Da Capo Episode 01
"Can't I Fall in Love With You?"
I was sufficiently intrigued by the later episodes of Da Capo that I felt compelled to go ahead and start reviewing this series from the beginning (if only so I know what the heck was going on!). This isn't your standard school romance anime world, as Nemu's brother appears to be able to see into people's dreams, not to mention other magical (and oddly sexual) tricks.
So this is your requisite introductory episode, that comes along with your requisite "girl from male character's past who was made promises too that has traveled from a far away place to make good on those promises". Never seen that before, no sir!
Fortunately, the backdrop of this series (as stated before) isn't your normal world, so hopefully that will play a greater role in this seemingly formulaic love story. The art is pretty, though (right up against the edge of my cute tolerance level), and the overly cute girls voices don't completely drive my eardrums to madness.
By the way, I really hope that title isn't an idication of some sort of main incestuous love story plot in the episodes to come. I'm already watching Onegai Twins for god's sake.
Stay tuned.
Rating: B
Da Capo Episode 02
"Evil Nemu, Explodes"
Hm, episode two of this series wasn't really a marked improvement over the last. We've worked out of they introductory phase (only one episode, thankfully), and now we see into the relationship between Nemu and her brother, with whom she seems to have slightly more than platonic feelings for. Luckily they're not related by blood. (Sad day when I should be thankful that possibly romantically involved characters in an anime are not related by blood.)
The premise of this episode isn't anything you haven't seen before, with one person getting jealous of the other, even though her feelings aren't obvious (so it seems like a nonsensical jealousy to the other party, even though the audience knows what's going on). It hasn't been openly stated that the two are interested in each other, but it sure seems like it!
Not really much else to say about this show, so far it seems very average (without any magical stuff like in the last).
Rating: C+
Da Capo Episode 03
"It's Bananas!"
I was a little worried by the title of the episode, and it turns out that my worries were founded in a little thing called reality.
In this episode, the weirdness level of this show is turned up a notch as Miharu is critically injured in an accident, but is replaced by a robot that looks and acts exactly like her (made by her father, apparently). The only difference is that the robot Miharu is still taking time to learn what it means to be human.
Asakura is strung along to help her, which basically runs them through a bunch of gags. For example, Asakura has to wind Miharu, which she finds "ticklish" (draw your own conclusions). Also, there's Miharu's obsession with bananas, which leads to a whole bunch of innuendo, bad jokes, and poor taste. Actually, it's so absurd it's kind of funny.
The episode ends with a little bit more seriousness, but I can only assume that this whole plot thread won't be carried on from here on out.
As ridiculous as this episode was, it was actually fairly entertaining (in a perverted, what the hell is going on, sort of way).
Rating: B+
Da Capo Episode 04
"The Canary Under the Cherry Blossoms"
It was only a matter of time before this show got even weirder (say five seconds). We get to see Kotori again, the girl that's popular with all the kids at school, and she has the ability to read minds. Another of her innate powers is the ability to summon forth background music to accompany her singing. (By the way, that song she's singing... it's terrible. I can only assume that Nemu's brother is deaf, and thus seems to enjoy it.)
Anyways, so we get the beginning of the Kotori/Asakura relationship in this episode, and it seems pretty standard (well, except for the fact that she can read minds and he can do magic). Because of the little music video that is attached to the end of each episode, the show feels a little rushed, while at the same time, it feels like the story of each episode drags on too much, given the shorter length.
There's really nothing special about this show so far.
Rating: C+
Da Capo Episode 05
"I'm a Maid, So..."
This is not a good show. It's like its target audience is older teens, but it's written and created like a show for kids. Anyways, this is your standard issue maid-testing episode. Maid shows up, needs a place to live, of course wants to live with our female-burdened hero. The maid is, of course, grossly unqualified to be a maid, but aforementioned tries his hardest to help the maid pass the arbitrary tests she's been given. Of course, in the end, everything works out for the best.
On the plus side of this fluff show, the cute art style works pretty well. It's amusing to see Junichi go through his various poses and actions, and the show is fast-moving enough (not to mention short enough) to be watchable, even if it isn't very good.
Rating: C+
Da Capo Episode 09
"The Mysterious Poet"
I don't know anything about Da Capo, but after watching the first two minutes, I get the sneaking suspicion that it's based on some hentai game (I could very well be wrong, though). Either way, for some reason, I seem to be watching a lot of shows (well, two, including this one) that involve some sort of incestuous undertones. Maybe it's not a big part of this series (like in Onegai Twins), but I'm starting on episode nine and there's been a few mentions of it, so...
Anyways, this episode deals with Nemu, a normal girl who has attracted the attention of a rather devoted suitor (and by devoted suitor, I mean stalker). The episode follows her brother trying to keep her safe from the stalker, and taking care of her. There's a little twist in the whole story which I actually found fairly amusing.
The art isn't anything very special, but despite the fact I usually don't like this particular art style (think Kanon-esque, super cute), I still thought it was a good-looking show.
Having only seen one episode of this series, I was actually fairly entertained by this light-hearted show. Unfortunately, I also didn't get very much out of it... nothing really seemed to happen, but I'm willing to watch on and see where it goes.
Rating: B-
Da Capo Episode 10
"I Wanted You to Listen to It"
Whoa, I clearly missed the explanation of the whole thought reading thing that's going on in this episode... Sure, I did pick up the series at episode nine, but I didn't see any evidence of anything crazy in that one.
This episode definitely threw a curve at me, especially at the end. If someone could explain to me what the deal with the last five minutes with the cat-person and the montage (great piano music, though), I'd be extremely grateful.
Other than that weird ending, I thought the bulk of the show was interesting, with Nemu's brother getting into a sitcom-esque predicament by accepting two appointments at the same time, one with Nemu and one with Kotori (the mind-reading girl who appears to have a crush on him). The catch is that Kotori can read minds... so she lies about her appointment so that he can hang out with Nemu (whom he probably has some sort of latent incestual desire for... I might be kidding, a little). It actually plays out well, despite the oddball concept.
Oh, and then there's the almost Disneyesque scene where Kotori breaks into song (surely she was egged on by the instrumental track that started to play out of nowhere!). Kotori invited Nemu's brother to listen to her vocal concert, and when she tells him that the concert was cancelled, she misses the chance to have him hear her sing. Four our benefit, she sings it afterwards, while she's alone and thinking about what happened.
I'm not officially confused, but interested in this show. The previous episode made it seem like a real standard high school romantic comedy/drama... but now I don't know what to think.
Rating: B