Summary:

After Misaki informs him about what she has to do for the drama club, Touya calms her down by offering to help her. He then heads out to Yuki’s apartment like he had planned, but when he sees Yayoi in her car at the entrance, he decides not to go up. The next day, Touya learns from Akira about how Misaki had rejected the head of the drama club a long time ago and how that guy is using her now. Touya remains resolved to help her, but for the time being, he has work at Echoes. Yayoi finds him there around closing time and offers to take him home. She knows that he’s been keeping himself from seeing Yuki, and she kisses him to reward him. He pushes her away though and gets out of the car, only to find another girl waiting for him in front of his apartment: Misaki. She’s finished the designs for the costumes and wants him to look them over. Misaki isn’t feeling too well however, so Touya tries to make her some coffee. When he realizes that he’s out of milk, he heads out to buy some, but by the time he returns, she’s already asleep on his bed. He takes the chance to go through her designs, and he likes what he sees. As he’s writing some comments in the sketchbook though, his phone rings.

The caller turns out to be Yuki, and Touya doesn’t tell her about Misaki – he even lies to her about what he’s been up to. Despite this though, the two apologize to each other for everything that’s gotten in their way. Yuki eventually has to hang up the phone because Yayoi walks by, and she ends up feeling so bad about making the call that she reveals to Eiji while in the recording booth that she called Touya. The next day, Touya wakes up to find Misaki gone, though she left a note of thanks. He tracks her down later at school and learns that the designs were approved, so he decides to help her buy materials. While they’re shopping, Misaki almost falls, and although Touya catches her, it reminds her of a traumatic incident with the head of the drama club two years ago. Unbeknownst to Touya, he’s spotted by the high school girl he met at the train station back when he was trying to find Yuki, and she decides to follow him and Misaki. Meanwhile, Yuki’s recording session hasn’t been going well, but Eiji isn’t ready to give up. They are interrupted when Rina comes by for a visit. By this point, Touya and Misaki have returned to school and are trying to get some room to work along with access to a sewing machine, but they’re turned down. Touya, however, has an idea.

Preview

For someone who I was originally told was a bad/unfaithful male lead, Touya so far hasn’t been all that horrible. He’s not great of course and lies to Yuki a lot, but now that I’ve seen more of him, I don’t think he’s in the same class as Makoto from School Days and Takayuki from Kiminozo (the two characters I’ve seen him often lumped together with) – at least not yet anyway. He’s been able to more or less hold off Yayoi’s advances, and he hasn’t made any real moves on Misaki. If anything, his downfall will be being too considerate to Misaki – that might come back to bite him in the ass since Mana saw him with her. In terms of Yuki, he’d probably be better off making a decision once and for all about where he wants to take their relationship at this point (i.e. not be so unresolved that he’s turned back by the sight of Yayoi’s car). Yuki needs to be a little more assertive as well, and the two really just need to communicate with each other better. Given that we’re only halfway through the series though and in a setting without cell phones, that’s probably not going to happen.

As for this episode, it didn’t do much for me overall. To be honest, I don’t really care for Misaki’s character or what she’s going through, and I’d much rather see more Rina involvement, good or bad. I did find the question mark on Mana being a goddess pretty amusing though, and now that I think about it, I wouldn’t mind more Mana screen time either.

24 Comments

  1. OMG!! nothing happened? lolz.. and i thought he gonna bang saomebady.. hehe! im starting to get bored by this mellow dramatic episode… hope they will spice things up in the upcoming eps…^^

    SYNC
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  3. “Touya so far hasn’t been all that horrible”

    No, but you have to consider the fact he is also not that good either … but that is the problem of trying to come up with a love triangle drama and keep it PG-13, also this is slow as heck were nothing happens, I think the writers are trying to fit some bizarre mix of slice-of-life and drama without getting it right, they could have done this much better (like in I”S manga last arc) instead of trying to make a buildup that will likely bore the audience to switch off before it reaches anywere.

    Also you might want to consider the readers that lump those 3 together might very well missing the point?

    Drakron
  4. This Touya guy pisses me more and more every episode.

    I really hope there will be a School Days type of ending for this series, because although artistically is one of the greatest animes I have ever seen, this guy just annoys me so much, that I really hope nothing good happens to him at the end.

    Khrno
  5. I don’t understand why Touya is pissing everyone off. With a few exceptions I think he is doing everything right. He didn’t accept Yayoi’s advances or money. Most importantly, he is helping a friend who genuinely needs him. That, in my opinion, is better than spending a night with Yuki, which will change nothing. It won’t make them understand each other better or give them more time to be with each other. Instead it will make him long for her even more while she continues on the path of being an idol. Being an idol in Japan is a position that fits somewhere between being a singer/actress (usually without the talent) and a glorified prostitute (usually without complete nudity). Personally, I wouldn’t pick a girl that instead of going to university and doing something with her life, decided to become an idol.

