to this game (as well as the actual contents once it's released).

[hyl]

Atleast we are getting somewhat a sequel, unlike all the fandiscs that were made in the last few years. But it's a sequel to the first one, but whatever. Atleast it's something new rather than the back and side stories of the characters of the 2nd game series.
I have read a half page article about D.C.III in the november issue of Comptiq, but there was hardly any usefull info in it.
And I have some mixed feelings about the new character designs, it's kinda refreshing to see something new but i liked the designs of D,C.II better. The new characters look much younger than the heroines from the previous games (there are exceptions, but i meant the overall look)

ediT: forgot to mention in the issue of comptiq there was a poster of Hinamoto Aoi in gymclothes and on the back of the poster a small manga about her. Also on the poster it said Heroine's profile #2, eventhough i am not sure if they meant if she is considered to be the 2nd main heroine or the 2nd revealed heroine.

[Flying Dagger]

How many sisters do we get to sleep with this game? :D

[Hooves]

Exactly my thought Flying Dagger! It isn't a D.C. visual novel if we don't get another sister to sleep with :heh:

[hyl]

The MC seems to be a cousin of Charles ? (シャルル, odd name for a girl) and he has some kind of brother sister relation with his childhood friend katsuragi himeno (that nemu look a like)according to the bio's on the page. So i don't think there are sisters in this game.

edit: charles or whatever she is called is that white haired girl

edit : i think that Morizono Rikka and Katsuragi Himeno are most likely the 2 primary heroines

more edits: i am pretty sure that the new Suginami will be voiced by the same seiyuu again who voiced all of the Suginami's so far: Kishio Daisuke or whatever pseudonym that he is using in eroge.

[DragoonKain3]

Lol, you would think that the Sakura look alike would be related to Sakura. But no, it's the white haired chick. WTF? XD

[Flying Dagger]

Took at peek at the character page.
Since where was 1 in DC1, 2 in DC2, I expected 3 in DC3 (1 older, 1 twin, 1 younger!)...
The ??? should have red hair...

[Mahou]

What I hope for: (1) A better main lead than DC2's Yoshiyuki. I am honest and say that he made me /facepalm maybe more than a male lead normally should. I had not real problems with Junichi, though. (2) Not another fiasco like DC2's Koko's route.

Anyway, I am waiting for another Shirakawa girl (with or without their "family" magic ability) to appear in Da Capo 3 :p. So far I like Rikka and Charle's character art. Himeko looks like Nemu and Yume, if not a bit younger. The younger-impression could also be just my bad memory as usual :heh:

[relentlessflame]

ediT: forgot to mention in the issue of comptiq there was a poster of Hinamoto Aoi in gymclothes and on the back of the poster a small manga about her. Also on the poster it said Heroine's profile #2, eventhough i am not sure if they meant if she is considered to be the 2nd main heroine or the 2nd revealed heroine.This is just a series of features running in Comptiq (there is a similar feature running in Dengeki G's). Every month they feature a different heroine, presumably leading up to the release of the game.


Speaking of magazine revelations, this month's Dengeki G's revealed that Minatsu will be making a re-appearance. In Dengeki Hime, there's also a silhouette of Yuzu, and one other character that I should be able to recognize but I don't.

Anyway, I am waiting for another Shirakawa girl (with or without their "family" magic ability) to appear in Da Capo 3 :p. There's a character, Mikoto, being designed with user-input in Dengeki G's, and though they haven't given a last name, she looks a lot like she might be a Shirakawa (or related). We'll see...


Took at peek at the character page.
Since where was 1 in DC1, 2 in DC2, I expected 3 in DC3 (1 older, 1 twin, 1 younger!)...
The ??? should have red hair...The ??? is the protagonist (Kiyotaka Yoshino). And in a way there are "sort of" three siblings, but none of them are actual siblings. Charles is a cousin ("like an older sister"), Himeno is a childhood friend (so they're "like siblings"), and Aoi is a single child who always wanted a brother so starts calling the protagonist Onii-chan. So it kind of is one older, one the same age, and one younger, just that in this case none of them are actually siblings at all.

[blitz1/2]

I wonder if Charles is actually a child from an alternate future where Junichi/Yoshiyuki got with Aisia (from the similar look between the girls)

[relentlessflame]

I wonder if Charles is actually a child from an alternate future where Junichi/Yoshiyuki got with Aisia (from the similar look between the girls)Actually, almost guaranteed to be on the right track here. You'll note in her character profile:

「ねえねえ、タカくん、知ってた？　いとこ同士って結婚できるんだって！　よ～し、がんばるぞ ～」

That last line, "yoossh, ganbaruzo~!" is Aisia's catchphrase.

(The full translation is basically "Hey hey, Taka-kun, did you hear? They say cousins can get married! All right... I'll give it my all!")

Barring "alternate future" explanations, I don't think she can be related either through Junichi or Yoshiyuki, but if Junichi and Sakura had a son and he married Aisia, this could be their daughter. That would also explain how she's cousins to the protagonist.

[Balzac]

So how does this connect to the first Da Capo? Like is the protagonist another son of Sakura/Junichi or something? This is the first time I've heard of a true "sequel" in the works.

[relentlessflame]

So how does this connect to the first Da Capo? Like is the protagonist another son of Sakura/Junichi or something? This is the first time I've heard of a true "sequel" in the works.I sort of alluded to it in the original post, but it's an "alternate reality" to D.C. II, where instead of Junichi having chosen Nemu (back in the original D.C. timeframe), Junichi instead chose Sakura. So as a result, a number of things have changed, including of course the main characters (Otome and Yume don't exist in this dimension since they're descendants of Nemu & Junichi, neither does Yoshiyuki for spoiler story reasons, but instead we have Kiyotaka and Charles Yoshino, presumed descendants of Sakura & Junichi). I don't know if the exact year will be the same as D.C. II or slightly different, but the overall timeframe should be the same (i.e. two generations or about 50 years after the original D.C.).


Edit: NOTE that this was written based on preliminary information before the game's release, and thus contains some speculation that was later proven incomplete/inaccurate.

[Flying Dagger]

urg... I don't like Sakura that much... I felt like she is a spoiled brat that just wouldn't "grow up".
I want Oto-nee back :(

[Balzac]

I sort of alluded to it in the original post, but it's an "alternate reality" to D.C. II, where instead of Junichi having chosen Nemu (back in the original D.C. timeframe), Junichi instead chose Sakura. So as a result, a number of things have changed, including of course the main characters (Otome and Yume don't exist in this dimension since they're descendants of Nemu & Junichi, neither does Yoshiyuki for spoiler story reasons, but instead we have Kiyotaka and Charles Yoshino, presumed descendants of Sakura & Junichi). I don't know if the exact year will be the same as D.C. II or slightly different, but the overall timeframe should be the same (i.e. two generations or about 50 years after the original D.C.).

Thank you, at least the timeline bit was cleared up, since if the protagonist was a direct son, then it would be a generation earlier than D.C. II. Have there been news of previous character cameos, i.e. Sakura in D.C.II?

Well, it'll be interesting to see Circus sprinkle many "bishoujos" throughout the game so that even if some of them won't be heroines the first round, there'll still be a Plus Communication for fans to look forward to.

[relentlessflame]

Have there been news of previous character cameos, i.e. Sakura in D.C.II?A few posts up here I mentioned a few of the folk from D.C. II that'll reappear: Suginami (of course), Minatsu, Yuzu, and one other character I can't recognize yet. I don't think they've said yet about any D.C. era characters that will re-appear (like Junichi, Sakura, etc.)... we'll see.

[Balzac]

Minatsu being there means her guardian, whose name now escapes me, should also be there, unless they changed it up in "this timeline".

And it makes sense; there has to be some sort of robot shenanigans for a Da Capo. As with Suginami, that damn sakura tree, powers that come with aforementioned tree and incest.

[DragoonKain3]

And it makes sense; there has to be some sort of robot shenanigans for a Da Capo. As with Suginami, that damn sakura tree, powers that come with aforementioned tree and incest.

So where's my 'fake' sister? Or are they turning this around and making Rikka the 'real' sister who's separated from birth? XD

[Mahou]

A fun option on the homepage is that when you move the mouse over the characters image you will see a section on what the other character's think of that person :D.

For example, everyone's opinion about Kiyotaka:

Rikka: Frankly, He's the man whom destiny united me with from a past life. When I first saw him I thought "Ah, it's him!"
Charles: I will live from now on al~ways together with Taka-kun ~. Can't I?
Himeno: Recently, I think he's been surrounded by Rikka-san and Charles-san and too deredere around them. Not that it matters to me ...
Sara: You can basically rely on him, but he has also many unpleasant traits.
Aoi: My dream brother! Ah, but, but maybe I'm glad that he's not my real brother.

[cyberdemon]

D.C. III ~Da Capo III~ (http://circus.nandemo.gr.jp/sakuhin/dc3/)
Sequel to D.C. ~Da Capo~ (http://circus.nandemo.gr.jp/product/dc/index.html) and related to D.C. II ~Da Capo II~ (http://circus.nandemo.gr.jp/product/dc2/index.html)
Produced by: Circus (http://circus.nandemo.gr.jp/)
Type: 18+ Visual Novel
Genre: School romantic drama/adventure
Scheduled Release Date: 27 April 2012

Story Premise:
This is an alternate sequel to the original Da Capo based on Sakura's ending. When the sakura trees suddenly go in full bloom out of season, the journalism club at Kazami Gakuen discover a strange message from the distant past: "When the sakura trees bloom... at that promised place..." Led by the energetic school idol Rikka Morizono, the journalism club is compelled to investigate.


This is a thread to discuss expectations and other thoughts related to this game (as well as the actual contents once it's released).

from what i understand it it only speculation that it is based on Sakura's ending. there isn't any concrete proof.

[relentlessflame]

from what i understand it it only speculation that it is based on Sakura's ending. there isn't any concrete proof.Well, I'm not sure what all has been stated officially or not (I will update the main post to indicate that it's speculation), but the evidence is rather strong that there is a connection:

We know the timeframe is the same as D.C. II due to recurring characters (like Yuzu, who is human)
The protagonist's last name is Yoshino (and there are no other known Yoshinos in the D.C. universe)
The protagonist's cousin is also a Yoshino (though she seems to be somehow tied/related to Aisia)

Whether it's based on Sakura's ending or not, they seem to be an extension of Sakura's lineage. We at least know from Nemu's ending aftermath (shown in D.C. II) that she didn't end up with anyone else. It's possible that it may not be based on Sakura's ending as shown in the original D.C., but it seems like it has to be somehow connected.

Now, of interest is what Mahou posted before about Rikka, who looks a lot like Sakura to start with and has the same hair-piece as Sakura, whose favourite food is "Wagashi" (sound familiar?), and talks about Kiyotaka being someone reunited with her after a past life. So there's an obvious connection between Sakura and Rikka (or perhaps, given the timing of the message they received from the past, the connection is actually with Sakura's grandmother).

I can only assume that this story will too be another piece of the on-going puzzle revolving around Sakura and the never-withering sakura tree, that'll probably eventually be concluded in D.C. Zero.


Edit: Okay, if we want to go for wildball theories... it's possible (but incredibly unlikely) that it could be an extension of Yoshiyuki x Aisia if they somehow went back in time, which suffice it to say is a hugely improbable plot development.

[Mahou]

Now, of interest is what Mahou posted before about Rikka, who looks a lot like Sakura to start with and has the same hair-piece as Sakura, whose favourite food is "Wagashi" (sound familiar?), and talks about Kiyotaka being someone reunited with her after a past life. So there's an obvious connection between Sakura and Rikka (or perhaps, given the timing of the message they received from the past, the connection is actually with Sakura's grandmother).


On her profile page this train of tought about the fated person is also mentioned.
"清隆に一目惚れをしたのか「キミとは前世で恋人同士だった、言ってしまえば運命の人なのよ」なんてちょっと 不思議（？）なアプローチをしてきたり" -> She fell in love at first sight with Kiyotaka and approached him a bit strangely/mysteriously(?) with "You were my lover/We were lovers in my past life, my destined person so to speak."
Based on my general impressions, this seems to become the main point of her route. It just sounds like a romance-drama development once there's even the slightest hint of Kiyotaka to remember something.

[relentlessflame]

So, yesterday they obviously had the big product announcement for D.C. III where they revealed the cast, release date, and a bunch of other information. Most of it reiterates things that had already been rumoured/leaked, such as the end-April release date and the fact it'll be all-ages (which I guess may be a bad thing to some, but for a series like D.C. I don't think really matters). They had guest appearance from a number of big names from other companies like Visual Arts and Nitroplus, and discussed how game was developed on a new engine (called Unity) that was designed to be deploy-able on multiple platforms, including Android/iOS smartphones and on the Web (including the "D.C. Cloud" :heh: ). It goes without saying that yozuca* and rino (from CooRie) are back for vocal songs, and they got Haruko Momoi to write character songs. All the main staff are the team returning from D.C. II, including the formerly-"retired" tororo-danchou as producer, as we already knew.

One interesting note regarding the conversation we were having before... The voice actor for Charles Yoshino will be Ui Miyazaki, who you might recognize as the anime voice actress for... Aisia. I think the connection is confirmed. :heh:

Also, the other recurring character (announced so far) who will appear in the game is Yuuhi Takanashi, Mahiru's younger sister (from D.C. II F.L.), along with the already-mentioned Yuzu Kohinata (who looks at least 8-10 years older here... is this set in alternate ~2065?), and of course Minatsu. They still haven't revealed the last name for Mikoto, though confirmed the character design that was decided by readers of Dengeki G's.

ANN has a small write-up (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2011-11-18/d.c.iii-da-capo-iii-cast-release-date-announced) with the casting and some other basic information. There's also a Japanese write-up here (http://0taku.livedoor.biz/archives/4016997.html).

[hyl]

"In addition, Daisuke Kishio will return as Suginami. "

Ha, i knew it

more edits: i am pretty sure that the new Suginami will be voiced by the same seiyuu again who voiced all of the Suginami's so far: Kishio Daisuke or whatever pseudonym that he is using in eroge.

[Hooves]

First trailer on Youtube :D (Courtesy of Omochikaeri~!)

nunKRgFD9nU

[KBTKaiser]

VAs have been announced for this and they're not bothering with psuedonyms this time around, apparently.

[Khu]

Why would they? It's all ages, lol.

(which makes me slightly disappointed, but meh.)

[Revan21]

The ero scenes were already pretty meh in D.C.II, so I won't be missing them

Another short commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UALLqHKwiEY)

[Miqu]

I can't help to wonder if the final scene from DC II somehow ties into how Yoshinos show up in the third game. The background in that image and the name Charles made me even more suspicious, theres also the DC III vndb.org page that mentioned a message from 1951.

