(CR) D.C. III ~Da Capo III~ (Anime)

[uis]

Spoiler:

Originally Posted by uis

We know nothing about anime plot right now... maybe they make s1 with just prologue and s2 going deeper in weathervane, zero and da capo route...

I can't believed my joke happened.

[DragoonKain3]

I frigging hate you uis. Why you make me (us?) suffer? You jinxed it I say!


And yeah, ironically, everything revolves around Sakura and yet she never 'wins'. But as they say, third time is the charm, so maybe this time around...

[NoemiChan]

Spoiler for If season 2 is possible:

I bet season 2 will be about Sakura's past life with the two..

[Leon_Lelouch]

Didn't get time to play VN so when I saw ep 13 ending with usual harem way "I want just to be like this with everyone" saying from protagonist and the end I thought that this Da Capo really sucks
but just like its predecessor I hope there will still be the continuation as according to me, one of Da Capo anime series' good point was that at the end the protagonist will choose someone and hurt the others even how good the protagonist is towards all girls, so as to make the conclusion and not becoming the usual sucks harem anime.....

a bit disturbed seeing the point of view that look to the breast in every episode....-_-
a bit happy seeing Junichi, Nanaka, and Mibanana~ there's Nemu but no Kotori....:'(
fortunately like Rikka in this da capo, so finally I can be happy seeing the ending with the heroine I like as the probability with Rikka is so so high

If there is next season, I wonder will they make every girls story part.... like his friend's sister or suginami's slave (?)
ah, there's suginami again.... he's everywhere in da capo.... the mascot (?) lol

[Akito Kinomoto]

I liked the first several episodes because the same setting can have self-contained stories. Unfortunately it tried to plot and the comparisons to the previous Da Capo cropped up. More thoughts below...

Spoiler for Length:

The Da Capo-verse is a series set on Hatsunejima Island that takes one ordinary guy and his would-be romantic interests through the trials set on them by the Magical Sakura Tree. The tree grants any wish whether benign or ill, and “be careful what you wish for” is this drama’s recurring theme. It’s a unique idea but it’s the execution that counts.

That’s where things go wrong but more on that in a moment.

The first several episodes of Da Capo III were actually very nice to watch. The episodic approach was different from the previous Da Capo’s but that alone didn’t make it worse. Since Da Capo and Second Season, Da Capo II and II SS, and Da Capo III are their own continuity it’s reasonable for them to be different in nature. Series’ newcomers didn’t need to watch the previous shows to understand Da Capo III and previous fans can enjoy the change of pace with this in mind. The spotlight episode for each heroine and a swimsuit exhibition episode (literally) don’t try but they didn’t need to; it’s harmlessly delicious eye-candy fun.

But then the first several episodes passed and the show tried to tell a story. Keyword being “try.” It starts by bringing up a conclusion to an old thread that was the only semblance of a story from the earlier episodes that had no build-up to its conclusion and is later disregarded by one of the characters; hand wave of the year ladies and gentlemen. But worse still was the main story. It involves a mysterious loli introduced early on trying to make friends and Rikka Morizono implied to have known her and Kiyotaka in a previous life. The mysterious loli’s plot importance is revealed and it makes her newfound friends sad despite spending only one or two episodes with them. The plot point itself sort of falls flat because of a lack of build-up and Kiyotaka makes nothing of Rikka’s flirtatiousness despite how the show builds her in relation to the main story so the viewer’s stand-in—er, I mean, Kiyotaka can open endedly choose the girl he likes.

That’s about as much sense as the story makes. I say the plot point sort of falls flat because it does make sense if you’ve seen Da Capo II and II SS except for the fact it contradicts what happened in them. Furthermore, requiring that knowledge means there’s a direct comparison to Da Capo II and II SS meaning the harmlessly delicious episodes are pointless to Da Capo III’s story. Da Capo newcomers will be lost and Da Capo fans will be offended the moment Da Capo III tries to tell a story like its predecessors did.

The only saving grace for Da Capo III is how polished and delicious this eye candy is. And while pure skinservice fun isn’t bad on its own, this show is like walking into an ice cream parlor and getting all the sweet girls—er, I mean, ice cream you can get before you’re suddenly expected to eat a poorly done proper meal right as you reach the high of the ice cream’s deliciousness. The end result isn’t delicious at all and tastes like Da Crapo.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Akito Kinomoto

The end result isn’t delicious at all and tastes like Da Crapo.

Clearly you worked on that one all week.

I think this is where it's important to put in context what this is: a teaser for the game. This doesn't by any means shield the anime from criticism if you try to consider it a complete/standalone story, but essentially the entire story of the anime (minus some anime-original additions) is from the trial of the game (which you can download for free from the Circus website). Given that covering the entire game would be completely impossible in one-cour, I wasn't too offended that they went with this lighter approach... but, inevitably, if you want the real story (that starts from the point the anime ends), you need to play the game... which thankfully enough is going to be released in English in the not-too-distant future. But, clearly, if you try to judge this anime as a complete story in its own right, it's entirely incomplete -- by design.

Spoiler for Reference to D.C. II S.S. Epilogue:

That said, it doesn't actually conflict with D.C. II S.S... but the link wasn't shown in the TV broadcast. There was an extra epilogue for people who bought all the DVDs which tied the ending of the anime back to the ending of the game, and served as the link to D.C. III... So I can see why it may seem contradictory if your only exposure was the TV anime.

[AP24]

Just finished it, it's sad they only covered the prologue. Hopefully there will be another season someday covering weathervane, zero and da capo routes, otherwise I will have to play the game when the official English release comes out. But it's possible that it will cover Platinum Partner instead.

Second seasons of DC and DC II aired around when extensions/spin-off games to the main titles were released. So DC III has a chance of getting another season if there will be more extensions/spin-off to DC III game.

[relentlessflame]

To be honest, I don't think it's very likely that they'll come back for more at this point. The anime didn't sell particularly well (sort of average for VN adaptations), and I think most DC fans at this point are already hooked. Although it's always nice to see the whole story animated, I actually like that they did this as opposed to trying to rush the entire game into 13 episodes (as other adaptations have sometimes done). If anything, I suppose a short OVA series that covers D.C. II D.M. may be a bit more lucrative (as Otome was arguably a more popular/enduring character).

All in all, whether there's more anime or not, I'd still recommend checking out the game when it's released. (And if you haven't played the games for one and two, they're worth getting too.) Even in the best of cases, the anime can only cover so much.