White Album 2

Music Room 2. It's the most unassuming of the three that populate Houjou High. Music Room 3 in the building across has the benefit of being bigger and newer, and the adjacent Music Room 1's been sectioned for everyone save those enlisted in the musical curriculum. Nevertheless, it's where Haruki Kitahara spends his time practicing “White Album” by Yuki Morikawa on his guitar. And out of nowhere, from the adjacent room, from the rooftop, a sound has him spellbound. A piano so soothing, a voice so transfixing, plays, sings to the song's melody. And here is where the story of White Album 2 takes off, ... where he has to know who.

An adaptation of a Leaf and Aquaplus visual novel White Album 2: Introductory Chapter, White Album 2 itself was produced by Satelight, directed by relative dark horse Masaomi Ando, and scripted by Fumiaki Maruto, who was also the original scenario writer for the source material. A qualification before going any further is that outside sharing the same universe, using the same name, and borrowing a few of the same songs, this show is completely unrelated to its predecessor, White Album. Do not expect the same characters or story from then, which I've heard from general consensus is less than favorable, to be present here.

Another qualification since this particular plot device's the bane of a number of viewers: this show is driven under the auspices of a love triangle. Feel free to refrain from watching if you absolutely can't stand them. This love triangle, however, does something somewhat different from the usual one male, two female dynamic. Haruki Kitahara, Setsuna Ogiso, and Kazusa Touma are friends. The best of friends. Friends of the dearest kind. The viewer's left with rather maddening issues, monogamy withstanding. How can the guy pursue one girl and avoid hurting the other? How can one girl pursue the guy and leave the other unscathed? How can we all remain close? Each main character wants to have their cake and eat it too, yet the show makes the reality clear: You can't. The heart wants what it wants when it's found it, despite any one party's attempts toward the contrary, and to deny it that when it's within grasp, combined with each character's own baggage, is tantamount to torture, agony of the most existential kind.

The agony's even more poignant when they're written as more than just fictional characters. For the female leads, it wouldn't be incorrect to group them under a certain personality, a certain archetype, the warm, popular school idol and the cold, aloof musical prodigy. And yet, they're more than that, never relegated to the distinction of mere stereotypes. They may be extroverts or introverts, but no one girl's one absolute. No one girl's simply the life of the party, just as no one girl's simply a shut-in. Neither is unconditionally anti-social, and both are, by their own past experiences, insecure. Loneliness is an issue for all, manifesting as much in a crowded class as in an empty room. Not one girl is perfect, their masks, their mischief, their indecisiveness, cowardice, impulsiveness, selfishness... they all show, despite themselves and their counterintuitive efforts to preserve the status quo. More than just characters, they're people, female, adolescent, and flawed through and through. And for the male lead? Outside of his sex, he's no exception, especially towards the second half.

If what you seek out of this show is your idealistic conception of what a romance should entail, then read well: that's not going to happen here. The ordeals are messy, frustrating, not because they're emotionally manipulative, but because they're real, because the characters, being who they are, are complex, conflicted, and real themselves. It's what would happen in this unextractable web of complexities and contradictions of “I wills,” “I won'ts,” and “It hurts,” where cutting one thread leads to the mangling of another.

Then there are those little touches, subtle, never exaggerated, that give these characters sincerity as well as charm. Overly sweetened coffee black, for instance, to match my craving for black milk tea in the morning for every morning.

And the show exploits these touches and others, subtleties of all kinds and layers, scattered, embedded, and incorporated into the narrative to outstanding degrees. Barring the first episode, this show's direction and script is all about subtly, about inference, of “show” and not simply “tell.” Where the camera pans, zooms, cuts, and lingers. When the facades of facial expressions slip into distress and recover to overcompensate, the eyes, the lips, the bangs. The deliberate tones in lighting, or the selective shades of lack thereof, complemented by the beautiful looking set pieces. The conversations, highly nuanced, roundabout, indirect, and, when it's called for, blistering. The use of flashbacks before the show's start, combined with the retracing of new and carefully omitted ground within past scenes at the most heart-wrenching of moments, the foreshadowing, and even the character of the character designs and clothes. Barring Episode 1, with masterful strokes of minimalist direction, interwoven seamlessly and purposefully with the music, whether bgm or insert, no one direction is ever oversold. They perfectly illustrate the personalities and emotional states of the cast at any given moment, whether they are bubbling underneath the surface or blasting corkscrew out of it. The best part, and perhaps the most refreshing part, is that it takes its time to do all of this, so that every form of direction feels natural.

