White Album 2

Episode 10: All aboard the Haruki/Kazusa ship!

Yes. Touma meant it, it's just that Haruki didn't (or maybe refused to) notice? But now, the cat's out the bag, and he can't get away from his own feelings for Touma. Not now.

Anyone else see spot the A380?^note  The first few were flying at the date of the WA2 — mostly with Singapore Airlines

Anyway, it looks like someone has made a page for White Album 2.

Kasuza is often described by fans as a 'Tsundere' or a 'Kuudere' that's trying hard to figure out how to 'dere' - something that I believe this little flashback sequence will show us. (The source for this flashback is actually an omake that's fully translated on Baka-tsuki. It was included in the VN starting with the PS 3 version of the game, IIRC.)

The relationship between the two I think is one of two people who match/complement/mirror/suit each other so perfectly that they have a hard time actually communicating. Left to their own devices, they probably would have been perfectly comfortable remaining in that awkward stage between 'friends' and 'lovers' for months or years until some event threatened to force them apart.

edited 10th Dec '13 7:53:48 PM by HighVelocityPointyThings

Which, basically, means that BUZZ OFF OGISO WOOHOO.

I knew this was coming, but... Honestly? This is still really, really disappointing. Yeah, okay, if Setsuna hadn't gone for it and she was just pining in the background? I'd be fine with her losing then, but this just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I hate seeing proactive, motivated people lose to people who aren't willing to put themselves out there and try, even in something as subjective as romance.

I often feel same but it's not that case this time, Setsuna dependance on Haruki was too unhealthy from very begenning. Calling it "proactivness" is more atempt make virtue out of necessity than anything else.

On other hand Touma and Haruki was pretty much in relationship before Setsuna even appeared, it wasn't relationship they would hope for but, they was quite happy with how thing were.

edited 11th Dec '13 2:13:06 AM by Tenzen12

I don't think Setsuna had an unhealthy dependence on Haruki - at least, she doesn't have one yet. I simply think she made two mistakes: The first was underestimating how much Haruki cared about Kasuza (or at least how much more he cared about Kasuza than about her). The second and most important as far as the "trio" is concerned was in assuming that Kasuza would be capable of simply moving on romantically.

Had Kasuza been a normal high school girl, Setsuna wouldn't have had anything to worry about: Kasuza would have been upset for a while and then moved on. Unfortunately for Setsuna, I think Kasuza's 'world' is simply too small to allow that. Kasuza seems to be so isolated from the rest of the school that I'm not certain she has any notion of romance outside of Haruki.

before they started dating, Setsuna wanted Haruki to be a boyfriend to her, but not be an actual boyfriend. basically have her cake and eat it too. that was a little unhealthy. but now that's morphed in to Setsuna desperately avoiding couple situations because she doesn't want anything to force Haruki to confront the truth head-on. They're both living in a sort of fantasy, and each trying to perpetuate it in opposite ways. Haruki seems to think acting as if they’re a couple will fool them into thinking they really are, and Setsuna that refusing to act like a couple will keep them from realizing they’re not.

Episode 11: This is the show we have all been waiting for, ladies and gents.

There was a point in this episode, and in a previous episode, where the camera focus seemed a bit gratuitous... And then the very end of the episode happened.

Well played, authors. Well fucking played. I'm legitimately impressed.

(still kind of mad about Setsuna)

Did you see the red coat in the scene after the concert?

Dammit people who don't make their feelings clear!

Kasuza's not the only one to blame in this fiasco. Besides, their mutual feelings were clear enough to Setsuna.

I didn't even realize we weren't supposed to notice.

—-

On the topic of responsibility... Well, Setsuna's being too selfish, but Touma isn't selfish enough. Haruki, meanwhile, swings wildly back and forth between the extremes; on one hand, he's intimidated by Touma and doesn't feel good enough for her, but on the other hand, he wants to be with both of these people he loves and admires, if not necessarily romantically. All of those are natural reactions, and no one has bad intentions, so no one's really at fault.

(though I have a lot more sympathy for the "selfish" side of the equation, personally)

(also seriously people consider non-traditional relationships, you are literally out of things to lose at this point)

It's really weird to actually believe "yeah, everyone's equally at fault" in a situation when that particular cliche usually drives me straight up the nearest wall...

edited 18th Dec '13 9:32:19 PM by Einander

I've heard it snows a lot in Vienna.

But, compared to the reaction in other forums, it was obvious this relationship wasn't going to end well from the start — listen to Haruki's voiceover at the very beginning.

Man, the writers/directors are really trying to drive the point home. Haruki and Kasuza even take their coffee the same way.

The nice thing about this show is that everybody is written as a very human character. They are all, in their own ways, flawed. The unfortunate thing is that Setsuna's flaws and talents happened to form a combination that the other two couldn't hope to balance.

Of note here is that the anime is giving another hint as to Haruki's home life. It's not really significant yet, but it will come into play in later chapters, should they be animated.

I hear Episode 13 is out. Also, I can hear the fans of Team Touma cheering from outside Haruki's bedroom.

I'm going to stop watching White Album 2 for a while. First, I marathoned Episode 1-11 and spent a few days with a broken heart. Yeah, I cried for Touma in Episode 11. And then Episode 12 and 13 came out. Second, I'd like to make sure how many episodes this series really has, and/or if they're going to follow the VN and make Season 2.

I love how episode 13 puts some of the parts of episode 12 in perspective, but GODDAMN, those black screens of censoring were annoying. You'd think that by this point anime storyboarders would know how to make a lovemaking session tasteful, but apparently all those black blocks means that it's rather... spirited.

Incidentally, even for someone who hasn't played the game, this is BLATANT setup for someone to fill in the hole Kazusa leaves behind while she's away. Just more pain and heartache, I expect.

edited 28th Dec '13 8:41:51 PM by MyssaRei

The first part of the VN Trilogy, "Introductory Chapter" is over as of episode 13. There's no word on a second season at this point: It's selling well compared to pretty much everything else this season, but this season that's like being the best horse in a glue factory. It did boost the sales of the VN significantly, but that might not mean much as far as the anime is concerned.

Honestly, they were as tasteful as they could be. I'm not really sure what the black bars were covering up, looking at most of the scenes. Walking funny in the morning was more suggestive than anything those black bands covered.

I hope that they do animate the rest of the VN, hopefully with enough episodes available to do it justice.

Well, from what I've read of Closing Chapter, that might just be the case.

Episode 13: It hurts. Because, in the same situation, I would do exactly what Haruki ended up doing. Exactly. The same damn thing.

you were definitely right about that rollercoaster ride on the first page Myssa. I feel almost exactly like I did when I finished Rumbling Hearts

I love a happy ending.

That is, an ending without Setsuna in it. You go, Haruki! To be fair, he wasn't sleeping with Setsuna - Less of a commitment there.

Episode 13: Love beyond reach indeed. I don't even like romantic dramas all that much. Maybe it's because Touma "won", or how I actually liked everyone even though they made stupid decisions.

@High Velocity This is just the Introductory Chapter? Wow. I want to applaud the animation studio for not trying to cram the VN into a 13 episodes.

Also I am asking for VN info.

edited 31st Dec '13 1:57:39 AM by fillerdude

The painful wait for season 2 begins...Please tell me I don't have to wait forever, this is painful. I hear the VN isn't fully translated so not gonna bother with it yet.

@ Fillerdude

Not much I can say without going into spoilers. This is all based off of summaries and discussion I've read elsewhere:

The next bit, Closing Chapter, covers Haruki's college years as he tries to put his life back together. It's the first part of the story where the player has actual choices: Haruki can end up with one of three side heroines or with Setsuna. Setsuna's ending leads to the final chapter, Coda.

Coda is set a year or two after Closing Chapter. This is the chapter where Kasuza returns to the story and where the main love triangle is finally resolved one way or another. It contains three endings: Kasuza True, Setsuna True, and 'Cheating Route'.

edited 31st Dec '13 2:05:30 PM by HighVelocityPointyThings