White Album 2 – 12
There ARE things it’s much easier to say over the phone
It’s almost Christmas, so I hope everyone’s done their shopping, made their plans, traveled safely (or has plans to travel safely), and will enjoy their week! Me? I’m writing posts! So many to do, and White Album 2 is still me going up the hill. If I get a few more out of the way I’ll be on the downslope, tho.
Beating Themselves Up
Haruki reflects
That seemed to be the theme of this episode. From Haruki feeling completely guilty for ‘cheating’ on Setsuna, and leading her on with thinking that he’s sick, to Kazusa with her attempt at a final look at Haruki before she leaves, to Setsuna admitting to Io that she pushed Haruki, everyone’s being hard on themselves. Ah, teen love. And while everyone is telling Haruki to cool it with thinking about Kazusa, because he’s got Setsuna right there, that’s not what he’s going to do.
Setsuna confesses to Io
And Setsuna knows the score. As they pretty much showed us last time, she saw Kazusa’s secret kiss, and that’s what really made her confess to Haruki. And she feels like she was the one that got between two people who loved each other: in their song, and in their romance. Even if she describes herself as a bad woman, I don’t think she is. I think she had a chance, and she took it. For all she knew, Haruki would have devoted himself to her, and they could have lived happily ever after. That it didn’t turn out that way isn’t her fault. Sometimes you have to grab for the brass ring, and sometimes you might miss it.
She might be ok with it later, but it hurts now
And even if Setsuna’s sad about it, I think she’d probably be happy for Kazusa, at least part of her. She’s always implored Kazusa to be honest about her love for Haruki. And even if she’s losing Haruki to Kazusa, I think she’d want to keep Kazusa as a friend. It seems to me that Setsuna wouldn’t be torn up about losing Haruki to her best friend the way that Kazusa was. And maybe it would be different because she tried and lost out. Or maybe it would do the same thing to Setsuna that it’s done to Kazusa.
Making It Right
Haruki chooses
I don’t know if it really does make it right for Haruki to confess to Kazusa, while at the same time she confesses to him. But it’s at least honest. I don’t think it’s the best way that Haruki could have handled it, but at least it’s not running around behind Setsuna’s back anymore. When he ran off, ran away from her, in front of their friends, that was as public a declaration as you could get. And while it doesn’t necessarily mean they broke up at that instant, since they could still get back together if Kazusa continues with her plan of leaving, or even if it doesn’t work out, it’s stating his intentions. And while it hurt Setsuna, and probably made Takeya, Io, and Chikashi very angry at Haruki, I think it’s probably not terrible that it happened with them around, for Setsuna’s sake.
Such an enigmatic look
And it brought back some memories for me, too. No, we weren’t technically dating (her parents wouldn’t let her date) when I met another girl who I had a crush on, but we had been spending a lot of time together at school. And when I met this new girl at a party, I pretty much dumped her and started dating the new girl. It happens. It wasn’t very nice of me, and the fact that I’m still married to that girl I started dating doesn’t mean I couldn’t have handled it better. It definitely hurt her feelings. And it was hard for me, but I was really into this new girl. And Haruki really loves Kazusa, and she him. It happens.
Could she really leave after this?
But now, Kazusa is faced with a hard choice. Having now felt the pain of falling in love with someone, and maybe the elation of getting together with them, will she now go through the pain of leaving Haruki to go with her mother to Vienna? It’s where her future lies, but can she contemplate a future away from Haruki now that circumstances have changed? Or will she feel worse, having now broken up Haruki and Setsuna, and leave anyway?
It’s weird. Last week I (and Kazusa) harangued Haruki about his unfaithfulness to Setsuna. But this week, I’m almost cheering on his confession to Kazusa. And I think the difference was that he made it clear to Setsuna, even if he didn’t tell her. She knows who he loves more. And Setsuna knows that Kazusa loves him. But it hurts. And it hurts even more that she is being left out. Will Haruki call her back? How will she find out? We’ve got one more episode, and even though I thought this would have been a not-bad ending to the first series here, we’ll see what happens next week.
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: iLurker with 1 comments
White Album 2 is a story about people who are smart enough to know what’s the right thing to do, but choose not to do it because that’s not what their hearts want
And as another blog said, and you probably experienced yourself, the heart wants what the heart wants
Some say it’s youth, but is it really? Are adults immune to this? Hmm..
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Nobody’s really immune to it. And we have a situation here (and mine as well) where you’re with someone, but you haven’t really made a commitment to them. And that’s probably the difference between teens and adults. When you make some sort of commitment, then that’s more of an obligation to break, and makes it much worse. All there is in this case is heartbreak.
And giving Haruki credit: at least he feels regret about what he’s done with Setsuna. And maybe he thought the same thing I said Setsuna did at the beginning: “I’ll go out with her, and grow to love her more than I think I love Kazusa now.”
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
You just can’t hate any of them, can you? They did what they felt was the right thing to do. I think you caught all the feelings properly here, HWY.
