White Album 2 Review - The Romantic Masterpiece
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- Опубліковано 11 чер 2022
- I despise recording footage for videos. This is why I usually stick to vocaloid songs.
I give White Album 2 a 9/10, which considering its flaws is really saying something.
All of the beautiful music is from the game
#whitealbum - Розваги
Someone as cynical as me who hates others for being in distasteful relationships. I gave up on love because the world is terrible. This game broke me and made me fall in love all over again. It was the worst and happiest feelings. I love Setsuna no matter what.
I really love this review. The fact that you HAD to choose setsuna to reach CODA is really really mean. It's essentially saying to love and choose Kazusa, you have to betray and hurt setsuna again, even after experiencing the pains of closing chapter. Even if you truly believe Kazusa is the one for Haruki, you can't help but feel bad for setsuna, and its truly a painful decision to make.
tbh i hated setsuna a lot after watching the anime but rn i am so confused i feel bad for every one of them 😔😔
@@the_Unbeaten Did you understand the anime though. Because why would anyone hate Setsuna, she genuinely loved Haruki and hoped to be his girlfriend, but she acted like a bad person so that Haruki will not feel guilty for cheating on her.
@@the_Unbeaten that’s understandable. The anime skipped quite a lot of details of how setsuna loves haruki almost as much as Kazusa. That’s one downfall of the anime: it gives the vibe as if setsuna is maliciously squeezing in between Kazusa and Haruki just for both of them to not leave her. In the anime, the only part she mentioned she loves haruki just as Kazusa does is right at the end when she cries after Kazusa and haruki kissed at the airport. There is much more foreshadowing in the game.
Setsuna and Kazusa will remain as two of the best waifus I ever had in a Visual Novel. Hard to let them go 😪
This is my favorite VN of all time! Great analysis, man. But why didn't you talk about the cheating route? I thought the ending of that route was just as emotionally draining as Kazusa's.
That piano concert cg in that route was just pure pain
It was such good review! You really put words to a lot of thing I have been thinking about White Album 2.
White Album 2 is my favorite VN that I have read and its nice see other people talk as passionate about it.
I could especially feel some extra passion in your voice when you started talking about Kazusa in Coda
This is one of the best reviews ive watched thus farm 10/10 im looking forward to your future content
Dude you're choice of words and the way you frame them is so good, exclamation point
Take a shot every time I accidentally call Haruki: Haruhi.
Having sat on my feelings for a bit longer, I firmly think that Chiaki Izumi is the best heroine.
I can't, I'd die! 😂
It's great to see a big video about white album 2, I also did an hour length video about white album 2, so... I hope this video will be good
Based she is the secret best girl
Beautifully put analysis....especially the introspection about Haruki's non-main friends being a source of growth for Haruki.
If you look at those optional heroines, they are all essentially Kazusa stand-ins....different aspects of her personality and Haruki had to simarly lose alot of his friends in those optional routes as in True Kazusa ending.
Chiaki's route was especially important in forshadowing Haruki's fear of abandonment and that Chiaki had to leave him for him to heal and become normal Haruki again...just like in Kazusa normal.
In Haruki’s apartment, Haruki asked Chiaki to put her hands on her chest if she was not acting, and Chiaki seemingly ignored him. During the play when Chiaki does her confession to Haruki, she holds her hands on her chest, signaling that she is not acting… my mind seriously exploded when I saw this 😂 best writing I’ve ever seen, and there are multiple examples of this kind of thing everywhere in WA2
Really great analysis of this visual novel. Keep up the great work!
Dude great job putting this together. This is one of my favorite games of all time. I don’t think we’ll ever see a visual novel that tops this in terms of drama and romance
Thanks man for doing this ☺️☺️
really appreciate your review.
Really well thought out. I love that you can have your opinion of best girl while still recognizing best ending.
Thank you so much for your review, it actually make me cried. I personally love setsuna over katsusa, yet always have a feeling that katsusa true end should be the true end of the story. Your review disentangled my vague feeling and delivered it beyond the most brilliant way I could ever imagine. Thank you so much foe your work.
Oh baby, don't hurt me
Don't hurt me
No more
I’m so happy u made this video
Truly one of the best VNs ever made. If you've only watched the anime, even if reading visual novels it's not your thing, give it a chance. You won't regret it.
I'm going to give my view.
It is only ever right to believe that true love is the worst yet best solution. It is up to your own morals and actions to decide which path to choose : Constant pain and inevitable regret for eternity for the greatest happiness - a happiness far stronger than anything - or a suitable ending. An ending where nearly Everyone is happy. All. But you. Because you sacrificed the one thing that will only bring the greatest happiness. Nothing can change it. Therefore it is only your moral beliefs that will make you decide. A sacrifice for eternal pain and happiness or a sacrifice for your only possible true satisfaction to make "others" feel happy. Because thAt kind of regret is what I would never accept. A regret to leave the #1 for the rest is what I believe is disobeying yourself. Accepting that others come first. My(this) kind of thinking is very selfish but it only a matter of your choice. Because your first choice comes at a cost of the rest of your life. Like a gamble for everything.
