Da Capo / First Impressions

Summary:

With Otome still trying to find a way to save him, Yoshiyuki is unsure of what to say to her. In the midst of this, Yume asks him to go on a date, and Yoshiyuki agrees because it could be a good memory for both of them. The night before the date, he dreams of the goodbye scene with Yume on the school rooftop, but he wakes up just fine and goes to school as usual with her. They run into Wataru, Koko, and Nanaka along the way, and to Yoshiyuki’s surprise, his friends can’t even see him anymore. This surprises Yume too, and after she makes up an excuse not to walk together with them, she grabs Yoshiyuki’s hand with the intent of skipping school and starting their date early. The two thus walk around town, and even though their options are limited, they manage to have a lot of fun. It’s not until they stop at the park for a snack that Yoshiyuki wonders aloud if it’s okay to be wandering around like this when they could go to the aquarium or somewhere busy instead, but Yume explains that doesn’t mind as long as she’s with him. The two then head to the spot overlooking the ocean, and though Yume comments on how Otome will be angry when she finds out that they skipped school to do this, she feels that it can’t be helped.

The final place that Yume takes Yoshiyuki is the school rooftop, and Yoshiyuki immediately recognizes the scene as the same as the one from his dream. Yume says the exact same lines about how she had fun even though they didn’t have much time, and she goes on to admit to him that she can see the future through her dreams. She also confesses that she’s always loved him, and she loves him too much not to be honest to those feelings. After running to him in tears though, she backs off and bids him farewell so that he can go talk to Otome while Otome still remembers him. Taking her suggestion, Yoshiyuki rushes to the magical sakura tree and finds Otome there, but he’s too late – she’s already forgotten about him. At least, this is how it appears when Otome treats him like a stranger and reveals that she’s a mage of justice who protects this island. It is not until Otome starts talking about the person she wanted to save with magic – but couldn’t find a way to – that she remembers Yoshiyuki and says that she wants to be with him forever. Like Yume, Otome also confesses her love for him, but unlike Yume who had accepted this, Otome feels that she wouldn’t be able to live alone without him. When Yoshiyuki tries to walk over to comfort her, he discovers that his body has already started to glow, and when Otome sees this too, she attempts to run to him, however he disappears before she can reach him.

Distraught, Otome looks to the withered sakura tree and question what the purpose of magic is if it can’t be of any use at crucial times. She feels that she doesn’t need this kind of power and just wants Yoshiyuki returned to her.

 
 
 

Well, that certainly felt like the climax of Da Capo II. It was interesting to see the contrast of Otome and Yume’s confession/goodbye scenes, and though I thought that Yume’s (which was indeed exactly like the dream) was emotional, it wasn’t as touching as her sister’s – even when part of Otome’s scene felt a bit like redux from two episodes ago. It’s hard not to compare the two scenes when they’re juxtaposed like this, and I ended up liking the latter one a lot more. As for Yoshiyuki, I assume that since he disappeared this episode instead of in the finale, he’s going to be brought back somehow. I can think up a couple of scenarios where Otome and/or Yume give up their magic to accomplish that (Otome in particular doesn’t seem to want magic anymore), but that might violate the theme that magic doesn’t grant true happiness. It also occurs to me that if Yoshiyuki returns and things do return to normal, then the writers have (again) captured the essence of the word da capo. Now that I’ve said that though, watch the story accomplish it in some other fashion just to spite me. In any case, I’m curious to see what route they take for the finale, especially now that both girls have confessed their feelings – I suspect it means that Yoshiyuki won’t choose anyone at the end.

19 Comments

  4. Back to the beginning we go…

    …round and round and round again…

    …that which refuse to move forward stagnates…

    …that which refuse to change dies in spirit if not body…

    …and rots and putrefy and stains this world

    Zzz...
    Reply

  7. “Wait…. so they are going the middle of the road path in that Yoshi-baka doesn’t get with either of them?”
    – FlameStrike

    Sort of, but not quite.

    (Spoilers of the episode follow. Not that you should be reading this post/these comments if you don’t want to know what happened in this episode, but still…)

    Yume’s farewell came after her confession, but she told Yoshiyuki to go see Otome. She already commented last episode, around the time of her first (unheard) confession, that Yoshiyuki thought only of Otome, so the farewell has a sort of double-meaning here. Otome also confessed (indirectly, since she didn’t realize it was him at the time) in the final scene. Yoshiyuki was about to move towards her, but disappeared before he could give her an answer.

    Zzz…:
    Cute poem, and I get/assume the commentary you’re trying to make. But, if I took it seriously for a second, I would say that you’re missing one of the big points about what a Da Capo is in this series. Da Capo is not a rewind, it’s a reprise. In fact, a lot of the poem has a subtle double-meaning that’s actually somewhat accurate to the show, probably unintentionally. ^^;

    relentlessflame
    Reply

  10. this is going nowhere -_- first we get yume then we get otome <_< Show Spoiler ▼

    but what the heck we might end up with both of their endings <_< same scenes from the game but most likely prolly it be otome end but who knows

    Algester
    Reply

  14. After watching episode 12 I just hope that next week they find some way to save him. Be a real downer if the series ends with him still dead and gone. After putting us through the last few weeks of heartache over his friends forgetting him and now he just fades away…

    Splash
    Reply

  17. Go for Otome! She is love! Wait….. Yume is pretty good too…. x.x Hm I’m sure we’ll get another Da Capo.

    “but anyways I don’t even watch this anime, Da Capo II is a disgrace to the normal Da Capo!”
    -Shakugan no Yuji

    Hey man, if you haven’t even seen the show you really aren’t qualified to judge. Da Capo sucked badly, Sakura was REALLY annoying. However, Nemu-fag was even worse. Nemu was so fail it was painful to watch her, damn jealous misunderstanding wet blanket. She was like Yume’s tsun-tsun side with out Yume’s awesome dere side added with fail. Da Capo II has a much larger varaity of awesome characters, you have Nanaka who is = or > than Kotori, and Yume/Otome too. Don’t get me started on Da Capo SS…..

    FlameStrike
    Reply

  18. hashihime at 12:38 am on June 22nd, 2008
    I know this is heresy, but the reason the Otome scene was stronger than the Yume scene is that Takagaki Ayahi is a better actress than Horie Yui.

    ——————–

    You kidding me? Horie Yui is one of the few most influential seiyuu in the industry. Ayahi Takagaki is no where near her, the only thing that worth talking about Ayahi is her role as Feldt Grace in Gundam OO and Noe in True Tears.

    Strange enough, all the characters she voice doesn’t sounds alike at all. However, I think that Otome is very well portray perhaps is due to trend. Lately is more towards younger bro love than elder bro love after all.

    Yuun
    Reply

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