[Ascaloth] Trial Run: White Album, Episode 2
(4 votes, average: 2.5 out of 5)
Loading ...
The introductions are over, now let the fun begin! While Yuki and Rina have become bosom buddies within the tough world of the idol industry, that friendship is about to be put to the test with Touya about to be thrown into the mix. Unfortunately, as is all too common with the male leads of the genre circa 21st C, the guy is beginning to reveal the generic set of flaws that his character archetype tend to possess, and may have just shown the first signs of why he’s considered amongst the likes of KGNE’s Takayuki. Despite his propensity for overkill, THAT’s Crusader-gunsou did indeed bring up some interesting points about the characters and their actions so far, but has he got it spot on for them all, or perhaps he may have jumped the gun a bit? In any case, White Album is shaping up to be increasingly worth the watch, if only because the train whistle that signifies tragedy has sounded into the night, and it remains to be seen just how huge will be the aftermath of the destruction.
White Album, Episode 2.
I’ve been thinking, why does Yuki get the very competent Shinozuka as her manager, while Rina, apparently the biggest product of Ogata Productions, have such a useless guy for hers? Of course, I can think of various reasons ranging from the company’s large investment in Yuki as personified by Shinozuka to the necessity of Rina’s manager being a doormat to avoid conflicts with her potentially pushy character, but it’s still just so hilariously ironic that the greenhorn gets the good manager, and the star veteran doesn’t.
Touya and Haruka seem to share a rather intriguing relationship; they freely take liberties of each other, from Touya’s shutting her outside, to Haruka making him chase her on her bike, it almost seems as if that’s what they’re accustomed to doing to each other for a while. Add to the fact that they’re on first-name basis, along with Touya claiming that Haruka has always been what she is, and I have the suspicion that they’re really osana-najimi, who’ve known each other for so long treating each other like shit is a game to them; in other words, I don’t think Crusader-gunsou (it’s "-gunsou", right Crusader? Just checking to make sure I’ve not "demoted" you) is on the right track regarding Touya and Haruka, but then again soldier boy is probably just trolling there. Not enough clues for now to confirm that, but it’s a likely possibility.
How lonely does a guy have to be to ask a girl to sit in a position usually reserved for his girlfriend, just so he could pretend that it’s the latter sitting with him? The problem with the current Touya is that he’s far too fixated on Yuki; you would think that’s a good thing, but when the latter has treated him as shittily as she did, one has to wonder whether he’s taking more crap than he deserves.
Fold quartz earrings? And why was Rina talking to air anyway?
So happy she cries? Yuki’s cute and all, but frankly I don’t know if I can handle such an overly-emotional lass. I mean you guys know how it is with women, if they can jump to one extreme of the emotional spectrum, they can just as easily leap to the other….TJ Han should know all too well, deshou?
Whose ‘urusai‘ was this? Was it Touya’s, and if so, was he wanting Akira to shut up about Yuki? Or is it Akira’s, and if so, was he wanting Touya to shut up about his own misadventures regarding the cheesecake and Misaki?
"Is there something on my face?"
It’s incredibly frustrating to see how much Yuki takes Touya for granted; so much so that even Rina can see how little she seems to be valuing him. I wonder if it’s another osana-najimi thing, where Yuki is so familiar with Touya she doesn’t even feel the need to be particularly intimate with him anymore, but how long has it been since they had time alone? I initially came into this series thinking that if a shipping war occurs here (as is all too common with series boasting two female leads), Yuki would be my girl…..nope. Can’t love a girl who’s prone to almost criminal neglect of her guy; it’s not so hard to think of her as a proto-Ranka Lee, in a way.
Having seen for herself that the Yuki-Touya relationship isn’t all that Yuki made it out to be, Rina makes the next logical progression to make her move, plunging into the risks entailed with her eyes wide open. In the past, such a move is not something I would have particularly agreed with….funny how right now I’m at a point in my life where I’m hardly one to speak. Life experiences sure have a way of changing one’s viewpoints. That aside, this time around I’m with Crusader-gunsou on this one; Rina-sama is superior. I don’t know for sure if she’s the kind of scum soldier boy is talking about, but she’s definitely my kind of girl. Do I dare say she’s going to turn out to be a proto-Sheryl Nome? Who knows, but I bet she’ll make a respectable challenge to Sheryl’s "You’ll rarely find as wonderful a woman as me" claim.
