is a Japanese

adult An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...

visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...

developed by

Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

which was first released on May 26, 2006, for Windows computers. It is a part of the ongoing ''Da Capo'' series of games by Circus, and is the direct sequel to Circus' previous title ''

Da Capo Da capo (, also , ) is an Italian musical term that means "from the beginning" (literally, "from the head"). It is often abbreviated as D.C. The term is a directive to repeat the previous part of music, often used to save space, and thus is an ...

'' released in 2002. ''Da Capo II'' is described by Circus as a . A fan disc, ''Da Capo II: Spring Celebration'', was released on April 27, 2007, and features springtime stories set after the endings for each of the six ''Da Capo II'' heroines. An all-ages consumer port titled ''Da Capo II: Plus Situation'' containing additional scenarios was released for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

in May 2008. The PlayStation 2 version was later ported to PC, titled ''Da Capo II: Plus Communication'' and containing the

hentai Hentai is anime and manga pornography. A loanword from Japanese, the original term ( ) does not describe a genre of media, but rather an abnormal sexual desire or act, as an abbreviation of . In addition to anime and manga, hentai works exis ...

scenes found in the original release, in December 2008. There have been many

drama CD Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

s, and two separate sets of novels and

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

created based on the original game. An

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

adaptation aired in Japan between October and December 2007 on

TV Aichi JOCI-DTV, branded as , is a television station in Nagoya, Japan operated by the Aichi Television Broadcasting Company, Ltd. (TVA; ja, テレビ愛知株式会社, Terebi Aichi kabushiki gaisha) and is an affiliate of the TX Network. Broadcasti ...

, and was also broadcast on other networks as well. A second season of the anime aired between April and June 2008; each anime season contained thirteen episodes and were produced by

Feel Feel may refer to: *Feeling Music Bands *Feel (New York band), a dance and R&B band *Feel (Polish band), a pop rock band Songs * "Feel" (Kendrick Lamar song), 2017 * "Feel", by Phora, 2018 *"Feel", by Mahmut Orhan, 2016 * "Feel" (Kumi Koda song), ...

. A sequel set 20 years after the end of ''Da Capo II'', ''

Da Capo III is a Japanese visual novel developed by Circus that was released in limited and regular editions on April 27, 2012 as a DVD for Windows and is rated for ages 15 and up. It is the third main installment of the ''Da Capo'' visual novel franc ...

'', was released on April 27, 2012.

Gameplay

The

gameplay Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and pla ...

in ''Da Capo II'' utilizes the same system used in ''

'', in which little interaction is required from the player as most of the duration of the game is spent on simply reading the text that will appear on the screen; this text represents either

dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literary and theatrical form that depicts such an exchange. As a philosophical or didactic device, it is c ...

between the various characters, or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. Every so often, the player will come to a "decision point" where he or she is given the chance to choose from options that are displayed on the screen, typically two to three at a time. During these times, gameplay pauses until a choice is made that furthers the plot in a specific direction, depending on which choice the player makes. The consequences of these decisions varies, in which they may either affect the protagonist, Yoshiyuki's action, or his location. At the beginning of the gameplay, the player will mostly be given choices based on the protagonist's actions, but is soon introduced to choices based on locations and the alarm clock. Choices based on locations are accompanied by an image of a heroine, to allow the choices to be easier. The player may also adjust the protagonist's alarm clock, determining the events which occurs the following morning in the game. There are six main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story. In order to view the six plot lines to their entirety, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and choose different choices during the decision points in order to further the plot in an alternate direction. The game is split into three main parts: the first

story arc A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, board games, vide ...

revolves around an upcoming

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

party, the second arc takes place during the winter holiday break, and the last arc is back at school in the new year.

