OP Sequence

OP: 「サクラキミニエム」 (Sakura Kimi ni Emu) by yozuca*
Watch the OP! Mirror 1, Mirror 2

Summary:

Sakurai Yoshiyuki wakes up one morning after dreaming again about a girl confessing to him in front of the large sakura tree. Realizing how late it is, he rushes out of his room and nearly runs over his sister Asakura Yume who wants him to make her some breakfast since their older sister Asakura Otome had to leave early because today is their school’s culture festival. Yoshiyuki doesn’t have the time to actually cook anything, so he uses his special ability to magically create a wagashi for her to eat. His phone then rings with a call from Sakura asking him to get some documents she left in her room. At school, his friends are all waiting for him, including his childhood friend Tsukishima Koko who has feelings for him. She wants to go around the festival with him, but before she can ask him, their class representative Sawai Maya interrupts them to get Yoshiyuki to do some work. Yoshiyuki gets out of it by saying that the school principal had wanted him to do something, and he runs off.

Sakura isn’t in the principal’s office when Yoshiyuki gets there, and since the room is messy, he cleans it up a little. While he’s putting a pillow away in the closet, however, Yoshiyuki notices a secret set of stairs leading down somewhere. He’s unable to explore it though because Sakura soon returns. After Yoshiyuki gives her the documents she wanted, Sakura asks him who he’s going to be touring the festival with today. She guesses that it’ll be one of his sisters, but Yoshiyuki thinks that it’ll be his friends Suginami and Wataru as usual. Sakura compares a school life without love to a nabe without dashi, and she urges him to do his best. Once he leaves, she looks out her window and urges the girls at the festival to do their best too. The girls in particular she’s looking at are Koko with her friends Anzu and Akane. As the three are talking about how this is a good time to confess, they see a group of boys gathered around the school idol Shirakawa Nanaka because they want to go around the festival with her. Anzu thinks that Koko has to learn from those boys because failing to act means that nothing will change.

The three then approach Yoshiyuki and his friends and propose that they walk around the festival together as a group, with Yoshiyuki looking after Koko in particular. The group then goes around to all the booths, including a couples’ compatibility test where Yoshiyuki and Koko get kichi together, which isn’t good or bad. Feeling that Koko’s not making enough progress, Akane and Anzu pull her aside and remind her of her goal. Suginami then suggests that they go to the tea house which is serving tea made with the petals of the undying sakura tree that supposedly will grant any wish, and Koko makes her wish there. Afterwards, Akane and Anzu ask Yoshiyuki what type of girl he likes, but he claims not to have any in particular. This gets Wataru frustrated since he thinks that Yoshiyuki’s senses have been dulled because he has Otome and Yume. Yoshiyuki gets offended because those two are his siblings, and by coincidence, student council president Otome walks by with her entourage just then. Noticing Yoshiyuki, she walks over to straighten out her little brother’s clothes, but she gets pulled away by her friend Mayuki.

That evening, as everyone is cleaning up from the festival, Anzu and Akane leave with Wataru and Suginami so that Koko can be alone with Yoshiyuki. Since this is her chance, Koko takes Yoshiyuki to the special sakura tree and finally confesses her feelings for him. This causes him to realize that the girl in his dream was her after all, and he remembers how they had been together since they were young and how she’s precious to him. However, Yoshiyuki isn’t sure if his feelings amount to love. When he sees Koko about to cry though, Yoshiyuki agrees to go out with her. Hugging him, Koko is glad that her wish got granted.

ED Sequence

ED: 「優しさは雨のように」 (Yasashisa wa Ame no Youni) by CooRie
Watch the ED!: Mirror 1, Mirror 2
I’m not particularly keen on either the OP or the ED, though I did like the style used in the ending sequence. It reminds me of the style SHAFT has used for a lot of their series recently.

I have mixed feelings about this first episode. On one hand, a confession right away seems like a good sign that they’re not going to waste too much time. However, the fact that it was Koko’s confession and not Otome or Yume or Nanaka (who, if the original Da Capo is any indicator, are probably the main contenders), makes me wonder what direction this show is going in. A bunch of people on 2ch were jokingly saying that this was a good ending (since accepting a confession could be the end of any other show). Anyway, I would venture a guess that Koko is going to get her heart broken, or else the sakura tree’s magic will change things somehow – or both.

Animation-wise, it doesn’t seem like the quality changed much over DCSS, for better than worse. The show has roughly the same feel to it with a different set of characters. Well, not entirely different. Suginami is somehow exactly the same as he used to be, and so is Sakura. For whatever reason though, I’m willing to accept Suginami since he’s still a student, but I really question how Sakura looks the same if this is supposed to be 53 years after the original. She’s the principal of the school, so she’s (probably) gotten older, but it sure doesn’t show. More of that sakura tree magic perhaps.