Erm, why is Akira lying to Rina-sama’s manager about her not being here? What purpose does it serve? Did I miss something somewhere?
Okay, Touya definitely has a lot of dumbass points to burn. One does NOT try to help another guy out with his potential relationship with a girl, even if said guy has been dragging things out for years the way Akira did. Nothing that could be done could possibly end well, and whatever is going on, it’s still the guy’s problems, and no one else’s. Poor Akira-san….with buddies this dense, who needs smart enemies?
And I’m starting to see why Touya is so hated as a male lead of a VN. I’m afraid I have to go with Crusader on this one; it’s one thing to hate one’s own father for whatever reason, but to have the cheek to ask for aid, and then throw it back just because it is in kind rather than in cash? That is just downright ungrateful and jackass, and I’m not even mentioning petty yet. If he doesn’t brush up his act, I pity whichever girl ends up with this deadbeat.
And with this night-time call, we hear the impending trainwreck coming from a mile away. I think most of us would more or less have a clue as to the direction in which White Album is going; the only question remaining is whether the content, and the execution of said content, would be up to the snuff. Which at this point, is still up for debate; the usage of the words to display Touya’s inner monologue is quite a nice touch, but otherwise there’s still very little known about the characters to truly guess at their motives. Moreover, if the characters do have any redeeming qualities to them, most of them aren’t making it apparent yet; Misaki seems to be fancying her chances as a dark horse (and we all know how that turned out for Andou Aiko), Haruka’s just plain crazy at the moment, Yuki is neglectful and oblivious, and Touya is the worst of the lot for now. It’s the "outsider" Rina who seems to show any initiative, and while it is for an action not everyone would approve of, better to shake things up than to let them stagnate, I say. In any case, one more episode before the end of the Trial Run, and I’ll consider whether to continue coverage on this series.
Ascaloth, out.
Popularity: 7% [?]
9 Responses to “[Ascaloth] Trial Run: White Album, Episode 2”
- 1 Pingback on Jan 18th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
- 2 Pingback on Jan 12th, 2010 at 11:57 pm
Do not use any < and > for your own sake. It will end the comment there and then. Also, there is an automatic IQ filter which weeds out comments made by those who accidentally got transported from the stone age.
Leave a Reply
Search
Latest
- [Tenshi_MKII] Why you should buy the Kara no Kyoukai Blu-ray Box Set…
- [G-man] Scanlations Targeted….
- [G-man] All Good Things Must Come To An End…
- [LianYL] Hello LA
- [Tenshi_MKII] Help me expand my mp3 playlist.
- [LianYL] Tutorial: How To Make Any Crap Photo Look Artistic
- [Tenshi_MKII] What I love/hate about Windows 7
- Mega Manga Roundup Review: I’ve Been Reading ALOT.
- [LianYL] Awesome Manga Listing
- [Tenshi_MKII] Music Reviews: Mariage -tribute to Fate- & Voice ～辿りつく場所～
Related Entries
- [Ascaloth] Trial Run: White Album, Episode 3
- [Ascaloth] Trial Run: White Album, Episode 1
- [Ascaloth] Trial Run: K-ON!, Episode 3
- [Ascaloth] Trial Run: True Tears, Episode 3
- Site Update yet again
- [Ascaloth] The God Empress Is Back For Real!
- [Ascaloth] Trial Run: K-ON!, Episode 1
- [Ascaloth] Trial Run: True Tears, Episode 1
- [Ascaloth] CLANNAD ~After Story~, Episode 16
- [Ascaloth] Sometimes when I get real tired, and wonder why I’m still pushing on….