I havent bothered checking the details but it would make more sense that simply going with the Sakura ending from the first game (more interesting too). Honestly I think it would be a waste not to take advantage of the drama that was revealed at the end of DC II, even if they have to go a roundabout way to do it.

Maybe the story has already been made clear on the DC III homepage and I'm only spouting is nonsense here (been a while since this thread was updated) but meh :p

[relentlessflame]

So, I figured that I'd bump this thread today since a lot has happened since we last had a major update in this thread.

The main thing is that the official website updated shortly after the release of the full trial to reveal the worst-kept secret about the parallel worlds of the game. Ricca Morizono is also known as Ricca Greenwood (http://circus.nandemo.gr.jp/sakuhin/dc3/character/ricca_l.html), and in the alternate world she's a Category 5 magician (only people 5 in the world at that level -- think like Level 5 in Index/Railgun :heh: ). Charles Yoshino is also Charles Marose (http://circus.nandemo.gr.jp/sakuhin/dc3/character/charles_l.html), while Sara's last name in the alternate world is Crysalis (http://circus.nandemo.gr.jp/sakuhin/dc3/character/sara_l.html) (romanization notwithstanding). Interestingly, in the alternate world, there seem to be some discrepancies between the ages of the characters too. They basically tell you in the first few minutes of the game (both the Light Trial and the full trial) that Ricca came from the other dimension to search for Kiyotaka, though of course they don't reveal the reasoning behind it (or where the Ricca from the current dimension was, if she even exists).

The OP movie was also released recently, and it confirms the presence of Sakura in the game... which should surprise precisely no one. :heh:

All this to say there's definitely a sci-fi aspect to the game, and it definitely connects to the rest of the series, which we should expect assuming D.C. Zero is still on the way.

Anyway, will post more impressions as I make it through the full trial, which just arrived in the mail for me today.

Edit: Some comments from the trial:


The year is confirmed as about 2051, which -- if we were in the same universe -- is 4 years before the start of D.C. II. The problem is that, in the D.C. II universe, the sakura tree is revived due to Sakura's interference, but here it appears to have been revived by the collective wish of the cast... unless it happens to be really good timing. I think that Yoshiyuki had been around for more than 4 years prior to the start of D.C. II proper. Also, in this universe, the tree withered 20 years prior, which I don't think happened in the D.C./D.C. II timeline. So I think this world is definitely an alternate universe. Whether the other universe (that Ricca comes from) is on the "true timeline" remains to be seen. Edit: I think I figured it out, and was wrong with this. They just said that the message came from "over 100 years ago", not exactly 100 years ago.
It's hinted at the front-end, but Kiyotaka dreams of the other reality. This could be tied to a magic power as with Junichi and Yoshiyuki, but not sure. At the very least, it helps reveal the plot...
Suginami is always Suginami. :heh: For once he's not in the same class as the protagonist, though; he's "Suginami-Senpai" here. So again, certainly not the same Suginami in D.C.II (but not that I expect continuity with Suginami -- his reach extends beyond time and space... :heh:
ROFL Mikoto. She calls him "Suginami-sama" and is totally like a guard dog.
LOL - they setup a contest between the two newspapers, and Ricca's condition if he loses is that Suginami abandon the newspaper and her paper takes over. Suginami's condition? "Kiyotaka, I want you!" :heh: Kiyotaka like "no way, that's too weird, surely you want one of the totally-attractive girls around me...", but nope. And despite the fact that Kiyotaka is totally grossed-out, Ricca accepts. :heh: (In a way, it's pretty clever of Suginami; he knows exactly what Ricca wants (Kiyotaka) and makes her put it all on the line.)
This scene was in the light trial, but Ricca is actually quite childish all around, but manages to get her way through her popularity and determination. She formed the rival newspaper club simply so she'd have a chance to be together with Kiyotaka since they're in different grades, and managed to recruit all his friends. I guess it's the power of charisma. :heh:
In other news, it's funny to hear the original classroom music from D.C. I still in place in D.C. III. :heh: I wonder if they hired a new composer for III, though, because the style of the new pieces is quite different. But then again, it has been five years, so any composer would certainly have evolved his or her style.
And as expected, the jealousy from the cast is high right out of the gate. Sort of obvious given that they have five girls in the club and just one guy, and of course all the girls love him, so... harem? lol Kiyotaka notices Aoi's poor condition and decides to check if she has a fever using the forehead-to-forehead method (required technique for all D.C. protagonists!), and he does this in front of all the other heroines. Bad move! :heh:
Hahaha - Aoi is surprisingly bold! After the above scene, they're heading home and Kiyotaka is carrying her on his back, and she says that she wants to thank him but doesn't really have anything to offer. "So at least enjoy feeling a woman's softness on your back. I may not look it, but I'm hiding some large breasts." What?! And then later she gets him to carry her to her bed, and asks him to help her change clothes. And she makes him go through with it (though of course we don't see much), though she gets embarrassed half-way through. :heh: Aoi: A force to be reckoned with...
And they continue right away with the fanservice; Kiyotaka gets home and Charles is mad because he never called (the way she pouts is unmistakably Aisia-like, even notwithstanding they have the same voice actress), but later she decides to join him in the bath. Not that I mind the fanservice exactly, but they sure are playing it up considering it's an all-ages game. :heh:
Hmm... so they've expanded the "end of the day" system. In previous games you could choose when to set your alarm clock, but here you have a whole bunch of options: make a phone call (to any of the heroines), talk to Ruru-nee, run an App (which is greyed out), listen to the radio, or sleep. And unfortunately, when that screen appears you loose access to the save option. (Call Ricca on the phone, and she's naked because she just came out of the bath, and you see that through her avatar. More fanservice! :heh: ) It looks like you can complete up to three tasks before it forces you to sleep, but staying up late may have an impact on the next morning.
Incidentally, the save system doesn't seem to have the "icon" feature that it had before, but that may be a limitation of the trial. The icon was somewhat useful for remembering what route a save file was for. The engine also has a small display bug related to the sakura petals too, so perhaps another beta bug.
Hmm... I think I'm starting to get the picture of what's going on here based on Kiyotaka's dreams of the other world. I think that the Hatsunejima reality is the world all the girls wished for, and the other world is the true world. In the other world, Himeno is Kiyotaka's sister, but in Hatsunejima only a childhood friend (translation: they can be lovers). In the other world, Charles meets Kiyotaka when he transfers into their school and is a bit envious of Himeno's relationship with him, so in Hatsunejima she's his cousin (translation: she can get closer to him naturally). I'm guessing the other girls will have similar reasons for wanting the Hatsunejima reality. Perhaps with Aoi it's that she wanted to go to school with Kiyotaka (since in the other reality she seems to only work at the school, but not attend); she also calls him her "ideal older brother". With Ricca (I keep wanting to type Rikka), it seems clear that she wanted to be reunited with him somehow, so she seems to be the key trigger. Not sure about Sara yet.
I really like Sara as an addition to the D.C. cast of character types. I think she's the only one of the five characters that doesn't seem to be directly based off of an existing D.C. I or D.C. II character, though of course she's obviously based on Azusa from K-On so hard to call her totally original.
I suppose it's obvious that Mikoto will have a route in the inevitable D.C. III P.S. She reminds me a bit of a less mature version of Erika; very prideful and tsundere. I think they still haven't revealed her last name.
Ricca's past doesn't seem to be a ruse, at least in her thinking. She clearly says that she loves Kiyotaka, and that in her reality they were lovers, and she's annoyed that he doesn't remember though obviously it's not his fault. Her directness definitely reminds me a lot of Sakura, and that makes sense for her to be one of the top magicians. She wants him to remember their past, which I suppose is what we're seeing in his dreams. So I wonder if she's somehow helping him remember through his dreams? Or...? Hmm... apparently in this world Ricca has a mother though. If she appeared from another dimension, how did that work?
lol - the cellphone ring sounds mighty familiar...
And by the way, it probably goes without saying, but so many problems in D.C. games would be solved if people just remembered to lock their doors. I swear, if you walk in on someone and the door wasn't looked, the fault is at least shared! :heh:
The sakura tree has only been around for a short while, and already we're starting to see accidents. They also researched and found out that accidents occurred the last time the trees were alive. So is this the defective tree, then?
Okay, maybe the timeline is off after all -- it's connected to the "last school chairman" Yoshino Sakura, who disappeared after the first incident, but then reappeared briefly 20 years ago. And neither Kiyotaka nor Charles know her, despite sharing the same last name. It's a name that they all feel they should know (like it rings a bell), though... Kiyotaka feels like he's forgetting something very important. The plot thickens...
And Himeno calls him out all of a sudden for a walk. Does she know something is up...? Yup. Since the tree started blooming, she's had a unusually-realistic dream that she can't forget... a dream of another world where she's Kiyotaka's brother and she's at another school with everyone... and she's half-wondering whether this is the real world or that was. Yup... and Kiyotaka realizes that he's been having some strange dreams as well. The plot's definitely kicking into full gear now. Let me guess: a big revelation, and then trial over? :heh:
Yup, and here it comes. In the dream world, a voice that sounds like Aoi or Sara, I think (but it's distorted, so not clear). It's a scene from the other school. "Kiyotaka-san, please save me... from this never-ending world. Please end it."
But the trial doesn't end quite yet. An even bigger revelation is coming, no doubt.
Ahh... that's who Mikoto reminds me of. She's just like Minatsu.
Sara's smart (she skipped a grade) and came from a prestigious family, but her family wanted her to go to Kazami Gakuen beause, on the day she was born, they had a dream of her wearing the Kazami Gakuen school uniform. And though she thinks it's a weird reason, she okay with it now and feels it might in fact be fate because... she was able to meet Kiyotaka... Awwwww... (and of course Kiyotaka doesn't take the hint. If you were hoping that this sequel would finally be rid of the "donkan" protagonist, absolutely no chance. :heh: )
Ah, yeah -- so confirmed that the other setting is in fact London, as we suspected. Their school is the "Royal London Magic Academy", but they also called it "Kazemidori" in an earlier scene.
Unsurprisingly, they figured out that the mail they all received when they revived the tree was not sent through technology. It just appeared... as if magically... :heh:
...and again with the need to lock doors. lol At least Charles has a reasonable reaction, unlike a certain neighbour...
I'm sure that Ricca and the other girls would call Kiyotaka a traitor for sharing some information with Suginami. He asks him if he has any ideas about the oddly-sent mail, and Suginami sends Kiyotaka to visit... the Amakase Detective Agency? And here is Minatsu! She's the boss of the agency! So that's how they'll bring her into this...
Okay, I've figured out the timeline now. I think at least the Hatsunejima world actually takes place 20 years after the events of D.C. II. This makes the most sense given the other parts they've said, and the age of Yuzu (who would have been about 5 years old in D.C. II, and is now around 25). Minatsu confirms that she knows about the magical sakura from her time at Kazami Gakuen, and Yuzu says that, when she was little, she knew a girl (her best friend) with magical power. That's definitely Nanaka. Yuzu won't explain what her power was, so she'll have to explain it herse--- Nanaka'll have a cameo?!
Minatsu also explains that, as far as she knows, the sakura have only bloomed three times on the island, which makes sense (D.C. I, D.C. II, and D.C. III). So the timing of 1951 doesn't make sense to her, but she doesn't know about Sakura's grandmother who created the tree (which we do know).
One of Minatsu's theories about the message is that it could come from a parallel world. They could even have sent it to themselves for some purpose as yet unknown. Seems like something she wouldn't just say randomly...
So Himeno's dreams are continuing, but today's dream was apparently a bit... suggestive? :heh: But just like Yume before her, she tries her darnedest to hide and deny it, but ends up letting it slip. And as he's trying to throw her a line by saying "it's a dream and it can't be helped", and she agrees saying that there's no way she do that in real life, he agrees with her saying that he wouldn't do it either. And then of course she gets mad: "you're saying there's no way you'd do it?!" "But in my dream you were being so gentle!" Knowing her lineage, I'm sure she's talking about a massage... :heh:
Aha, so Ricca is seeing dreams too, and it picked up after the sakura trees revived. In her case, though, she says that it's her memory.
A small accident occurs and... she kisses him! Kiyotaka is surprised and a bit taken aback. Not sure if the trial is all common route, or if it's leading down a particular path.
As for Sara, she's feeling uneasy because whenever she thinks of the cellphone message she feels like she's forgetting something very important.
^^; He goes over to visit Aoi, who was home sick today, but she's feeling better. He decides to cook her some dinner, and she says she'll help... and comes out in "hadaka apron". And though he tries his darnedest to keep it cool and ask her nicely to get changed, she takes a sort of perverse pleasure in trying to get him to look at her and complement her. This girl... :heh:
And somehow she asks him to stay the night, and he said yes?! (He seems rather weak to the requests of cute girls, but I guess we can't blame him for that...) Reason was that she's having trouble sleeping because... you guessed it... she's having strange dreams. Starting when the sakura tree-- I think we see what's going on here. Obviously someone's trying to send them a message from the parallel world, as Minatsu said. Through the dreams they seem to be conveying the reality of the other world. It's obviously leading somewhere, no doubt related to the one strange dream before.
And as they all gather together to share data, they realize that they're all having strange dreams (though how much they remember varies by person), and this all leads back to the sakura tree. So they decide to head there and they find... Sakura?!
Sakura: "What I know is you all, and the fun time you all spent together. And the promise made at the very end."
They all feel that they should remember her though they don't remember clearly, and Kiyotaka is the one who remembers most. She says that's because he's the one she has the most memories with (which of course causes all the girls to misunderstand). :heh:
She asks them all listen to her long story, and says she's got candy -- yup, it magically appeared in the palm of her hand. She says that, at the moment, that's the only magic she can do.
And so she begins to tell her story. A story about one girl and one cherry blossom petal. A story about of a single promise and a meagre wish. And a story about a precious feeling that never changes throughout the ages. No many how many times the seasons change, spring surely comes, and brings with it the smell of cherry blossoms. This ever-repeating Da Capo-like story, like a dream among dreams... The story of Kiyotaka, who took his sister Himeno across the world to London, England and the Kazamidori Magic Academy, and the precious encounters that began that day......
Then begin the "real" character introductions in a video, and "PC Software Da Capo 3. Coming on 27 April 2012." Cut to black. "But you know, Kiyotaka-san, that's the sort of dream I see..."


If you're at all a fan of the Da Capo mythology and overall storyline, this is a really great trial to get your attention. It became more and more clear what was going on as the trial went on, but I still want to know what actually happened in the other world to cause this situation to occur... and then, of course, what they're going to do to resolve it. One thing that's interesting about the other school is that it also seems to have a magical cherry blossom tree, so that means there's a good chance the two locations are magically connected. We had hints of this before, of course.

