The gameplay in Da Capo follows a plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the seven female main characters.
Circus described Da Capo as a "ticklish school romance adventure" (こそばゆい学園恋愛アドベンチャー, kosobayui gakuen renai adobenchā).
Da Capo is set on a fictional island in modern Japan, Hatsunejima (初音島), where the sakura trees are always in full blossom.
Da capo is an Italian musical term meaning "from the beginning", and the game was such named with parts of the storyline looping before approaching the true end.
Da Capo's gameplay requires little interaction from the player, as it is a classic visual novel: most of the duration of the game is spent simply reading the text that appears on the screen which represents either dialogue between the various characters or the inner thoughts of the protagonist.
Gameplay pauses at these points and depending on which choice the player makes, the plot will progress in a specific direction.
One day, to Jun'ichi's surprise, his cousin Sakura Yoshino comes back from America all of a sudden, who looks exactly the same girl that moved away six years ago, and has not aged one bit.
Da Capo was first released in Japan as an adult game for Windows on June 28, 2002 as a CD-ROM in limited and regular editions.
A limited and regular edition of an extended version with updated storylines and characters, but with the adult content removed, was released on the PlayStation 2 on October 30, 2003 titled Da Capo: Plus Situation (〜ダ・カーポ プラスシチュエーション〜).
[10] Another version for the PlayStation 2 was released on December 15, 2005 in limited and regular editions called Da Capo: Four Seasons (〜ダ・カーポ〜 フォーシーズンズ).
An English adult version of the original visual novel available for download online by European-based company MangaGamer was released on January 23, 2009.
[14] Four more novels based on Plus Communication were written by Izumi Okazaki, illustrated by Mikeō, and were published by Enterbrain between February 2005 and September 30, 2006.
A single novel based on Four Seasons and written by Circus, Chiruda Sasamiya, and Masashi Suzuki with illustrations by Cherish was published on March 25, 2006.
[15] A drama CD titled Nemu Hajime (音夢はじめ) was released by Circus for the visual novel as a limited edition, and was not widely distributed.
The first Da Capo manga was illustrated by Natsuki Tanihara and was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Comptiq magazine between February 10, 2003 and April 10, 2004.
[16] The second show titled Hatsunejima Hōsōgyoku S.S. (初音島放送局S.S), this time streamed online, aired every Friday between July 8, 2005 and June 2, 2006, and was distributed by Lantis and Animate.
The opening theme is "Da Capo: Dai 2 Button no Chikai" (ダ・カーポ 〜第2ボタンの誓い〜) which is written and composed by Tororo and sung by Yozuca*.
The second ending theme is "Dream: The other side" written by Tororo, composed by Takayuki Azuma, and sung by Noriko Mitose.
[28] The single containing the first anime season's opening and ending themes titled "Sakura Saku Mirai Koi Yume" (サクラサクミライコイユメ) was released by Lantis on July 24, 2003.
The first volume, for Nemu and Yoriko, contained songs sung by Sakura Nogawa and Miyu Matsuki, and was released on August 27, 2003.
[32] A vocal album containing songs sung by Yozuca* and Rino titled Dolce was released by Lantis on December 26, 2003.
[35] The third album titled Happy Days for Yoriko contained songs sung by Miyu Matsuki and was released on July 6, 2005.
[38][39] The single containing the second anime season's opening theme titled "Sakurairo no Kisetsu" (サクライロノキセツ) was released by Lantis on July 21, 2005.
[40] The single containing the second anime season's ending theme titled "Akatsuki ni Saku Uta" (暁に咲く詩) was released by Lantis on August 24, 2005.
[42] Two volumes of vocal albums were released by Lantis on October 26, 2005 and May 10, 2006 containing songs sung by voice actresses from the anime.
[49] On reviewing the English version of the visual novel, Daniel Joseph of NookGaming described Da Capo as "average" after summing up the good and bad points.
The music was noted as particularly strong, while the writing was mentioned as a weak point, citing issues such as the dialogue being "full of non-sequiturs and unnatural conversation".