Minatsu is the cancer that is killing 4chan Da Capo II

So I’m pretty sure this seals our fate. With two episodes left and not the slightest hint that a last minute relationship will form between Yuuichi and another female lead, the fight is over, Koko wins. Sure things may be looking grim for them now, but think about it, all pervious Da Capo series have had a canon couple at the end, that is, they didn’t have open ends. Following that trend and the fact that any other relationship that would be formed at this point would be made of WTF and plothole, Koko end is and has always been the most likely outcome. I would be pleasantly surprised if Feel decided to give Yoshiyuki the middle finger by making Koko dump his ass and have him wallow in lonely depression, but I just don’t see it.

Episode Rating: 5.5/10

So…some bad news. Due to it being exams period for me at the moment, I didn’t have time to throw together a full length summary this time around because I was studying (if playing Gears of War all day counts as studying).

So I hope this truncated summary will suffice for this week.

The Minatsu bullying continues with only Yume and Yoshiyuki’s gang standing up for her. Yoshiyuki, being the brilliant man he is, decides to alienate himself from the everybody else, saying that it’s his fault for reactivating Minatsu, so he’ll deal with her, alone, and asks for some time off the band to do so. This doesn’t go over well with Koko, who offers to help, but while Yoshiyuki appreciates her offer, he says he doesn’t want to get her involved. And to make things even worse for Koko, Sakura decides that it would be a good idea for Minatsu to live with them for a while.

The situation between Yoshiyuki and Koko continues to degrade, Yoshiyuki getting called away every time they manage to talk alone. And in the end Koko starts to skip band practice, lying to Yoshiyuki about it being because of him, even going as far as to avoid him during school.

As for the Minatsu situation, the PTA has launched a protest against it which Otome takes measures to oppose. While out shopping, Minatsu and Yoshiyuki run into the source of the problem, Maya. Yoshiyuki tells her that she knows the reason for her hate of robots and tries to sympathize with her but Maya tells him he has no idea what it’s like to lose a family member. Afterwards, Minatsu comes to the realization that for all her hate for humans and what they’ve done to robots, the opposite can be true, robots can sometimes cause pain to humans and she can understand how Maya feels because she was once bitter like her.

The next day, Koko skips school. Nanaka decides to check up on her in the afternoon, the two talking about the events of late and Nanaka suggesting she take it at her own pace. Then, Yoshiyuki shows up at Koko’s house as well. Nanaka goes to answer the door but Koko stops her. She wants to help Yoshiyuki and be by his side, but lately she’s been lying to both Yoshiyuki and herself about her feelings, she knows that this isn’t her true self. Koko says that it’s a little painful to be with Yoshiyuki and worries what will happen if things continue on like this, crying in Nanaka’s arms, she begins to doubt her relationship with him.

Thoughts

Argh, at this point, DCII has virtually no redeeming points. The main dramatic focus uses Minatsu as a driving force, which I hate because she’s supposed to be a minor character, a catalyst for plot development, not the center of the show. Blah blah blah, Maya hates robots, yet it’s ironic in that the object of her hate is the one who perhaps understands her the best, we get it. That could have been explained in one episode, maybe one and a half, why they felt the need to drag it out for half the series is beyond me. And it’s not as if Minatsu is an iconic moeblob character, if she threw out an “Ijimekko ;_;?” or was the focus of fanservice, I could at least sit back and enjoy the visuals, bringing the fail down a few notches, but nope, nothing.

As for the KokoXYoshiyuki pair, they’re annoying as hell too. Yoshiyuki turning down Koko’s offer to help deal with Minatsu was especially bad, turning her down was essentially a nice way of Yoshiyuki saying “STFU and get back in the kitchen”. It’s ridiculous, for the amount of time they try and build Yoshiyuki up as a “nice guy”, he’s really dense and ends up unknowingly causing a lot of pain. As for Koko, what happened?! Last episode she was ready to finally step up and tell Yoshiyuki to get his shit together, but suddenly went back to her old doormat self, taking Yoshiyuki’s crap silently and avoiding the problems at hand. Granted, the same story goes true for a lot of other harems out there, when you stack it onto the fact that the drama that comes out of it is weak and contrived, it amplifies the fail tenfold.

So pretty much the only reason I’m continuing with DCII is because of my loyalty to the series, oh, and so that I can tell all you readers out there how bad it is so you don’t have to watch it yourselves. Or at least give you guys an idea of what to expect so you don’t end up watching the episode with a permanent look of “WTF IS THIS?!” on your face the whole way through.

I guess I’ll just have to wait another couple years until another Da Capo sequel comes out and pray that they don’t screw it up again.

~ Shirukii ~