Now, Setsuna must cowgirl up by next episode.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I don’t know if I’d say they did what they felt was the right thing to do. In fact, the regret that Haruki showed indicates to me that he knew it wasn’t the ‘right’ thing to do. But it was what he had to do, and really, he had the opportunity to do it. If it’s going to happen, better to happen now.
The problem is that this isn’t the end. And of course we’re still talking about teen romance. And knowing that this is (basically) the first third of the story, I sure don’t expect a resolution here in the next episode, just a fairly clear stopping point. Hopefully it’s not “everyone’s heartbroken”. But Kazusa and Haruki both seem very happy that they’ve broken the ice, so there’s possibility for them. And like you said, Setsuna can cowgirl up and make a play. Everyone knows about “Dear John” letters. If Kazusa’s overseas, anything could happen with any of them.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 104 comments
I find it really impossible to hate them.They’re flawed but smart enough to know what they did & try to make amends with Setsuna taking the first step(although she was way too hard on herself) which she deserves major credit part.
Haruki follows up by making a decision & so does Kazusa,but they’re far from being out of the woods.
Before WA2 reaching the concert episode(and even beyond),I kept seeing some VN players say how a lot of people will end up really hating Haruki or Setsuna but I just don’t see it.The characters just feel so real,as well as likeable,that it’s hard not to symphatize with them.
I could totally see where they were coming from if the characters here would behave like the ones in 1st White Album(not all,but most),whom were so stupid & unlikeable to the point that I was thinking that they’re too dumb to be realistic.Although to it’s credit,I know there are plenty of people in real life like that too so I should probably just stick to real but stupid & unlikeable,heh.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I was very disappointed in Haruki last week, but I think this week kind of got him out of the doghouse, not because what he did was making up for it, but because he didn’t do anything to be a jerk. And Setsuna pretty much let him off the hook, and I agree, she’s being far too hard on herself about it.
I really liked the conversation scene with Setsuna and Io. I think Io’s been an almost criminally underused character in this show, and having Setsuna talk with her really did two things: it gave Setsuna a person to confess her perceived sins to, and it showed that Setsuna doesn’t only have one friend.
I do think that Takeya and Chikashi were maybe a little too hard on Haruki, but I can see where that comes from, because Setsuna has become their friend as well, while Kazusa isn’t really. Of course they’re going to be more worried about hurting Setsuna.
But truly, everything in this was very authentic. I mentioned my similar memory up there, and something else I recall about it was that a mutual friend actually came to me and told me close to the same thing that Takeya did. It hurts. And in this situation, it’s hard to pass it off as “he’s just a guy I had a crush on”.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 104 comments
I’ll soon have to face my biggest worry regarding this show: knowing whether it’ll get a 2nd season or not.
Now if you’ll excuse me,I’ll now go steel myself to be ready for the worst.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
There always the VN….. unless it hasn’t been translated.
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
Only in Chinese IIRC. Yet another reason to learn moonrunes.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I’ve been thinking of playing it in Japanese, but I’m terribly slow about playing VN’s.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
No offense to Setsuna but I find Haruki and Kazusa as a better pair. Thanks to her aloof persona, she rocks the boat and makes waves which gives a reason to want to watch. Though I can’t fully explain it, I also feel things would’ve been far too easy going had Haruki paired up with Setsuna, who gives the feel of a completely perfect life and that could be boring. All what the three are going through now is part of life and that’s what makes it interesting.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
For a lot of people, that easy perfect life is what they’re after. And if you really do love someone, that feeling of comfort and peace can be almost blissful. True, there are some people who love things being shaken up, but for the rest of the world, that’s not all it’s cracked up to be.
One might argue that that feeling of excitement being missing is why Haruki couldn’t let go of Kazusa, but it’s not Setsuna’s fault. When you’re with someone who makes your heart flutter, it feels like that a lot. Even being married for 19 years, I still get some feelings like that, and I have the world’s most ordinary life. It doesn’t take a Manic Pixie Dream Girl to make everyone feel that way.
POWUH: 600-699 and Romance Expert with 652 comments
im disappointed in myself for almost missing this gem. I dismissed it since I thought watching the first one was necessary… boy is this one of the best romance anime ever!
they really tear it up at your soul, and you cant hate anyone really. they perfectly did the love triangle such that its difficult to disagree with any of the characters decisions.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I’m glad you caught up with it. It’s certainly a series that brings the authenticity. And you can sit there and scream “Nooooo!” at what the characters are doing, but you know that what they’re doing is what a lot of people would choose to do in that situation.
I think its status as ‘one of the best’ kind of hinges on what happens in this last episode to come. I don’t know what they’re going to do. They could break down all the characters, they could have Setsuna rally from her currently down position, they could even screw up the characters (like having Setsuna decide she hates Kazusa now, which would be completely against her character as developed so far). I’m just hoping it’s good.