D.C.II: Da Capo II

Da Capo II is a new story set fifty years after the original Da Capo with a portion of the characters being decedents of the original cast. However, the entire plot line diverges from the dramatic tension and magic that defined the original series so well.

This series is actually more similar to Chobits and True Heart ~Memories in of themes than the original Da Capo. After a few episodes dealing with a weak relationship, the main plot focuses on the Robot/human/feelings issue. So if you're looking for intense love triangles, either look elsewhere or wade through this quickly to get to the sequel.

Animation:
The animation ... is actually very nice. The characters are well proportioned and colors are nicely set. The descendants actually look quite similar to their respective equivalent in the first series, except for Sakura, of course, who looks identical to her former self.

Sound:
The OP and ED didn't catch my attention much and the overall feel of the BGM was lackluster compared to the original series, but that might just be because of the lack of actual tension in this series in general. The voice acting cast on the other hand is very good and Yui Horie as Yume Asakura is just too cute.

Story:
The story is about a male who lives in Sakura's house named Yoshiyuki Sakurai who is apparently called "brother" by the Asakura sisters even though they have different last names (check Wiki if interested as to why) and this is never explained in the series.

At first, the story is about his relationship with a girl named Koko, who he had been a good friend with for years. However, instead of continuing to develop and expand the relationship, the focus of the story shifts unnaturally when the main character stumbles upon a robot similar to Miharu Amakase in the original series.

Yoshiyuki feels responsible for awakening the robot and the rest of the story deals with how others perceive of "robots" that have "feelings".

However, the execution of this development was done in an inferior fashion and left the human girl, Koko, in the shadows. The overall conclusion of the story never answers what happens to the relationships but that's probably because they want to leave something for the second series.

Overall, the story is a let down to the dramatic and amazing story in the original Da Capo.

Character:
The main characters in this series include familiar names such as Asakura, Amakase, and Shirakawa. It is interesting to note that Sakura (who still looks like a child) is now the principal at the school.

Yoshiyuki is a "nice" guy as is most other lead males in harem animes. He is also stereotypically slow when it comes to understanding the feelings of the one he is supposed to be in a relationship with. Overall, I find his character weak in comparison to Hiroyuki in To Heart. He is apparently related to Jun'ichi as he also sees others' dreams and can magically make candy.

In of the other characters, Koko is a shy girl who is very reserved despite being in a relationship with Yoshiyuki.

Personally, I feel Koko's character is a far cry from Nemu in of potential. The only two characters that I really wanted to see developed were the two Asakura sisters who sadly got minimal air time. Jump to the sequel if you want to see more of them.

Value:
My expectations for this show were pretty high since it is the direct successor of Da Capo. I didn't expect the focus of the anime to shift away from relationships to focus on the metaphysical topic of robots with feelings and how society deals with them. Even with the shift in topic, it was handled in an inferior fashion in comparison with other animes of that topic. Overall, I think the value of this series is average.

Story-7
Unlike its predecessors, Da Capo II mostly ties the main plot and sub plot. The big idea in this series, xenophobia to robots, was introduced echoing the last two series about bananas. Surprisingly the relationship between the protagonist and Koko was established quickly. Their obstacles in their relationship was fairly predictable, being too nice and general insensitivity from the classic protagonist. The story progressed much faster as a 13 episode series which was great because the three characters (Yoshiyuki, Koko, and Minatasu) were fairly fleshed out.

Art-7
There was nothing outstanding from the art (except the nice animation of ripping the world ... domination notebook) but it was still nice.

Sound-7
Instead of Kotori singing we have Nanaka. I actually enjoyed the singing parts this time because more people were actually involved. (the band) The rest of the sounds were nice and the OP actually stuck with me.

