1. 

   relentlessflame
   December 31st, 2008 - 02:47

   So the OVA is in fact produced by ZEXCS, and not by feel? I guess that, given that it looks exactly like D.C.S.S., I just assumed that it must have been produced by the same team. That being said, they could very well have parts of the teams working together or something (last I heard, the two companies actually worked in the same physical building, so it’s not like they’d have to travel far…).

   My only problem with owning this OVA is that it would require me to purchase the entirety of D.C. on DVD again, and it’s just hard to justify. But it sure is tempting… (Of course, that’s not to say there aren’t ways to watch it of course, but… ) There’s also the Kotori-centric D.C. if PS2 game coming soon…

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2. 

   kaz3phyrous
   December 31st, 2008 - 02:51

   i didn’t know this was released already…
   must acquire fast in order to see some Kotori goodness…

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3. 

   Adun
   December 31st, 2008 - 02:58

   I’m holding out to find a better raw than what I have seen on TokyoTosho. I don’t like the idea of watching anything in rmvb format. Still this is definitely one show that I HAVE to watch. It certainly has been too long of a wait for something Kotori focused and to know Nemu isn’t around in this makes it all that much better.

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4. 

   relentlessflame
   December 31st, 2008 - 03:13

   So, as a follow-up, I ended up purchasing the DVD-BOX anyway. I have no willpower and, besides, it’s only money, right? Dammit… :/

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5. 

   Stripey
   December 31st, 2008 - 03:25

   relentlessflame: I hate to say this but you may be a bigger Kotori fan than I am! I’m hoping against hope that they’ll release the R3 as a 2 part OVA. D.C.if i produced by ZEXCS aided by GANSIS. The series composer if an old guard from DCI but I don’t recognise the director. Ushiro Shinji. Apparently the director for Strait Jacket and involved in numerous FEEL and ZEXCS productions notably Otoboku and Oinari-sama. Hope they keep up the momentum for part 2. Gratz again on your purchase!

   kaz3phyrous: Don’t wait anymore! Kotori goodness beckons

   Adun: Yep, no Nemu, Aisia or Sakura to distract. Just pure Kotori goodness (of course Miharu and the Nabe sisters who aren’t the less threatening ). I caught it on the mp4 format. Just 38mb. Quality still pretty good surprisingly.

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6. 

   Skane
   December 31st, 2008 - 09:44

   “Apparently Sakura DID manged to kill Nemu in this universe.”

   Best sentence of the review.

   Yes~…

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7. 

   suguru
   December 31st, 2008 - 10:09

   Definitely looking forward to seeing this, it’s about time Kotori got her due ^_^ Although I’m a little disappointed to see they killed off Nemu for Kotori to get the win–I’d be interested to see a storyline where Kotori faced off against Nemu and won, but I guess since it’s a Kotori-focused OVA I really shouldn’t complain.

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8. 

   Vexx
   December 31st, 2008 - 12:12

   I… really hate the hat and always have.

   Interesting, is this told from *her* point of view?

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9. 

   moyism
   December 31st, 2008 - 19:59

   Holy.. when did this come out?!

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10. 

    relentlessflame
    December 31st, 2008 - 21:11

    Stripey:
    Thanks for the info about the production team. Sounds like they just pulled together the people from all the different related groups who were available. In the end, since it’s almost all outsourced anyway (except for the character designs, storyboards, and such), the production company is really just the one responsible for attending the meetings and pulling it all together anyway. :p

    And no, I don’t think I’m a bigger Kotori fan necessarily (I spent half of my time in the D.C.S.S. days arguing against people who claimed to be Kotori fans), just a bigger sucker for limited edition merchandise. The fact that it was sold out on Amazon and in many other online stores the day it was released helped push me over the edge, and I don’t have much faith there’ll be another R2 release anytime soon (R3 release notwithstanding, but I’ve never gotten into those). ^^;

    And incidentally, this OVA proves the same point I was saying back in the D.C.S.S. days — a lot of Kotori fans say they just want Kotori to be happy, but the anime producers know that Kotori’s character is made perfect in suffering. In other words, Kotori was always popular, but it’s because of all her suffering that she’s got such a die-hard following. D.C.S.S. knew that full well (which is why she was a main character who had to suffer), as it seems this OVA does as well. Of course, in this case, we’ll get a different ending, so people will hopefully be happier this time around. :p

    moyism:
    It came out with the D.C. DVD-BOX on 25 December, but because it was a DVD-only release part of a larger season collection, it slipped by unnoticed by many.