The last of three qualifications, this show has a sex scene, one without shots of anything particularly precious, but it's easy to infer what's happening. That being said, it's completely within taste, substantially enhances the narrative, and subscribes to a rather waning view that sex is emotional consummation rather than just physical titillation. Also, adolescent intercourse does happen in the real world, and I personally congratulate the staff for including it in, but if you happen to be allergic to sex scenes regardless, then you're going to have trouble fully enjoying the show.

Music's, unsurprisingly, a strong element in this series. Outside of tackling the technicalities or philosophies behind notes, though practice does make perfect, the series does everything else in exploiting the medium to create meaning in the music. Outside noise fillers and mood setters, they express powerful sentiments that put the thoughts and actions of characters within context, especially with Touma, whose feelings unseen and unspoken, given her reserved nature, bleeds into her piano pieces. It adds another layer of “show” through melodies and harmonies, and even the lyrics of the songs that have them are loaded with meaning in hindsight.

And then there's the OP, “A Love That Cannot Be.” Known in romaji as “Todokanai Koi 13” by Rena Uehara in one track and Madoka Yonezawa, Ogiso's seiyuu, in another, its vocals, combined with electronic keyboard, electric guitar, and a synthetic backtrack, rocks and croons of a passionate nostalgia, of happier times in younger days past caked in a film of melancholy. The visual detail's not quite Kyoto Animation or P.A. Works standards, but it's still really good, and the visual content corresponds excellently with the music, blurs, glare, overlays, and the waning light from sunsets. It also features visually vague moments that occur in the show that contribute to this aesthetic, but aren't really spoilers since they're only fully significant in, once again, hindsight. It's best thought as a bittersweet reminisce by an adult of his or her turbulent youth. White Album 2 is winter-themed, and snow can be beautiful, if chilling. In addition, the transitions are handled with a quiet, yet powerful mix of grace and dignity. It also attempts to do this interesting thing with omitting Touma's face until Episode 3 to reflect a certain in-show direction, which would have been clever had it not been compromised by something in Episode 1.

The ED for Episodes 3-6 and 8-10 (Episode 7 doesn't have an ED), “Sayonara no Koto,” or “Goodbye” also by Uehara, flows in the same thematic vein, with recaps of scenes of the episode now past, an evolution from a delicate, yet noble instrumental chorus of electric synthetics, keyboard, classic guitar, violin, then vocals, then electric bass, then drumset, then electric guitar, before it reaches a climax with a vigorous and progressive rock beat, and, finally, settling back down to its quiet origins. Episodes 2, 11, and 12 have their own Uehara EDs, “closing 13,” “After All ~Tsuzuru Omoi~,” or “After All ~Writing Down My Feelings~” and “Twinkle Snow 13” respectively are also great in their own ways but, for the sake of brevity, I'll refrain from their music other than saying they accompany rather significant moments with a certain someone. And after all, they're better enjoyed in context than not. That goes double for the insert concert songs, "White Album," "Sound of Destiny," and the OP, since, outside of singing, they contain some really nice surprises involving solos.

Episode 1. It's not a bad episode, all in all; in fact, I think its conclusion was very well choreographed. Still, compared to its successive sisters, this episode has a couple of things that stick out like a sore thumb. There's a questionable amount of exposition within it that I think was a bit superfluous. A few carefully chosen words especially towards the end, coupled with the music, would have been better for the mood, but by far the biggest concern I have was the beginning, where the show previewed portions of the concert from Episode 7. I suspect it was supposed to be kind of a hook, but, returning to an earlier instance of direction which could have been clever, the omission of Touma's facial features seemed to be intended as a means for suspense that also worked in character, given her cold, aloof exterior. While it may have been no surprise that she would play one of the center role, what she looked like would, had it not been spoiled earlier by that flash forward.

He has to know, climbing the stairs to the roof, treading the outer walls of the school from stories high to get into the adjacent room's open window. The rest is history.

It's been an unparalleled experience to have watched this show and I sincerely hope after reading this review, everyone who's interested watch it as well. It is one of the most finely told romantic dramas I have ever had the pleasure to see, and while the ending was conclusive, since this is only the Introductory Chapter, the story's not even over yet.

I give White Album 2 a 10 out of 10.