For those wanting timestamps of this excellent review:
0:01 Preface
2:29 Introductory Chapter
12:42 Thoughts on Introductory Chapter
19:35 Closing Chapter: Common Route
25:39 Closing Chapter: Chiaki's Route
40:35 Closing Chapter: Koharu's Route
52:02 Closing Chapter: Mari's Route
1:04:19 Closing Chapter: Setsuna's Route
1:12:31 Thoughts on Closing Chapter
1:14:29 Coda: Common Route
1:19:31 Coda: Setsuna's True Ending
1:21:20 Coda: Kazusa's True Ending
1:23:27 Thoughts on Coda & Conclusion
Great video! This visual novel is a classic and should be the first recommendation to those seeking out romance/drama stories. There's a reason why, at the time of this writing, it's rated as the #3 visual novel of all time on vndb rankings and #2 on erogamescape rankings. Truly deserving of its 'kamige' status.
see this is why I like to check the channels of people that get credited for editing or translations or footage or something of that nature. I listened to Will Stetson's cover of Lower One's Eyes and was absolutely not disappointed by either the said lyrics or this video
baby don't hurt me
LISTEN LISTEN. THE AIRPORT SCENE IF YALL UNDERSTAND YOU KNOW WHAT IM TALKING AB
Great video, thank you
Great Video!
The first part is actually Setsuna's point of view, not Haruki. Note that she's talking about losing both her lover and best friend. The 2 that broke off is actually Haruki and Kazusa, and from those 2, 1 left meaning Kazusa left on a plane. It's all part of a brilliant wordplay that the English translation failed to convey.
I had so much trouble separating myself from Haruki because we share many of the same flaws. Reading the story I fell head over heels for Setsuna, to the point where Haruki saying he still loved Kazusa got dismissed in my brain as though it was a translation error.
It didn't help that I've made some of the same mistakes Haruki did (not the cheating part.)
I adore this story. Setsuna's route really felt like 2 people desperately trying to find their way back to each other but getting held back by lessons they needed to learn. I really felt the effort they were putting in though, and was rooting for them. When Kazusa showed up in France that was as chilling of a reveal as I've seen. I just sat there aghast as the camera panned up.
I have to say that Setsuna is an incredibly well written character. She has layers which I really appreciate. She's manipulative and can be straight up toxic, but it all feels like how a real person would actually behave and the mistakes they'd make.
I've already gone on too long, bit 2 more things. I never played the other routes in closing chapter. I tried but I just could not go through with it once I saw how much it was hurting my best girl Setsuna. Call me a sap, but I couldn't do that to her again after Kazusa's route in Coda. I made a decision a while ago to engage with VNs sincerely as I get more out of them that way, so I didn't fight developing feelings for the characters.
Thank you for the fantastic summary and for showing some of the pro-Kazusa perspective. I think I still side with Setsuna because I believe love is something you build over time. I think Haruki and Setsuna can make it work now that they have been through so much to establish honest communication. I like to think they had a happy life. I still need to read the after stories though
I get you, I also usually am only able to play the route of the girl I fall in love with. Only game I've played all routes was Majikoi because I was more enamored with the group of friends than any of the girls individually, and wanted to enjoy more of their silly antics and adventures. That said, in White Album I was simping for Kazusa from the very beginning, to the point I almost dropped it when Haruki starts dating Setsuna in IC, since I didn't know there'd be no player choice in it yet and got pretty mad over it. The rest of IC was incredibly painful for me to read, and I was despising Haruki for his "choice"
So, when CC came about, since Kazusa was out of picture, I got interested in learning more about the side heroines and played all of their routes. Through them and Setsuna's own route, I've learned to really appreciate her character. I've never hated her or anything, since I've always blamed Haruki more for the "High School Tragedy", but seeing her time and time again loving Haruki in such a pure and selfless way really made me care and treasure the girl.
But then came Coda, bringing Kazusa back, and I felt just as Haruki himself, I cared for Setsuna, didn't want to make her suffer needlessly again, but on the other hand, Kazusa was simply the undeniable one for me. So I jumped straight into Kazusa True and never attempted any of the other routes.
I loathed Haruki once more when he fled the first concert and proposed to Setsuna, in a sad echo of his teenage mistake, which would only make things harder for everybody later on, but then as he enters the route and finally gets his resolve and starts being honest with himself, making the choice he truly wanted to make and openly paying the price for it, the story became incredibly emotional and fulfilling for me, closing the circle that was left open in the IC.
