D.C.III: Da Capo III

In all honesty, the anime ended and I was confused. The story didn't really go anywhere, and there was hardly any character development, if any at all. I've been a fan of Da Capo as well as Da Capo II and had some decent expectations from Da Capo III. I wouldn't say my expectations were too high, considering I was very much turned off from episode 1.

Story: 3/10
As I stated before, the story really didn't progress until very late into this series. There really wasn't much development as a Da Capo series, and I personally was disappointed. For those who haven't watched and were hoping ... for the drama shown in D.C. and D.C.II, don't.

Art: 8/10
Fairly enough, the art of this series was actually quite decent. The characters and settings were all drawn very nicely, but unfortunately many episodes had some rather confusing shots. They would zoom in on breasts for no apparent reason, and just sort of keep it there even though characters were having conversations. Like, seriously?

Sound: 2/10
Nothing to hear here. Keep moving along.

Character: 3/10
No development whatsoever, and all of the characters are very stale. It is very apparent that all the girls like him for some apparent reason, and the protagonist has about zero backbone. I typically don't like this kind of character, hence my low rating. The girls -do- have some of their cute points, but nonetheless still stale.

Enjoyment: 2/10
As a Da Capo series, no.

Overall: 3/10
I don't know why I finished it. Probably obligation.

Story
While the original Da Capo and Da Capo II are perfectly fine and if not considered a classic of the harem series. Da Capo III fails to deliver any of that. The original series had interesting characters and managed to squeeze in character development, then further suck us into this world that also happens to contain the existence of magic. From the very start the main character is already actively pursued by the heroines in the story with no reason why or how it happened. The episodes that followed rather than stretching each character and their development throughout the series they ... essentially sum each character by episode giving us a very tip of the iceberg view of the relationship. The main character is completely standard the most generic abomination of all the harem genres (especially ones based off visual novels like this one)

Art
Despite what I might have said earlier the artwork is absolutely up to par with fantastic coloring and interesting scenery

Sound
Nothing stands out about this. Carry on

Character
The characters in Da Capo III suffer from a lack of development and as far as I''m concerned, they even lack human emotions.

Enjoyment
Chances are by the time you get through an episode you will look back and summarize the episode in four words. The amount of plot that happens in each episode is infinitesimally low and while it's beautiful to look at it will feel like a waste of your time. Akin to watching a trainwreck.

I know Da Capo series from a long time actually, but back then, i thought this anime was a Serious anime, so i decided not to watched it, and suddenly, i saw a .Gif file, showing Charles bouncing her Breasts, i just died on the inside when saw that, so i decided to take a look...

The Story is pretty good, about the newspaper club competition, between the Official and the Unofficial newspaper club, so far, they just showing the main Story, there's a couple things connected between the older season, i actually don't get that much since i didn't watch the older season, but the ... Romance Scenes are pretty good and it's pretty sweet

The Art is good, Soft colors, good animation and great graphics...

The OP song is good, the Seiyuu is pretty good, they voice is suited with the characters appearance

Characters, now this is what i'm talking about, only 2 words can describe it... THOSE HAIR, their hair is pretty unique, with Ribbons and stuff, and Nice Body too, Charles, Rikka and Aoi has the Oppai, meanwhile Sara and Himeno is flat chested, you know what? Their body is suited with their personality..

I have a pretty good time watching it...

It's Spring time!

Yes, it's the days when the sakura trees blossoms and we can feel the breeze to our ears. However, for a certain place known as the Hatsune-jima island, it gives off that feeling of Spring years round. It's a mysterious island and there are many mysteries. One thing is for certain though, the island holds one of greatest secrets involving a Sakura Tree which apparently has the ability to make wishes to come true. With this in mind, the series invites questions to the many mysteries that surrounds the origins of Da Capo III.

Da Capo III is the third installation of the ... Da Capo franchaise. The series debuted as part of the Winter 2013 lineup which seems to be somewhat ironic given the Spring atmosphere of the settings. Regardless, the series is a direct sequel of Da Capo II and takes place approximately 20 years after. That's over 2 decades and many things have changed.

For one thing, the series takes place on a mysterious island. The island itself is shaped like a crescent moon but more important, the setting has many mysteries. Perhaps the biggest mystery of them all is the Sakura Tree. Rumors says that it has the ability to grant wishes and make them come true. Sounds exciting isn't it? Well, that's only the tip of the iceberg...

