Stupid useless sakura tree

Interesting, my hopes for an abandoned and ronery Yoshiyuki may actually come true. I’m not going to get my hopes up though, the disappointment would be crushing. But even so, DCII is far beyond saving, with a single episode left, there’s no way to salvage things from their current state. Again, apologies for having to cut my usual essay length entries down, finals rage on.

Episode Rating: 6/10

Once again, Koko skips class, this time to visit the eternal blooming sakura tree. Yoshiyuki shows some genuine concern over his “girlfriend” being absent for days in a row, but you wouldn’t really know it, seeing how fast he’s distracted. After school, Yoshiyuki finds that Minatsu’s shoes have been stolen, despite the patient little android not really showing much concern, Yoshiyuki goes on a bloodhound hunt to retrieve them, eventually spotting them in the incinerator. When he brings the shoes back, Yoshiyuki tells Minatsu that she should be more angry about something like this, Minatsu says that she’s used to it and that it’s enough seeing Yoshiyuki care so much. Yoshiyuki then notices Maya dropping into their conversation and catches her before she runs off, asking her how she can harbor so much resentment against Minatsu. Maya, on the verge of tears, explains that she knows Minatsu isn’t personally responsible for her father’s death and that not all robots deserve to be hated, but the fact remains that her kind ruined her family and so she can’t bring herself to accept them.

Walking away, Maya notices her brother waiting for her off school grounds, enthusiastically he runs across the street to greet her, right into the path of an oncoming speeding van. Minatsu dives in front of the van, shielding Maya’s brother from the impact, the little guy is in tears, but is otherwise unhurt. Soon afterwards, Minatsu crashes and is rushed to Mizukoshi-sensei by Yoshiyuki and Yume. She’s given a clean bill of health, but with this incident, Mizukoshi-sensei knows that they won’t be able to hide the truth any longer.

The next day at school, Minatsu is given a standing ovation as she enters the class, everyone quick to apologize for their attitude towards her in the past. Even the robot hating Maya thanks her for saving her little brother, happy to have made up with Maya, Minatsu invites her to eat lunch with them. After lunch, Maya and Minatsu have a talk on the rooftop, Maya asking why Minatsu saved her brother despite everything she’s said and done to her. Minatsu tells her that she used to be like Maya, hateful towards humans and that it was thanks to Yoshiyuki and the group that she came to terms with her fleshy creators and that all she wants is for humans and robots to live together without conflict.

However, things never work out so conveniently, Minatsu, Yume and Yoshiyuki are called to the principals office where Mizukoshi-sensei tells them that the school board has decided to expel Minatsu. Yoshiyuki can’t accept that decision and despite Mizukoshi-sensei saying it’s no use, he goes to find Sakura to see what she can do to overturn the decision.

However, it’s Koko that he runs into first. Yoshiyuki asks what she’s doing wandering around, she tells him that she’s been thinking a lot about various things and apologizes for making him worry. Seeing as Yoshiyuki is skipping class, Koko reasons something must have come up again. She says that she likes that side of Yoshiyuki, the side of him that is kind to everyone regardless of their circumstances, but she can’t lie to herself, it’s causing her pain. Not wanting things to continue as they are and possibly get worse, Koko suggests that they break up and go back to the way things were before, back to being just childhood friends.

Thoughts

Another boring, primarily Minatsu centric episode, what can I say, I really resent Feel for choosing the dullest cast members to build a story around. The development of this episode was pretty standard stuff, a nemesis ends up being your savior, reconciliation between the two parties, friendship and all that good stuff, then the last minute shattering of happiness. I’m thinking that Sakura will pull some h4x and get Minatsu reinstated for a happily ever after ending, not that I have much vested interest in the outcome of the Minatsu storyline anyways.

As for the KokoXYoshiyuki relationship, I don’t really know what to say, I don’t want them to crash and burn, nor do I want to see it succeed. Despite blushing profusely around each other, the two show no signs of being in a relationship at all, Koko would be a wise girl to call it quits here, and I would just write it off as another osananajimi getting the shaft, yay! But despite being a solid and logical outcome, for some reason I don’t see it happening. A large draw factor to harem shows is that the viewer (male target) can immerse himself into the world of the protagonist, relating himself to his character. So to end with the character abandoned by his girlfriend, regardless of how half assed the relationship, probably isn’t a good idea.

The one way I can see this breakup being real? Da Capo II Second Season. Yeeeep.

But bear with me for a sec, that actually might not turn out that horrible. With Minatsu and Koko’s stories out of the way, that would give us a solid 12-13, perhaps even 24-26 episodes centered around the other characters, taking the android and osananajimi out of the cast leaves you with nothing but awesome. The older doting onee-sama, Otome, the tsundere imouto, Yume, and the OH GOD NANAKA IS HOT. Think about it, there’s absolutely no way they could screw that up!

So yes, DCII sucks, but if it’s all an elaborate scheme so that Feel can do another season concentrating fully on the winnage characters and still appease the like…three Koko fans out there, it’s brilliant! Ultimately that means that the wait for a decent Da Capo incarnation since the original stretches on, but it might just be worth it!

But considering that my track record of having predictions come true is pretty abysmal, I’m not getting my hopes up ;_;

~ Shirukii ~