Plot

''Da Capo II'' takes place 53 years after the events of ''Da Capo'', when Sakura Yoshino, weary of being alone for so long, wished upon a prototype artificial wish-granting magical cherry tree for a son—Yoshiyuki Sakurai. In the first arc, while Yoshiyuki attends Kazami Academy, beneath the school, he awakens Minatsu Amakase, a robot. Yoshiyuki helps her adapt to a life with humans despite robots being nothing more than mere tools. In the second arc, Yoshiyuki begins to harbor feelings for his stepsisters, Otome and Yume, the granddaughters of Jun'ichi and Nemu. However, the cherry tree starts malfunctioning, granting all wishes, regardless of how impure, which is causing numerous incidents to occur in Hatsune. The situation gradually worsens and Otome has to choose whether or not to wither the cherry tree, which would erase Yoshiyuki's existence in the process, so as to save Hatsune. The game centers on the same island as ''Da Capo'' from the original story. Yoshiyuki Sakurai is the protagonist of the game. Sakura and Jun'ichi are the only returning characters, and Nemu is the only other ''Da Capo'' character to be mentioned by name. Moe, Mako, Kotori, Miharu, and Yoriko are also mentioned, but indirectly. Yume, Nanaka, Minatsu, and Sakura's themes are remixes of themes from previous Circus games. Yume, Minatsu, and Sakura's are remixes of Nemu, Miharu, and Sakura's from ''Da Capo'', and Nanaka's is a remix of Sayaka's from '' Suika''.

Development

''Da Capo II'' was Circus' twenty-ninth game, but was the eleventh game developed by the development group Circus Northern who had also produced their second title '' Suika'' and their fourth title ''

''. The game's production was headed by Tororo, president of Circus, who also worked on the game's music with Comet Nekono who worked on the game's

background music Background music (British English: piped music) is a mode of musical performance in which the music is not intended to be a primary focus of potential listeners, but its content, character, and volume level are deliberately chosen to affect behav ...

. The scenario in the game was divided between five people who worked on the different stories for the heroines who include Kōta Takeuchi who mainly worked on Minatsu's and Anzu's stories, the director of the project Chihare Ameno who wrote most of Otome's and Yume's scenarios, Mochizuki JET who wrote Nanaka's and Koko's stories, Nonoka Maihama as a scenario assistant, and Mori no Me. Initial character design was mainly created by Natsuki Tanihara, but

GotoP is a male Japanese artist from Gifu Prefecture, Gifu, Japan, currently living in Saitama. He did the original character design for ''Wandaba Style'' and ''Close to: Inori no Oka'', two visual novels. He is also notable for the illustration of th ...

designed Sakura's pet dog Harimao. Using Tanihara's designs, five more artists in addition to Tanihara illustrated the characters and settings used in the game; these artists include Mochi Chinochi, Mitsumamu, Yuka Kayura, Eko, and Meikai. Tanihara designed Yume, Minatsu, and Sakura; Chinochi designed Nanaka, Koko, and the supporting cast; Mitsumamu designed Anzu; and Kayura designed Otome.

Release history

On April 15, 2007, a free

game demo A game demo is a trial version of a video game that is limited to a certain time limit or a point in progress, which leads to the player buying the game if they liked it. A game demo comes in forms such as shareware, demo disc, downloadable sof ...

of ''Da Capo II'' titled became available for download at ''Da Capo IIs official website. The demo was a prologue to the story in ''Da Capo II''. The full game was first introduced to the public in Japan as a limited edition version on May 26, 2006 as a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

playable on a

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

PC. The regular edition followed on June 23, 2006. A limited edition

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...

version of the game was released on July 7, 2006 A version compatible with the

Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...

for the PC was released on June 29, 2007. A "gratitude pack" edition of ''Da Capo II'' was released on January 25, 2008. A version for the

under the title was released on May 29, 2008 in limited and regular editions. The PS2 version promoted three of the former supporting characters—Maya Sawai, Akane Hanasaki, and Mayuki Kōsaka—to become obtainable heroines, along with the introduction of three original heroines—Erika Murasaki, Mahiru Takanashi, and Aishia. An adult fan disc titled was released by Circus for the PC as a limited edition DVD on December 22, 2006, and as a regular edition on January 1, 2007. The simplified gameplay in the fan disc allows the player to select the story they would like to see from the onset. A sequel to ''Christmas Days'' for the PC titled was released on July 25, 2008. The PlayStation 2 version was later re-released for the PC, titled ''Da Capo II: Plus Communication'' and containing the

scenes found in the original release, on December 26, 2008. Bundled with ''Da Capo'', the game was released as a