Mixed into the developing mystery was, of course, a lot of fanservice and sort of "harem antics" that you might expect from the franchise, but I thought it was a bit more strong in this opening because the 6 characters start together all at once and already very much in love with Kiyotaka. That's largely because it's sort of a fake setting (well, kind of) to mask the real story that they get to at the end of the trial. Now they basically have to start all over (Da Capo? go figure...) with the stories of his "real" encounters with all the heroines and the relationships that formed with the girls in the parallel world, leading up to the disaster that fractured things. And then... what are they going to do about it.

It also seems that Sakura will have a role in the other world, since she was close to Kiyotaka there, which makes sense given the true end of Da Capo 2.

Anyway, 3 1/2 weeks! Must find out what happens next...

[Micchi]

I am SO hyped for this.

[Balzac]

....I think I might know what the plot's going to be from your playthrough of the trial. (especially regarding timelines) Then again, it could go another way entirely.

[Mahou]

As much as I'm hyped for D.C III, I will resist and wait for the english version, regardless of how long it will take mangagamer. Due to my "VN-rushing" playstyle I think replaying D.C II might be a wise choice as I tend to forget parts of the routes more easily and I cannot remember too much of the true ending other than a Sakura point of view during Otome's (?) story or so.

[relentlessflame]

The updated (and presumed final?) trailer for D.C. III is out now. It contains a few tiny spoilers that were covered in the trial (that I wrote about above). For people who saw the earlier trailer, the animation is finished now so there aren't the awkward still-shot cuts that there were before. It's also a tiny bit NSFW in the usual anime fanservicey way (but that fits the tone of the trial, though many of the exact scenes portrayed in the trailer were not shown). All in all, though, I quite like the OP.

1333789396

[PhoenixG]

imo they just put an all-age tag on just to raise the fan service level

The plot looks quite interesting, at least it isn't just your average rabu rabu love story, which I read a few too many of those

[relentlessflame]

imo they just put an all-age tag on just to raise the fan service levelWhich is ironic because some people would probably assume that an 18+ "adults-only" game that actually has sex scenes would also have more fanservice throughout. But yes, given that there won't be that content this time, I would say (at least in the trial portion) that the fanservice was upped a bit compared to previous games. But, again, this might be partly do to the portion of the game shown in the trial, which is sort of a special situation.

[Balzac]

"By all my holy, possible ancestors!"
...is all I can say at this point :heh:

What a twist...

[relentlessflame]

It was mentioned in an interview that was released just before the game's launch that...

...originally Circus had two different teams working on two different Da Capo games, one team for III and another for ZERO. For whatever reason, though, it ended up that the team working on ZERO (which is the team that worked on D.C. II) took over for Da Capo III, so the foundation is actually what was originally going to be D.C. Zero. This explains why, though it's a sequel, it also has an aspect that makes it a prequel. This is basically both D.C. III and D.C. Zero in one game.

So yeah, that explains the plot twist you allude to above.

I just received my box on Friday afternoon, so just about time to dive into the game. I'll be able to skip ahead a bit, at least, having played the full trial.

[Balzac]

To anyone about to read D.C. III, I would recommend reading the heroine routes during Weather Vane as follows: Sara->Charles->Ricca->Himeno. The latter two can be interchanged freely, and barring Ricca being a somewhat important character (it's only a possibility... a possibility!), she'd be lumped together with the first two. I'll state my reasons later for the first two being first (in a hurry atm) along with the impressions through the overall game.

Edit: I'm already seeing at least a "season celebration", and a "P.S./P.C."

[relentlessflame]

Edit: I'm already seeing at least a "season celebration", and a "P.S./P.C."We wouldn't expect it any other way! :heh:

(This really annoys some people, but it's never annoyed me. If the game has characters I like, I'm all for expansions and greatly-expanded re-releases so I can re-enter the game universe again.)

[Balzac]

Of course, in particular, Fall in Love's "contest" is one of the most hilarious memorable moments in my visual novel reading.

And so, to game impressions. As expected, story impressions may take a bit longer to type up, so here's my thoughts on the system. It's spoilered, but there are no story spoilers involved.
System

What was very much apparent from the title screen was the game's almost identical interface to the previous iteration of Da Capo. Clicking on each option in the main menu (and later, the extras) yielded a fundamentally similar experience, almost as if one were playing another "Da Capo II extension" instead of a true sequel. To add, the features from the previous game, barring H scenes are almost intact, save for a difference in layout, the music, CG and scene appreciation have the same concept as D.C. II. Is that a good or a bad thing?

Perhaps the Circus (or more specifically Da Capo) fan will be struck nostalgic by all of it, on the other hand, one might find something to complain from them basically "reusing" the same system that's basically unchanged from the previous Da Capo - recalling how there was a bigger shift in system from Da Capo to Da Capo II. As a somewhat fan, I tended to shift towards the latter, because it was eerie seeing the same thing when I opened up the game for the first time, and having the exact same "dream cherry" music play to the same exact background of the school for four (...six?) straight games now.

As to music, well it was a different beast. To longtime readers, the Prologue's assortment of music may at times seem nostalgic, but I cannot believe they actually reused most of the "everyday" music from D.C. II, and in addition, Da Capo! It evoked a similar atmosphere to the previous games and I had a hard time divorcing myself from the shock of having one piece of music from a ten year old game follow the music from a sequel, with only the major changes being the heroine's motifs. There may be some other people who might smile at the nostalgia, and in some ways, I can see it being particularly fitting if that was the intent of the developers (speaking to the overall plot), but the personal effect on me was markedly different and somewhat negative.

An addendum to the heroine motifs: it seems Himeno's, Ricca's and Charles's were arranged to specifically call back to previous heroines. (who were also all collectively magic-users from the previous games) Now that is the kind of nostalgia I can at least appreciate, much like Sakura's remix theme from Da Capo II.

The Scene replay, while much expected, comes with a certain kind of inconsistency. There are times when particular scene blocks are longer than the other, which came as a surprise for me when I looked at the feature for the first time. Some blocks last shorter than a classroom break, others take entire days. If I'm remembering it right, D.C. II had a more consistent blocking system, though it made the feature cluttered (maybe that was intent?). Scene replay is one of the rarer game features I actually admire Circus for, so point to the developers here.


Oh yes, and I would just like to say a big "HUH?" to a particular element in Sara's route, which people might see later... It was...surprising to say the least. After finishing the game, I think back to that route and think on what the point of that element was.

Editing in the other elements later

[KBTKaiser]

We wouldn't expect it any other way! :heh:

(This really annoys some people, but it's never annoyed me. If the game has characters I like, I'm all for expansions and greatly-expanded re-releases so I can re-enter the game universe again.)

http://dic.nicovideo.jp/a/%E6%9B%B2%E8%8A%B8%E5%95%86%E6%B3%95　<- very very relevant nicowiki link regarding Da Capo series' repackaging history. XD

[Balzac]

Though I may be just a seeker of visual novel-class comedy, there are some franchises which, despite their overall content, have me buying them purely because the developers had made a noticeable game in the past that was more than the average "interesting" and contained elements which in some way appealed to my tastes. One of these is Circus, most notably their Da Capo series. The first game outlined for me a core foundation of what a galge is and I was thus amazed to see it being built upon and streamlined in many other later visual novels. Da Capo II later made me a fan through its use of continuity (that, and their own brand of humor) that is quite an uncommon sight in the area of visual novels. If nothing else, it showed how a harem situation isconcluded and its effects skillfully averted even as the original continues to persist as a game of its own. (Differentiated from the likes of fandiscs, spinoffs, etc.)

Da Capo II further laid it on thick with their characters, some of which have become entrenched in my ten-years worth of bishoujo (and some bishounen) reading as standout characters. Anzu, Nanaka, and later Akane and Aishia in P.C. are examples, and they continue to persist as constructs in my mind of how secondary characters are adeptly handled.

And so here leads me to the characters of Da Capo III. What follows is untempered opinion, of which I am unapolegetic in leaving unedited and raw.

Each of the heroine stories are distinctly Da Capo in style and manner, from the simple issues of Charles to Aoi's dilemma.

My first issue, and I'll lay it now, is that most of the characters are bland, tired copies of other existing characters without a prominent quality to them. Not a quirk of personality, speech, philosophy, even a penchant for being overly annoying which makes them stand-out as characters of their own. To put it bluntly, they aren't "unique", and while nostalgia for each character type might be the intent of the developers here, I as a fan am personally put off by the atmosphere evoked here, even in spite of the whole all-out magic business.

The only character with more than the ounce of originality was Ricca, and even then she didn't strike me so much, perhaps her "air" as a character was more of a secondary character than what is advertised. About the only thing which later made me "like" the character was the implication later on in da capo, where my view didn't change to "like" like but "oh, so she might be...oooh". Again, appealing to the fan's nostalgia which worked - but only here.

Second are their routes - generic, generic, generic. The most dynamic and "alive" was Aoi's, and even then it received an unjust treatment which made me literally laugh in my seat later on after the game transitioned immediately to da capo, and BAM the whole mess is expositioned (made that a verb intentionally) without regard for the previous route. Normally I treat drama as the odd, underachieving kid at gym class, but I can't help but lend sympathy to the characters for the unwieldy handling of their roles in their respective routes.

In terms of relevance to the overall "story" Charles and Sara have the least of it. Sara gets the shorter end of the stick here, as the whole route is all about proving herself to her family, and where have we heard that sort of thing before? Charles has at least the distinction of showcasing Kiyotaka's powers, but again the premise is generic, and I can claim to seeing the last scene with her brother before.

Ricca and Himeno - now there's a slight upgrade at least. Ricca falls nearest to the previous two, but some aspects of her route including her de-aging process, the whole issue with her friend and her dealing with the fog, make her at the very least relevant. Which thus leaves Himeno as a higher sort of route in my opinion. Although it too has a "tired and true" formula and its drama is passable, it showed off more of Kiyotaka's personality as a character. Himeno herself as a heroine is almost an amalgamation of all the previous "sister-types" in Da Capo - with all of the good points and none of the negatives.

In my opinion, Aoi shines as a character better in the prologue, as she falls into the same trap as the others when we come to her route. While the radio segments of her route was amusing, the way the drama was escalated only to fall into a valley of heartwarming before pulling out the drama again and concluding in a very unsatisfactory way as I detailed above.

And is Ian supposed to be a tsundere or something?



Moving on to each routes, none of the routes stand out as particularly engaging, as Circus enjoys the use of such devices as a seesaw of heartwarming and then (intended) prolonged drama to lay out the story of a route. The only route which I particularly liked was Da Capo, and then it was only speaking from the standpoint of a Da Capo fan treated to the "cameos" that appeared, and the implication towards the end of the true status of each of Da Capo III's heroines. As explained in the above spoiler, the mechanic of "repeating" had little impact as the end of one route abruptly led to the next, which came off as jarring even if the intent was logical. (more time to focus on after-effects, Sakura's memory dives)

I may be remiss in saying thus, but Da Capo III is a game which one enjoys either as nostalgia or genuinely just admiring each of the heroines and their personalities while turning a blind eye to the many flaws. There are many more words I can describe the Da Capo III experience, but I feel that it can be boiled down to:

A flawed gem, with facets that need a lot more polishing.

Now, the previous games aren't flawless in their turn, but Da Capo III is like taking the gem of Da Capo II and carving off some of its outer parts unskillfully ending up in something that looks like Da Capo II, isn't Da Capo II, and in the end isn't as great as Da Capo II.

Was it a waste of money? I'm pondering that at this very moment.



Sakura never catches a break, doesn't she? Not in D.C., D.C. II, nor even here. I think she got the shortest end of the stick through the whole franchise.

[Marina2]

Ehh......so..... Is this game save to play when there is someone else around?

I heard that while it's labeled as all-age, it's still NSFW????

EDIT: Eh...never mind, I was hit by that CG..........

[hyl]

Ehh......so..... Is this game save to play when there is someone else around?

I heard that while it's labeled as all-age, it's still NSFW????

EDIT: Eh...never mind, I was hit by that CG..........

Which one, there is more than 1 scene that can be considered NSFW :p

[PhoenixG]

Just finished DC3. I must say that each route is pretty average and feel shorter compare to DC2. IMO DC3 isn't really about the heroine (like DC/DC2), but about the whole situation they are in and each route is just a branch of the whole story. Maybe that is why Balzac finds that the heroines route bland and the da capo route is the best out of all of them.

imo Sakura's grandparents are Kiyotaka and Ricca, consider how she interact with them.
Consider Charles's magic, I would say she's Aishia's grandmother

[Balzac]

"Whom did he choose in the end?" is something that they've dodged completely. The implication that I got is that the timeline in D.C. and D.C. II comes from Ricca and Kiyotaka, but there's a chance for a Kotori-like alternate-scenario.

I do guess that Charles is somehow Aishia's grandmother, who sent the latter to Japan to find Ricca or something. And I'd lay odds that Otome's and Yume's mother was in some way a Katsuragi. :D (She seems to have inherited the Katsuragi mindset of being a "wizard of justice", which passed down to Otome)

My only remaining question then, is who the "reincarnated" generation are from - 100 years after the fact, D.C. II is 53 years after D.C., which might be itself ~50 years after D.C. III. That leaves a short amount of time for them to be related to Yoshiyuki et.al. in any way, which probably means - not more than a generation later? And they're maybe really unrelated to anyone from D.C. II. Just a guess.

[KBTKaiser]

Keep in mind that only 17 or so years have passed since Da Capo 2. So I'd wager on it being just magic screwing around and forcibly dumping reincarnations as they are in no-name spots until DC3 rolled around. Given that the oldest of the group in Hatsunejima-version is 15-16 at most, chances are they spawned after Sakura resolved the time warp issue and the tree force spawned them a little while later. During this time, Suginami decided to move up a few years in grade or something, given that he somehow de-aged between Da Capo and Da Capo 2.

[Mahou]

Ugh, I said I would resist until the english version will be out, but ultimately I was too "weak-minded" and looked into the first few in-game days at the prologue ;).

It's funny to see that while Kiyotaka seems to be fully aware of the weapon of women, he still slips into the same traps of a MC:
- When you ask a girl to help you studying and you hear an energic response, what should you avoid to tell? Bingo, that you will invite the other girls of the club to study together.
- When your osananajimi prentends to have also caught a cold after she heard you took care of your cute kouhai, it wasn't sooo wise to tell her she'll be fine if she's just careful. She *longs* for being "nursed" as well :heh:
- Never mention you slept in the same bed at night with your cousin, nor that you took a bath together *lol*.
*cough* Anyway, in this early stage of the VN I have no real complaints about the characters. It's very evident that they all have the hawts for Kiyotaka. Rikka's answer that she created the club just that she can do icha-icha with him was funny. I didn't quite expect that she flew from the sky as their first meeting, though. And Suginami wanting him as his "partner" should his club win the content was creepy :p.
Mikoto's reaction when Kiyotaka told him she has a cute side as well at the library was funny as well. "(...) B, ... But we are r.. rivals (...)" :D I'm looking forward to see more of Kiyotaka's dream and which role the members have there.

