D. C. Ii

[Draneor]

Essential Information

Publisher: Circus
Localization: MangaGamer
Where to Buy It: You can buy it here for €36.95 (http://www.mangagamer.com/r18/Titles/Details/7B876D05-673C-45F7-854C-A15A2C96024F/da-capo-2)

Please create a subthread for each route (assuming anyone else out there is playing this).

Please do not discuss other routes in a heroine's subthread (including information from the anime, if you've seen it--comparing it is fine).

[Draneor]

It's really hard to believe this game was translated by the same company that did the original D.C. and Edelweiss. The translation is basically perfect. There are a couple lines I might have phrased differently, but it's otherwise really good. Heck, even six months ago their translations had significant flaws. Using multiple people for QC must really help!

So far, I think this is a better game than Clannad (even if the latter has a better story) but not as good as Little Busters!. The game certainly feels familiar, like D.C.. But it also had a major upgrade. I really like how Circus intergrated the entire cast into the common route; many of my favorite parts involve multiple heroines interacting with each other. Older visual novels (like D.C.) tended to focus on only the chosen heroine so it's refreshing to feel like you are surrounded by a group of friends. Yet D.C.II retains the mechanics, such as the alarm clock, that make the game feel like the original. The art is also fantastic. I particularly like the falling sakura petals in the background. Overall, I can't argue D.C.II is much more polished than the original.

While I doubt any character will displace Otome as my favorite, my affection for certain other characters is rising (like Anzu).

[Draneor]

This post covers the Christmas arc. From "Beautiful Flower" to "Especially" (one of my favorite songs).

Koko is really cute, and I don't think there is a selfish bone in her body (excluding Yoshiyuki). She's cute when she's jealous. She's cute when she' says stuff like "hau." She's cute when she's sick. She's just plain cute. She is perhaps a bit too serious, which almost gets her in trouble with her cold (bed rest is good, you know?). On the other hand, it's precisely her serious nature that makes her so fun to watch when she's getting teased by Akane/Anzu and/or Nanaka.

My favorite scene was when Akane, Anzu, and Koko randomly show up for dinner at Yoshiyuki's house. Supposedly to help Yoshiyuki practice for the puppet show, but really, as Anzu openly admits, because they were hungry. Yume, of course, pouts in jealously, why Otome goes into proud-of-her-younger-brother mode. There's really no stopping Otome when her otouto switch gets turned on (must resist moegasiming on Otome in this route).

There's no question in my mind Anzu is evil, but in a good way. I mean, hey, she almost got Koko to say chinchin (a totally appropriate word that means "to beg [dog]", as I learned from Anzu). Anzu has an amazing ability to push Koko's buttons and to say things no one else will say. Usually of an ambiguous nature. Yet, at the same time, it's clear she and Akane are trying to set Koko and Yoshiyuki up. This would imply Anzu is also really perceptive. My original plan was to do Nanaka next, but I think I'll do Anzu because I find her so intriguing,

Nanaka is playful but... complicated. She's clearly bad at dealing with people and is quite oblivious to how she comes across. She also doesn't seem to notice when her actions hurt others. For example, Koko got sick because of Nanaka insisted on taking a new short cut, despite the snow, and got lost. She also didn't notice that Koko was hiding the fact that she wasn't yet well during the Christmas festival either. I don't blame Nanaka, since she felt really bad about it. It doesn't appear Nanaka has any friends other than Koko. But there are times when Koko feels Nanaka goes too far with Yoshiyuki... Another example of how unperceptive Nanaka is.

Maya is mean even for a class president, Wataru is super annoying, and Yume apparently really, really hates spoilers (I promise I'll be careful).

This arc mostly set up the characters so the story hasn't been developed too much. Like many osananajimi, Koko and Yoshiyuki's relationship is complicated. I think it's clear Koko likes Yoshiyuki and Yoshiyuki in unaware, but starting to become aware, that he likes Koko. However, Yoshiyuki know his best friend Wataru has liked Koko for a long time, and that Wataru is preparing to do something about it. Then there is Nanaka. Given her personality, it's hard to know how she truly feels. I'm not sure how long this circle can stay together.

[Vegard Aune]

Ah, at last someone made this thread. I've just been dying to share my thoughts on it here. (Although that just begs the question of why the hell I didn't just make it myself... Whatever.)