Let me go right off the bat and say this anime was disappointing, the first half was fine and looking like it will turn into a decent romance anime but unfortunately for this series where you would expect it to start becoming really good it completely falls down on its fat face. WARNING CONTAINS SPOILS. You have been warned

Story : 6

The story starts off as any romance anime does, introduce the love interests and develop some back story for the characters. The story then revolves around Kazusa Touma, Setsuna Ogiso and Haruki Kitahara getting ready for the school fair which for their act is ... putting on a music show. This is the part that looked promising, 3 friends working hard together to achieve a common goal and the bonds that are forged in the process but that all ends after the school fair arc. After the school fair arc Setsuna and Haruki start to date because Haruki (who has feelings for Kazusa, I will get into this in the character section) isn't firm enough with her and on the spur of the moment kisses and subsequently starts to date Setsuna. Setsuna despertly trying to keep the 3 of them together arranges various activities for them to do such as go to a spar. The final part of the anime revolves around the reveal that Touma is moving to europe and Haraki subsequent attempts to get her to stay in japan. This is the part of the story I fucking hate, Haruki lies to Setsuna (on her birthday) that he is sick and goes to visit Touma, a series of events happen that lead to them HAVING SEXUALLY INTERCOURSE, whilst he is still dating Setsuna on her birthday. Touma still decides to leave after all that shit and goes to catch her plain to europe but not before a heart warming last good bye right? WRONG Haruki then proceeds to start making out with Touma in front of Setsuna (who is still his gf btw). Touma then says her feelings in front of setsuna and then leaves for europe leaving Setsuna and Haraki with a broken Relationship.


So with the first half looking like a fun happy anime ends up with every character being sad and depressed. Fuck this story and everything it represents.

Music: 8

Because this show is based on music you would expect it to be good and fortunately this is true. Their isnt' anything noteworthy to be said but the sound track (mostly the same) is good and lives up to the name

Characters: 4

Haruki Kitahara:

For the first half of this anime Haruki is a good guy, he treats people nicely and is overall not an asshole. This all changes however in the second half. As I mentioned before despite having a gf he proceed to have sex with touma, and then at the airport start kissing her in front of said gf. I just find him to such a despicable asshole. He has next no morals and only gives a fuck about what he wants with no consideration for anyone around him. The only other character I can compare him to is the main character from school days as both are assholes but unfortunately for this anime he didn't die in the end.

Setsuna Ogiso.

The only word I can use to describe her with is Crazy. Despite the fact the she knew that Haruki liked Touma he still basically forced him to go out with her which at the point was the downfall for the group she so desperately wanted to keep going. Then after finding out that her bf cheated on her and then kissed touma in front of her leaving her in tear, She still stayed with him. All in all shes a terrible character that probably contributed the most to the fall of the group she loved so much. DUMB BITCH

Kazusa Touma:

The whole anime all she did was leave the guy she liked the cold shoulder. All she did was basically be a bitch to him but that didnt stop her from dumping all her feelings on him and having sex with him, despite the fact that she "valued" her relationship with Setsuna. She was the best of the worst in my opinion as till the end she sticked with what she wanted to do and said fuck Haruki im going to Europe, hopefully those two can clean after my mess.


Conclusion.


The anime had a strong start but feel off at around the mid point of the show. The characters all betrayed each other and by the end all that was left was 3 very sad people who did it to them selves. To be honest its quite a stretch to gives this anime a 6

The show was very promising for me. I liked it all the way up until episode 10. Great music, voice acting, art style, and likable characters. This suddenly changed. They made Setsuna an unlikable character, and Haruki even worse. Touma was the only character that I remained neutral with, since she always seemed the victim. Haruki seemed to have sociopathic tendencies near the end of the show, with no regard to the feelings of the ones who loved him. He did what he felt was the best for him at that very moment, not what it would do to others in short term and long ... term, and to him in the long term. He was only thinking of the here and now. To me it seemed the author was trying to normalize Harukis terrible cheating behaviors, and make Setsuna the bad guy, when it was Harukis fault all along for not thinking ahead. I did not like this show. I would not recommend it to people who like to have MC's that are nice and wholesome. Haruki is the exact opposite. Everyone made mistakes, but it was Haruki that made the most mistakes, and the most harmful mistakes. Everything is his fault in this show, when things go south, its him to blame. I will not recommend this show to anyone.