All in all, I’m not sure if this will turn out to be any good, but since it’s only 13 episodes long, I’ll probably end up watching and blogging all of it. The title of next week’s episode has the word banana in it, so I assume it’ll be about the girl who has the same last name as Miharu.

94 Comments

  1. Sakura never gets old since she is binded by the sakura flower’s magic or so despite the fact that the it is long gone…

    Where is the monthly power rankings X_X it seems late and already on the Fall category……

    arigatou
  2. > A confession in the first episode seems like a good sign that they’re not wasting too much time, but the fact that it’s Koko’s and not one of his sisters or Nanaka makes me wonder what direction this show is going in.

    Agreed. They’re obviously trying to do something very different with this adaptation, as this is a total departure from the game (i.e. even in Koko’s path, it wasn’t like this). I think they’re trying to keep everyone, especially the game players, guessing. We’ll see what happens…

    relentlessflame
  3. I assume Sakura looks the same because of magic. Didn’t they mention something about this in the first or second season of Da Capo? About Sakura purposely halting her growth?

    mangamaxx
  4. I don’t know much about DCII, but if they’re adapting it to an anime like this, it seems to me that they might be doing something similar to School Days (without the decapitation). It seems possible they might work through relationships with different girls rather than waiting for the last couple of eps to get a relationship going.

    Mark
  5. Well, it should probably be clearly established on the front-end that Yoshiyuki isn’t a real or adopted brother to either Otome or Yume. He’s more like a distant cousin. I’ll be glad that we won’t have to deal with that discussion again this time around… ^^;

    relentlessflame
  6. ARE YOU KIDDDDDDING MEE!!!!!! wooow THIS TOOK ME FOR SURPRISE… ONLY AT READ DACAPO II I ALMOST EXPLODE…. IKKITE YOKATA!!! i know its wrong writted 😛 let me be LOOL!!!!!

    Trejon
  7. Another Junichi Clone created from the loins of “Him” and Yoshino via Cherry Wishing Tree

    See how Sakurai can create bread from nothing :))

    Pls no more nemu thing for the love of GOd she already got two grandchildren with one voiced by the old Shirakawa’s Seiyuu(Horie-san), me like’s new shirakawa too(minori-san)

    Gonna watch as Koko will go to follow the route of Kotonoha in School days and Stab Sakurai and the Two Asakura sister will gang up of her like an EVA on dummy plug mode LoL!!!!

    VerbatimEx
  8. > Yume and Otome both represent a side of Nemu.

    Yume = Dark Nemu
    Otome = Responsible Nemu

    – Village Idiot

    Suffice it to say, that’s a very poor and inaccurate description, beneath the surface. The one who has a really scary dark side is actually… ^^;

    relentlessflame
  9. @VerbatimEx

    omg after watching school days I can no longer watch a regular anime without wondering what horrible thing will happen -twitch-, and school days got off to a fast start too O_O

    blaho
  10. Slightly disappointed in the anime quality but w/e. It saddens me that the game characters are much much nicer than the animes

    Yoshiyuki spoiler chat:
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Knowngni
  11. Knowngni:
    Show Spoiler ▼

    relentlessflame
  12. So Junichi cheated on Nemu with Sakura? Looking at how all the other girls have the same last name as the girls form season 1 and 2. I wonder if Junichi cheated with the girls too.

    So are we going to get a DC X School Days 😀

    Xellos-_^
  13. > So Junichi cheated on Nemu with Sakura? Looking at how all the other girls have the same last name as the girls form season 1 and 2. I wonder if Junichi cheated with the girls too.

    So are we going to get a DC X School Days
    – Xellos-_^

    Good god, Xellos — what have you done?! ^^; Suffice it to say: no. :p

    relentlessflame
  14. hummm they seems to have dug up some old plots from the 1st DC…rermber hw the first DC the guys could pop out candy… tis guy could pop (i 4got it’s name)…. not much has really change!!! love the weird cat…. some how i get the feeling just because koko got the main guy for now does’t mean it’ll end wif them both…=)

    padfoot135
  15. I understand Sakura’s case (grandma was still young-looking back in DC I)

    Suginami…….wtf is he, an alien? Not only is he still a student, but also untainted by time (he also doesn’t have a last name).

    Gil
  16. Knowngni:
    Show Spoiler ▼

    relentlessflame
  17. True. Well anyways I dont know but I hate the coloring scheme they used for everything except yoshiyuki’s hair. It feels too light. I do wish the girl’s hair were a bit more darker. I dont remember yume having those short twin tails in the back

    Knowngni
  18. @Fat Cat Lim: A Nice Boat Ending? What is this sudden craze for blood and tragedy in this genre. It’s freaking Da Capo for chrissake, the most violence we’ll probably see is someone getting slapped during the generic ‘barging in’ scene. But seeing how smooth the main guy appears to be in this one, maybe not even that.

