I finished Da Capo over a year ago, and since it's old and is overshadowed by its successor, no one really talks about it. But fuck it, I still have opinions that I feel unusually strong about so I'm gonna express them today.

Here's my list

A: Great, little to no flaws

B: Pretty good overall

C: Okay/Mixed feelings

D: Meh

F: Bad/most disappointing

I'll list my explanations from lowest to highest.

Nemu, the canon route, is F tier. Never have I disliked the canon route of a VN as much as I hate Nemu's route. I don't even hate Nemu as a character, but she isn't anything special, looks wise or personality wise. She's a bit plain for my taste. I might have liked her a little more if she wasn't Junichi's adopted sister, because imo adopted sibling incest is still incest, especially when they make it very clear that they consider themselves as siblings. (If they just thought of each other as childhood friends who grew up together, I would have given it a pass.)

Really the biggest problem is her route. I think the drama of having a relationship with someone who is sick and dying is interesting, but not when it's a contrived magical sickness that comes about because the bond between them is so intense, her body can't handle it. At least that's what I think was happening. It felt very confusing when I read it. Then at the end when Sakura pulls the plug on the magic sakura tree, it's either too late and she dies, or there's a death fake out and actually she's perfectly fine and everything is back to normal. I think it's dependent on when you set your alarm to wake up in the morning? That's just stupid. I really didn't enjoy the route, and it's my least favorite in the game.

Yoriko is cute. Cat maids are just cute and that's a fact. But, if you take away those elements and see her as her true self, she's kind of boring. She needs the cat ears to stand out, otherwise she's nothing special. Maybe I just don't care for brunettes? Brown hair in a world where people can have bright, abnormal colors just feels plain, I suppose.

Her route was cute too, but I also don't feel it was anything special. It felt wholesome, at least. Her route feels very disconnected from the rest of the VN, which makes sense as she's a bonus character, but the other bonus route had Miharu, who was a side character that made other appearances, while Yoriko just doesn't exist outside of her route. I put her in C tier because I forgot a lot of stuff about her until I looked over my notes from last year, but at the same time I remember liking her route anyway, so I won't put her in D.

Sakura is a tricky one for me because there's both a lot I like and a lot I hate. I really hate loli-bait love interest characters, because I'm not a creep who likes little kids. She literally has the body of a child in-universe, so I can't just blame it on art style or just being petite. At one point in her route she calls Junichi "papa" as a joke and even does it in an H-scene, and that grossed me out. (Also she's his cousin, so more incest, oh boy.)

However, I do enjoy Sakura's personality. She brings fun and positive energy to every scene she's in, while also being able to have serious and deep moments as well, thanks to her genius intelligence and insight into the magical happenings of the island. I think a lot of her dialogue and interactions are funny, though it does border on annoying at times. It helps that I find her cute in an endearing way. Her route is also interesting because it goes more in depth about how the magic tree works, and we get to see Sakura's personal struggle with imposter syndrome, which is understandable because how can you ever feel like you've earned something by your own merit when you have subconscious control over wish-granting magic? I think when it comes to ranking I want to put her higher, but the way she's designed to appeal to lolicons is a big turn off for me so the best I can give her is C, but like, a high C.

Mako, out of all of the available girls, is probably the most my type. I definitely have a thing for tomboys, especially with short hair. (It makes sense I would be most attracted to the girl who is the most attractive to other girls in-universe.) I actually read her route first, because she was the most my type, but she's honestly more of a promoted side character, as her route is short, and basically has nothing to do with any magic cherry tree nonsense. Literally it's just a "fake dating that turns into real dating" story, which thankfully I am a fan of. I just wish there was a bit more to her story and character. It's not very deep, but it's good for what it is. Firmly B tier.

Moe is another B tier pick for me. I tend to have a preference towards older characters, though she's only one year older which isn't saying much. I still like her design, though she looks way better in her CGs than in her sprites. Her bow seems way too big, and sometimes her eyes are much higher up than they should be. She’s more attractive in theory than in practice.

She's got a wild ride of a route that I wasn't expecting, but in a good way because I could actually understand what was going on. There was a death fake out at the end like Nemu but at least there was a scene afterwards showing her recovery. But also it was wild in the sense that she’s a freak in the sheets. I mean it’s still all pretty vanilla, but her scenes stand out to me compared to the others in the game. Really the biggest thing holding Moe back from being A tier is that she's got some wonky looking sprites and I hate her voice. Her voice reminds me of how you would expect someone to talk to a child or a dog, but all the time.

Kotori is the fan favorite and an easy A tier choice. She easily has the best chemistry with Junichi, and it's fun reading a dynamic where the two characters actually like each other's company. It makes the relationship feel more natural. She's pretty and has a nice voice as well, so that helps. Her design is simple, but I feel it's aged the best with the game's art style being rather dated. Her route is cute, pretty wholesome, with the drama only coming at the very end, but it gets resolved with a good ol' heart-to-heart. I'm a bit disappointed with the epilogue because I wanted to see her sister's wedding, but Kotori does get her own special side game just for her, which I haven't read yet but I will at some point.

I think that objectively, Kotori would be best girl. She's just The Best Choice. But I'm not an objective person.

Miharu is clearly a joke character, but honestly she's my favorite so she's best girl. She's silly energetic, and fun. A character like her is a delight for me to read. Her quirky banana love is a little cringe, but I can get past it. Though I guess technically, there are two separate Miharu's. We get to romance her robot clone, while the real flesh Miharu is knocked out cold in the hospital. Thankfully, I am a sucker for robots learning about love, I eat that shit up all the time. But also, it's kinda fucked up that Miharu's dad made a robot version of his daughter but then also gave her a vagina. People who design humanoid robots always gotta make them fuckable somehow.

Her route is a good mix of both cute comedic situations and real emotional drama. I was invested in her struggles and her successes, and I did feel sad at the end when she died. But at least human Miharu is okay. Still, press F to pay respects.

Feel free to share your thoughts about the Da Capo girls, I'd like to hear what other people think, and if people even care about the original Da Capo anymore. It was a mixed bag for me, and it's hard to say if I overall enjoyed it or not. I mean, I guess I did, but it's way easier for me to describe what I don't like than what I do. Reading through it all was a bit of a chore at times, but at the same time, I wish the Plus Communication routes were translated too.

Also, Sunohara is in S tier.