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As much as I wanted to like HaruChika, I couldn't. I just couldn't.The first episode looked promising but the series just turned into a pretty-looking boring anime with annoying characters.

There isn't a real "story" in HaruChika, so to speak. The episodes mostly revolve around some issue the titular characters solve. This is mostly Haruta in the end though, and he gets pretty annoying when he solves one of the mysteries with little effort. It's also just sort of boring. The whole execution of the show feels rather bland. It's hard to exactly pinpoint a certain example in the series because of this, it all ... just sort of runs togther in an uninspired mess.

The characters were another low point in the series. I could care less about Haruta in particular-the second episode especially made him come off as a douche with little respect for others' feelings. The show also makes it seem like he was doing the right thing when he solves the mystery of whatever, but it really doesn't. His character was probably not written like that on purpose, but he was one of the biggest detracting factors for me.

A lot of people told me to ignore Haruta and focus on Chika, the main heroine, but I wasn't a big fan of her either. I don't see her as a bad character, but she wasn't ever a very good one for me either. She wasn't very memorable, and I just couldn't get attached to her. None of the side characters were memorable enough to mention.

Considering P.A Works, the production values were pretty good. The colors were bright, but were toned down into softer shades that gave the anime a nice look. The character designs were okay, not too special but they didn't look bad. The animation was also okay-something about the hair movement bugged me, but other than that it was satisfactory. On a similar note, the soundtrack was also okay-nothing too memorable, but the music fit the scenes nicely. The opening and ending themes are worth a listen too.

In conclusion, HaruChika was an anime with a bland, boring story with annoying, unmemorable characters., and nice pproduction values. It's far from the worse anime ever, but I believe it's below average, earning it the rating of 4 (bad.)

If it sounds interesting to you, give it a go, but know it doesn't change much after 3 or so episodes.

White Album 2 is certainly one of the better romances I've encountered on the anime spectrum, although it might not be for everyone.

The story of WA2 isn't too complicated; assuming you can read the decription above, you might think the story doesn't sound too complicated, or not very original. And you may be right, but what stood out to me was the execution. The story takes its time, focusing on the characters and relationships. I thought this was handled very well, but some people might not like the slow pacing. I won't go too in depth, since I want to avoid spoilers, but I ... will say that most tropes are absent or presented in a way that feels refreshing.

The three main characters-Haruki, Setsuna, and Touma-really drive the story with their actions and interactions with each other. They may not seem very interesting at first, but as the story progresses and the show examines their characters, it becomes clear that they are realistic and relatable with insecurities and passions of their own.

The art and animation for WA2 are by no means bad, but they aren't much to write home about. The anime uses a somewhat muted color palette wuth focus on the scenery-such as the music room, the falling snow, the setting sun. It isn't stunning, but it still looks very nice and fits the mood of the anime well.

The soundrack is probably one of the best parts of the anime-it's very nice and builds the atmosphere, and the opening is probably one of favorites.

White Album 2 is a mature romance that uses beautiful music and nice animation to tell a moving story and build realistic characters. If you're not a fan of slow-paced anime, this isn't for you. But the beautiful romance and story are most certainly worth watching, and I would definitely recommend it.

8/10