Among all the mysteries also resolves around a competition of the Kazami Academy Newspaper Club. From the first episode, there is a sense of rivalry going around at school. In fact, it brings in together a little drama that were all part of the original Da Capo series.

The series has a school life setting and stars the main male protagonist, Kiyotaka Yoshino. He seems to look normal, acts normal, and is typically normal. However, the friends that he hangs around with are a bit..should I say, not too normal. Well, let's just say that Kiyotaka has his work cut out with him because the majority of his friends are of the opposite sex. They are girls and all of them seems to have a thing for Kiyotaka. This should be expected though given the romance aspect of the show. Just like some of the previous Da Capo series, romance becomes revolved around the main character with the interactions he has with the other girls.

In terms of the other characters, each of them get their own spotlights with one of them being the main focus. As such, some of the episodes are standalone and makes little to no progression to the plot. To me, this is a major distraction and rather loose way of enforcing the premise of the series. Additionally, I find the main male protagonist Kiyotaka to be far too dense for liking. It is quite obvious that many of the girls he hangs out around with are attracted to him in a different way or form. Whether it's displayed by jealousy, sadness, or curiosity, the girls around him feels a special connection to him; some less than others among the group. Unfortunately, Kiyotaka is too dense to realizes it. Even at one point, there's a minor character who also expressed interest in him. Furthermore, whenever an opportunity is presented for him to do various things to the girls, he passes it by. And of course, he also seems to get into misunderstandings that invokes wrath. Typical.

The series' plot revolves around the Sakura Tree and thus, a main female character makes her return to this series. She is named Sakura and holds a sense of innocence behind her character. She adoringly refers Kiyotaka as “oniichan” and often hangs out with a strange cat. Strange as it sounds, there are a lot of mysteries surrounding her character and origins. It spells mystery and as the series progresses, we learn some things about her and her connection to the Da Capo world.

As interesting as the potential plot itself sounds, the series suffers numerous problems. The drama involving the first episode with the rivalry is vaguely explored. In fact, there is hardly a sense of rivalry in that aspect at all except for the rivalries between the girls themselves. They all want Kiyotaka's attention but he's too dense to realize it. At various points, I have to wonder if Kiyotaka gives a damn at all.

The series also falls under the typical fan-service. In fact, various camera angles often prolong the scenes of the girls' moments with their movements. Certain parts of their bodies are often show in various point of views. It's as if the series wants to market them rather than the actual plot. Examples of this also includes the pool episode with the swimsuits, the many scenes when Charles (Lulu-Nee) literally throws herself at Kiyotaka, and even the opening sequence. Then, there's also the tsundere involving a minor character, the little sister type, the mature school idol, jealousy clingy girl, and among others. Oh, and don't forget about the 'naked apron' part because the show also conveys that part. With all this in mind, it is also no surprising that Kiyotaka becomes the envy of the male students. Sigh.

In terms of the major plot revolving the Sakura Tree, it is expressed in a weak way. There's some dream like sequences exploring the aspect of its mysteries but most times are vague. Therefore, it is fairly important for viewers to watch the prequels to understand more aspects behind the Sakura Tree and its origins.

Regarding the romance, I find the series to be quite weak in that department as well. Most of the girls seems to lack any sort of personality and Kiyotaka himself isn't faring any better. In fact, he's the guy who has to make decisions and the answers he gives often comes out so ambiguous that one may often if he's just trying to be the typical nice guy. This doesn't come across to be a pleasant response to the girls though. In fact, it's clear that Kiyotaka views one of the main characters as more than just a good friend. Unfortunately, the route? It leads to almost nowhere. Shame.

The visuals in this show is expressed well. The majestic feeling of the Sakura tree spreads that atmosphere of the Spring life. It is because of that atmosphere, we can see that the tree itself is obviously special and makes the island seems like a paradise. Unfortunately, the characters' designs are all generic to the max with breast sizes even being compared at various points.

For the soundtrack, Da Capo III has a soft melody and often mixes in with a sort of mystical tone. It's not breathtaking though but does gets some of its way across. The OP sequence also has the girls dance in various positions but becomes a distraction, just like the main plot.