Most Commented Posts
- Goodbye School Rumble Season 2! Hello Season 3! - 637
- Eureka seveN!! "Decent" Anime?? CHIGAUUUU!! Ultima Class Anime. Spoilers here. - 262
- Movie Review: Koizora is so Bad, it makes Dumb and Dumber Smart - 222
- Anime Rave: Gakuen Alice - 199
- [LianYL] Hello, Bots And Readers Alike - 179
- Ouran: Who should Haruhi Date? - 173
- Hot Discussion: Is Anime Good for Us? Are We Proud of Liking It? - 167
- Exclusive: The Vision of Odexflowne - 161
- [LianYL] Aaaaand My Own Bazaar Starts Now - 123
- Nerds Make the Best Boyfriends. FACT! - 122
Counter
- 20 currently online
- 88 maximum concurrent
- 4752682 total visitors
Would you be angry with me if I disagree with most of your conclusions? I read most of the scenes differently.
o It’s not unusual to assign capable-stern managers to green-unsure types and “softer” managers to seasoned pros who can take care of themselves. Happens in real life situations alot!
o Touya did not ask Haruka to sit in this spot, just the opposite. After Haruka snuck there all by herself, he warned Haruka NOT to turn around (to mimick Yuki). The way I see it, it seems to have been Yuki’s habit to turn around and then lean against his back, with her head turned towards Touya (basically, a hug from behind). Touya tries to defend this spot AGAINST a Haruka incursion. Since he also initially rejected her about the proposed walk (before his resolve weakened after seeing her camp out in the cold), I’d conclude that he tries to keep Haruka at bay - but cuts her some slack. After all, we know she went through something traumatic.
o Rina was rehearsing how she was planning to floor-talk her brother into letting her stay there with Yuki.
o The “Urusai” was clearly Akira’s. He was getting pissed about Touya’s insensitive lecture.
o Agreed about the neglect, which Rina picked up on immediately. Yuki is very pure - also see her emotional reaction - so she doesn’t have the problem on her radar at all. If she actually KNEW, if Touya would actually manage to communicate his feelings and worries to Yuki, I imagine the would act very differently, so I’m withholding judgment on her. Once she realizes the problem, THIS is when we’ll be able to decide if she’s really taking him for granted or not.
o Don’t get me wrong. I like Rina alot. I might end up rooting for her. But sorry - making a pass on the explicitly tagged boyfriend of a good friend of yours is a no-no in MY book. That was pretty predatory and ugly… I wonder what it would do to Yuki’s world if she were to realize what Rina is doing behind her back.
o Had Touya been able to tell Misaki that Akira had been baking cake for her, he possibly could have helped him quite a bit. At least, that had been his intention. However, his terrible communication skills only achieved the opposite - getting Misaki giddy about his concern. My my.
o I agree with your comment about Touya’s reaction to a degree, but don’t forget that his father hung up on him during his request. Super-rude. In my eyes, this was his prideful way to return this non-favor.
In summary, I wonder why you’re being so harsh on the characters. To me, they seem refreshingly REAL. With real issues, reactions and flaws. But so far none of them has done anything truly nasty, with the exception of Rina, the one character you praised
Anyway, looking forward to your next review!
Yup!
I was wondering about that myself. Unless maybe he didn’t know that was Rina’s manager and he was thinking maybe she was being stalked or something?
This is exactly what I said. It’s shit like this that makes me hope that he doesn’t end up with anyone at all. Stupid bastard deserves to be left out in the rain.
Yeah I made E-5 so yeah it’s gunso alright. I like leaving a bloody mess in my wake, besides I want there to be no misunderstanding as to how much I loathe this Touya. There is no such thing as over kill, it’s just make sure that the target is dead.
Akira probably lied because to him it was a stranger who stepping, he was not aware if it was her manager or not, but why risk giving away the location of a celebrity? For all Akira would now it might have been a stalker. Besides if he was her manager he could simply call her up and reconfirm her location yes?
@Mentar
It was also super rude to interrupt a prayer to the honored dead. Just because the world doesn’t revolve around Touya’s schedule does not give him license to take it out on his dad. Besides given how Touya is a parasite he was calling for money anyway. Giving him food probably made sense given how it would have saved his loser son some time in not having to shop. There was no reason to hold back on the fact that Akira was looking for Misaki.