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

version titled on October 28, 2010. Another adult fan disc based on the ''Da Capo II'' visual novel titled was released by Circus on April 27, 2007 playable as a

on the PC in limited and regular editions. ''Spring Celebration'' features springtime stories set after the endings for each of the six ''Da Capo II'' heroines. The simplified gameplay in the sequel allows the player to select which of the heroines' stories will be played through from the onset. An adult spin-off title called was released by Circus on February 29, 2008, as a limited edition DVD, and on March 28, 2008, as a regular edition. Two DVD Players Game versions will be released separately covering the heroines Otome and Nanaka on July 25, 2008, and September 26, 2008. ''Da Capo II: To You'', released in June 2009, largely consists of prequel stories to the ''Da Capo II'' main story, such as Otome's and Yume's younger years, including the times when their mother, Yuki, was still alive, and Mahiru's backstory of when she was still alive. Another fandisc, titled ''Da Capo II: Fall in Love'', was released on December 18, 2009, featuring after stories for the heroines included in the PS2 port and its ''Plus Communication'' release. The final ''Da Capo II'' release was ''Da Capo II: Dearest Marriage'', which features Yoshiyuki and Otome in their marriage life. An English version of the original visual novel was published by the European company

MangaGamer MangaGamer is a video game publisher specializing in the English localization and distribution of Japanese eroge and visual novels. It is run by Japanese-based company Japan Animation Contents. History MangaGamer was originally envisioned as a c ...

on December 24, 2010.

Adaptations

Drama CDs

There have been many

s for ''Da Capo II''. The first, titled ''D.C.II prestorys entrata'', was written by Chihare Ameno, the director and one of the main scenario writers from the original game, and was released on February 24, 2006. A second drama CD, called , was written by Kōta Takeuchi, another one of the scenario writers for the original game, and was released almost a year later on February 10, 2007. A third drama CD, under the name , was not released in stores, but instead given out to those who had already signed previously signed up for the Circus fan club in mid 2007. Two more CDs, titled and were also released. A CD titled was released for the anime's second season on May 21, 2008, by Lantis.

Internet radio shows

Internet radio Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...

show for ''Da Capo II'' called . The show, produced by Lantis Web Radio, had a pre-broadcast on March 27, 2006, and officially aired between April 3, 2006, and September 24, 2007. The program aired every Monday at midnight featuring Ai Hinaki, Hijiri Kinomi, and Aya Tachibana who voiced Otome, Yume, and Koko in the original game, respectively. A second Internet radio show began on October 1, 2007, called ''D.C.toEF Radio'' produced by Onsen. The show airs every Monday and is hosted by Hinaki, Kinomi, and Tachibana. A third Internet radio show titled started on November 2, 2007, produced by

Animate Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anima ...

. The show is aired every Friday and is for the first twenty-seven broadcasts was hosted by

Shintarō Asanuma is a Japanese scriptwriter, director, actor, voice actor, narrator, copywriter and designer. He was affiliated with Office Osawa and currently attached under DANDELION. Biography Filmography Television animation ;2003 *'' Origami Warriors'' ...

and Yoshino Nanjō who voiced Yoshiyuki and Koko in the anime, but starting with the twenty-sixth broadcast on May 2, 2008,

Ayahi Takagaki is a Japanese actress and singer. She had her first major voice acting roles in 2007, voicing Jasmine in '' Deltora Quest'' and Lucia Nahashi in ''Venus Versus Virus''. Her career as a musician began with her performance of the opening themes o ...

who voices Otome in the anime joined Asanuma as his co-host.

Novels

There have been two separate novel series written based on ''Da Capo II'', both published by

Paradigm In science and philosophy, a paradigm () is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitute legitimate contributions to a field. Etymology ''Paradigm'' comes f ...

. The first series contained two novels that were written by Circus staff members; the first was released on May 12, 2006, and the second on June 25, 2007. The second series is written by Tasuku Saika and seven volumes were produced between November 24, 2006, and October 11, 2007. Each of the novels covers the story for one of the six heroines, except for the last two volumes which both cover Otome's story.