Well, I'll give this series a '5'. It just didn't work out well for me and stands mediocre at best. The premise is interesting and caught my attention. However, the attention of the series shifted more to fan service and “romance” rather than anything else. While it did maintain its magical theme, it focused more so on the characters, including a minor character that had little to no progression to the overall series. Oh well, it was only 13 episodes but this was a chore to watch. If I did have a wish to make to the Sakura Tree, I wish I probably would of done something better with my time.

Introduction:
Now, Da Capo 3 has fallen very short in popularity from Da Capo 2 and 1, it's not like Clannad After Story in which the sequel is better or equal. Da Capo 3 tries to keep up with the modern harem today.

Story 6/10: Around this time and on this date i made this review, only 7 episodes are released and i have watched them. The story is nothing special, no twists yet but there is one thing holding onto the pass da capos, the "thing" hasn't been fully revealed yet.

Art 8/10: The art is pretty good, staying true to the da capo ... 2 series. But nothing unique or special or looking good as Maid-Sama

Sound 7/10: The voice actors are superb and the opening and ending is good or average. Various opinions lie in the OP and ED but most would choose good or average. In my case, GOOD

Enjoyment 8/10: I have watched the other da capos, i wouldn't choose Da Capo 3 over the first one but i actually enjoyed a bit more of Da Capo 3 more than 2 because it has so funny bits or bits that make me laugh, mostly due to Da Capo 3 protagonist getting all the luck and getting blame. In which i love that in harems because it provides comedy and enjoyment for me. Either ways, you probably have one laugh.

Overall 8/10: 8 of 10 because instead of a run of the mill harem series, this series delivers a bit higher than that, the series hasn't died out and don't expect it to be good as the first one because any sequel that lies more than 6 years ahead. The lore will not stay, i mean look at naruto and now compare to naruto shippuden. The sequel is good but too far ahead to follow the first series lore, in which da capo 3 does smartly...

It starts of with a decent mystery to the story. However that aspect is almost completely disregarded after the first episode, and becomes pretty much a one on one of the main guy protagonist and his girl lover candidates.
It is literally just an visual novel being animated or eroge or whatever this is based off.
However the music accompanied to this anime is well done and the art is visually stunning, if not for this i would have definitely dropped this anime. If you want to watch something that is calm with light drama then this is an anime for you. It ... is soothing throughout, and to the point. Though because this is in the "moe" genre there is a lot of sexual provocation that sometimes that just doesn't belong.

You need to play the VN to understand the story, or at least watch this anime from D.C 1. A lot of cameo came from another D.C series that which one is Sakura. Sakura in D.C III maybe will confuse you, but if you watch D.C II you will understand why is Sakura come to future and playing with Kiyotaka. Great ending song especially "Aitai yo (会いたいよ)" by yozuca* (eps 1, 9-13). One of great song for D.C series. The VN itself need 50 hours to play, hope you can play it (yes of course)*there is H scene btw ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)*ukhuk. I love ... to play Himeno route *btw I have play all route but idk, I'm just fell in love in Himeno route, but if you want a real romance route with a lot of drama, you can choose Rikka route as well :D Just up to you. I'm sorry, I'm not good in english, I'm from Japan, thanks for reading my reviews, hope can help you :D

Late to review but i still wanted to put my two cents in. The show seemed to be lacking in plot and played up the harem a lot. I even think "a lot" is an understatement. To be honest i haven't seen the first two shows in this series and if they have some sort of relation this might make more sense but all in all i feel that this one alone lacked plot and was one of those shows that will slip my mind for the rest of forever. I'm really into character depth and the was no depth present here so it made ... it hard to care about anything the characters were doing. The quality was great and it had some goofy moments that made me laugh but overall it was very forgetful.

... I have no words to make for an introduction for this anime. I'm just solely disappointed with the animators who thought that this was good enough to appease the fans of Da Capo (including myself) who were waiting for this new season of Da Capo to come out for three years! Then what do we get? This sloppy anime with a fist full of disappointment for three years of waiting.

Story:
This isn't really the worst part of the anime, nor is this the part that really makes the whole anime bad. I think the story could have been good if the writers made their characters ... do something in the anime. It's not like the characters don't have anything to do either. They have stuff to write, a mystery, a protagonist who could possibly get a girl, but what did the characters do? Nothing. Nothing, but walk around aimlessly doing nothing. The story as frustrating as it can be did keep one thing straight, keep up the fan service.