[KBTKaiser]

That should be Mikoto for your Koyomi, Mahou.

Suginami wanting Kiyotaka is a direct callback to the previous two games, where the MC is always on the blacklist or the first person to be interrogated for information about Suginami's whereabouts.

[Marina2]

As someone who didn't follow any news about D.C.III game except the released date and characters profile, I'm very surprise when........

- Well, at first I confused about the dreams of Kiyotaka (Magic school??? , WTH?? ) but I thought I will just wait to find out as stoy progress.
- Then, Sakura(?) appeared and BOOM Second Op and I'm in a Magical world!!!! (London underground?) O.o I know that D.C. series have magic but this!!!!!!
- And most of game content are in this world O.o NICE!

[Yye1]

Does any one know where I can get info on the dreamy Xmas fandisc?

[relentlessflame]

Does any one know where I can get info on the dreamy Xmas fandisc?Well, just so you know, this is a D.C. I and II fandisc, so not really related to D.C. III. But in either case, the official homepage is here (http://circus.nandemo.gr.jp/sakuhin/dcdx/). I think it may have been discussed here briefly either in the D.C. II game thread or the Eroge Impressions thread, and you could probably ask about it in either of those two places.

[Mahou]

As someone who didn't follow any news about D.C.III game except the released date and characters profile, I'm very surprise when........

- Well, at first I confused about the dreams of Kiyotaka (Magic school??? , WTH?? ) but I thought I will just wait to find out as stoy progress.
- Then, Sakura(?) appeared and BOOM Second Op and I'm in a Magical world!!!! (London underground?) O.o I know that D.C. series have magic but this!!!!!!
- And most of game content are in this world O.o NICE!

I whole-heartedly agree because I have just reached the point :D.
And it was fun to see Minatsu again. She looked a bit younger here than in DC II, but that may just be due to my hazy memory.


Sakura sounded calmer than her appearances in the previous two games, yet still had her sense of cheerfulness. Anyway, it makes one quite wonder what will be dream and what will be reality, seeing that Rikka's past life memories have been spot-on and according to her that was many, many (100?) years ago (unless those were two completely different matters :heh:)

Another Kiyotaka mistake: When a girl tells you happily to invite her when you do researches for the club, admiring her work enthusiasm is not the reason she wants to tag along *lol*.
Himeno's ero-dream slip up was funny as was Aoi-chan's nude-apron.
My personal victory moment was (obviously) when Rikka kissed Kiyotaka during their second icha-icha lunchtime :D. I was like "heck yeah!"

As for my route "expectations": Even though I know how most Da Capo routes are built up, I still hope that there won't be a disappointment like D.C II's Koko route. As I liked Nemu and Yume in the previous games quite much, I think there won't be much problems with Himeno's chara.

[Mazyrian]

Finished this a few days ago.
I liked it very much (then again, I tend to like a lot everything Da Capo related). As mentioned, is not particularly original, but I found it a solid execution nonetheless, and liked the greater plot thickness.
As for heroines, didn't like Ricca that much, and on the other hand found Sara much more moe than I would have expected.
But still, the best character is Shiki. Let's hope for a DCIIIPC?

@relentlessflame
That thing about III/Zero was quite interesting.
But then it would seem the actual DCIII is basically just Zero, since the Kazami part is just a prologue, and doesn't even have routes (I'm guessing here that DCZ would have had the Kazamidori part, and DCIII the Kazami part, but in a more conventional way). Do you have some idea/guess what else DCIII would have had, and what could be of it? A DCIV with these heroines doesn't make much sense for me; maybe something like DC3.5, kinda like Spring Celebration?

[Mahou]

Finished this a few days ago.
I liked it very much (then again, I tend to like a lot everything Da Capo related). As mentioned, is not particularly original, but I found it a solid execution nonetheless, and liked the greater plot thickness.
As for heroines, didn't like Ricca that much, and on the other hand found Sara much more moe than I would have expected.
But still, the best character is Shiki. Let's hope for a DCIIIPC?

@relentlessflame
That thing about III/Zero was quite interesting.
But then it would seem the actual DCIII is basically just Zero, since the Kazami part is just a prologue, and doesn't even have routes (I'm guessing here that DCZ would have had the Kazamidori part, and DCIII the Kazami part, but in a more conventional way). Do you have some idea/guess what else DCIII would have had, and what could be of it? A DCIV with these heroines doesn't make much sense for me; maybe something like DC3.5, kinda like Spring Celebration?

@Ricca: The disappointing part(s) of her route were that she was more adorable as a main girl during the prologue. Yes, she does a great job as a supporting character, but her route was hardly and raburabu/icha-icha as her prologue character kept telling and it felt thus slow-progressing. At least I found the drama resolve touching; the same as Charles.

My favorite character by now must be Charles and Sara in terms of rabu-rabu. The former was very cute in this regard even before they became a couple, while the latter was, as you mentioned, a surprise in how moe Sara turned out :D.

[KBTKaiser]

The way I see it, the DC3 group will probably get relegated to sidecast.

[relentlessflame]

@relentlessflame
That thing about III/Zero was quite interesting.
But then it would seem the actual DCIII is basically just Zero, since the Kazami part is just a prologue, and doesn't even have routes (I'm guessing here that DCZ would have had the Kazamidori part, and DCIII the Kazami part, but in a more conventional way). Do you have some idea/guess what else DCIII would have had, and what could be of it? A DCIV with these heroines doesn't make much sense for me; maybe something like DC3.5, kinda like Spring Celebration?
(Will reply in the clear because I'll only talk in generalities.)

I suspect that D.C. III would have been an entirely different game with an entirely different cast, and that what we got here is basically what D.C. Zero would have been -- perhaps without the prologue that was designed to sort of throw people off the scent for a while and play into the overall plot. I think they basically just changed Zero to III for marketing reasons (since the originally-planned III was canned for whatever reason).

Of course, though, there will no doubt be fandisks, and I suppose they do have some options.

It could be interesting (but also weird) to do one fandisk as an extension of the prologue timeline, and a second fandisk as an extension of the main (1950) timeline. So many options!

[Mazyrian]

Some after stories for the 1951 scenarios could be nice, though first there would needed the actual stories, since in the end no one of the routes happened (not as the past of the DCI/II timeline, at least). But the biggest issue, which is what I guess will more exploited, is in the present story, since Kiyotaka hasn't yet entered any route, so to speak.

[Mahou]

Time for my bickering of the route impressions. Mind you, I'm not done with the game yet, but just finished Aoi's route.


Sara: Her route wasn't too bad overall. It was kinda cute how Kiyotaka was all giddy during Christmas break when Sara went home and the café scene pre-confession was once it had started to be expected. The confession CG and scene was nice (I have a weakspot for this stuff afterall :p) and most of their couple time was lovely. So my only "WTH?!"-moment was when Sara told about the radio fortune telling and all of it promptly happened for 1.5 days leaving in return *unnecessary* drama with no real purpose.
Fast forward to her family drama: Honestly, except maybe her dad, her family was a big jerk. Expectiations or not, the poor girl tried her hardest and all she got was another kick and the stomache. Good to see that Kiyotaka manned up and proved his worth.

Charles: I loved her route and it might be probably my most favorite one. Pre-confession, their deredere moments were sugary-sweet adorable and the sweetness continued afterwards. I also enjoyed Tomoe and Ricca's support function during it, like when they showed the "spy cam" recording of the student council room moment :heh: And Kiyotaka's confession insecurity was shown well enough, as well. Her drama itself was touching for me, but could have been a tiny bit quicker; e. g. that Kiyotaka didn't realize faster the name connection between Et. The farewell between Onee-chan and Otouto was good. And the Santa Claus magic family was a funny idea by Circus.

Ricca: Disappointing romance-wise and I felt her personal story didn't move that quickly forward. The white Christmas confession was nice, though. Anyway, the little tidbid of Kiyotaka's last name being originally Yoshino was fine, but disappeared as quickly as it appeared. As with Charles, the final meeting between Ricca and her best friend was quite touching for me. But, overall I liked her non-magic school personality morer D:

Himeno: To put it harshly and bluntly - Circus you fail in family relationship scenarios. Kiyotaka was too insensitve and donkan during most of the route. Yes, I see the point of it due to the long time they have spent has siblings, but nontheless it was crap; only D.CII might have been worse with Yume-chan. I mean, you had even a moment where he realized that he might love Himeno and the all-famous phrase of "Maybe since the time we met for the first time (...)". And what happened? All of this "Aha"-moment was never mentioned again the next day >_<. *takes a deep breath* So where was the good part? The last quarter when he got swallowed in his perfect dream world and Himeno saved his sorry behind, just to be saved afterwards :heh:.

And~ Aoi: To start off, I didn't like how the route was structured because they cut most non-Aoi moments out. Kiyotaka acted quite different somehow towards the others (like the café-scene where the student council trio encountered him; it felt like he acted harsher or something like that, even though I know that it's just so he can escort Aoi home) and the two bombing missions were disconnected from the former 4 routes. Sure, Aoi explained that each time the world will be reseted the fog thickens, but even then there had been the same outcomes in the other routes. Likewise, his few dream scenes about the uneasy feeling of the magic fog were never mentioned again, unless they soley served for reader knowledge.
But, I liked the radio nightshow parts. They were done quite good. And even though it started quite slow the post-confession progression was much, much better than the stuff before. The whole time loop part was meh. Her drama conclusion was a big "You must be kidding me?!" moment, but seeing how now the final route started that's okay-ish at best.

Outside of spoilers: I loved Shiki and how she stomped her "master" verbally at every possible moment :D. And Chibi-Sakura is very adorable and cute. Too bad she hardly had any moments during the 5 "normal" routes.

Edit: And I finished the VN a few hours ago. Da capo route was fine for me and connected imho smoothly back to the prologue end before Weather Vane started.
Honestly, I expected a bit more farewell tearjearker between Kiyotaka and Sakura, but haven't really a complaint on how it turned out :). The "who ends with Kiyotaka" open end felt a bit worse than in other VNs, mainly due to the whole time loop. I think it has been made clear that Kiyotaka is Sakura's grandfather based on the promise that he would teach his future grandchild to play chess, her comment on how it would change their current relationship if she told him why she knew him already, and the family feeling when Ricca, Sakura and he walked down the student residence floor.
My only remaining question: Why/how did only Ricca has the "past life" memories? Not the most important questions, but I still wondered about it.
Now I want a 18+ fandisc where you can actually date the present time crew :p. The everlasting tree is already there so the foundation for some wish-fulfilling drama would be given *lol*.

[Mazyrian]

Time for my bickering of the route impressions. Mind you, I'm not done with the game yet, but just finished Aoi's route.


Sara: Her route wasn't too bad overall. It was kinda cute how Kiyotaka was all giddy during Christmas break when Sara went home and the café scene pre-confession was once it had started to be expected. The confession CG and scene was nice (I have a weakspot for this stuff afterall :p) and most of their couple time was lovely. So my only "WTH?!"-moment was when Sara told about the radio fortune telling and all of it promptly happened for 1.5 days leaving in return *unnecessary* drama with no real purpose.
Fast forward to her family drama: Honestly, except maybe her dad, her family was a big jerk. Expectiations or not, the poor girl tried her hardest and all she got was another kick and the stomache. Good to see that Kiyotaka manned up and proved his worth.

Charles: I loved her route and it might be probably my most favorite one. Pre-confession, their deredere moments were sugary-sweet adorable and the sweetness continued afterwards. I also enjoyed Tomoe and Ricca's support function during it, like when they showed the "spy cam" recording of the student council room moment :heh: And Kiyotaka's confession insecurity was shown well enough, as well. Her drama itself was touching for me, but could have been a tiny bit quicker; e. g. that Kiyotaka didn't realize faster the name connection between Et. The farewell between Onee-chan and Otouto was good. And the Santa Claus magic family was a funny idea by Circus.

Ricca: Disappointing romance-wise and I felt her personal story didn't move that quickly forward. The white Christmas confession was nice, though. Anyway, the little tidbid of Kiyotaka's last name being originally Sakuno was fine, but disappeared as quickly as it appeared. As with Charles, the final meeting between Ricca and her best friend was quite touching for me. But, overall I liked her non-magic school personality morer D:

Himeno: To put it harshly and bluntly - Circus you fail in family relationship scenarios. Kiyotaka was too insensitve and donkan during most of the route. Yes, I see the point of it due to the long time they have spent has siblings, but nontheless it was crap; only D.CII might have been worse with Yume-chan. I mean, you had even a moment where he realized that he might love Himeno and the all-famous phrase of "Maybe since the time we met for the first time (...)". And what happened? All of this "Aha"-moment was never mentioned again the next day >_<. *takes a deep breath* So where was the good part? The last quarter when he got swallowed in his perfect dream world and Himeno saved his sorry behind, just to be saved afterwards :heh:.

And~ Aoi: To start off, I didn't like how the route was structured because they cut most non-Aoi moments out. Kiyotaka acted quite different somehow towards the others (like the café-scene where the student council trio encountered him; it felt like he acted harsher or something like that, even though I know that it's just so he can escort Aoi home) and the two bombing missions were disconnected from the former 4 routes. Sure, Aoi explained that each time the world will be reseted the fog thickens, but even then there had been the same outcomes in the other routes. Likewise, his few dream scenes about the uneasy feeling of the magic fog were never mentioned again, unless they soley served for reader knowledge.
But, I liked the radio nightshow parts. They were done quite good. And even though it started quite slow the post-confession progression was much, much better than the stuff before. The whole time loop part was meh. Her drama conclusion was a big "You must be kidding me?!" moment, but seeing how now the final route started that's okay-ish at best.

I agree in some parts

Sara: I think I liked more the character than the route (not that it was bad, but Sara was just so moe). Though indeed, that prophetic dreams thing in the end didn't went anywhere, and one wonders what was exactly the point.

Charles: As cute as expected, I'd have something to tell Eto. I mean, he should have imagined something like that could happen with his wish.

Himeno: Personally my favorite route. Probably didn't mind that much what you did, and I'm a sucker for dreamworld scenarios.

Aoi: Something that surprised me was how central was Aoi to the plot. As for the route, there were some neat things but also several flaws. It's not like I was expecting high literature, but the first part lacked "subtetly", so to say, and the latter part kinda dragged. Also, poor Aoi doesn't get a true end like the others.

[Enternal]

So from what I read so far on this forum, Ricca route is rather disappointing? And her character is not as great? I was looking forward to it and now feel a bit disappointed...