Manga

There have been two separate

series created based on ''Da Capo II''. The first, illustrated by Syo Ryuga, was serialized from December 2006 to October 2009 issues of

Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines su ...

's ''

Comptiq is a Japanese computer game magazine, first published in 1983, by Kadokawa Shoten. The name "Comptiq" came from combining the words "computer" and "boutique". Originally a PC magazine, its focus shifted from computers to computer games. As of S ...

'' magazine. It was collected into five bound volumes published under Kadokawa Shoten's ''Kadokawa Comics Ace'' imprint. The second manga series, illustrated by Tsukasa Uhaha, was serialized in

ASCII Media Works ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Because of ...

' ''

Dengeki G's Magazine is a Japanese magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) and sold monthly on the thirtieth that primarily contains information on bishōjo games, but also includes an entire section on anime based on bishōjo games, and seria ...

'' between the March 2007 and May 2009 issues under the title . The fifth and final bound volumes will be published for ''Da Capo II: Imaginary Future'' under ASCII Media Works' ''

Dengeki Comics is a manga publishing label affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) and is aimed at a male audience. Aside from the main Dengeki Comics label, there is the related Dengeki Comics EX label, which ...

'' imprint on June 27, 2009. A special chapter of ''Da Capo II: Imaginary Future'' was serialized in the July 2008 issue of ''Comptiq'' sold on June 10, 2008.

Anime

On May 10, 2007, the magazine ''

'' revealed that a ''Da Capo II''

adaptation would be produced. The anime aired in Japan between October 1, 2007, and December 24, 2007, on

, and was broadcast on other networks soon after, including

Chiba TV , doing business as , is a Japanese commercial terrestrial television broadcasting company headquartered at 11-25 Miyako-chō 1-chōme, Chūō-ku, Chiba serving Chiba Prefecture but spill-over is received in the neighbouring prefectures. It is a mem ...

and

TV Kanagawa (tvk for short) is an independent television station in Japan serving Kanagawa Prefecture and parts of the Greater Tokyo Area with favorable reception. The station was founded on April 20, 1971 and began broadcasting on April 1, 1972. Its call si ...

. A second season aired in Japan between April 5, 2008, and June 28, 2008, on the same networks as the first season. Each season was produced by the animation studio

, and contains thirteen episodes.

Music

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

containing the main opening and ending themes of ''Da Capo II'' was released on June 7, 2006, by Lantis. The main opening theme, , was sung by Yozuca*, and the main ending theme, "Spring has come", was sung by

Rino Rino may refer to: * Rino (given name) * Republican In Name Only, a pejorative term for U.S. Republicans considered to be insufficiently conservative * Rino, a singer-songwriter who performs under CooRie * RiNo, the River North Art District north ...

. There were two other opening themes: "Beautiful flower" was sung by

Aki Misato is a female Japanese J-pop singer from Saitama, Japan. Most of her songs are theme songs for anime and video games. She made her debut in 2004 with her first single Kimi ga Sora Datta (君が空だった), which was featured as the ending theme ...

, which was also used as an insert song, and "Especially" was sung by

Miyuki Hashimoto is a female Japanese singer from Saitama Prefecture. She is signed to Lantis, a label which contribute songs to anime and video games. Discography Singles * ''Koko ni Iru kara...'' (Released August 25, 2004) # Koko ni Iru kara... — anim ...

. Additionally, there were four other ending themes. was sung by Yozuca*, which was also used as another insert song, was used as the ending theme for Nanaka's route. "Little Distance" was sung by Seiko Modaka was used as the ending theme for both Anzu's and Koko's route. The third ending theme, "If...I wish", was sung by Aki Misato and was used as the ending theme for Otome's and Yume's routes. The last ending theme, , was sung by twenty of the cast from the game and was used as the ending theme for Minatsu's route. The final theme song used in the game was "Time will shine" sung by Alchemy+, and was used as an insert song. An album titled ''VocalAlbum Songs From D.C.II'' containing the theme songs was released on July 26, 2006, by Lantis. ''Da Capo IIs original soundtrack was released on August 23, 2006 by Lantis. A single containing the theme song for the first

show titled was released on October 25, 2006. A character song album featuring songs sung by

voice actors Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

from the game was released on December 13, 2006 by Lantis. A

maxi single A maxi single or maxi-single (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. The first maxi singles Mungo Jerry's first single, "In the Summertime" was the ...