Art: This is easily the best part of the anime. Hands Down. If something can be admired from the anime is that it takes a page out of Kyoto-Animation's book with its very moe characters and color. The color palate of this anime was very nice and bright, and the animation itself was very fluid throughout. But, this anime is heavy on the fan service so expectations on the the art are pretty high and it pretty much delivers on that expectation. So good job Da Capo III, you didn't completely fail out.

Sound/Character:
I can clump these two together because they will have the same reaction and same review. They are nothing spectacular and nothing stands out of these two categories. In hindsight, the only thing that sticks out is the computerized twinkles, and the female character's breast that take up about half of the screen. Nothing was good nor was it bad. It was pretty underwhelming.

Enjoyment: I didn't enjoy it. I hated it.

What do I say about this anime? I hope that you grasped it from the frustration in my opening. If you didn't, here is my response: Don't Watch This Anime. There are better anime around like TWGOK, Sukitte ii Na Yo, Ano Natsu De Matteru, ef - Tale of Memories. This anime isn't worth your time, and might end up like me regretting watching this anime when I could've spent that time other ways. Please don't this anime.

Many have critiqued the Da Capo series of past, but I've always defended it as a series with merit. With the latest Da Capo, however, I'm not so sure I can continue to do so. I truly thought Da Capo was done with Da Capo 2SS, but true to the title, it's back once again. However, this time there is no pretense for drama or character development, the franchise has officially gone for the full harem approach, and the fan-service heavy type at that.

I'll try not to make this too much of a tirade, but what once was a mastery of character depth and atmospheric ... development has suddenly been lowered to Sora no Otoshimono levels of seriousness. Basically, we return to the crescent-shaped island of Hatsunejima where a typical harem protagonist finds himself utterly surrounded by girls attracted to him, and utterly unwilling to choose one of them. This is basically a story of how he abuses everyone's feelings towards him with random sprinklings of magic and opaque hints of parallel universes. If you're looking for a typical fan-service heavy harem with boilerplate characters, look no further. If you're looking for a renewed series worthy of the Da Capo name, this series will be an utter disappointment for you.

Animation:
No doubt about it, the animation of the Da Capo series continues to improve. The island has never looked better with lush coloring and some really nice scenery. We have a brand new cast of pretty faces with some Da Capo roots including a Yume Asakura look-alike, yet another Suginami, and Sakura- in an even more childish form. There's a lot of additional supporting characters that not very memorable as well.

There hasn't really been much action in Da Capo, and that doesn't change here. There are some light hints of magic occasionally, though thank goodness much less of the android-spammage that occurred in earlier Da Capo works. However, rather than replacing this with some actual character development, they filled it instead with a lot of fan service. We're talking bouncy at the store, bouncy in bed, and bouncy in the bath tub. There's enough nudity and "sound effects" to seriously categorize this as soft core H- if you're into that kind of stuff.

Sound:
It sounds weird for a Da Capo series to launch without Yozuca, though she does make an insert song and ED appearance. Instead, the series starts with the cast singing "Sakura Happy Innovation". The title sounds like a desperate attempt to sell the series, and the melody is a bit plain as well. There are three EDs for the series, two by Da Capo regulars and one as a character ED. Aitai yo is a nice, if slightly dark Yozuca work while Meguru by CooRie is an upbeat work that I would argue sounds more like a typical DC OP. The character ED has a fair tune and, more noticeably, a lot of random nudity. The BGM is fitting with traditional DC pieces with a heavy emphasis on piano, xylophone, and flute.

The VA cast is quite interesting. Either DC ran out of funding or they're really going overboard with the "innovation" concept. All the lead heroines are pretty much unknowns, and none of them really stand out in particular for me. More annoyingly, all due respect for Hitomi but, Sakura is now pretty much a third grader. Especially that laugh...

Story:
A lot of DC3's story is shrouded in mystery, even after the series ends. So basically there's a dude named Kiyotaka who happens to be the only male in the school newspaper club. They decide to do a paper on the mystery of the giant Sakura tree, which stopped blooming, and unintentionally somehow revive it. Afterwards, a mysterious girl who identifies herself as Sakura appears, alongside a non-cat nyaa-ing creature called Utamaru. Who is this familiar looking girl and how does her fate relate to Kiyotaka?