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11. 

    Stripey
    January 1st, 2009 - 08:07

    Skane: Heh not the favourite of my plot developments in this ep actually but at least it gives sufficient grounds for Junichi to be with Kotori without him looking like a heartless cad

    suguru: My only issue with a Kotori-Nemu face off is that Kotori just don’t have enough ‘history’ with Junichi to challenge Nemu. Nemu being Junichi’s sister then lover is a position that Kotori would find hard to topple. Which was why I felt Nemu’s appearance in DCSS was too early. Kotori’s relationship with Junichi just wasn’t mature enough where it can threaten Nemu. Ahh but in D.C.if, Kotori-Junichi relationship IS at such a stage. If only DCSS would begin on this footing. I think the writers chose to avoid a Kotori-Nemu fight because

    1) It’d need more than 2 eps.
    2) It’s just not in Kotori’s nature for fight for her happiness unlike Nemu. It’s be pretty one-sided

    Killing off Nemu has 2 advantages.

    1) They can play the guilt card on BOTH Junichi and Kotori which is what we see in this ep
    2) The guilt card actually accentuates Junichi’s fidelity and Kotori’s kindness.

    Looking back I’m glad they choose this path

    moyism: It’s floating in the MAL forums as a .mp4.

    relentlessflame: Ah ic. I really need to level up on how animation companies go about producing their works so that I can credit (or discredit) with better resolution XD As for Kotori’s charm, I’d go one step further to say that Kotori fans like her not only because of her suffering but because of her inherent kindness/gentleness results in that suffering. All that selflessness, thoughtfulness going out only to serve the betterment of others. Coupled with her beauty and perpetual status as the tragic heroine/loser in love, we can’t help but love her so very much. I sincerely wish from the bottom of my heart that it’s Junichi that she’s marrying XD

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12. 

    suguru
    January 1st, 2009 - 19:28

    Sasuga Stripey, those are good points…I would love to see a situation where Kotori did develop enough of a relationship with Junichi to truly challenge Nemu, but you’re right that would be virtually impossible to develop convincingly in two episodes. Given the length of series, it’s true they probably had to go this route for the OVA. I guess I’d have loved to see a DCSS where Nemu didn’t return until Junichi and Kotori are a solid enough item that Kotori would fight her for her happiness and Junichi would have a serious dilemna…

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13. 

    relentlessflame
    January 1st, 2009 - 22:46

    The other reason they probably chose to go with the death route is because it minimizes the amount of retcon they need to do to make this alternate story work. If you undo earlier, then it would beg the question about whether the sakura tree incident really happened, why Kotori no longer has her mind-reading abilities, etc. This way they can just start from where D.C.S.S. picks up. And as you say, the alternate of getting into a fight with Nemu over Junichi is just a sort of fanboy fantasy; they’d *like* to see Kotori put up a fight, because they feel she deserves better, but as you say, it’s not at all in her nature to do so. Kotori internalizes *everything* – that’s part of what makes her so sympathetic.

    And, incidentally, I totally agree with you about all the other reasons people like Kotori. I guess what I meant to say was that making her suffer is in such stark contrast to all of Kotori’s good points (her kindness, thoughtfulness, selflessness, etc.), that it makes the fans love her even more, as you say. Basically, I don’t think the fans would be as passionate as they are now (and we wouldn’t have gotten the OVA) if not for the fact that they made her suffer so much (arguably unjustly). That was the role she was destined to play in D.C.S.S., because the unfairness of unrequited love was the entire theme of the show (a sort of “unfairytale” that many people didn’t want to come to terms with). The theme of this OVA series, though, seems to be moving on through loss to find happiness. Da Capo’s themes are always sort of heavy! ^^;

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14. 

    bluemist
    January 2nd, 2009 - 08:45

    Well my deal was that I didn’t like it because (shallow reason) the last scene reminded me of overdramatic DCIISS scenes where Otome was also crying like hell on the sakura tree, and (real reason) maybe I don’t care about Kotori or Da Capo anymore.

    I just gave it a pretty harsh review on my blog, and I hope my viewpoint does get better when the next episode comes. The story didn’t come in strong for me. Maybe it’s too predictable that it can only go this path based on the situation, so nothing surprised me anymore.

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15. 

