What They Say:
One evening in fall, with one month left before the school festival, the last member of the ruined light music club, Haruki Kitahara, looks out the window and plays his guitar in the direction of the festival stage set up outside. This was the simple little adventure that the conscientious honor student had hoped for two and a half years to achieve before his graduation in half a year. But then, when a flowing piano melody and a bell-like singing voice joined the clumsy sound of his guitar…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Based on the games that also spawned a light novel series of the same name, White Album 2 is a thirteen episode series animated by Satelight that ran in the fall of 2013. After the first series a few years prior, the new multi-part game hit between 2010 and 2012 which pushed the start of the light novel series in early 2013. I hadn’t seen the first series when it was broadcast back in 2009 and animated by Seven Arcs, but what we get here is pretty self contained and easy to watch. Visual novel games to anime adaptations aren’t uncommon and they’re generally decently done, especially since a number of them do have some real progress to them that translates here as the fans want to see particular routes realized. White Album 2 also works well structurally for me since it starts at what you think is the end but is really the halfway mark – and that’s actually where the real story for me begins.
Taking place ten years after the events of the first series, we’re back at the Houjo High School where we’re introduced to Haruki Kitahara, a third year student who is looking to make a decent splash at the culture fair that’s coming up in a couple of months with his band. Unfortunately, said band has fallen apart because of the way certain members were, including the lead vocalist who is competing for the title of Miss Houjo, a title that has been kept the last two years by Setsuna Ogise. The school is one that has a fair bit of music attached to it as there are three distinct music rooms where one is for the Class H kids that have a bit of a superiority complex and are largely focused just on those studies. There’s a private music room that’s held for certain things and then there’s just a casual room, which is where Haruki has been spending time with his group as a part of the Light Music Club. Haruki’s a pretty good guy overall from what we see here, even if he is a bit thin on being fleshed out, but we learn that he’s one of the smartest kids in the grade and is generally well thought of.
With the loss of his group, though his friend Takeya sticks on even though you could barely call it a supporting role, Haruki makes his plan in trying to bring Setsuna in as the new lead vocalist as he learns she has a great voice and can definitely help make for a memorable performance. She’s not easily convinced, but you know it’ll get there after a bit of back and forth. Setsuna’s an interesting character in that she’s not really wanted the Miss Houjo honor that she got as it was something that her friends signed on for her, but she felt she couldn’t refuse due to issues in middle school that caused the loss of most of her friends. She has a desire to please others because she’s afraid others will leave. Haruki makes it a mission to bring her in for the band, having an amusing connection early on due to a misunderstanding, and we see how he’s able to win her over. But you also realize that part of that winning her over comes from the fact that she has some amount of interest in him. She leaves a few clues that she’s been paying attention to him and wants something more with him.
Complicating the mix is the introduction of Kazusa Touma, another third year that sits next to Haruki in class and spends most of her time sleeping away. She has an interesting past because of her parents as her mother is a world renowned pianist, and she’s had complications from originally being in Class H to just furthering her lessons on her own. Haruki doesn’t know her well, but the two have a connection forged when he discovers that she’s really quite gifted and could be exactly what the the group needs. Kazusa has the darker feel about her to some degree, but there’s also some damaged aspects to her that play well as they’re similar but not the same to how Setsuna is. While she also does realize she has an interest in Haruki, I rather like that she and Setsuna come together in their own way because she wants to help Setsuna get past her family issues as she dislikes seeing others going through difficult relationship issues like she is, even if she can’t do anything about her own.
The series actually opens with the trio on stage at the culture fair where they’re performing and providing the narration that this is the end, that their friendship cannot survive past this because it will be revealed who likes who and someone will be cast aside. There are a lot of series that work this angle, but what they do here is definitely appealing. That part of the show is revisited around episode seven, which gives us six episodes or so of material that builds towards it without being overbearing or playing out too much. We see how the group comes together, the dynamic that they enjoy and the work that goes into their performances over a couple of months. And we see the slow formation of feelings coming to the surface, some of which may have been there longer. But then it hits that performance, the way it changes them and how they’re perceived by other students, and then it gives us the time afterward as the cold gray days of winter follows them towards their graduation.
What wins me over is that we get an actual relationship starting here, one that goes rather fast at that when you get down to it in some regards, but it doesn’t go as you’d completely expect. Both Setsuna and Kazusa knew the other was interested in him, but it’s Setsuna that really makes the move to get him. But she refuses to lose having Kazusa as a friend either, partially because of her own past issues, but also because they really do connect and get along well. Keeping the three of them as friends definitely brings some challenges we don’t often see since Setsuna definitely making it clear to Kazusa that she wants them to stay together. It’s difficult for Kazusa to some degree, but it’s more when it comes to how she should act around Haruki. Haruki is also somewhat confused by it since he’s definitely glad to be with Setsuna and the two seem ideal together, enough so that others see it so easily. But he’s also sensing the trouble that Kazusa is having in reconciling things with him and that makes for some lightly tense situations in a realistic way.
Admittedly, from my point of view, almost all romantic triangles can be solved by a polyamorous relationship, the one here is definitely a complicated one with what it does. As things start to break down between the group, perceptions change in interesting ways as we get two episodes that provide some backstory for what’s been going on with Kazusa and Haruki over the course of the summer and their practices together. It expands the view quite a lot and while I’m firmly in the Setsuna club, it’s easier to understand the connection that Haruki shares with Kazusa and why there are so many complications in the situation in general. Kazusa has a lot going on with her and it makes sense that she acts like she does, and some of it comes down to Haruki’s misunderstanding situations as things go south, but it’s not just a simple and easy thing that went wrong. It’s just young hearts without real experience or ability to figure out how to get past it, something that’s even difficult for adults
What really throws a wrinkle into things is that while we knew that Setsuna knew there was some real potential between Kazusa and Haruki, we see that she truly made a strong and concerted effort to win him from her before she could. This stems back to her own issues, but it takes some curious turns since there’s this sense that she did it so that she wouldn’t lose Kazusa to Haruki rather than losing Haruki. With her issues in losing friends before, it’s completely understandable. But as things get difficult and the weight of her choices impact her as Kazusa disappears from their lives, it’s harder and harder to hold it together. Which is made worse by the choices that Haruki makes. Choices that I really liked as the show doesn’t hold back, even censored, as we see Haruki and one of them have sex in a tender way. There’s just this sense from it in these respects that the show is treating the situations seriously and won’t shy away from the more difficult areas that other shows do. And that in turn makes it easier to really get into this because it’s not going to end with a situation where it’s all open ended. It’s complicated, messy and difficult to work with as nobody is truly innocent and there’s hurt all around. But also such utterly beautiful potential.
In Summary:
White Album 2 wasn’t something that grabbed me in the months prior to its debut since it was a sequel to a show I hadn’t seen and it was coming from a visual novel game, which meant a show that could be a bit more difficult on a weekly basis. Watching this show in a marathon session, it definitely kept me interested and each episode left me wanting more since it didn’t play the will they or won’t they aspect. And it shortcut my expectations in a good way by providing the supposed ending just past halfway through and then getting into some really meaty and difficult material. Like any show of this nature, you gravitate towards the characters you like and would want in your life more than others, and I certainly found myself doing that. But perceptions change well along the way in a fairly natural way as more and more is revealed, the relationships get a lot more complicated and the tough choices are made and lived with. It’s definitely a worthy show to spend time with and one that I hope gets a pickup someday with a dub for it so that the actors can have something engaging to deal with. Very recommended.
Grade: A-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