DC's plot line is pretty much what you'd expect from a typical, brainless harem. By the time the series takes place, all the girls are already unconditionally in love with Kiyotaka. Irregardless, the story follows the girls in an arc-based approach where each girl spends an episode or two coaxing Kiyotaka with fan-service heavy scenes. Throughout all this, Sakura randomly appears and steals the ever-popular protagonist away so they can play. I'm not sure why Kiyotaka, a seemingly mentally-sound adolescent male, would choose to play with a high-pitched, annoying third grader over going on dates with hot chicks, though I can only hope he's not a pedo.

After the story runs out of girls to showcase, it finally gets into plot mode and throws a few dark episodes reminiscent of the mood in the majority of Da Capo 2SS. However, the series, thank goodness, quickly switches out of depression mode and jumps to a rather quick conclusion where some of the many mysteries are answered, though it actually begets even more questions than answers. Will there be a second season? Possibly, as they sure leave enough unexposed plot elements to do so. Whether there will be any fan base left to watch it is another question.

Character:
This was a painful show to watch. While I've made it quite evident by now that there were many elements that I was displeased with, the character interactions and development, by far, take the cake. While I got over the fact that all the girls were literally cookie-cutter characters with little exposition and static personalities, I just couldn't get over the fact that Sakura was relegated to a little girl who forgot who she was. While I never rooted for Sakura in any of the previous Da Capos, her role in his series is just plain humiliating. My other major qualm is character spammage. Not only do they randomly introduce unnecessary side characters, but they re-introduce some clones from previous Da Capo series. However, like the main heroines, they are also empty shells with cookie-cutter personalities. Don't expect any meaningful development in this show as apparently no one can sway Kiyotaka to their side.

Value:
When I typically watch a show, I tend to watch episodes in bundles. For really good shows, this happens right at the start, where as in other shows such as Koi to Chocolate, this happens latter on. For DC3, this never happened. I couldn't find anything to really hang on to in order to convince me to keep going. Either the plot was just not interesting or I'm just not interested in fan-service overload anymore, but I honestly just didn't enjoy this show that much. As with music, overuse of Da Capos only end up with bored crowds, this definitely rings true here as well. DC3 is just a plain harem that happens to have the DC badge attached to it. I really don't think this met my expectations for the franchise and I'm not going to even try to defend this one. Unless you want to see brainless fan-service and body-part rubbing, steer clear of this DC imposter.

Da Capo III is a story about a high school news paper club who lives on the Island Hatsune-Jima as they try to find out the mystery behind the un-withering Sakura tree.

Story: - 7
The story of DCIII is really different from the first two Da Capo anime, as it does not focus on a romance story as the previous ones did, but has more a harem feel to it which I found a bit disappointing but didn't ruin the story for me. The story of the tree is not used much in the episodes before episode 10 but after this the story then blossoms and ... becomes very interesting and deep which leads to a good ending which needs another season to make it complete; on the other hand the episodes before number 10 focus more on the main characters interactions with the different girls which I found to be a nice scenario and were enjoyable overall.

Art - 7
The art in DCIII was very standard anime art with it being a little detailed in the clothing but not that detailed when it came to the background and characters but this did not ruin the anime and also gives of as part of its charm.

Sound - 9
The soundtrack used in DCIII was well done and fitted the anime quite well, as the opening theme I felt suited it well in which I has a bit more spring in it rather than a slower song in the previous DCs which made it feel more unique to the others and video that goes alongside as part of the opening is very well done with some of characters dancing to the song which made it more enjoyable. Also during the anime various songs played which very enjoyable and fitted each of the scenarios they were used in whether it was a sad or fun one.

Character - 7
The characters in DCIII are very varied and all enjoyable with the coming of brand new characters and some old ones, in which the protagonist of the story Kiyotaka Yoshino is a typical dense character with no outstanding features which is what I expected but the rest of the characters featured in the newspaper club as well as others are very varied in appearance and personality which brings a lot of light to the anime as well as making it more interesting and enjoyable. PS: Suginami is immortal