    I don’t like, however, that the confession comes right at the beginning, since that’s a tell-tale sign that it won’t work out, though I have been wrong before. The sisters don’t seem quite as irritatingly siscon as Nemu. But something tells me that Nanaka will be about as lucky as her grandmother (well, I take that back, considering she has a granddaughter she must have moved on and gotten over that siscon.)

    Wererat42
  19. I have to agree with Anza on this one. This was one of the most generic animes of all time. I have tried to watch this anime before but dropped it from disgust and boredom.

    I just assume the reason DC does so well is because of its incest theme? Last I heard the guy married his sister. The fact that she isnt his blood sister does not make it any better by far.

    Creepy.

    KLined
  20. Knowngni: Yeah, Yume did have the short twin tails. Sort of agree about the hair colour — it could be richer/more vibrant. It’s like it needs more levels of shadow or something. It looks okay in motion, but looks sort of plain and off in stills.

    KLined: Not that you care, but I’m quite sure the appeal is much deeper than that. Oh well…

    relentlessflame
  21. I must assume that Yoshiyuki is not blood related to otome and yume! Koko has NOOOOO chance at all! She already has the Childhood friend role and that is destined to fail! I feel sorry for her. This basically DE capo with double the trouble, to non related sisters instead of one.

    golthin
  22. “Yoshiyuki should get it on with Akane (pink-haired girl).

    She’s the hottest.”

    I disagree, he should go with Sakura. 69 yr old or not. She is still a blond Twin pig-tail loli.

    Xellos-_^
  23. ““Yoshiyuki should get it on with Akane (pink-haired girl).

    She’s the hottest.”

    I disagree, he should go with Sakura. 69 yr old or not. She is still a blond Twin pig-tail loli. ”

    no way, nanaka is the best, please let the shirakawa win .

    P/s nanaka in the anime look exactly like the game

    hayate-sama
  24. Yume is much much cuter than Nemu…who for some reason seems to be hated by everyone [including me]…I really dislike the pace of this show…especially the timid, can’t-get-out-of-the shell character of Koko…it was so painful watching her “hatch”–all in all, the beginning episode ranks last relative to all previous seasons…

    shakugan no shana
  25. @ OMNI:

    The fact that sakura didnt change much is because she’s a direct descendant from the line of magicians in their family. She resembles her grandmother in not only looks but ability wise, which i heard from the first season and second season of DC that her grandmother looked young even at such an old age.

    X
  26. First episode confession accepted to avoid hurt feelings as opposed to love. Love triangle between Yoshiyuki, Yume and Koko. Koko loses to Yume.

    Or they could let the new Kotori submarine in for a victory and please all the people who were upset that the previous Kotori lost.

    dojikyo
  27. “First episode confession accepted to avoid hurt feelings as opposed to love. Love triangle between Yoshiyuki, Yume and Koko. Koko loses to Yume”

    Koko shows up preg and with a chain saw.

    Xellos-_^
  28. I bet everything I have right now on my pocket that the girl in his vision was Yume and not Koko. We know CIRCUS very well, so everything will change right away.

    I’ll give my chance to D.C. II

    Syaoran Li
  29. > [i]I bet everything I have right now on my pocket that the girl in his vision was Yume and not Koko. We know CIRCUS very well, so everything will change right away.[/i]
    – Syaoran Li

    Well, actually, listen carefully to the voice acting in that scene. It’s Koko’s voice (word for word what was said at the end). If you look carefully, you can also notice Koko’s hairstyle. The dream at the beginning of the episode was definitely Koko.

    However, I suspect Yume is connected to that scene in another way.

    relentlessflame
  30. i think Yoshiyuki will end with Koko…
    specially after i’ve seen the part of the principal in the window (school festival)
    and the magic of the sakura will be activated by one of his sisters (the younger probably)

    valthunder
  31. anyway, I really hope he wont get one of his sisters no matter what. Especially the little one Yume? I dont mind other girls. But I would like to see Nanaka somehow.

    I dont think he’ll end up with Koko…or maybe.

    Aznsoulboy
  32. Isn’t Yoshiyuki related to Sakura or something?? Or that could just be my memory messing with me. Meh I was hopeing for a Nanaka end but it looks like there doing some crazy thing with a confession right off the bat. Well Yoshiyuki is nothing like that creep Makoto so the chances of saw attacks are 0. Unless the creaters really really really mess it up.

    FlameStrike
  33. See, even that gives people the wrong impression. The real truth is… it’s not that simple. Oh well… I obviously knew you were just messing with people… I just don’t want them to, you know, actually believe it. :p

    relentlessflame

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