Given how it’s only Touya who is spilling out inner monologues I doubt Akiria was the one who wanted Touya to shut up. Akira to him was lapping up Yuki’s praise and it probably hurt that over inflated pride of his to hear Yuki praise Akira’s pastry prowess when he wanted that phone call to be all about him.
@Crusader: Oi… when you ring someone up, how the hell are you supposed to know what you might or might not be interrupting? How is that rude? But if you DO pick up, don’t even give a proper greeting and after 10 seconds (not right away) hang up wordlessly once the talk is about to come to the issue of money, in MY book this is rude (and in the Japanese world, it’s even worse). He also never “took anything out on his dad”, his talk was polite.
Passing out food instead of cash is a reasonable thing to do if you suspect that the person you’re providing for sucks at handling money, agreed. But as I said, this looks a little more like an issue about stupid prideful payback.
And yes, there WAS a reason not to mention the cake - she was sick, and the opportunity didn’t arise to bring it up inconspiciously (which in my eyes was the intention Akira’s call). Keep in mind, this is an issue between close friends after 5 years. Obviously he didn’t want to _openly_ meddle in things by “Misaki, it’s you? You won’t believe it, Akira baked a cake for you!” style bluntness. They never really got past the introductory talk.
Finally, I’d say the monologue is CLEARLY Akira. Before it pops up, the camera always pans, so that there’s always only Akira to be seen (in my opinion, to make clear that this talk is about Akira). Content-wise, at that point of time, Touya is bragging about Yuki (annoying) and ridiculing Akira about his Misaki failures (very annoying), therefore Akira’s retorts are super-terse - he wants to end this exchange as quickly as possible. “Shutup”. In the end he’s irritated enough to even ask Touya if he’s got a fever (to talk such crap). Finally, you got the timeline wrong - Yuki hasn’t been around at all, she entered AFTER the exchange. Give the scene another check!
@Mentar
I hardly think it rude, I have to hang up without a word to people all the the time and vice versa, I hardly get insulted, I wait the thirty minutes and try again. It’s rather dumb to think it a slight otherwise I’d get busted and chewed out by superior officers every time they called when I had a meeting or some such. Do you remember how phones worked back then? You had to pick it up and plop it back down otherwise it just keep ringing. It was arrogant of Touya to think it a spiteful slight on him, he assumed that his dad was being a jerk when he was in fact occupied. My mom hangs up on me plenty it’s hardly rude because I know she is a busy person.
Given how Touya only calls to beg for money it seems giving food and not cash was hardly a bad move, it probably would have saved Touya some time too. For a guy who overslept on his first day of work Touya’s got a lot of never to take pride in being a parasite, he give his father no respect talks shit about other people like Rina based on a TV appearance, it’s not simply pride but arrogance. He’s shaped by the whims of women, so the claim goes. He could not even be bothered to do his damn job for Akira and told a paying customer to do it himself, there were no other customers at the time he was paid to work not tell customers to do it themselves…to me that’s just unprofessional. It’s a little wonder why Touya could not hold a job on his own and needed Akira to get one for him.
If the guy did not want to meddle then why bother calling? Either Touya is a fool or he lacks faith in Akira to do the right thing either way he ain’t no saint in giving Misaki a call.
Recall from the last ep in his call with Yuki, Yuki specifically brought up the cake and started jawing about it, the rest was muted but Yuki was rambling on about cake while Touya being the attention whore that he is has an inner monologue about how he wished Yuki was having a more Touya oriented conversation. Again last ep Akira had plenty of time for inner monologue, but it was always Touya. True Yuki came after the hissy fits, but last ep Yuki was going on about cake and not Touya.
Rina is making WA worth watching every bit, simple.
Simply put: Toya is a dumbass and Rina is the only character that’s worth watching in that series. Especially because that pass she did on Touya that was so despicable.
Haruka has perked my interest too because of her wierdness. As for Yuki, she’s just annoying so far.