    Kalessin
  6. He tells too many white lies. Yet the story revolves around miscommunication or lack of it. He has remained fairly honorable, though as he tries to please multiple people, it may come back to haunt him. Funny to see he’s picked up another stalker.

    SageGaiGar
  7. I feel a bit bad for Yuki. Past 6 episodes Touya already lied to her many times… And I somehow think that Yuki won’t end up with Touya in the end of this anime(lol, school days ending?)

    And seems that Misaki was tortured or raped by someone in past(maybe her dad).Though really to say I don’t care about her. She’s not beatiful and uninteresting character. Though there was some cute shots of her in this episode.

    Besides that Yuki manager is definitely some sort of slut.

    Also this episode had very good animation. Characters felt like real people. Reactions of characters was top notch(especially during this time 11.44-12.02) <——- I mean how character reactions was animated.

    So far I really enjoying White Album very much.

    TadloS
  8. Wow, he pretty much said everything I was thinking regarding Fujii being compared to Makoto, Yuki’s lack of assertiveness, etc.

    Like many others have said, his tells way too many white lies and the level of miscommunication in this series is amazing. I don’t understand why he can’t be honest with everyone…..it’s just shocking.

    Prime Synergy
  9. The part that caught my attention was when Akira said that Touya was so busy last year dating Yuki, Touya could only recall that ONE date with Yuki (and that was before her debut). That’s pretty sad.

    pierce
  10. Yeah, he spent a lot of time with his ‘everyday’. I wouldn’t be surprised if this pattern also happened before Yuki made her debut. Or perhaps she was already working on her career?

    SageGaiGar
  11. My reaction was:

    Yuki – she finally sang and we heard. (Personally, I liked it, but Eiji was…meh)
    Touya – why is he giving love advice and criticism? (He really meddled and lied big time. Some hero)
    Yayoi – can’t there be a rational way to solve it?
    Rina – Rina? Where? (She walked away when she saw Yayoi. Does that mean she supports Yuki’s relationship? I think so)
    Mana – ??? (I don’t consider her a Goddess. Maybe a loli, but not a Goddess)
    Misaki – I already knew there was something off with Tanuma, but not off the cliff type.
    Akira – I support him. He’s the more sensible one even if he has less screentime.

    soyahoney
  12. TadloS at 6:08 pm on February 10th, 2009

    I feel a bit bad for Yuki. Past 6 episodes Touya already lied to her many times… And I somehow think that Yuki won’t end up with Touya in the end of this anime(lol, school days ending?)

    And seems that Misaki was tortured or raped by someone in past(maybe her dad).Though really to say I don’t care about her. She’s not beatiful and uninteresting character. Though there was some cute shots of her in this episode.

    Besides that Yuki manager is definitely some sort of slut.

    Also this episode had very good animation. Characters felt like real people. Reactions of characters was top notch(especially during this time 11.44-12.02) <——- I mean how character reactions was animated.

    So far I really enjoying White Album very much.?

    @Talod, You may be right, but I disagree with you on a lot of level. You sound like a a person who judges a person with a biased disposition. Misaki might not be “beautiful” as you stated, and that’s only based on your preference. How is it not plausible to bond any sort of chemistry between the two just because of that single trait based on you own selfish taste? She’s uninteresting? I probably see her as getting the most development next to Haruka through simple, yet possibly informing scenes. Even through all these, I’m sure she’s the first character they’ll explore and probably the first to cast away too if this should become extensive, spanning to a 26th episode series.

    As for Yuki being the so called “slut,” I’m sure she is. She has her reasons, be it a complex or trivia matter. She appears to lack any sign of emotion–cold and unbearable. What happened to her? How did she become like this? When did it happen? My guess is, she’s probably one of those females who had their heart broken and starts condemning all men and sleeping with them and passing it off as trifle. Or she might have been raised in a terribly dysfunctional environment or experienced in secondhand. That may explain why she is like this, but I could be wrong.

    My conclusion is that I think Misaki was sexually assaulted but perhaps, not to the point of being raped. More or less, it caused her great trauma and distress. In the end, you may be right. Right that you yourself like that fuck on the surface.

    soyahoney at 1:36 am on February 11th, 2009
    Akira – I support him. He’s the more sensible one even if he has less screentime.

    @soyahoney, That’s merely bashing around the bushes. YOU support him from what you have seen. YOU think he is more reasonable than Touya. YOU support him. Here we have it again. This is like looking at relationship from the beginning when everything is fresh with no worries. You like it; you’re deeply in love with the other; you don’t think anything will go wrong since you’re in your own little world. But think again, relationship is like know a person. There is no way you are in LOVE if you don’t know one another. That is just simple assumption. Once you start learning and knowing, you form a different conception. This is exactly like what you have done from my perspective, soyahoney.

    I also don’t see Mana as being loli. She is at the age where consent is legal in Japan. There are prefectures where the laws is set higher which usually is, and enforced too.

    Prove me wrong if I am. I will welcome it as that will help me improve for the better. 🙂

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