So far, this game is looking way better than the anime ever was, and a significant improvement from the first one too. Most notably, I find all the characters to be a lot more likable than in the anime; Nanaka in particular made a stronger impression on me in her very first scene of the game, than she did in the entire anime. Anzu, too, went from someone who was just kinda there in the anime, to one of my favourite characters here.

[Vegard Aune]

This was actually the second route I cleared, but due to the first one (Minatsu) being covered fairly accurately in the anime, I don't really have all that much to say about it here.

Ah yes, Nanaka... I never did get why she was so ridiculously popular while watching the anime... Though now I'm kinda starting to get it. She was pretty awesome, I must admit, and I certainly ended up getting a lot more out of this route than what I expected going in. (I pretty much only played this one early because of the absolutely lovely ending-theme.) The story was well-written, the music was really nice, Nanaka herself was awesome as hell... It was just a pretty fantastic route overall. Though I am thoroughly convinced that Yuzu is actually the daughter of Satan, disguising herself as a human child with the intent of enslaving all of mankind. (The previous sentence may or may not be mildly exaggerated. She did kind of creep me out though, to be perfectly honest.)

[Draneor]

So far, this game is looking way better than the anime ever was, and a significant improvement from the first one too.

D.C.II is my least favorite adaptation. On the other hand, I still believe D.C.II.S.S. was very good and what the entire series should have been. I just wish the first cour wasn't as mishmashed as it was.

I sort of cheated a bit since I "played" the game in Japanese before the anime aired. Not to mention being exposed to the characters in various drama CDs, fan discs, manga, etc. Still, it's nice being able to fully understand the game now.

[Vegard Aune]

D.C.II is my least favorite adaptation. On the other hand, I still believe D.C.II.S.S. was very good and what the entire series should have been. I just wish the first cour wasn't as mishmashed as it was.

I sort of cheated a bit since I "played" the game in Japanese before the anime aired. Not to mention being exposed to the characters in various drama CDs, fan discs, manga, etc. Still, it's nice being able to fully understand the game now.
Yeah, D.C. II S.S. was mostly pretty good... I just hated how Yoshiyuki had practically no personality. I mean, really, did they ever show him actually, like, reacting to like, anything? I suppose in a way it's kind of amazing that the anime managed to get any sort of emotional response out of me at all, when it all centered around such a ridiculously passive character...

And I guess I could say I kinda cheated too... Since I went and read summaries of every single route in the game and thus already knew what would happen in every single one, way ahead of time. (And thus I also noticed how both seasons of the anime lacked the epilogue to the arcs they were adapting... That always bothered me.)

[Vegard Aune]

Everything I feel like commenting on up to the date of January 20th

First off, oh yeah, there's that scene with Yume and Otome defying all logic and getting drunk on a childrens' beverage. I always thought the whole insistance that there was no alcohol in it was something the anime added, but no, even in the game they mention that "It's such a weak drink, even kids can drink it..." That was pretty hilarious.

Second, that has to count as one of the most inappropriate ways to confess your love to someone ever. I mean, really, using the words "I love you" and "Idiot" in the same sentence does strike me as a pretty terrible idea.

Third... Why does this have to be a H-game? And why do I never learn to just skip those scenes? I'm pretty convinced the game would be way better without them. Why couldn't they have adapted the all-ages version while they were at it? (Or, I suppose it makes sense, seeing how P.S. is like, twice as long...)

Well, apart from that one horribly written love-making scene which somehow seemed even worse than all the other horribly written love-making scenes I've been stupid enough not to skip so far, I'm really liking this route. Yume and Yoshiyuki's interactions are a lot of fun, and though her attitude does get a tiny bit annoying at times, Yume is still a fairly likable character... though I think I like Otome just a little bit better.


Also, on a completely random note: I randomly looked through the options for the System Voice you hear on the menu a while back, and found that Suginami was an option. So I changed it to him. The main menu is now the most hilarious thing ever.

[Draneor]

This part covers from "Especially" through the main theme of D.C. II, "Asaki Yumemishi Kimi to," which also happens to be my favorite D.C. song of all time.

Koko is super cute. I love her uncertainty, her determination, and how she is scared of ghosts. Koko is also a bit bolder than I expected; I was surprised when she asked to stay over at Yoshiyuki's house. Despite Koko's hessitation, she took quite a few steps to get closer to Yoshiyuki and make her feelings known. Unfortunately, various circumstances beyond her control and Nanaka kept getting in the way. I'm really finding it hard to believe Koko got "best luck."

