Da Capo (video game)

Da Capo's gameplay requires little interaction from the player, as it is a classic visual novel: most of the duration of the game is spent simply reading the text that appears on the screen which represents either dialogue between the various characters or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. Every so often, the player will come to a point where he or she is given the chance to choose from multiple locations to spend time at. The time between these points is variable and can occur anywhere from a minute to much longer. Gameplay pauses at these points and depending on which choice the player makes, the plot will progress in a specific direction. There are seven main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story. To view all seven plot lines, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and make different decisions to progress the plot in an alternate direction. Throughout gameplay, the player enables the viewing of sex scenes depicting the protagonist, Jun'ichi, and one of the seven heroines having sex. ==Plot==

Da Capo centers around Jun'ichi Asakura, who lives with his adopted sister Nemu on Hatsune, a fictional crescent-shaped island where cherry blossoms bloom all year long, where they attend high school. On this island, people have mysterious powers and attributes, sourced by the unwilting magical cherry tree. Jun'ichi can see other people's dreams. One of his friends, Kotori Shirakawa, is an idol at the school who can "read minds". One day, to Jun'ichi's surprise, his cousin Sakura Yoshino comes back from America all of a sudden, who looks exactly the same girl that moved away six years ago, and has not aged one bit. She returned to remind Jun'ichi of their childhood promise. ==Development==

Da Capo was Circus's sixth game, but was the fourth game developed by the development group Circus Northern who had also produced their second title Suika. The game's production was headed by Tororo, president of Circus, who also worked on the game's music, and was directed by Mikage and Hotaru Koizumi. The scenario in the game was divided between four people who worked on the different stories for the heroines. Mikage wrote Nemu's and Sakura's scenarios; Kure (short for Soratobuenban ni Kure ga Notta yo) wrote Kotori's and Yoriko's scenarios; Yoko Yoko wrote Moe's and Mako's scenarios; and Mari wrote Miharu's scenario. Character design and art direction was divided between three people. Naru Nanao designed Nemu, Sakura, and Kotori; Igul designed Miharu, Moe, Mako, and others; and Kanon Ikutata designed the chibi characters, and others. The opening video was produced by Nitroplus. Release history Da Capo was first released in Japan as an adult game for Windows on June 28, 2002, as a CD-ROM in limited and regular editions. A version of the original game was ported to the PlayStation 2 titled on February 14, 2008. A limited and regular edition of an extended version with updated storylines and characters, but with the adult content removed, was released on the PlayStation 2 on October 30, 2003, titled . A "best" version was released of D.C.P.S. on July 14, 2005. Circus released an adult version of D.C.P.S. on May 28, 2004, named as a limited edition playable as a CD- and DVD-ROM for Windows. The regular edition of the game followed on June 4, 2004. and again on June 29, 2007, updated for Windows Vista. A fandisc titled was released for Windows on December 13, 2002, as a Christmas limited edition; the regular edition followed on January 24, 2003, in CD- and DVD-ROM editions. A renewal package edition of White Season playable as a DVD was released on February 25, 2005. The regular edition of Summer Vacation followed on September 3, 2004, and a CD-ROM version was released on August 5, 2005. Another version for the PlayStation 2 was released on December 15, 2005, in limited and regular editions called . A Windows version of Four Seasons was released by Circus on June 27, 2008, with added adult content called . An adult fandisc titled was released by Circus for Windows as a limited edition DVD on December 22, 2006, and as a regular edition on January 1, 2007. Three DVD Players Game versions were released in limited and regular editions separately covering the heroines Nemu, Sakura, and Kotori; the games were released between June 1, 2007, and September 28, 2007. 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. A sequel to Christmas Days for Windows titled was released on July 25, 2008, and an otome game spin-off for Windows titled was released on September 26, 2008, followed by the PSP version for 2010. An English adult version of the original visual novel available for download online by European-based company MangaGamer was released on January 23, 2009. ==Adaptations==

