NKDS

Yuki looks clueless. As usual.

Against my personal expectations, White Album ep2 actually turned out better than I thought it would. More Rina and less Yuki is already a big plus in my book. Also, apparently Seven Arcs had more budget than normal for this production. The animation for the 2nd episode was actually slightly better than episode 1, while managing to flesh out the storyline and provide character development. Episode highlights after the break.

Smile of a person who knows precisely what she is doing.

The episode begins with a stand-off between Rina and Yayoi, with the issue being how much more time Yuki has available for some girl-talk with Rina. I like how Yayoi was unafraid of a confrontation against Rina, a feat that not even Rina’s own manager could achieve. She probably had 10 minutes in mind already, and only requested 5 minutes because she knew Rina would bargain for 10 minutes. 

I cannot help but wonder how it would be if Yayoi was Rina’s manager. They would probably become an unbeatable team. Rina’s current manager is simply… uninspiring, to put it charitably.  

What a strange request.

A good love drama anime would be incomplete without side-characters who lust after the main male lead’s attentions, and part of that role is fulfilled by Kawashima Haruka, Touya’s childhood friend from university. I found this entire scene strangely cynical, though very human. You have Touya, a guy who was deprived of his girlfriend’s attention and thus uses Haruka as a stand-in of sorts, and you have Haruka, a girl who simply wanted attention from Touya and did not care why he gave it to her. Touya himself is even aware that the spot Haruka occupied is normally Yuki’s spot, but apparently was not too bothered by that.  

It smacks of an agreement of mutual convenience, though the two of them probably do not realize it. I wanted to condemn Touya for his frivolous behaviour, then I realized people in real life would react the same way in Touya’s situation. Kudos to the director for actually pulling this off. Keep this up and we might have a winner on our hands.

Nana’s Shin Ai single is getting released on 21st of this month, just so you know.

While insignificant, Rina’s monologue here did get me chuckling. Nana sounded like she experienced the same situation that Rina experienced while taking a taxi. Imagine Nana minding her own business at the back of the cab and desperately trying not to stand out, then the taxi driver takes one look at her and asks her when her new song is coming out. I could not help but smile at that mental image.

She is crying tears of joy at being in the same show as Nana. Probably.

Yuki on the other hand… Dodgethis, Xak and Bjorn can be my witness, I seriously wanted to strangle something when I heard Aya’s crying voice. It was so high-pitched and irritating that my hair literally stood on end when I heard it over the live stream. The better sound quality of Eclipse’s release only made the situation worse, through no fault of the subbing group. Let us move on…

It is like Sunohara transplanted himself into White Album.

This entire scene was basically what I called a “Sunohara moment”. The interaction between Akira and Touya is so similar to that of Sunohara and Tomoya in Clannad, that for a moment I thought I heard Nakamura Yuichi’s voice speaking for Touya. It does not help that Sakaguchi Daisuke voiced both Akira and Sunohara. Perhaps the effect was intentional on the part of the sound director, I have no idea, but the scene suceeded in showing us the easy friendship between those two. 

Of course, this scene leads into something not wholly unexpected.

Yeah, perfect disguise.

I had expected Rina and Yuki to visit Touya’s workplace either in this episode or the next, but I did not expect them to arrive in their best rendition of a walking snowman. Rina especially, I would have espected her to improve her disguise, considering that the taxi driver earlier immediately recognized her for who she is while in similar garb. But well, the duo were not chased by screaming hordes of fans, so I guess the disguise did work. 

I want to see Nana and Aya turn up for a White Album event dressed like this. It would be hilarious.

Yes, she is the main attraction of the series. We know that already.

It was interesting to see Touya and Yuki acting in sync with each other. It was almost as if they shared a telepathic link between themselves. I suppose you could infer that their relationship remains strong even though Yuki is extremely busy with work, but that does not prevent Touya from handing his phone number to Rina when Rina requested for it, as evidenced below:

Boyfriend stealer mode on!

Of course, Rina pulled this stunt only after Yuki had left earlier. It seems Rina is already in the ”I want your boyfriend!” mode made famous by girls such as Hayase Mitsuki and Saionji Sekai. I wonder how long it will take for Yuki to get into the “Return my boyfriend!” mode, made equally famous by girls such as Suzumiya Haruka and Katsura Kotonoha

While I like Kotonoha myself, let it be known that I support Rina unreservedly and wishes her every success in hooking Touya over to her side. Kugyuu lost to Aya in last season’s Akasaka (THE PAIN!!!!) and I want Nana to crushinate Aya in this season as payback. Zero mercy.

In this picture, Touya is referring to the ending of an anime called “School Days”.

To cap off the episode, Touya calls Misaki, a character which has been sidelined so far. Apparently Misaki has some interest in Touya too, which is fodder for more drama since Akira likes Misaki. The focus soon shifts back to Touya, especially when Rina calls him at his house.

Sono koe… dare no koe?

This entire part is very well done, the viewer is given the impression that Yuki is the one who made the call to Touya, but it turned out to be Rina on the line instead. Touya himself is led to wonder precisely who he was waiting for when he picked up the phone; a sure sign of the wavering heart. Not that I can blame him… I mean, Rina vs Yuki. Not a difficult choice. At all. 

Joke of the episode:

Rina asked Touya this question. Akira was right, did Touya really need to think about it so seriously???

Conclusion

This episode had it all. Good voice acting, good animation and lots of insight as to how the characters think and function. It also overtly sets up the love triangle between Touya, Rina and Yuki, with the added bonus of the love triangle having a real potential to turn into a love pentagon. One part of me rejoices at how well Nana played out Rina as a character, while another part of me wonders how the fanbase will look upon Rina in the future, if she does steal Touya away from Yuki in cold blood. I do not even want to think about Touya, the man is setting himself up as a rival to School Day’s Makoto and his harem-gathering prowess. Let us hope he gets a better end than Makoto, though having Rina or Yuki turning yandere might not be an unappealing idea… 

This is Julius Firefocht, signing off.