My feelings for Nanaka are more... conflicted. Mentally, it's really hard for me to forgive someone who betrays their friend. Nanaka knew Koko liked Yoshiyuki and yet she struck first. It was clear she was struggling, and she did give Nanaka a few hours to make a move by leaving first. Still, I can't help but feel Nanaka had a choice and she choose her feelings over her friendship.

However, turning her down was one of the hardest decisions I've made. When she confessed, her voice was so weak... so desperate. It's not really the image you associate with a confident idol. But this was Nanaka. I confessed I cried quite a bit after she started to ask why, after being rejected. It's just painful to see someone who needs to be comforted and yet know that doing so would only make it worse.

As far as Yoshiyuki goes, I appreciate the fact that he can cook and likes to do so. As I enjoy cooking, I really admire male leads that also do so. I'm also extremely happy that he was decisive and turned down Nanaka. Well, I don't yet know if that's the right choice. But I'm assuming it was based on the fortune telling.

My first favorite scene was when Koko tried during the test of courage, only to be interrupted by Otome freaking out because she was alone. Koko looks so pretty in the moonlight and she tried so hard... But the end was also so funny.

My second favorite scene was when Koko sat next to Yoshiyuki on his bed, wrapped together under a blanket. It was just so cute--I almost died of a moegasim. Once again, I appreciate the moonlight.

[Vegard Aune]

Yume route finished...
That was utterly perfect. Pretty much everything from the withering of the cherry trees to the heartbreakingly tragic ending-theme was just incredibly emotional, and the epilogue, despite not really explaining at all what hapened, was also extremely well done. It's always been hard for me to really think of anything good to say about these things, but I can say that I ended up playing through the entire rest of the route from where I left off last time, in one sitting. I was just so immersed in the story, I couldn't turn it off before I'd finished it all.

Well, that's four routes down. And all of them have been fantastic. Guess I'll do Koko's route next, because I just feel like doing Otome's route last seems the most fitting.

[Classical]

I haven't completed any routes in the game (I'm juggling this and Tales of the Abyss at the moment :sweat:), but anyway, I can easily say I'm loving this game so far. I really loved the first one, but this one is a whole new level of awesome for me. I just like the whole cast, including the secondary characters, and Yoshiyuki himself is pretty cool. That said, I really wish that MangaGamer could one day get the Plus Communication release with the extra character routes. It's kind of devastating that you can't (spoiler?) choose Akane and Maya in this game.

Anyway, it's nice to see Suginami again, and this one seems weirder than the first one though I think he's cooler this way. Garrison-sensei/Muppet-kun is amusing. I really like Maya a lot.

It's really hard to believe this game was translated by the same company that did the original D.C. and Edelweiss. The translation is basically perfect. There are a couple lines I might have phrased differently, but it's otherwise really good. Heck, even six months ago their translations had significant flaws. Using multiple people for QC must really help!
I'm definitely happy with this game's translation, and it is a significant improvement over some of their earlier releases. It doesn't look like MangaGamer should be having anymore problems now with better QC for their games.

The art is also fantastic. I particularly like the falling sakura petals in the background. Overall, I can't argue D.C.II is much more polished than the original.
I really love the art and character designs. They were both a big draw for me in wanting to play the game (along with it being Da Capo) when I saw some of the artwork in a Circus artbook I own. The falling sakura petals certainly add an element of charm during the scenes they appear in.

[Vegard Aune]

My feelings for Nanaka are more... conflicted. Mentally, it's really hard for me to forgive someone who betrays their friend. Nanaka knew Koko liked Yoshiyuki and yet she struck first. It was clear she was struggling, and she did give Nanaka a few hours to make a move by leaving first. Still, I can't help but feel Nanaka had a choice and she choose her feelings over her friendship.
...Isn't that a little unreasonable? Yes, they both liked Yoshiyuki, and Nanaka did put her friendship with Koko on the line by confessing, but... Koko would have ended up doing the exact same thing if it weren't for the fact that something ended up interrupting her every time she tried to confess. And I doubt Koko was completely unaware of how Nanaka felt either. It's not like there was any way to get through this without one of them getting hurt... or, they could have both remained silent, but that wouldn't really solve anything at all.

[Draneor]

...Isn't that a little unreasonable?

Koko grew up with Yoshiyuki and liked him long before Nanaka even met him. She had the first claim, so Nanaka, who clearly knew Koko liked him, should have known better before she started to like him. I do not tolerate betraying your friends. It is, quite frankly, an action I view as unforgivable. Nanaka should have discussed the issue with Koko first if she was unwilling to repress her feelings.