hontou ni sou omou?

Finally yielded to Stripey’s constant badgering to give Da Capo a try, he being spurred on by the current release of DCSS. I guess it didn’t help his sales pitch very much when he characterised Da Capo as essentially being sis-con (Nemu) vs. lolicon (Sakura), with almost every other fetish, like cat-eared maid, lesbian robot girl, big-breasted ditz, pure singing mind-reading idol etc thrown in for kicks. Why wasn’t I surprised to be told it was a H-game adaption? But what had the potential to be a super sucky series actually turned out to be fairly enjoyable after the half-way point. Kinda like Kannazuki.

Stripey also said that it was impossible to enjoy DC if the viewer did not like Nemu Asakura. I like cute jealousy and lilting name-calling so I was sold after a few episodes. And the brother-sister thing? We’re told straight off that they’re not blood related - nothing that a good lawyer and a move to another town can’t fix. Sakura has more blood relation to Junichi, for goodness’ sakes, being the daughter of Junichi’s mom’s older sister and thus his cousin. I did not like Sakura Yoshino at all, bratty nasal-voiced presumptuous little brat that she was. But I’m also a sucker for anime girls who suffer from unrequited love. And after loving so openly and then trying to do the right thing in defeat, I grew to respect her as a character.

The enchanted sakura tree is really the key to many things in the series (e.g. Yoriko’s transformation, Miharu’s system longevity, Kotori’s mindreading, Nemu’s illness etc.) but the tree’s power is unable to affect Junichi’s will directly nor to fulfill the third promise that he made to Sakura under its boughs.

Sakura’s antipathy towards Nemu is best exemplified by her demand to Junichi of “Why does it have to be Nemu? Anyone but Nemu.” She sees Nemu as her greatest threat, someone who will be able to forge a bond with Junichi that is so strong that she will be forever shut out. But she becomes terrified when Nemu collapses and coughs up sakura petals. That terror has more to do with her fear that Junichi will blame her and hate her for what she has unconsciously willed upon her rival. That fear only reinforces the point that Nemu has been chosen over her and it was a brilliant twist when the sakura tree blossoms again and Nemu relapses. Letting go is never easy and that turn of events added depth and believability to Sakura’s character. It was only after being sincerely assured by Junichi that he would always unconditionally care for her that she was able to let go and finally release Nemu from the enchantment.

Sakura had plenty of power and plenty of motivation to misuse it but tried her best not to do so and eventually gave it up for the sake of others by letting go. In the words of that other young magical girl of the same name: “契約のもと　さくらが命じる　レリーズ!!” “I, Sakura, command so by contract - release!!”

Omake: Here’s some non-DC but Sakura-related magical goodness:

Interestingly, Seishiro Sakurazuka also told a story (in Tokyo Babylon or X?) similar to one told by Mako in Ep 8, that sakura petals are actually white but because each tree has a corpse underneath it, it draws the blood from it and this tints the petals with its characteristic pinkish colour. In Mako’s version, six original sakura trees are planted over the graves of six maidens but their locations are lost. I wonder if there’s any coincidence that there are six main girls in the series: Nemu, Sakura, Miharu, Kotori, Moe and Mako?