Character-7
Our protagonist Yoshiyuki is a much more active character than Junichi. He goes for the girl and succeeds. The Asakura siblings do not have a major impact in the story save for the one episode but help flesh out the relationships between the three main characters. Koko is the shy one that lacks initiation until she gathers the courage which is great. Minatsu is the interesting character about living in society where robots are seen as tools. She has the most development as a character. The two girls, Akane and Anzu, serve their role to aid Koko and were neither outstanding or boring. Nanaka has her moment comparable to Kotori with the protagonist and it established her character well.

Enjoyment-7
There was not a single episode where I wished I would want to skip. The episodes usually kept me busy but nothing outstanding. I liked the part where the "cliffhanger" at the second last episode was supposed to mean something but the last episode just glossed over it in the first half. I chuckled at that because for once there was no emphasis in romance in the a romance genre series.

Overall-7
The series again improved from its prequels and kept the enjoyment factor satisfying. The show is more about the three person relationship rather than a harem which I can enjoy for once.

I decided to change my review because I didn't liked it anymore, and I have other things to say now.

Story
I still say that I can't give the story higher then a 6. I think I'm going to sound very negative now, but I can't help it, sorry. The story is just.. boring! The whole series is about the Koko x Yoshiyuki relationship which isn't going anywhere! We also see some episodes about Minatsu, again, I'm not really interested, but other people can like it. After some episodes I was really forcing myself to watch it.. Like I said, one word: B-O-R-I-N-G.

Art
I can say something good ... about this, at least.. There's nothing wrong with the art, we could also see that in the other Da Capo series. Bright colors, nice characterdesign, you can see that this anime is kinda new, that's a good thing, isn't it?

Sound/Seiyuu's
Nothing wrong with the sound, you can hear it very bright, so.. we can't say bad things about that either. But now we come to the seiyuu's. Some of them.. ANNOY ME!
Examples:
Yoshiyuki: If my boyfriend had a voice like that, I would say: Goodbye! That was really harsh, isn't it? Okay, maybe I won't, if I would really love the guy.
Minatsu: The most annoying voice ever, does she always have a cold or something?! Maybe her seiyuu was sick or something?!

The rest of them, they're fine. Some of them are really good, others are normal, think you understand me, right?

Character
I like most of Da Capo II's characters. Good ones: Otome, Yume, Nanaka, Anzu, Sakura and the rest who aren't with the bad ones. Bad ones: Yoshiyuki, Koko, Minatsu. Why I don't like Yoshiyuki, Koko and Minatsu? They are the worst main characters they could choose, and the story is mostly about them. Yoshiyuki is way too dense. Koko is annoying and thinks that Yoshiyuki always will see her as the first place, selfish brat. Minatsu acts like she don't need help, so people will feel sorry for her. And WTF is the thing with the bananas? I mean, she (Minatsu) says that she hates them, but she needs to eat them to survive. I mean.. BANANAS! How do they think of something so stupid! Did they ask the greengrocer for help when they thought of this! Horrible.. That this still can get a 7 is because of the 'good ones', and because I'm way to nice! :-)

Enjoyment
Do you like boring stories with two people who are in a relationship which never will work out? Do you like robots and bananas? Then Da Capo II is the anime for you! Okay, forget what I said.. I can't believe that this crap is from the same makers as the other Da Capo series. Where is the drama?! Even the end s*ckt very badly! We don't know anything yet... I'm not sure if I want to watch the second season of this, it needs to be VERY good otherwise I will drop it right away. But maybe some people enjoyed this, I don't know, I think that there was a episode where Nanaka sings, that one wasn't very bad.

Overall
I'm sure some of you are wondering why I gave such good notes, because I was really negative if you ask me. 1. I'm way too nice.. 2. Other people may like it, I wanted to watch at their point of view a little..
My real OPINION: I wasted my damn time on this sh*t! BUT, I'll give the second season ONE chance, maybe they will make up for the crappy story/ending and all the other things. If they won't, I wasted my time even more.

Thanks for spending your time to read this review! Some of you didn't expected Erisu to go evil, neh? :-)