[Mazyrian]

So from what I read so far on this forum, Ricca route is rather disappointing? And her character is not as great? I was looking forward to it and now feel a bit disappointed...

I don't know... It's true her route doesn't have much ichaicha, but it does have some other good things. Personally, her attitude in the common trunk somewhat rubbed me the wrong way, but that's only my opinion.

[thewingedone]

I noticed that Sakura was present in the OP of the game, does she make an appearance in1951game? if so, is she the one who sent the text from 1951

[Marina2]

Is "weather vane" in D.C.3 somehow a reference to this?

DC-3 weather vane (The World's Largest Weather Vane)
http://i.imgur.com/k1sgk.jpg?1


From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_vane
Douglas DC-3 airplane is serving as a weather vane at Yukon Transportation Museum located beside the Whitehorse International Airport.

DC3 + weather vane a Coincidence?

[Mahou]

I noticed that Sakura was present in the OP of the game, does she make an appearance in1951game? if so, is she the one who sent the text from 1951

Yes, she appears also during the 1951 game, but she's not the one who sent the text ;). Her role during the 1951 is rather minor before the da capo route, though.

[Khu]

Any idea when Mangagamer or someone will pick this up for English translation? :<

[Yye1]

Yes, she appears also during the 1951 game, but she's not the one who sent the text ;). Her role during the 1951 is rather minor before the da capo route, though.

Wat role does Sakura play or has her role mostly been transferred to ricca

[PhoenixG]

Sakura played no role in all routes except in da capo route


Sakura was "summoned" by Aoi, due her using some forbidden magic (time looping). To break that spell, Ricca got help from Sakura with her sakura magic.



which make me think; who created that sakura magic? Sakura or Ricca?

[KBTKaiser]

To be exact, Ricca gets the sakura branch left behind and develops it from there, working out the kinks the artificial one had and giving us the tree we had in DC1

[Mahou]

To be exact, Ricca gets the sakura branch left behind and develops it from there, working out the kinks the artificial one had and giving us the tree we had in DC1

So the Da Capo 3 tree in present time is the revived Sakura tree from Da Capo 2 or again the Da Capo 1 tree? Gosh, all the trees made me more dizzy than before reading the post :heh: I would guess the Da Capo 2 tree, if only due to all the referenceres to the crew in the prologue, but you never know =/

[Mazyrian]

So the Da Capo 3 tree in present time is the revived Sakura tree from Da Capo 2 or again the Da Capo 1 tree? Gosh, all the trees made me more dizzy than before reading the post :heh: I would guess the Da Capo 2 tree, if only due to all the referenceres to the crew in the prologue, but you never know =/

I think the DCI tree was all Ricca's work. After the loop breaks it gets reseted to November with no Sakura and thus no branch, so Ricca must have developed the everlasting Sakura on her own. Then again, probably not on the conscious level but some memories from all the loops could have remained (especially considering that in her route the original ideas for the tree are clear). Not all of them, though, since in Da Capo Ricca said she worked out the problems the tree had, which obviously doesn't happen in the DCI timeline.

[KBTKaiser]

Actually, the sakura branch would be left behind, but the only memory ricca would have of it is that a good friend gave it to her after the reset. So yes, partially a time paradox with the reset taking the Ricca end to connect to the DC1 storyline. The tree in present time DC3 is the 2nd tree, partially embedded with a system from Ricca's original system so that it would also act as a memory bank. In a sense, Ricca implemented the system during the reset, which maintained itself and eventually was transplanted to Hatsunejima by Ricca's hand. DC1 happens and the tree withers, Sakura takes a sample of Ricca's tree and develops the DC2 tree, presumably preserving the system in the withered tree as well when reintegrating the sample branch back into the withered system.

Now remember, the hidden system is keyed to those 6 people accessing the tree once again. So, the group touching the DC2 tree revives the system, presumably in its original state.

[Mazyrian]

You're right, I forgot the branch stayed. Ricca's end as it was shown can't happen after the reset, since there's no mist, but still a study of the branch could give her the idea of gathering feelings. And yes, Ricca must have taken the Kazamidori sakura (or part of it) to Hatsune island.

[cyberdemon]

Anyone know how these characters are related to DCII characters like is Kiyotaka the son of Yoshiyuki or something like that? Also which of the DCII girls became the canon route?

[Balzac]

Without giving too much away, the D.C. II ~da capo~ route is canon.

[Mazyrian]

In other news, an anime has been announced for January, 2013
http://www.hatsunejima.com/

[cyberdemon]

Without giving too much away, the D.C. II ~da capo~ route is canon.

Give much away! We want to know! many of us aren't going to be able to play this game for years unless mangagamers picks it up soon.

[Balzac]

The events of the main route, heroines route, "heroine" route, and true (da capo) route are all triggered by Sakura's actions during the da capo route of D.C. II, which in that game implies either a Yume or Otome ending. And that's why it might seem to be canon for what happens in D.C. III, since no other heroine endings lead to ~da capo~.

[Mazyrian]

I'd go so far to say Otome, since it's only there that Yoshiyuki gets to know the truth (scene which is shown as flashback here).

[Yye1]

Flashback of da capo 2 in da capo 3?

[Balzac]

Only a few towards the end, and are flashbacks in the sense that some weren't shown in the previous game, while only one particular scene was.

[Yye1]

Wat is the flashback.about?

[Balzac]

They're more of Sakura's flashbacks from her point of view. I hate to be brief, but it is spoiler territory to say more.

[relentlessflame]

So today's news, marking the release of D.C III 1.3 (which should be available as an update for all existing game purchasers soon), is two new products:

D.C. III Plus (a PSP Port, coming in February 2013)
D.C. III P2 ~Platinum Partner~ (a new work -- not a fandisk, coming in April 2013)

They also announced that the upcoming TV anime will be the same quality as the Game OP, which looked pretty good to me. (I suspected that the game OP was animated by the anime staff in the first place, as it makes sense given the timing.) With the timing of these two game releases, I am thinking that the D.C. III anime may only be one-cour this time (which also isn't surprising to me).

[Balzac]

A sequel? Normally I'd classify it a sequel if it's DC IV. My initial bet is this is some new form of "P.C.".

Also, is it still all ages?

[Mazyrian]

P2 may focus exclusively in Hatsune Island, functioning as a sequel.
And if the anime is only one cour, my guess is that it also would be basically about Hatsune Island.
(Not really a fan of those theories, though; I found the Hatsune Island part to be the weakest by far).

[hyl]

I guess that everything was announced in that new livestream that aired hours ago. Which i by the way missed, luckily i can watch that by a timeshift.

edit: might as well record it while watching.
later edit: it's almost 2 hours long >_>'

[Mahou]

P2 may focus exclusively in Hatsune Island, functioning as a sequel.
And if the anime is only one cour, my guess is that it also would be basically about Hatsune Island.
(Not really a fan of those theories, though; I found the Hatsune Island part to be the weakest by far).

It was the weakest because the meaty section was the magic school stories. They used the Hatsune Island simply to make a link to Sakura's appearance + the dream sections (and the epilogue), I think. Though, I'd prefer a Hatsune Island-game as well. Ricca was so much sweeter during the "present time" :p. An m-rating would be nice, but on the other hand the h-scenes in Da Capo have been - in retrospec - about average IMHO (maybe route-dependant).

[Mazyrian]

It was the weakest because the meaty section was the magic school stories. They used the Hatsune Island simply to make a link to Sakura's appearance + the dream sections (and the epilogue), I think. Though, I'd prefer a Hatsune Island-game as well. Ricca was so much sweeter during the "present time" :p. An m-rating would be nice, but on the other hand the h-scenes in Da Capo have been - in retrospec - about average IMHO (maybe route-dependant).

Actually what I disliked wasn't so much the lack of substance as the extreme harem-esque feeling, with a main character so dense it seemed it was about to collapse unto himself.
More Mikoto would be nice, though.

[Snuffle]

It was the weakest because the meaty section was the magic school stories. They used the Hatsune Island simply to make a link to Sakura's appearance + the dream sections (and the epilogue), I think. Though, I'd prefer a Hatsune Island-game as well. Ricca was so much sweeter during the "present time" :p. An m-rating would be nice, but on the other hand the h-scenes in Da Capo have been - in retrospec - about average IMHO (maybe route-dependant).

I'm still going through the game but, I would very much enjoy a sequel about Hatsune Island. I actually felt the opposite about the Magic School, I'm not enjoying it as much because there is too much fantasy for my taste whereas DC 1 & 2 had more of a focus on the slice of life kinda thing.

So far I've finished Sara's route and I'm near the end of Sharuru/Charles story. I was getting annoyed at times when Sara was acting so immature but after we got into what her upbringing is like, It was easy to see why she was like that and it helped me wash away those minor negative feelings towards her. I'll talk about Sharuru's story once I've completed it. :)

[Micchi]

This time Mikoto will get a route!!! (I'm hoping)

Oh man, I need more Sara. Need more Sara. Need more Sara. Sara. Sara....

[Mazyrian]

This time Mikoto will get a route!!! (I'm hoping)

That would be about the second most awesome thing ever (the first one being a Shiki route).
And speaking of that, maybe also we get to see Shiki in the present day scenario.

[Snuffle]

That would be about the second most awesome thing ever (the first one being a Shiki route).
And speaking of that, maybe also we get to see Shiki in the present day scenario.

What would her role even be? An Ojou-sama type? That would sure fit her personality. :p

[Micchi]

What would her role even be? An Ojou-sama type? That would sure fit her personality. :p

The devil incarnate (according to otouto Kousuke) :p

EDIT: Finished Ver1.3. The ultimate battle scenario links together the dream sequences from the prologue, as well as serves as an intro to the Kazamidori Gakuen setting. Aoi's route can be accessed from Weather Vane (choosing the gnilruc practices), along with Elizabeth and Tomoe's scenes. There's also a CG for Mikoto in the prologue. The rhythm game BeatsMeetsGnilruc was surprisingly fun. Sara-chan is so cute!

http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m567/SanaChitose/DC3/DC538_Gnilruc.jpg

[Mazyrian]

New version on 25th January, in commemoration for the anime

http://circus.nandemo.gr.jp/sakuhin/dc3_v135d/index.html

[Snuffle]

Okay, so I've finished Himeno's and Sharuru's route a while back and finished Rikka's story yesterday. I'll be starting Aoi's story today and hopefully get to finish the whole game by this week.

Rikka's story and character:
Rikka's story was okay, but I don't like her as a character that much... She comes off as just a bit too arrogant for my taste. And hearing her say "souiukoto" so much really got on my nerves. :heh:
So now I have question about Rikka.

So if I understand it correctly, Kiyotaka started the Yoshino magical family line with Rikka. Rikka then goes to live in Japan with him and eventually becomes Sakura's grandmother? It's stated (at least in the anime) in DC I that Sakura's grandma is the one that planted the magical tree in Japan. Basically what we have is a paradox happening with Sakura, the tree, and Rikka being her grandmother?

Himeno's story and character:
For the first half I was so incredibly bored I was near falling asleep. I dunno, it felt like I was reading a watered down version of the common route. But then, the dream stuff starts happening. During those moments, it was pretty interesting but at the same time, it felt a little rushed and forced.
Someone else here said that Yume's story was worse, or something like that. I actually felt the opposite. For Yume we have her gradually broadcasting her romantic interest in the MC, but for Himeno, she came off as someone who was just expressing what a troublesome Nii-san she has. Just my opinion on that.
As a character, she's just there... She doesn't really catch my interest much. Although, it's nice to have her around to do her usual distaste on the MC's behavior like Nemu and Yume. :p

So since Kiyotaka and Rikka seem to be canon, does that mean Himeno married someone with the surname Asakura? It would explain why Sakura and Junichi are so close since their grandparents are related. And it would also explain why Nemu, Otome, and Yume look so simular to Himeno.

Sharuru's story and character:
Probably my favorite character, maybe tied at #1 with Sara. Lots of fun reading through her story, she's just so darn silly. :heh: There's not much I can really say about her, I like her present time and past time personalities. I really enjoyed how she kept expressing how much she loves Kiyotaka, quite the entertainer. :heh: Plus I have a soft spot for girls that become clingy like that, just like Sara. If Sharuru is the fun version, Sara is the moe version :p

[Mazyrian]

So if I understand it correctly, Kiyotaka started the Yoshino magical family line with Rikka. Rikka then goes to live in Japan with him and eventually becomes Sakura's grandmother? It's stated (at least in the anime) in DC I that Sakura's grandma is the one that planted the magical tree in Japan. Basically what we have is a paradox happening with Sakura, the tree, and Rikka being her grandmother?

Indeed (you'll need to keep reading, though)


So since Kiyotaka and Rikka seem to be canon, does that mean Himeno married someone with the surname Asakura? It would explain why Sakura and Junichi are so close since their grandparents are related. And it would also explain why Nemu, Otome, and Yume look so simular to Himeno.


What I got is that Himeno's descendant married with Jun'ichi/Nemu's child; Himeno is clearly Otome/Yume relative but appearances nonetheless doesn't seem to be of Nemu (or, well, she may be, but nothing in the scenario hints to that).
Also, Sakura and Jun'ichi's grandparents are not related, they are the same; it was stated in the original they were cousins.

[Snuffle]

What I got is that Himeno's descendant married with Jun'ichi/Nemu's child; Himeno is clearly Otome/Yume relative but appearances nonetheless doesn't seem to be of Nemu (or, well, she may be, but nothing in the scenario hints to that).
Also, Sakura and Jun'ichi's grandparents are not related, they are the same; it was stated in the original they were cousins.

Okay, maybe I'm getting confused here... I'm gonna have to break your spoiler into sections... :heh:

Sakura and Jun'ichi's grandparents are not related, they are the same; it was stated in the original they were cousins.
Is it ever stated if they're first cousins or second cousins? Sure Himeno and Kiyotaka are not related by blood but by law they are family thus it isn't strange for Sakura and Junichi to be cousins if Sakura came from Rikka's line and Junichi came from Himeno's line. But now this doesn't make sense when my following comment is read... :uhoh:

What I got is that Himeno's descendant married with Jun'ichi/Nemu's child; Himeno is clearly Otome/Yume relative but appearances nonetheless doesn't seem to be of Nemu (or, well, she may be, but nothing in the scenario hints to that).
Now that I thought about it after reading your comment. Doesn't make more sense for Himeno's child to be one of Nemu's parents? Since it's clear (I think) that Junichi and Nemu are canon, it does not surprise me that Yume looks so simular to Nemu (IMO). This scenario makes much more sense to me. But... Maybe I'm just confused :uhoh:

[Mahou]

Himeno's story and character:
For the first half I was so incredibly bored I was near falling asleep. I dunno, it felt like I was reading a watered down version of the common route. But then, the dream stuff starts happening. During those moments, it was pretty interesting but at the same time, it felt a little rushed and forced.
Someone else here said that Yume's story was worse, or something like that. I actually felt the opposite. For Yume we have her gradually broadcasting her romantic interest in the MC, but for Himeno, she came off as someone who was just expressing what a troublesome Nii-san she has. Just my opinion on that.
As a character, she's just there... She doesn't really catch my interest much. Although, it's nice to have her around to do her usual distaste on the MC's behavior like Nemu and Yume. :p


That should have been me with the bolded statement. Though, I didn't mean that Yume's route was worse, but more like Yoshiyuki was worse than Kiyotaka in terms of sister-romancing (before becoming a couple that is).

