DESCRIPTION

CAST

ANIME DramaWHITE ALBUM 2nd Season
ANIME DramaWHITE ALBUM 2
MANGA DramaWHITE ALBUM

REVIEWS

• 

  biogundam

  61/100
  an ok anime about idols and chads

  Warning this review may contain spoilers.

  First impressions, way back before I never started reviewing I was chatting to a friend of mine who did a visual novel walkthough that this anime is based on and recommended me to watch the show.
  Going into it I didn't have that high hopes or expections,
  Because I had herd very mixed opinions about the show from some quick research I did.
  I was kind of thinking at the back of mind ok I watching a show about an idol relationship with this one dude and there is a harem involved so how.
  The bar was kind of lowed.

  Quick side note,
  I will cover both seasons of this anime,
  Because for some reason they decided to spit the story into two seasons,
  So to save me time and you time I am just going to do cover both seasons at once.

  Story,6/10

  The plot of white album starts out with are main character Tōya who is in this relationship with this up and coming idol named yuki.
  So I was thinking while watching this,
  This is ether going to probably be about them growing apart more as time passes by or this is going to do a little bit of criticism about the Japanese idol industry.
  Because In real life I have herd about some things about the Japanese idol industry and if there true or not it's a little worrisome to say the lest But back on topic.

  The story kinda dose a bit of both but manly focused on the first thing I mentioned.
  Which is fine,
  Because it isn't exactly as forced as you think it would be.
  Because are main character Tōya ends up getting involved in all these other girls issues and some of them just want to get really close to are main protagonist if you catch my drift.
  While yuki is working quite hard and doesn't have much time to spend with him.
  Plus it doesn't help that there setting is in the 1980s when cell phones aren't are main stream as they are now a days or that her not being around and with other chicks kind of sniffing around isn't really the best thing for a relationship.
  And speaking of girls sniffing around I felt that the harem aspect was a little forced in some respects.
  Like I can understand Some of the characters reasons for why they like him,
  For example yuki or his child hood Friend haruka.
  Because that makes sense in the context of what there are to each over.
  But I what really makes me go through a bit of a loop is why exactly dose the manger chick or that other idol who worked for a different company kinda show interest in him,
  Like the same friend who told me to check out this show pretty much explained it like this.
  It because there using him as kinda a escapeism from life or something like that.
  Which I can kinda see that.
  But at the same time it's explained in such a vague way which first time around I didn't really pick and second time around I can see that but I feel there more to it than that or maybe I am just over thinking it.

  One thing which I thought was interesting is that we get quite a bit of background plots,
  Like we get a side story about the main character and his relationship with his dad which was sort of interesting.
  We also get this one dude trying to back mail people and shit like that and we also have a few scandals here and there.
  So at lest we have something here that isn't just harem and romance.
  Which over all I was quite happy this was here.

  I think my overall pros about the story is that it's handled maturely enough and there some part when there where kinda subtle of what going on,
  But I feel it could just me confusing subtlety for vagueness.
  But when I think about it could easily be a mix of both actually.

  But I guess the quite a few nitpicks That I have is.

  For one this show try's to build up to things like the black mail and scandal things which I talked about before.
  But the problem is that the fizzles away so quickly and I don't think that was the intention behind it but I feel they didn't know how to capitalize on it ether.
  Like back for the black mail thing for a bit.
  One of the people involved basically sold to the person he was black mailing the negatives for the photos he was using to back mail her.
  So basically he sold the only thing he could have used to get more money from her,
  Especially because after that the photos had been destroyed or something along those lines.

  Also same thing with the scandal or the main character sleeping with other chicks,
  Like it hints that something going to happen but doesn't or isn't really handed the way it should have been.
  While I am on the drama topic it doesn't leave much of an impact.
  Which is kind of sad because it seems like they tried.

  So this story is pretty much we have some ideas but we not going all the way with them.

  Characters, 5/10

  Main character toya is kind of bland and basic,
  The only thing I got from him is that him and his dad have some issues and that he seems to sleep around a bit.
  Which was a little stand out.
  But not that interesting or noteworthy.

  Side characters are kinda basic as well,

  I thought some of the drama was slightly interesting,
  Like the girl that the main character is schooling has these issues with her mother and the child hood friends who for while couldn't play tennis because she hadn't gotten over her older brother death.

  Other than that nothing that really got my interest.
  And I really hate having to say that.

  The character interactions where fine,
  But nothing really much to write home about.

  Art, 6/10

  The animion is above average at best,
  The backgrounds are kinda mah.

  The art has this very dim and almost depressing look to it.
  Like most of the scenes looks really dark even when it day time in the those scenes.
  And also the art style at times changes into this water paint look.
  Which I quite liked.

  Character design look pretty average.

  Sound, 5/10

  Both the op and ending songs really didn't my interest,
  Like they sounding quite genetic to me.
  I guess they sounded nice but it didn't really click with me personally.

  Even some of songs they actually did when the idol characters where doing a song or somethings like that.
  It also really doesn't stand out that much.

  The ost was the better thing out of this,
  Because it had a nice classical piano tracks that sounded quite nice and fitted quite well with the series.
  And this is coming from a person who isn't really a big fan of classical music.

