White Album

Number of Episodes: 13+13

What Wikipaedia the Nihon Review (there are no decent synopses out there for this show so props to TypicalIdiotFan for this) says: "After 20 years of life, Fuji Touya finds himself in his second year of college, dating an up-and-coming idol singer named Morikawa Yuki, estranged from his father, and surrounded by “Goddesses”. These “Goddesses” are women that Touya has met throughout his life, who have all helped him in some way when he needed it. Unlike most other people, Touya has a hard time letting go of these special women, and his kindness to them has created some confusing and frustrating relationships. These bonds, especially with his beloved Yuki, are starting to become dramatic and strained, and eventually something is going to have to give…"

tTPO says: I like this series set in 1986. No, it is not perfect (ongoing communication problems form a large amount of drama - it's a wonder anyone survived the 80's) and yes, it is 26 episodes which means I had to forego some sleep as I binge-watched it over a week or so, but it was worth it. Comparisons with School Days are inevitable as both fall into a more tragic harem subgenre where a) the characters are more often than not flawed (especially the lead, though he could not do it without the willing help of the harem) and b) it's not always going to end well for a lot of people. In the case of White Album though, the car crash is slower, has more people on board at the time and doesn't end as badly.

Unlike may reviews that saw this series in two parts many years ago I watched it all in a short period of time and found the two parts* (shot by different directors apparently) still a pretty coherent series. I can't say it was always straightforward - there are without doubt some convoluted aspects but fortunately these are not usually essential to the main plot. Some but not all became clearer in subsequent episodes. What I did appreciate though were the character arcs - very few people stood still from start to finish, and many possibilities for where things were going were kept open till the near end and it was this that kept the episodes rolling and my sleep diminishing.

* With the appearance of White Album 2, and sequel to this series with completely new characters, it does get confusing with White Album, second season, also sometimes referred to as White Album 2, which was just the second half of this series.

How About the Music?: For a series so based around music I found the OP and EDs appropriate but not compelling. Should I have expected more from idol based J-Pop set in 1986 though? 

Having said that, the main insert songs (even with their 80's flavourings) were a bit better and "White Album" (as sung by Aya Hirano - the voice of Haruhi) the song in particular eventually became a bit of an ear worm. The duet performance of "Powder Snow" at the end I think also rose above the limitations of the song itself (note this link contains spoilers as well as a song - different version with no spoilers here). 

So How Does it End? (Spoiler Free): Mostly well. While most plot threads are sorted out, the final ending is left just a bit open. A bit of deduction (and internet research) allows narrowing down of the likely outcome without too much difficulty. The pacing was certainly much more even compared with School Days and even provided a motivation for many of the series' events though I can't vouch for the psychological validity of it! And yes, there were clues along the way for the astute viewer.

Overall Grade: Imperfect, but still compelling. B+