Anyway: I finished the "new" Aoi route of Da Capo's 1.3 patch and was disappointed in how it turned out.
I really didn't expect that it was a "prologue" of the Zero-scenari where Kiyotaka failed to get together with Aoi-chan. Maybe I should have guessed it, but I really expected some sort of alternate route for Aoi that ended happily for them as it did for Himeno, Rikka, Charles and Sara (ignoring the time loop)

[Mazyrian]

Okay, maybe I'm getting confused here... I'm gonna have to break your spoiler into sections... :heh:

Sakura and Jun'ichi's grandparents are not related, they are the same; it was stated in the original they were cousins.
Is it ever stated if they're first cousins or second cousins? Sure Himeno and Kiyotaka are not related by blood but by law they are family thus it isn't strange for Sakura and Junichi to be cousins if Sakura came from Rikka's line and Junichi came from Himeno's line. But now this doesn't make sense when my following comment is read... :uhoh:

Now I don't have it so fresh, but I'm pretty sure Sakura's grandmother was also Jun'ichi's one.


What I got is that Himeno's descendant married with Jun'ichi/Nemu's child; Himeno is clearly Otome/Yume relative but appearances nonetheless doesn't seem to be of Nemu (or, well, she may be, but nothing in the scenario hints to that).
Now that I thought about it after reading your comment. Doesn't make more sense for Himeno's child to be one of Nemu's parents? Since it's clear (I think) that Junichi and Nemu are canon, it does not surprise me that Yume looks so simular to Nemu (IMO). This scenario makes much more sense to me. But... Maybe I'm just confused :uhoh:

Now I don't remember if it was in Himeno's route or in Da Capo, but Sakura remembered the Katsuragi surname because of Yuki, Otome/Yume's mother. So some descendant had Katsuragi Yuki, who married with Jun'ichi/Nemu's son. Nemu can very well be also from some Katsuragi branch (it would explain the looks, and that her parents were close to Jun'ichi's ones), but nothing was said to that respect, so it's all WMG.

Anyway: I finished the "new" Aoi route of Da Capo's 1.3 patch and was disappointed in how it turned out.
I really didn't expect that it was a "prologue" of the Zero-scenari where Kiyotaka failed to get together with Aoi-chan. Maybe I should have guessed it, but I really expected some sort of alternate route for Aoi that ended happily for them as it did for Himeno, Rikka, Charles and Sara (ignoring the time loop)

I also though it would be something like that, but this made more sense, and was arguably better. Or should have been, since in the end doesn't amount to much. And we are still in the dark as to when it was that Kiyotaka told Aoi for the first time that he was a class 4 magician. It should have been a route where they became pretty close.

[Balzac]

...But we do at least have the implication that Yuki is a Katsuragi, since Otome inherited the sorceress' justice from her, which was also the stated responsibility of the Katsuragi family. I believe it doesn't have to mean that it's a direct line from Himeno down to Otome/Yume.
P.S. I find it troubling how I'm looking deep into a game that didn't impress me as much as its prequel.

[Snuffle]

Okay, finished the game finally. It's a pretty nice story overall, I like how all the characters get involved for the conclusion and how every previous story was not entirely a "what if" thing.

Aoi's story is basically telling how she's involved and continues into Sakura's route. Not really a problem there, it was pretty interesting. The problem I have though is when reading through Sakura's route, we hardly get to see her! I mean, it's her story, why is she in the background so much?? I understand that it was important to see what everyone else was doing, and how they felt about what they learned, how they're handling it, etc. I dunno.. that's my gripe about that.

It's easy to see how there can be an after story based on how it ends, if you can even call it an ending. I prefer to learn more about the present day characters anyway, they're much more interesting.

So is there any news anywhere on what the DC III P2 is going to be about? I really hope it's a sequel/after story about the current game.

[cyberdemon]

seems Circus has announced the 18+ version of the game to be released 4/26/2013. It's being deemed "DCIII R"

[relentlessflame]

seems Circus has announced the 18+ version of the game to be released 4/26/2013.
In addition, they announced that P2 (originally scheduled for March 2013) is being changed, and has been rescheduled to 2014 -- which is a pretty drastic delay (like they've scrapped the original concept and are starting over).

[cyberdemon]

In addition, they announced that P2 (originally scheduled for March 2013) is being changed, and has been rescheduled to 2014 -- which is a pretty drastic delay (like they've scrapped the original concept and are starting over).

What was P2? I can't remember lol

[relentlessflame]

What was P2? I can't remember lol
It was originally going to be an all-new story that complemented D.C. III, but the subject wasn't fully-revealed. It was thought to maybe center on Hatsunejima. But whatever it was, it's being reworked now... I wonder what writers are going to be working on it now?

[hyl]

I find it odd why they announced an 18+ version, right before the anime has even aired on tv.
Maybe to attract more potential sales, but still.

Eventhough the all ages version didn't sell that well according to tech gian and push!!.

edit:
So i guess that i should be expecting the same game but with H-scenes and different seiyuu's?

[cyberdemon]

It was originally going to be an all-new story that complemented D.C. III, but the subject wasn't fully-revealed. It was thought to maybe center on Hatsunejima. But whatever it was, it's being reworked now... I wonder what writers are going to be working on it now?

So P2 likely stands for Phase 2.

I find it odd why they announced an 18+ version, right before the anime has even aired on tv.
Maybe to attract more potential sales, but still.

Eventhough the all ages version didn't sell that well according to tech gian and push!!.

edit:
So i guess that i should be expecting the same game but with H-scenes and different seiyuu's?

People probably wanted the 18+ version more.

[Mahou]

An 18+ version version isn't all bad seeing that there are enough rabu-rabu moments where an h-scene would make "sense" (without the feel of being added just for the sake of it), although I would still pfere a 18+ hatsunejima version because Rikka is imho cuter there :heh:

[relentlessflame]

So i guess that i should be expecting the same game but with H-scenes and different seiyuu's?
I wonder if it'll be different seiyuu or "different seiyuu" in this case. Most of the cast they went with weren't really established players, and they don't seem to be working with Starchild anymore (which means they won't insist on pushing their own actors/artists). We'll see...


As for why the game now... I think Circus wanted to launch a PC game to go along side the anime (Circus's way of cashing in on the anime push), and with P2 being delayed, they performed a quick switch for the 18+ version. It was pretty clear that they were always planning on making an 18+ version eventually... but I'm guessing they weren't originally going to do it now.

So P2 likely stands for Phase 2.Officially, it stands for "Platinum Partner"... but it may have multiple meanings, practically speaking.

[Snuffle]

An 18+ version version isn't all bad seeing that there are enough rabu-rabu moments where an h-scene would make "sense" (without the feel of being added just for the sake of it), although I would still pfere a 18+ hatsunejima version because Rikka is imho cuter there :heh:

It's mostly obvious as to where the erotic scenes would fit in, except in Himeno's story (unless I'm forgetting something).

It's a shame that P2 version got pushed so damn far... I was really looking forward to it. Hopefully it's just a very rough estimate and it will actually be in summer. I'm also hoping that P2 really is the hatsune island version, there were quite a few things I was not very fond with in the original, Rikka being one of them.

[Balzac]

So is this their "spring celebration"? I was hoping more of a "Plus Communication" with all them other heroines. (or new ones they can spin out of thin air) :heh:

[relentlessflame]

So is this their "spring celebration"? I was hoping more of a "Plus Communication" with all them other heroines. (or new ones they can spin out of thin air) :heh:
They were pretty careful to say that P2 was not a fandisk, but a "completely new work". Of course, it may have changed now with the fact it's getting re-worked.

There is D.C. Plus coming out for PSP in February, but I'm forgetting now if it will be adding any new heroines/stories or if it's a straight port. They do say that D.C. III R is supposed to be the previously-cancelled version 1.35, so that one won't have any new heroines (but some new content in addition to the H scenes of course...)

So, if all that's still the case, then both the "Spring Celebration" and "Plus Communication" equivalents may still happen later.

[Balzac]

At least now the MC will be able to take Rikka up on her proposition in Aoi's route. :D

[hyl]

Eventhough the all ages version didn't sell that well according to tech gian and push!!.

As a followup to my previous post about how well it sold.

It did end up being the 28th highest sold eroge/VN (2nd highest all ages game) of 2012 of Getchu, eventhough it doesn't mention the actual numbers.

So i guess an 18+ version was in high demand.

[epicXsmiley]

I sort of alluded to it in the original post, but it's an "alternate reality" to D.C. II, where instead of Junichi having chosen Nemu (back in the original D.C. timeframe), Junichi instead chose Sakura. So as a result, a number of things have changed, including of course the main characters (Otome and Yume don't exist in this dimension since they're descendants of Nemu & Junichi, neither does Yoshiyuki for spoiler story reasons, but instead we have Kiyotaka and Charles Yoshino, presumed descendants of Sakura & Junichi). I don't know if the exact year will be the same as D.C. II or slightly different, but the overall timeframe should be the same (i.e. two generations or about 50 years after the original D.C.).

D.C II and D.C III might be in the same dimension cause at the ending of the D.C III anime otome was there before the scene where it shows sakura.

What do you think:)

[Snuffle]

Isn't it impossible for Otome and Yume not to exist? Since Sakura needs to sacrifice herself and become one with the tree. Since she failed, Otome would be the only one that is capable of wilting the tree.

[relentlessflame]

D.C II and D.C III might be in the same dimension cause at the ending of the D.C III anime otome was there before the scene where it shows sakura.

What do you think:)Keep in mind that I wrote that post way back before the game was actually released based on the limited bits of information that was available at the time. I didn't have the full information at the time (and in fact was missing a certain key detail that hadn't been revealed yet). I think that the nature of all the connections will become clear over the course of the anime as they explain what's going on. (You can also read on in the thread as some bits and pieces are discussed.)

[KBTKaiser]

...does anyone think that we've gone AU on the anime now, given the last scene in episode 1? Poor Sakura.

[Snuffle]

...does anyone think that we've gone AU on the anime now, given the last scene in episode 1? Poor Sakura.

AU? What does that mean? Alternate Universe? If that's so then that was alluded less than 5 posts ago.

[cyberdemon]

...does anyone think that we've gone AU on the anime now, given the last scene in episode 1? Poor Sakura.

it's not AU. It's confirmed to be 20 years after Da Capo 2. The tree has always had a manifestation in the form of Sakura.

[KBTKaiser]

If you've played through the game, you'd understand what I mean, because the Sakura Tree blossoming in episode 1 really changes up the formula and speeds up the timetable.

Are you sure you didn't notice Sakura sitting down next to the tree dejected for the end of episode 1?(Hint: Cellphone message's full message)

[Snuffle]

^
Not sure who you're directing that to but, I've played the game and I still don't know what you're talking about. The anime is adding some extra scenes but there really isn't anything that's changing the story.

[KBTKaiser]

The issue is the timing, but also tugs at the heartstrings, because if you consider how long the crew runs around trying to figure out the mystery, episode 1 shows that Sakura has basically been waiting there the entire time.

Also, if you think about the game, they gave a few days of breathing space before the Sakura revival.

[Marina2]

After watching, anime ep.2, I start to wonder when will they show story on London's underground part .

Maybe ep.5-6?? ..........or not at all in the first season.

[relentlessflame]

After watching, anime ep.2, I start to wonder when will they show story on London's underground part .

Maybe ep.5-6?? ..........or not at all in the first season.
The OP is a pretty big tease in that regard. I'd guess you're probably right that they'll probably switch locales around halfway through the season. What I want to know is if they're going to keep the same OP, and just change up the location and outfits. :heh:

The pacing (along with the fact that they did an entire OP in this setting) does make me think that this may actually be split-cour after all, which would make me happy. I was a bit concerned that they may try to condense the entire game into a one-cour show.

[cyberdemon]

The OP is a pretty big tease in that regard. I'd guess you're probably right that they'll probably switch locales around halfway through the season. What I want to know is if they're going to keep the same OP, and just change up the location and outfits. :heh:

The pacing (along with the fact that they did an entire OP in this setting) does make me think that this may actually be split-cour after all, which would make me happy. I was a bit concerned that they may try to condense the entire game into a one-cour show.

considering that they are continuing to add more and more through patches, this is probably a good game for split cour.

[Snuffle]

The issue is the timing, but also tugs at the heartstrings, because if you consider how long the crew runs around trying to figure out the mystery, episode 1 shows that Sakura has basically been waiting there the entire time.

Also, if you think about the game, they gave a few days of breathing space before the Sakura revival.

Ah you're talking about the emotional impact or surprise factor correct? I know what you mean, when I first saw Sakura the only time they showed her, I couldn't help going "wth is she doing here!?" Too bad they took that away from the anime only viewers... It also does take away a bit of the mystery from the first part of the common route since she's already shown. Well, I don't expect them to go further than ep.5 with the Hastune Island arc, so people will get over it quick I believe.

[cyberdemon]

This is just a thought I've been having but does anyone think Mikoto is going to be a Shirakawa? Possibly even Nanaka's daughter. It seems strange that no last name has been given (Suginami being an exception), and the usually popular Shirakawa character has been cut out so far. I was also reading the trial notes from a few pages back and

Minatsu confirms that she knows about the magical sakura from her time at Kazami Gakuen, and Yuzu says that, when she was little, she knew a girl (her best friend) with magical power. That's definitely Nanaka. Yuzu won't explain what her power was, so she'll have to explain it herse--- Nanaka'll have a cameo?!

which might be a good way to turn her into a love interest in the future.

[relentlessflame]

I've been thinking a little about the structure of the anime and expectations regarding the denouement of the plot.

I'm starting to think that it may indeed be quite possible that the entire first cour of the D.C. III anime will stay in Hatsunejima. If we just consider the amount of content remaining from the "trial", we still have three more character episodes, plus at least one episode focused on Minatsu, and a transition episode as they finalize the reveal about Sakura. They're slowly fleshing out the mysteries a bit, but they're not exactly taking a brisk pace, and there is a bunch more foreshadowing that's needed before they can reveal everything. So by the time they get there, I think you're at episode 9 or 10, and just about to wrap up the cour. Doesn't really make sense to make the switch at that point. So with a little bit of extra padding (like the Sakura episode last week, that was para-game), they can probably stretch out the prologue until Episode 13, do the big reveal, and then say "See you in the Second Season! Summer 2013" or whatever.