  The ost was done by Fujima, Hitoshi,
  Who has done music and ost for dog days if any one herd of that show.

  Enjoyment, 5/10

  As far as enjoyment goes this was probably one of more average show enjoyment wise.
  Like I enjoyed the drama and all that shit.
  But like a seid before it kinda just fizzles away.
  Which really put a damper on my enjoyment.
  But overall it was an ok time passer for me.
  But I do wonder what I could have just as easily skipped this show for something more enjoyable.

  Overall, 6/10

  If you like story's about Japanese idols then maybe you will like this.
  It isn't exactly bad but it not really amazing ether.
  You not going to miss much you skip this show and watch something else.

  If you don't like these kinda by the books romance shows them probably avoid this at all costs.

  Continue on AniList
• 

  shirakabayu

  70/100
  A B-movie experience, delivered by the most mesmerisingly immoral MC to ever star in a rom-com.

  Spoilers ahead.

  Context

  Airing in 2009, White Album was a latecomer to the 2000s gold rush of adapting romance visual novels into anime. To name just a few:

  https://anilist.co/anime/685/ToHeart-Remember-my-memories/
  https://anilist.co/anime/1530/Kanon-2006/
  https://anilist.co/anime/1555/Tokimeki-Memorial/
  https://anilist.co/anime/2167/Clannad/

  With so much prior material for reference and inspiration, and the visual novel itself being popular, one might think that White Album had all the makings for a successful anime. However, it's clear that Seven Arcs weren't going for another safe cookie-cutter production.

  Direction

  Not a scene goes by in the anime without some bizarre choice in direction cropping up. Strange camera angles, bad crops, uncomfortable pans, and more. But even if one discounted that simply as poor quality control and lack of skill, there are some truly jarring choices made that are clearly deliberate:

  

  The (typically hard-to-follow) inner thoughts of the MC appear as on-screen text a few times each episode with no clear pattern as to when and why.

  

  Once every few episodes, you'll get treated with a sudden shift in art style, for just a brief second. Granted, it's used to good effect in some significant moments, but other times it calls attention to something that, even after the fact, can only be described as arbitrary.

  

  My favourite moment of wacky direction is this three-minute cut in which we very slowly zoom in on a motionless Rina during her very long monologue. This struck me as some beyond Evangelion-level corner-cutting.

  There's also an absolute obsession with telephones. Every character has a telephone in an individual colour, some have answering machines (though mostly everyone is missing each other's calls anyway), some use pay phones, and one even owns a car phone. As much as I've searched for symbolism, though, I'm really not sure what they're going for.

  

  One of the many, many telephones.

  Characters

  I've got this far without mentioning how much of an unbridled scumbag the MC is, which is really the core of the show. He, Touya:

  • is a bully to his only male friend Akira, this show's half-price Sunohara whose tsukkomi never quite lands;
  • insistently ignores the kind-hearted Haruka. The reason (season 2 spoiler)? he holds a petty childhood grudge;
  • cheats on his girlfriend left, right, and centre with every woman who will make eye contact with him (who are bafflingly many);
  • lies to his girlfriend left, right, and centre to sustain this cheating behaviour;
  • is inexplicably rude to his father;
  • is dangerously overfamiliar with high school girls;
  • is so broke that he has to rely on his girlfriend's staff for rides around town;
  • is catastrophically bad at keeping promises and focusing on his priorities;
  • objectifies women to the extent that he names random strangers the "goddess of the day".

  This is actually an interesting contrast to the usual romcom/harem MC who is either a complete herbivore or a straight-up alpha male; this guy breaks the mould by being both despicable and pathetic to the core. The one poetic justice to his character is that his ostensibly out-of-this-world idol girlfriend is vacant and always out of reach. Essentially, they are made for each other.

  As for the other love interests? Their personalities range from well-meaning, to scheming, to mysterious, to playful, and actually, they're all pretty engaging. Conspicuously more so, and certainly more available, than Touya's actual on-paper girlfriend – which I suspect was an intentional writing choice to attempt to excuse his infidelity.

  Story

  While much of the show's draw is in following the mesmerising immorality of Touya, an experience like gazing at the sun for too long, there is nonetheless a compelling story gluing the whole show together. Each character is driven by something or other, and somehow Touya manages to collide with each of their worlds like a snooker ball bounding around a table. Not to say that he really helps them chase their dreams. He's mostly just there as a spectator, watching them put in all the work. But they're all up to something interesting, and it's easy to get invested in their stories and curious about what will happen next.

  Surprisingly, I found the side stories to be the most enjoyable parts. The actual core idol plot suffers from overexposure to the enigmatic director, Eiji Ogata, who always seems to smugly know about something that we don't, yet he never clears things up, to the point that everything he's involved in just becomes tiresome. His bits become a necessary quagmire to wade past in order to get to the good stuff.

  Conclusion

  White Album is characterised by hamfisted yet artsy direction, a depraved MC, a pretty engaging cast of characters, and a fairly decent story. It is by no means a masterpiece, but it makes for very entertaining group watching, through its sheer quarry of things to critique and scratch heads over. If you like B-movies, I can't think of a better anime to recommend!

  Continue on AniList

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