    Stripey
    January 3rd, 2009 - 11:05

    suguru: I want to blame FEEL for botching DCSS but I know it’d unfair. I’ve been told that DCSS it’s a loose collection of the DC spin-offs so you’d need someone of calibre to weave these bits and pieces into an affecting tale. My main beef with DCSS was that its themes were so juvenile compared to DCI.

    “Magic to bring happiness for everyone! Let all love Junichi freely and w/o fear of siscon!” *facepalm*

    Compare this to the theme of taboo feelings that one fails to overcome (Sakura with her deep-seated dislike for Nemu and Nemu with her forbidden feelings for Junichi) and you know DCSS/DCI are of totally different worlds. DCSS did one thing right though. They accentuated the charm of Kotori by keeping her character canonical and I’m very grateful to FEEL for that. Unfortunately, a bishoujo’s worth is tied to the quality of the series and the harem lead. Sadly these 2 elements didn’t play out well. Sigh, if only ZEXCS would do a DCSS remake. XD

    relentlessflame: Ah that’s beautifully said… “moving on through loss to find happiness”. DCif certainly has that theme intricately woven into the entire 20 min. But I think it’s something many miss out. I’m not sure if it’s cos too many watch without the subs hence not fully understanding the loaded conversations or they just plainly can’t decipher the body languages that conveys more than words sometimes. Anyhow, I hope the sub can come out soon so that it may dispel some of the unknowns in the sweet OVA

    bluemist: Heh personally I was quite surprised they killed off Nemu. The tree scene was good and very Da Capo actually. Da Capo’s overarching theme has been a conflict of strong feelings. This is examplified Sakura fighting her love for Junichi to save Nemu or Nemu fighting taboo/jealous feelings over Junichi. In DCIISS, it’s Otome fighting her aspirations/call to save Hatsune island vs Yoshiyuki. Here, it’s Kotori fighting against her love for Junichi for reasons which I have speculated in the entry above. I suppose I empathise with Kotori (and the abovementioned DC girls) because I’ve experienced such soul-rending inner conflicts and my heart goes out to them. Anyhow I hope you find your bishoujo mojo back.

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16. 

    Kain
    January 5th, 2009 - 05:32

    When I first heard about this OAV I was ecstatic because I always been Kotori fan. I just have finished watching the first part of OAV with subs and I love it. I don’t think I can add anything to your rather extensive review of it. The only complain I have is that animation feels a bit… old for the lack of a better word. Regardless of that I enjoyed watching it a lot and can’t wait for part 2. Kotori 4tw!

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17. 

    Stripey
    January 5th, 2009 - 08:59

    Glad you enjoyed it too! I’m not sure if it’s the animation that’s old or just that the raw was of low quality. I saw mine as a 37mb mp4 Downloading the sub now. Can’t wait to FULLY understand the dialogue this time and pull out more nuances I missed previously

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18. 

    mw
    January 5th, 2009 - 21:31

    Honestly, I found this first episode to be pretty lame. As with Kimi ga Nozomu Eien ~Next Season~, it came across as a needless attempt to recycle old characters by forcing some melodrama.

    ZEXCS might be managing the project, but I’m not feeling either the energy or whimsical charm of Nagisa Miyazaki’s original direction (which can actually be found in her Saish? Shiken Kujira OVA). You could’ve told me that it was made by a FEEL team, and I wouldn’t have doubted it.

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19. 

    Stripey
    January 6th, 2009 - 08:18

    I suspect we like very different things about the original Da Capo or Nagisa sensei’s work. My love for Da Capo had always been its drama. And Kantoku Nagisa strength for me was how she is able to bring across the intense and poignant emotions experienced by girls. For one, she does jealousy superbly. The OVA has the magic of DCI in that it’s about powerful feelings at conflict which is built upon very credible choices that consistent with all the characters in the show. KNGE OVA was too deliberate in trying to be emotional hence became artificial. I blame the many long awkward pauses and silly dialogue.

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20. 

    Leefe
    January 12th, 2009 - 03:39

    Weird… I was under the impression Nemu left home or something. If my memory serves me right Nemu ran away from home to go pick up nursing somewhere right? Maybe the spinoff starts there

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21. 

    Stripey
    January 12th, 2009 - 07:51

    The OVA picks up from a different end of DCI apparently. Let’s just say Nemu’s not around any more and looks like she’s not coming back.

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