It's either that or they're not planning on doing the Second Season at all and they just say "Play the Game!" which would definitely be a bit annoying to anime-only viewers. :heh:

[Marina2]

(Quoted from anime's topic)

http://i.imgur.com/E7Ycbxql.jpg (http://imgur.com/E7Ycbxq)

Oh, they know how to tease game players.

[Mazyrian]

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm19978476

Demo movie for DCIII R. No new CG or anything (no signs of any possible new route).

[cyberdemon]

Mazyrian on the MangaGamers site pointed this out. a special route in DCIIIR

Some new info in DCIIIR
http://circus.nandemo.gr.jp/sakuhin/dc3r/r/ultimate.html
A new scenario, "The sakura colored Ultimate Battle"

5 years after the sakuras stopped blooming, Yoshiyuki, now working in the Amakase Research Center, has some premonition and goes to the everlasting sakura. There he meets the person he always wanted to see: Sakura.
She starts living a tranquil everyday along with him and his neighbour Yume; and when the Golden Week is coming, Suginami proposes to make a new event, so as to celebrate Sakura's return; and so the whole gang will reunite once again.

[KBTKaiser]

That lineup of characters is missing Otome, first and foremost. Alot of the DC2PC characters as well(Akane, Maya and Miyuki don't count since they were already present in the original game)

Also...sickly girl Mahiru, was it?

[cyberdemon]

That lineup of characters is missing Otome, first and foremost. Alot of the DC2PC characters as well(Akane, Maya and Miyuki don't count since they were already present in the original game)

Also...sickly girl Mahiru, was it?

Gotta wonder why Otome is missing since it doesn't make sense since she is one of the 2 primary heroines.

ahhh... Nanaka cut her hair :( I guess it does still look really cute this way anyways.

[relentlessflame]

Gotta wonder why Otome is missing since it doesn't make sense since she is one of the 2 primary heroines.

ahhh... Nanaka cut her hair :( I guess it does still look really cute this way anyways.
I think it depends on the route they're following, really. This is 5 years after D.C. II ended, so Otome could have left to go study overseas (as she had originally been contemplating). But Nanaka's short hair also does come from a certain route in the game, but there's no reason it couldn't happen in other routes eventually. Yoshiyuki working at the Amakase Research Institute was also only hinted at in some routes... but that could be his "canon employer" in any route regardless. Sakura's reappearance itself an interesting development for lots of reasons.

In any case, Otome's omission and Sakura's return are definitely to cause the fans to speculate about what's going on, as we are now doing. :p

[Balzac]

...And now they lay out the hook to pull me back in. Damn it, Circus!

I almost didn't recognize Mayuki, who is obviously the most changed appearance-wise of the cast. Though...looking at it again, is it laziness or another appeal to nostalgia that the sprites look almost virtually unchanged?

I wonder if this means "canon" route is the "boys" end from D.C. II, which is kind of sad for Yoshiyuki...

[Mazyrian]

Random Wild Mass Guess time!

Something I've been thinking about Shiki:
So every Kazamidori heroine gets reborn in the present, thanks to Sakura's wish. But obviously this doesn't apply to just them; Kousuke and Shiki are also in the present, and following the anime (for what's worth) also Elizabeth and Tomoe; it wouldn't be weird to see also Mary, Edward, Ian and Odette (or however was her name spelt). (Suginami doesn't count.)
However, while the rest of the characters would be dead since long (or maybe not? They're magicians after all), there should be no reason for marionette Shiki to not be still alive in the present (she had been around since a while ago). And of course in the Edogawa family. So couldn't Kazami chapter Shiki actually be the same as Kazamidori one? She should have lost all memories of the loop, but after returning to the present Sakura cold have met her at some point, and she started going to school at that specific point to check on all the main characters.
And even if he is not aware of all this, Kazami Kousuke could know that Shiki is a marionette; the Edogawa family would still be a magician family, and Kousuke be a magician (it's not like he'd be talking about it in a normal school).

[Snuffle]

http://circus.nandemo.gr.jp/sakuhin/dc3r/r/ultimate.html
Really liking the outfits on Yume and Nanaka, a shame they've decided to go with Nanaka cutting her hair, I like long hair. :uhoh: Glad to see Anzu again, she's my favorite. :p

Random Wild Mass Guess time!

Something I've been thinking about Shiki:
So every Kazamidori heroine gets reborn in the present, thanks to Sakura's wish. But obviously this doesn't apply to just them; Kousuke and Shiki are also in the present, and following the anime (for what's worth) also Elizabeth and Tomoe; it wouldn't be weird to see also Mary, Edward, Ian and Odette (or however was her name spelt). (Suginami doesn't count.)
However, while the rest of the characters would be dead since long (or maybe not? They're magicians after all), there should be no reason for marionette Shiki to not be still alive in the present (she had been around since a while ago). And of course in the Edogawa family. So couldn't Kazami chapter Shiki actually be the same as Kazamidori one? She should have lost all memories of the loop, but after returning to the present Sakura cold have met her at some point, and she started going to school at that specific point to check on all the main characters.
And even if he is not aware of all this, Kazami Kousuke could know that Shiki is a marionette; the Edogawa family would still be a magician family, and Kousuke be a magician (it's not like he'd be talking about it in a normal school).

Who would be providing her with magic then? Since the present timeline characters have next to zero magic power AFAIK. Doesn't she need to mana leech off someone to be functional?

[Mazyrian]

Who would be providing her with magic then? Since the present timeline characters have next to zero magic power AFAIK. Doesn't she need to mana leech off someone to be functional?


Hmm, I don't remember that she needed mana support. It could very well, though. However, as I said, it could be that present Kousuke is also a magician; nothing points to him being one, but nothing says he can't be one, either; and since magicians value secrecy, even if he were to actually be one he wouldn't tell anyone about it.
It's somewhat of a devil proof: you can't prove he isn't a magician. Not a very good argument, but this a WMG after all.

[cyberdemon]

A theory on Otome in this scenario since images and reference to her seem to be missing.

Several times in the choppy google trans, the word generation just kept popping up. Talking about Yoshiyuki's generation pf course but it made me think. This makes me think that it will be a continuation of the Otome route and possibly the reason she isn't there right then is that maybe she just gave birth to hers and Yoshiyuki's child, the next generation.

[KBTKaiser]

I think it's more the idea that all the corresponding characters ended up with indescribable reincarnation setups, tweaked to fit the era while still keeping the relations of the characters more or less intact. Thus Shiki being reincarnated as a sharp-tongued older sister. The only person that NO ONE(in game or user-side) can ever figure out is Suginami.

[Mazyrian]

I get that. My point is that the old Shiki should still exist in the present day; and if so, she could very well be the one we see in Kazami.

[relentlessflame]

A theory on Otome in this scenario since images and reference to her seem to be missing.

Several times in the choppy google trans, the word generation just kept popping up. Talking about Yoshiyuki's generation pf course but it made me think. This makes me think that it will be a continuation of the Otome route and possibly the reason she isn't there right then is that maybe she just gave birth to hers and Yoshiyuki's child, the next generation.

Nah, I think this is just Google Translate playing tricks on you. The original text doesn't have this sort of insinuation as far as I can tell.

[cyberdemon]

Nah, I think this is just Google Translate playing tricks on you. The original text doesn't have this sort of insinuation as far as I can tell.

I can confirm even without that that they they mention "our generation"

[relentlessflame]

I can confirm even without that that they they mention "our generation"
In the context of the text, they're talking about their school generation (classmates)... i.e. the cast of D.C. II. They're basically saying "let's get the old gang together again for a party and relive the good old times". It's not the word itself that I was objecting to, but I don't think the insinuation you ascribed to it is there.

[cyberdemon]

In the context of the text, they're talking about their school generation (classmates)... i.e. the cast of D.C. II. They're basically saying "let's get the old gang together again for a party and relive the good old times". It's not the word itself that I was objecting to, but I don't think the insinuation you ascribed to it is there.

I just think there are better words to be used. That coupled with Otome's disappearance from the character pictures or even reference to is suspicious since she is pretty much the main heroine even more than Yume. They aren't just gong to leave her out of the special route which makes me think there's something telling about her picture which is why she was left out. If she was just out of the country then she would still likely come in at the end and as such there is no reason to leave her picture out. There's also the fact that the year after the 5 year timeskip is roughly 15 years before DCIII which is roughly the same time that the hero and heroines of DCIII are starting to be born.

[Mazyrian]

After watching episode 11, I'm starting to think there isn't really any intention of making a Second Season, or of adapting the whole magic school story; the anime intention seems to be to provide some closure to Sakura.

[KBTKaiser]

If this is closure, hell no. This is even more misery and anguish on Sakura. >>;

[Ptolemy66t]

after the recent episode, it's pretty clear at this point but i doubt it won't have 2 seasons, too much will be left out

[MeganeShounen]

Right now, I really feel like writing down all of what I know of the DC games and sorting them out in a proper timeline, starting from pre-Weathervane DC3 and until the end of Hatsunejima DC3.

And I'm scared that even that won't be enough, as I know that I have holes in my understanding of the entire story. :upset:

The mere thought of that is kinda vexing...
Well, I can also hope someone else with better knowledge than mine can pull it off.

After a few minutes of searching, I did manage to find something like a timeline for the DC2 events (http://circus.nandemo.gr.jp/sakuhin/dc2fl/dc2_all/history/main.html) though, courtesy of DC2 Fall in Love. Now we just need to cram in the halves of DC3 somewhere, the entirety of DC1 at the beginning, and maybe sprinkle some of DCIF and DC2IF here and there? :heh:

On a smaller note, Otome's afterstory in DC2 Spring Celebration does mention her intention of going to England to study... but since the story now with Sakura returning is 5 years after the end of DC2, wouldn't Otome be done with school as well? Unless she found employment in Europe or so...

[Mazyrian]

Otome does seem in general to go England to study (to Weathervane, perchance?); except in her own afterstory, where she decides to live with Yoshiyuki.
How many years would she be there? She would go one year after the end of DCII; if she does indeed go to Weathervane it would be 4 years, so maybe she's coming back just in time for this new scenario?

[cyberdemon]

After watching episode 11, I'm starting to think there isn't really any intention of making a Second Season, or of adapting the whole magic school story; the anime intention seems to be to provide some closure to Sakura.

I'd say it's making it more clear that they have every intention of doing a second season.

[Ptolemy66t]

it's fairly irritating that suginami seems to have as much immortality as sakura's line(severely limited aging) thoughout the whole series, it would not be surprising if it was the exact same person during the whole series

[cyberdemon]

a little news of interest. A group who had been fan translating DCIII was recently handed a cease and desist order from Mangagamers. things are looking up for an official translation of the game.

[Ultragunner]

Okay, I'm getting more and more confused here LOL

Correct me if I'm wrong about what we have grasped:


_ Kiyotaka and Ricca were originally magicians from England, they met a girl, who looked like Sakura (?) and received a Sakura-tree branch from her.
_ The couple moved to Japan - Hatsune Island, planted the tree started a family => grandchildren consisted of Junichi, Sakura and Nemu (adpoted)
...***stuffs happened***....
_ Da Capo I canon ending: Junichi married Nemu => granddaughters: Otome & Yume

_ Sakura went to study the Sakura-tree, eventually came back but was very lonely; she wished upon the magical tree for companion and Yoshiyuki was born
...***some other stuffs***...
_ Something went wrong with the tree (which I believed it was from the 1st Da Capo?) as it granted wished indiscriminately => Sakura was forced to kill the tree with the help of Junichi => Yoshiyuki disappeared but somehow came back (sorry guys, I don't quite remember since I played the game quite a long time ago >_<)
_ Sakura went missing (?) then returned 5 years later (?)

_ Da Capo III:
_ We have some implications that this is sometimes after D.C II : Sakura being the a former principle, Yuzu mentioning Nanaka, and of course Minatsu (I resisted to mention Suginami LOL)
_ but at the same time, this could also be a parallel world to the world of D.C II (?)

So Sakura has been jumping back and forward time, as well as moving between parallel worlds????


Someone, if you are so kind, please enlighten me and our fellow members

Thanks

P.S: should I play all the games again LOL

[KBTKaiser]

okay...let's try to fix Ultragunner's train of thought...

The magicians in england bit. If you've played Da Capo 2's game all the way to the end, the last scene of episode 13 post-credits should not be foreign to you.

Next, where to put DC3 on the timeline. This first cour of anime is 20 years after Da Capo 2, IIRC.

What we saw of Sakura throughout the anime series is, by my best guess, a magical construct reproduction of young sakura, age 11, 5 years before Da Capo 1, when she made her wish to the tree to stay as she was.

Now for the critical things.

Sakura Time Traveled backwards over a hundred years, due to a giant plot device that cannot be explained until they air the next season of anime and it comes to light there. Resolving the situation returned her to her time, though technically 5 years later as the DC2 bit for the upcoming DC3 game details.

[hyl]

I kind of expected this....
They changed the original seiyuu's for both the R and X rated version

http://circus.nandemo.gr.jp/sakuhin/dc3r/r/character/index.html

Some are very noticable different after listening to all the voice samples

[relentlessflame]

I kind of expected this....
They changed the original seiyuu's for both the R and X rated version

http://circus.nandemo.gr.jp/sakuhin/dc3r/r/character/index.html

Some are very noticable different after listening to all the voice samples
Yeah, of the main cast, it was always obvious that Charles was going to get a new seiyuu and that's definitely the case, but in listening to the rest... the samples aren't quite long enough yet, but I think they may be the same. Haven't gone through and compared all the secondary characters yet.

[Snuffle]

I also only listened to the main heroines, Sharuru does noticeably sound different. The others however, sound pretty much the same.

It was obvious that Sharuru's seiyuu was going to be different? Is that because the seiyuu is known not to do any work for eroge at all? Only 17 age and under content?

[hyl]

Well to be fair though, i already knew about 1 seiyuu for sure (Sara's CV, because i accidently found that out she was also in the Gaku oh psp port) that she had done eroge roles in the past. Eventhough i think some of them have done more, time to dig for more information in japanese sites
And the current pseudonym's, most of these are new.

[relentlessflame]

It was obvious that Sharuru's seiyuu was going to be different? Is that because the seiyuu is known not to do any work for eroge at all? Only 17 age and under content?
Yeah, they picked the voice actor who did Aisia's character in the D.C.S.S. anime, and she doesn't do any ero work (as far as I know, anyway). Most of the rest of the main heroine actors were newer, so I figured they'd probably make the transition covertly.