It really goes to show the game's quality when we can both immerse ourselves in the game, reach nearly completely opposite conclusions, and still enjoy it so much, right?
@@rhuanrizzi for sure. It's nothing short of incredible.
One thing I didn't mention is how you really feel the flow of time in the game. From high school to university to work life. Looking back on high school does really feel like it was a long time ago. It also shows how memories can get amplified over time.
Since I wrote that comment I've actually gone back and started playing Chiaki's route. I missed spending time in that world. I missed my best girl Setsuna. I heard Chiaki had a secret and I got curious what it might be. If anything this route has caused me to double down on my love for Setsuna. It's just making me want to experience her route again now.
_________________________[Setsuna Coda route spoiler]____________________
One of my favourite Setsuna traits is her learning to use her sex appeal to keep her on our/Haruki's mind. It's manipulative but it's also something real people do. In Setsuna's coda route when Haruki runs away from the concert to meet her, they don't actually have sex and he doesn't propose. They actually have a bit of a fight. Then there's a scene where she's saying goodbye to Haruki at the train station and whispers some lewd comments to him as he leaves (saying that it's been so long since she's seen him that them being this close again has her aroused.) We see the beginnings of this in OC with their first train ride together. Again, it is kinda toxic, but also very much something that people actually do. I love that duality about her.
There is so much depth to the writing and characters. I really wish there was an official English version.
As someone who recently watched the anime and isn't a fan of VN this video was an amazing experience. Thank you for doing such a good job in narrating and explaining the story.
Masterpiece! WA2 and your video!
I just finished the show and I was genuinly pissed off thats why I came looking for a review. Thanks for this vid! I honestly feel for Setsuna and I think Haruki is douche even after these routes. In Toumas case I dont dislike or like her in all honestly. Seeing Setsuna get shafted over and over again while trying to maintain the friendship sucks and our MC leading her on the entire time is even worse. A lot not just in the show but with the VN could have been avoided but then again you wouldnt have a game. When I watch/read Romance its hard for me not to turn my real life brain off and when I see stuff like this it makes me upset.
I hate every frustrating decision haruki made, i hate that kazusa just had to return to japan right after settling down with setsuna, and i hate how theres no true happy ending for everyone, but i ultimately love this visual novel. Thank you for the beautiful analysis.
This story was so beautiful. I never understood why season 2 was never made like the last white album. But i’m glad he got to be with the girl i wanted him to be with Kazua Man. The nicest people have it so rough in the world.
One day I will watch your video, because I made exactly the same video. So I ma just curious what is gonna be different, well... I'll type my review letter
Baby don't hurt me
Nice
I haven't played through WA2 and but your analysis and telling of it is amazing!
Was looking for VNs to get into and even though this one sounds tragic (and most of the content hits home for me in too many ways) your video has inspired me to give it a go someday
It took 10 years for the game to be translated into English.
Ngl everything I hear about White album 2 just sounds like a constant endless stream of shock value melodrama misery porn
That is pretty much what it is. It’s just a massive car crash that is to big and awing to look away.
People think things like Toradora,Nisekoi,Horimiya are the best romance works. Little do they know this masterpiece exists... This work goes against everything that typical romance stories have and is nowhere near wholesome like those generic stories are. I was blessed to watch the anime and complete the story with the VN.
Maybe because people think love is when two people end up together. People like those things like Komi-san, Nagatoro, Darling and the Franxx, etc.. And consider it as the best thing in love. Hell, there are also so many "i can fix her" and harem fantasy stories that go popular but stories like these go under the rug. But the sad reality that they don't know, or may not know is that love isn't really none of those and I am one of those people who learned it the hard way. Sure, it's a fun watch, but I see people think it as it is.
Though my only problem with this is that I don't know where i can download it on my PC. Or they don't have fully translated stories that companies did.
@@yuri-sama.questionmark you can buy it but it is quite expensive. I personally finished it from yt videos
@@cellsentinel239 oh i think i found it through some sussy means after the last 19 hours. Im just waiting for the download to finish.
@@yuri-sama.questionmark can you send the link if you have it ?
This actually made me cry.
I remember playing this, hating the main character, loving him, feeling for him, hating others and such forth
weezer visual novel
the anime was a masterpiece too😭😭
I hate to admit it but I'm one of the few people who read this and was extremely irritated at alot of the game. It has lots of good moments, and some routes have better payoffs to me on a personal level, but then I'm just assaulted with a stew of awful feelings as I'm forced to read through some routes that made me sick to my stomach. It genuinely is great, but was less enjoyable than I had hoped. I have not read that many visual novels yet, but out of all the greats I have read so far, this is on the bottom of my list.
I agree here with alot of what you said here too. