White Album 2 – 04
Shades of Tsukasa Ayatsuji
Now we’re really getting into it, and White Album 2 is keeping its spot atop my Fall shows.
The New Girl Comes In and Takes Over
Practicing is better with two
There’s only a couple weeks until the school festival, and this band is just getting together. And on top of that, they’ve got a really weak link in Haruki’s guitar playing. But with a almost-professional musician now in the group, Kazusa knows what’s needed, and starts pushing Haruki to practice long hours. We’ll assume right off that he’s already got calluses from practicing guitar before, otherwise he’d be one hurtin’ mofo after just a day. And his practice is making progress, as it would have to, spending up to “10 hours a day.”
Sure, Haruki, you can play that!
But Haruki’s not practicing all alone. Kazusa has invited him to practice with her, at her house, all alone… And he’s even sleeping over there, a fact they’re trying to keep from the rest of everyone. But it is making a difference and he finally figures out the part of the song he’s been messing up (oh man, been there, done THAT, that’s for sure). And when Kazusa says he’ll be ready for the whole band to get together on the weekend, she means it, as they have their first successful run through of the song. Now to get onto what second song they want to do, and Setsuna has one already picked out: the one with a wicked guitar solo! Way to expose the weak link of the band, Setsuna! But Kazusa thinks he can learn it, so they’ll give it a try.
Here’s some other stuff he could learn
These Feelings Keep Growing
Chikashi is more shocked at Setsuna’s attention than Haruki
Apart from the progress that the band is showing, there definitely seems to be progression in how both girls feel about Haruki. Setsuna has become a solid fixture in Haruki’s group of friends, with Takeya, Chikashi, and Io all rather surprised at how much attention she’s actually giving to Haruki, including random touching in public. She’s definitely got a thing for Haruki, and is being pretty cute about it, although everyone else is wondering when she’ll lose her ‘idol of the school’ status by hanging around and being interested in this guy. But for us, it’s pretty darn cute to watch.
Is this a little flirty too?
But Kazusa isn’t just standing pat. I think both Kazusa and Setsuna realize that Kazusa has a starting advantage, if we’re going to call it that, but Kazusa is definitely not going to let Setsuna just catch up. Unfortunately, there’s parts of Kazusa that are too bitter about her situation: home alone, not good enough to match up to her famous mother. She pointedly remarks that all the instruments aren’t hers, that the house isn’t hers, she’s basically just there. Would she want to be in France with her mother? I don’t know, but there certainly seem to be approval issues there.
Haruki only has eyes for Kazusa
Even if Kazusa is hesitant about getting closer to Haruki, he sure isn’t able to stop becoming more smitten with her. It was pretty plain that he liked her before, and was concerned for her well being, but now his straight up admiration for her seems to be growing. And he fairly gushes to Takeya about what a caring and cool person she is. So Takeya’s in a bit of a weird spot, seeing how this love triangle is playing out. He seems to be taking a bit of the side of Kazusa and Haruki, tho, in giving Haruki’s notebook to Kazusa and asking her to make his ‘real dream’ come true.
Is Takeya taking a side?
Only episode 4 and we’ve got a really strongly developed love triangle in the show, not just in the minds of the shippers watching along. I hear there’s quite a bit of drama to come in the show, but I never know how much to trust people with that. The biggest hope is that it keeps authentic and makes some sense, and the things they’ve set up seem to be going that way. I do think it felt a little amateurish to make such a big deal with Kazusa’s “Don’t leave anything in the bathroom” to Haruki, which he then immediately does, and wish it could have been a little more subtle having Setsuna find his travel set. Hopefully that’s as manipulative as it gets, although it could go either way.
Setsuna’s not likely to give up, tho
About Highway
Proving that you don't have to be young to love anime, I enjoy all genres and styles of shows. If it's not hurting anyone else, you should never be ashamed of what you like!
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
The girls all want to raep the poor shota.
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 63 comments
They’ve made more progress in four episodes than some romantic comedies make in whole seasons.
Besides, it’s really actually nice to see that kind of affection instead of your usual Tsundere Routine #999.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
That is a nice touch, seeing that Setsuna is actually not hiding her feelings, not sending all sorts of mixed signals. It’s one of those things where she feels kind of doomed, stuck on a siding while Haruki’s on the rails straight toward Kazusa, but maybe there’s hope, given the observation MgMaster makes.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 104 comments
I keep wondering if the school festival episode is gonna be near the end and I kind of believed it was up till now.If the next week of practice is covered in the next episode or two,we’re probably gonna get their festival play somewhere half-way in,such as episode 6 or 7.Surely enough,they’ve all become friends by now but their wish to play together at the school festival is what’s brought them together so I’m curious what’s gonna happen after as well.Especially with Ogiso,as Touma & Haruki seemed to have been closer before but she might really feel like a 3rd wheel when the festival’s over.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
You’re right, that makes a difference. The events we saw in the pre-epilogue don’t have to be from the finale, even if we (I) thought they would be from the end. That would actually make a lot more sense from an anime point of view, especially given how heartbreaking they seemed. It would also give us a lot of opportunity to explore some really hurt feelings in a way that’s going to do justice to them, or it could be that they just get melodramatic, but we’ll see.
I’ve been thinking that Setsuna’s best chance would have been to just confess to Haruki, pretty much as soon as she realized she liked him, before he had the opportunity to really get tighter with Kazusa. But that’s passed now, and he’s not looking at her at all right now.
The two shows I keep comparing this to, at least early in the going, are Kimikiss and True Tears, given the nature of the series, and both of them had couples get together mid-series that didn’t end up together.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 104 comments
More comparable to True Tears than Kimi if you ask me,as well as one of the two stories of Ef:a tale of memories.I personally loved those shows and they’re some of my favorite romance animes up to this day.
They had drama done right: starting off with a casual & light mood(although True Tears was a bit more amped on drama from earlier on if memory serves),making you really care about the characters and letting the audience pick up on subtle hints instead of throwing them in your face and then bringing in the heavy stuff.
Suffice to say,WA2 seems to be doing the same and I swear,the producers must really be having fun placing a few subtle hints here & there(such as Setsuna’s hand movement in the shower).I’m also having fun with those though and when the drama does start my body will be ready!:P
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I’m surprised so many people are focusing on Setsuna’s shower scene, and not Kazusa’s, which was every bit as suggestive to me.
The reason I think it might compare to Kimikiss would be that there could be misdirection of relationships, especially if we have those scenes of the festival in mid-season. And of course, True Tears was one of the Mari Okada series, but if this series had the same level of ‘everyone has happiness mixed with sadness’ that that show had, it will be wildly successful, at least as far as I’m concerned.
(I have not seen either of the ef series)
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 104 comments
Hmmm,I re-watched those scenes and I think that’s because Kazusa’s hand isn’t caught in the censorship and it’s easier to assume that she was just washing herself,even thought her eyes & light blush might suggest otherwise.That and the fact that they switched from Setsuna’s shower scene as soon as her hand went um…lower.
There’s a good chance scenes meant the same thing but those are just my 2 cents on why people consider Setsuna’s scene the more suggestive one.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Yeah, I think they mean pretty much exactly the same thing. Plus, it’s kinda out there to assume Setsuna’s gonna have some significant Happy Alone Time while in Kazusa’s shower, imo. To me they’re both just some slight contact while thinking of Haruki.
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
According to VN readers, WA2 is divided into 3 parts: IC(Introductory Chapter), CC(Closing Chapter) and Coda and that they will only cover IC this season. But looking at Stalker, it has positive preorder points so far so let’s hope for a second season for CC and another one for Coda.
And I also heard that
the suffering will startthings will begin to pick up after the school festival but I haven’t heard of what episode the festival would take place. Being mid-season in episode 6 or 7 does seem plausible as it was said that there’s only a week left.POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I’m starting to discount what other people say about ‘suffering’ and ‘rage’ when it comes to plot. When at least half of the ‘rage’ from a harem show is “my favorite girl didn’t get picked” and “suffering” means “the boy I like likes me, but he likes someone else better”, those things fit more into the realm of disappointments and sadness, not really suffering.
All that’s to say that I’m not really worried that this show will go into any sort of Shuffle-esque harem territory, where one character almost gets killed off, another one will die if the MC doesn’t slit his own wrist, and a third character goes almost full yandere.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
It’s only toothpaste. The serious stuff is a few aisles over.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It was slow paced this time around but it did make further progress in the story. For someone who tried with all their might to resist joining the club, Kazusa’s enthusiasm is growing considerably. I feel sorry for Haruki going through her strict, Spartan-like music lessons.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I think Kazusa’s reticence was pretty well-deserved. She’s 1) far better a musician than any of the rest of them, 2) joining a group that has never played together, 3) has a reputation she needs to uphold, and 4) doesn’t want her time wasted by people who aren’t serious about it.
But those reasons also mean that when she commits, she’s going to commit totally and do everything she can to make it work, and work to the standard she wants to uphold.