[hyl]

After some searching, it seems that Aoi's seiyuu may have been changed as well (not 100% sure)
Apparently 吉川こむぎ is a pseudonym who was used by Matayoshi Ai once.

[Snuffle]

Just realized that I didn't check out if Aoi's voice was different or not, and it seems that the seiyuu is changed. The sample is lacking that usual Aoi energy and pitch that's in her voice. However, it could be a scene where she's not expressing herself like we normally hear her.

[relentlessflame]

Just realized that I didn't check out if Aoi's voice was different or not, and it seems that the seiyuu is changed. The sample is lacking that usual Aoi energy and pitch that's in her voice. However, it could be a scene where she's not expressing herself like we normally hear her.
Yeah, that was basically the same conclusion. The pitch was a bit different, but it could just be the specific scenes/lines. We'd need a bigger sample. There are definitely a lot of similarities there, but hard to say for sure.

[Mazyrian]

Checked RX. There are 3 or 4 H scenes per girl, most of them with 3 CGs, so there's quite a bit of H content. They're mostly in the obvious places, but some are also in the epilogues, somewhat of a pet peeve of mine (for obvious reasons Himeno is a major offender here).
Personally I was more interested in the DCII scenario, which delivered in the nostalgia aspect at least. But that's all there's new. In raw text the 1.3 patch had added more content (and it seems the rhythm mini game is no longer there). DCIIIPC this ain't (not that I was expecting that).
In this DCII scenario Anzu says that she got the idea for the Charles/Eto play in a dream a bit after the new everlasting sakura appeared. Maybe she's actually related to Charles? (at least certainly not to Aishia) We don't know her real family, and the hair color is kind of similar.

[KBTKaiser]

Actually, the first part of the DCII scenario clears up the major plothole in regards to the Sakura wandering Hatsunejima during the DCIII anime.

It was the Sakura Tree projecting a backup Yoshino Sakura. With the tree back at full power thanks to Kiyotaka and the girls reactivating it, it probably reactivated that extra subroutine while the real Yoshino Sakura was busy getting things ready for the big reveal.

[hyl]

>_>

The x-rated version of D.C.III R ended up being the 3rd highest sold eroge of last month (After Grisaia no Rakuen and Reminiscence, which isn't surprising because those 2 were much more hyped) and the sales were much higher compared to last year's D.C.III.

So if i have to make a guess, it's probably because of the H-scenes.........

[Yye1]

there is a dacapo 2 scenario?

[Tigarekkusu]

can anyone explain charles yoshino ending??

[cyberdemon]

some news for everyone

And last but not least, for all our fans of the Da Capo franchise, we’re proud to announce our license of Da Capo 3 R and Da Capo 3 R X-Rated! 20 years after the Cherry Blossom withered at the end of Da Capo 2, it finally blooms once more, and Sakura returns to Hatsune Island. As a new generation attempts to unravel the mysteries of the Cherry Blossom and its magic, a new Sakura appears before them to tell the tale of London, over a century ago, when all of them first met… We plan to release both the all-ages and adult version simultaneously, a first time for us at MangaGamer.

[Mazyrian]

It's not really news by this point, but a while ago PP started getting more information. Homepage: http://circus-co.jp/product/dc3pp/index.html. Seems it will be exclusively in Kazami; it starts after everyone goes one year up, and will go through one whole year showing how Kiyotaka gets close to one of the 5 girls (it's also 18+).
The character profiles are basically the same (though now Ricca and Charles have the main school uniform).


The newest thing is a character relationships chart (http://circus-co.jp/product/dc3pp/character/index.html). Of interest are the two ones marked only with a ?, presumably characters that appeared in the Kazamidori part but not yet in the modern time scenes. One is also in the 3-2 class (the same as Kiyotaka as partners) and is a good friend (?) of Mikoto. The other has a sempai-kouhai relationship with Sara in the softball club (though it doesn't says who is the sempai; given the layout I'd guess Sara, though I don't think there was any character younger than her).
If I had to guess... The first one could be Edward, or maybe Mary; they had a relationship (if brief) with Mikoto in the anime, and were part of the same year of Kiyotaka in Kazamidori. Maybe Edward more likely; subordinate to Mary like Mikoto is to Suginami. Though the ? shows that the "good friend" part is arguable, and I can imagine Mary having a kind of fighting friendship with Mikoto. All in all, Mikoto not appearing in Kazamidori means it's hard to extrapolate.
And for the second... The only character in Kazamidori with whom Sara competed in Grulgnir or however was that sport spelled (which would be the counterpart to the present time softball, storywise) was Ricca, who obviously isn't this mysterious character. And Sara didn't have much of a contact with any character outside Kiyotaka and... only Kiyotaka actually (a bit with Himeno and Ricca I guess). Though of course Kazami relationships don't need to be a copy of Kazamidori ones, so anything can go. For some reason I have a hunch this one could be Tomoe, though in this case the ? would be the sempai (also, one would guess Tomoe would also have relationship with Ricca and Charles in the student council; though the chart doesn't seem to show all the possible relationships).
Of course, they could be new characters and then all the bets are off.

So tl;dr: there are two new mysterious characters in DCIIIPP, they could be anyone.


There were also some designs for the casual clothes of Kousuke, Shiki and Mikoto in the blog (http://circus-co.jp/product/dc3pp/blog/?a=56bcflnvx)

[Yye1]

So what is Platinum Partner about? Also, read on reddit, so its not reliable, but someone was saying mikoto has something to do with shirakawas

[relentlessflame]

So what is Platinum Partner about?
It's essentially a sequel to D.C. III that takes place in Hatsunejima. (I suppose you could sort of argue that it's the real "D.C. III" if the other was more like "D.C. Zero". The D.C. III we got originally started as D.C. Zero before the then-D.C. III got scrapped.)

Also, read on reddit, so its not reliable, but someone was saying mikoto has something to do with shirakawas
She looks like she could be related, but I don't think there's anything in canon that actually confirms any outright connection... unless I'm forgetting something. I think her identity is kept a bit of a mystery to keep a bit in theme with Suginami.

[Yye1]

^ Interesting, so Platinum Partner actually deals with Hatsunejima. Hopefully it sheds some more light on how DC III relates to the older games.

[KBTKaiser]

There's nothing about mikoto being related to the shirakawas on the character profile. The new girl linked to her is Yukimura Sumomo, who was adopted by Yukimura Anzu of D.C.II on the grounds of "She had the same name as Grandma, so it must be fate". Very good relations with Mikoto, if not outright Mikoto's controller(if mikoto were considered a wild dog, etc.)

The other girl is sempai/kouhai with Sara, Ueno Youko, and is the softball captain, also small for her age, considering she's high school 2nd year.

[cyberdemon]

new character has been introduced in the new DC2 Dearest Marriage that also appears in D.C. III P.P. Her name is

Yuuki Sakurai, daughter of Yoshiyuki and Otome
http://circus-co.jp/product/dc2dm/story/image/st2_yki2.jpg

[KBTKaiser]

And so the timelines converge...

[InfinityDragonGod]

Da Capo 3 R is coming out on Steam on January 20:D

[cyberdemon]

Da Capo 3 R is coming out on Steam on January 20:D

or you can go for the x-rated version on the same day at mangagamers

[zeross87]

this is what i get on MG product page :
http://i.imgur.com/UiFjUiW.png

but when i doawnload it i get "Da Capo 3 R Installer.exe"

did i do something wrong or did they mess up their installer name ?

[relentlessflame]

but when i doawnload it i get "Da Capo 3 R Installer.exe"

did i do something wrong or did they mess up their installer name ?
Most likely they just use the same installer for both versions of the game, but it should be apparent after you install I would think.

[zeross87]

Most likely they just use the same installer for both versions of the game, but it should be apparent after you install I would think.

Yes it's just a wrong installer name. The guy from MG told me since R rated is steam only he didn't bother to name the standalone Xrated since it's the only standalone version.

[cyberdemon]

this is what i get on MG product page :
http://i.imgur.com/UiFjUiW.png

but when i doawnload it i get "Da Capo 3 R Installer.exe"

did i do something wrong or did they mess up their installer name ?

Sweet they have a mac version. Was afraid I wouldn't be able to play it

[zeross87]

Sweet they have a mac version. Was afraid I wouldn't be able to play it

its because they have ported the game on a Unity3D engine to make it easier to do cross plateform, remove the need of applocale and make it smoother all over.

[DragoonKain3]

So... worth 40 bucks? Like I kinda enjoyed DC2 more than most VNs mainly because the main group are all childhood friends, though I only truly enjoyed Otome's route.

Not gonna lie guys, I'm hesitant to drop the money because of the anime (stark contrast to DC2 where it's the anime that made me preorder it). I'm only reconsidering it because I've been told Charles' route is similar to Otome, and that would probably be the clincher.

[cyberdemon]

its because they have ported the game on a Unity3D engine to make it easier to do cross plateform, remove the need of applocale and make it smoother all over.

I wonder if they will start to port their other games in the same way

[ronelm2000]

....Question: Does the prologue influence what route I would get off the arc after it? Example: I have to view Ricca events in Prologue to view Ricca route in the next arc.

I'm asking since you can actually skip it in this game...

[relentlessflame]

So... worth 40 bucks? Like I kinda enjoyed DC2 more than most VNs mainly because the main group are all childhood friends, though I only truly enjoyed Otome's route.

Not gonna lie guys, I'm hesitant to drop the money because of the anime (stark contrast to DC2 where it's the anime that made me preorder it). I'm only reconsidering it because I've been told Charles' route is similar to Otome, and that would probably be the clincher.

It's a bit hard to make a recommendation based on that sort of specific criteria. A key point to understand is that the anime only really gives a modified version of the game's prologue, so isn't really reflective of the game proper.

I personally think that it's worth the $40 considering the volume and breadth/scope of this work, but it'll always seem like a good deal to me compared to Japanese prices.


....Question: Does the prologue influence what route I would get off the arc after it? Example: I have to view Ricca events in Prologue to view Ricca route in the next arc.

I'm asking since you can actually skip it in this game...
Most likely you can skip it given that it provides the option. But according to this Japanese walkthrough (http://seiya-saiga.com/game/circus/d.c.3rx.html) it looks like they recommend to take two different paths through the prologue (one focused on Charles and Rikka, and another focused on the other three), and then skip the prologue the other times. This could be mostly for CG collection, though.

[ronelm2000]

I really want to review this VN once I get the chance, but before that, can anyone help me translate the walkthrough? After Blind Running and finishing off until Da Capo Arc, I seem to not have unlocked this particular route. Anyone got ideas how to unlock it? (or rather, translate relentless' walkthrough for me to understand.)

http://i.imgur.com/RTlAKis.png

EDIT:
Wow, a Steam walkthrough already (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=784455240)... So basically I go to 5th day go to Cafeteria then Sleep? Lol. TY to the author.

[cyberdemon]

I really want to review this VN once I get the chance, but before that, can anyone help me translate the walkthrough? After Blind Running and finishing off until Da Capo Arc, I seem to not have unlocked this particular route. Anyone got ideas how to unlock it? (or rather, translate relentless' walkthrough for me to understand.)

http://i.imgur.com/RTlAKis.png

EDIT:
Wow, a Steam walkthrough already (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=784455240)... So basically I go to 5th day go to Cafeteria then Sleep? Lol. TY to the author.

the walkthrough I use said they require completed routes and something called Scene Recovery:

http://www.otakulair.com/english-visual-novel-walkthroughs/da-capo-3-r-walkthrough-mangagamer/

[ronelm2000]

....what is "Scene recovery", because those set of choices are .... Wierd lol

[relentlessflame]

....what is "Scene recovery", because those set of choices are .... Wierd lol

Scene recovery means trying to unlock every scene in the game (regardless of route), which is often done to unlock the full list of CGs (but in the case of D.C. games, also just to unlock the full list of scenes in the Scene Viewer). Basically, it's to catch all the "odds and ends" that you'd otherwise miss following the walkthrough.

[cyberdemon]

Scene recovery means trying to unlock every scene in the game (regardless of route), which is often done to unlock the full list of CGs (but in the case of D.C. games, also just to unlock the full list of scenes in the Scene Viewer). Basically, it's to catch all the "odds and ends" that you'd otherwise miss following the walkthrough.

I usually try to do that. Sadly there are still scenes in DC1 that I still can't figure out how to get to lol

anyone know if Mangagamer has said anything about translating da capo iii platinum partner?

[relentlessflame]

anyone know if Mangagamer has said anything about translating da capo iii platinum partner?
They said that it's more likely than going back to do D.C.II P.C., anyway, but haven't yet confirmed whether they'll do it or not. (They do have a lot of secret projects, though, so it's possible they're already working on it and just haven't announced it yet.)

[cyberdemon]

They said that it's more likely than going back to do D.C.II P.C., anyway, but haven't yet confirmed whether they'll do it or not. (They do have a lot of secret projects, though, so it's possible they're already working on it and just haven't announced it yet.)

would love to see them do the PCs as well. So many different heroines to try for.

are the creators of Da Capo fans of south park or is Mangagamer just having fun with the teacher's name? It was the same in DC2. lol

[Enternal]

I'm also hoping they are willing to translate some of the more important fandisks such as D.C. II ~Da Capo II~ Dearest Marriage.

[InfinityDragonGod]

Da Capo III Dream Days

FuR52_8eMd8

[AP24]

Seems like Da Capo franchise is still not over yet. How can the heroines from the second series meet with the heroines of the third series when the third series takes place 20 years after the second series? :heh:

[AnimeFangirl]

Time travel. What, you've never played a video game before?

[InfinityDragonGod]

It's also possible that they will show the Da Capo II cast 20 years older. That can also happen.
Although they already did time travel crossover before with Da Capo and Da Capo II.

[cyberdemon]

It's also possible that they will show the Da Capo II cast 20 years older. That can also happen.
Although they already did time travel crossover before with Da Capo and Da Capo II.

Well Yoshiyuki and Otome's daughter apparently appears in DCIII Platinum Partner

[AP24]

Well Yoshiyuki and Otome's daughter apparently appears in DCIII Platinum Partner

So in terms of continuity, Otome is the main heroine of the second series.

[silenceblade]

Did Yoshiyuki have children with anyone beside Otome?
Junichi had children with Nemu, Sakura, and Kotori. While Kiyotaka had children with Rikka, Charles, and Himeno (I think?).
It would be strange that only Yoshiyuki only married Otome while the other had three partner (from different timeline).

[AP24]

Da Capo 4 is coming: https://circus-co.jp/product/dc4/

There is also an Archives: Sakura Edition that compiles all of the previously released games.

[blitz1/2]

Waiting for my Future Sakura island.