Novels Many novels have been written based on Da Capo and its updated versions. The first series of novels based on the original Da Capo game was a series of six novels written by Tasuku Saika between December 2002 and February 2004. Saika also wrote a series of six novels between October 2004 and May 2005 based on Plus Communication. A drama CD titled was released by Circus for the visual novel as a limited edition, and was not widely distributed. For the first anime season, six drama CDs with each covering a single heroine except for the sixth volume which covers two heroines; the CDs were released between July 22, 2004, and April 26, 2005. Two bound volumes were released for the first manga. The second manga, titled Da Capo: Second Graduation, was illustrated by Cherish and was serialized in Comptiq between August 10, 2004, and July 10, 2006. Three volumes were released for the second manga. Many manga anthologies have also been produced over the years. Anime There have been two anime series and one original video animation based on Da Capo. The first anime series was produced by the Japanese animation studio Zexcs and directed by Nagisa Miyazaki. It aired in Japan between July 11, 2003, to December 27, 2003, and spanned 26 episodes. The first seven episodes of the series aired with image songs performed by the Japanese voice actresses who voiced main female characters, while episodes eight through 14 and 16 through 21 were aired with side episodes, with episode 22 onwards aired in full-length, lasting about 24 minutes. The second anime series, Da Capo: Second Season, was produced by Feel and directed by Munenori Nawa. The series also spanned 26 episodes and aired in Japan between July 2, 2005, to December 24, 2005. A two-episode OVA series titled Da Capo: If, produced by Zexcs and featuring Kotori Shirakawa as the main character was released with two DVD box-sets containing the first and second anime series. The first DVD box-set, containing the first anime series and the first OVA episode was released on December 25, 2008. The second DVD box-set, containing the second anime series and the second OVA episode was released on March 25, 2009. The first anime series had four pieces of theme music, one opening theme and three ending themes. The opening theme is sung by Yozuca*, although was used as the ending theme for the first, and last episodes. The first ending theme is by CooRie which was used in episodes two through seven, nine through 14, and 16 through 20. The second ending theme is by Haruko Momoi which was used in episodes eight and 15. The third ending theme is by CooRie and was used in episodes 21 through 25, though was also used as the opening theme for the final episode. The second anime series had three pieces of theme music, one opening theme and two ending themes. The opening theme is by Yozuca*, though the first episode's version does not use vocals. The first ending theme is by CooRie and was used in episodes one through 23, and in the final episode. The second ending theme is by CooRie which was used in episodes 24 and 25. Radio shows Two radios shows have been produced for the anime adaptations of Da Capo. The first show named aired between October 4, 2003, and June 25, 2005, on Radio Osaka and TBS Radio in Japan every Sunday late at night. The first radio show served to promote the first anime season and contained 91 broadcasts. Four CDs were released containing some of the broadcasts from the first radio show were released by Lantis between March 3, 2004, and June 22, 2005. The second show titled , this time streamed online, aired every Friday between July 8, 2005, and June 2, 2006, and was distributed by Lantis and Animate. The second radio show served to promote the second anime season and contained 47 broadcasts. Three CDs were released containing most of the broadcasts from the second radio show were released by Lantis between October 5, 2005, and May 24, 2005. ==Music==

The original visual novel of Da Capo has four pieces of theme music, one opening theme, two ending themes, and one insert song. The opening theme is which is written and composed by Tororo and sung by Yozuca*. The first ending theme is "Dream: The ally of" written by Tororo, composed by Naoyuki Nagata, and sung by Rino. The second ending theme is "Dream: The other side" written by Tororo, composed by Takayuki Azuma, and sung by Noriko Mitose. A single containing the opening and ending themes was released by Lantis on August 22, 2002. The insert song is "Small Cherry: promised bell" written by Tororo, composed by Angel Note, and sung by Mami Nakayama from Angel Note. The Da Capo Complete Original Soundtrack was released by Lantis on September 25, 2002, containing two discs with 33 tracks. An image song album for Da Capo titled Songs from Da Capo was released by Lantis on November 22, 2002, which also included some drama tracks. Two image song albums were released for Plus Situation on April 7 and July 7, 2004, titled D.C.P.S.C.S.1 and D.C.P.S.C.S.2, respectively. A vocal mini album for Four Seasons was released by Lantis on February 8, 2006. The single containing the first anime season's opening and ending themes titled was released by Lantis on July 24, 2003. Three image song albums were released by Lantis for the first anime season, each with two or three characters per album. The first volume, for Nemu and Yoriko, contained songs sung by Sakura Nogawa and Miyu Matsuki, and was released on August 27, 2003. The second image song album, for Sakura, Moe and Mako, contained songs sung by Yukari Tamura, Yui Itsuki and Yuki Matsuoka, and was released on September 26, 2003. The third image song album, for Kotori and Miharu, contained songs sung by Yui Horie and Akemi Kanda, and was released on October 22, 2003. A vocal album containing songs sung by Yozuca* and Rino titled Dolce was released by Lantis on December 26, 2003. Three more volumes of vocal albums were released by Lantis, each covering one character. The first named Ribbons&Candies for Nemu contained songs sung by Sakura Nogawa and was released on September 1, 2004. The second album named My Little Wish for Sakura contained songs sung by Yukari Tamura and was released on December 1, 2004. The third album titled Happy Days for Yoriko contained songs sung by Miyu Matsuki and was released on July 6, 2005. A best of album containing songs from the games and the anime seasons of Da Capo titled was released by Lantis on November 21, 2007. Two original soundtracks were released for the first anime season, the first titled Amoroso and the second named Brillante which were released by Lantis on November 27, 2003, and March 24, 2004, respectively. The single containing the second anime season's opening theme titled was released by Lantis on July 21, 2005. The single containing the second anime season's ending theme titled was released by Lantis on August 24, 2005. An image song single for the character Aisia was released by Lantis on September 7, 2005. Two volumes of vocal albums were released by Lantis on October 26, 2005, and May 10, 2006, containing songs sung by voice actresses from the anime. A follow-up of the previously released Dolce album titled Dolce2 was released on December 21, 2005. Two original soundtracks were released for the second anime season which were released by Lantis on November 23, 2005, and January 25, 2006, respectively. ==Reception==

According to a national ranking of how well bishōjo games sold nationally in Japan, the original Da Capo release for Windows achieved its highest rank at number one in the ranking. In the October 2007 issue of ''Dengeki G's Magazine, poll results for the 50 best bishōjo games were released. Out of 249 titles, Da Capo'' ranked sixth with 61 votes. On reviewing the English version of the visual novel, Daniel Joseph of NookGaming described Da Capo as "average" after summing up the good and bad points. The music was noted as particularly strong, while the writing was mentioned as a weak point, citing issues such as the dialogue being "full of non-sequiturs and unnatural conversation". ==References==