containing the opening theme of ''Spring Celebration'' called "Happy my life: Thank you for everything!!" was released on May 9, 2007. A mini album for ''Spring Celebration'' containing five of the game's theme songs was released on May 23, 2007 by Lantis. A vocal album for ''Plus Situation'' was released by Lantis on June 4, 2008. For the anime's first season, the opening theme of season one is sung by Yozuca*, and the ending theme is by

CooRie CooRie is a self-produced Japanese music unit by singer-songwriter Rino that performs songs for anime and games. CooRie used to be a two-person unit when it debuted in 2003, with Rino doing the lyrics and vocals and doing the music compositions ...

. Both singles were released on October 24, 2007, by Lantis. The song sung by

Minori Chihara is a Japanese voice actress and former singer who has had roles in several anime series.Doi, Hitoshi"Chihara Minori" ''Seiyuu Database''. January 3, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011. She is well known for her voice role as Yuki Nagato in '' The ...

was used as the ending theme for the thirteenth episode of season one, and the single containing the song was released by Lantis on January 23, 2008. A

best of A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

album containing songs from the games and the anime seasons of ''Da Capo'' titled was released by Lantis on November 21, 2007. A vocal album containing songs sung by Yozuca* and CooRie titled ''Dolce3'' was released by Lantis on July 9, 2008. Six

image song An image song or character song is a song on a tie-in single or album (often called an image album or character album) for an anime, game, ''dorama'', manga, or commercial product that is sometimes sung by the voice actor or actor of a character ...

singles were released for the six main heroines featured in ''Da Capo II''. The first two for Koko and Minatsu were released on December 26, 2007. The next two singles for Nanaka and Anzu were released on February 27, 2008. The final two singles for Yume and Otome were released on April 9, 2008, by Lantis. For the second season, the opening theme is sung by Yozuca*, and the ending theme is sung by CooRie. Both singles were released on April 23, 2008, by Lantis.

Reception

The original ''Da Capo II'' release was positively reviewed at visual-novels.net, commenting: "I know a lot of gamers may not enjoy ''Da Capo'', but whilst I think the story on some arcs was weaker than on others they were still amazing paths to play. On the stronger paths you really start to feel a lot of emotion for these girls, and because they're so closely tied together, someone always gets hurt. That for me bought some realism to the game." In the October 2007 issue of ''

'', poll results for the fifty best bishōjo games were released. Out of 249 titles, ''Da Capo II'' ranked seventh with forty-seven votes. ''Da Capo II'' was the most widely sold game of 2006 on Getchu.com. ''Da Capo II: Spring Celebration'' was the second most widely sold game for the first half of 2007 on Getchu.com, just behind ''

Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore de , often abbreviated , and also known as ''They Are My Noble Masters'', is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by Minato Soft and released on May 25, 2007 for Windows on DVD. A PlayStation 2 version with adult-content removed was relea ...

''. Furthermore, ''Da Capo II: Spring Celebration'' was the sixth most widely sold game of 2007 on Getchu.com.

References

External links

''Da Capo II'' official website

''Da Capo II: Plus Communication'' official website

English version, on MangaGamer's website
* * {{Nomad 2006 Japanese novels 2006 video games 2006 manga 2007 manga 2007 anime television series debuts 2008 anime television series debuts Anime television series based on video games ASCII Media Works manga Bishōjo games D.C.: Da Capo Dengeki Comics Dengeki G's Magazine Eroge Feel (animation studio) Lantis (company) Manga based on video games Mass media franchises Nomad (company) PlayStation 2 games PlayStation Portable games Anime and manga set in schools Seinen manga Video games developed in Japan Visual novels Windows games MangaGamer games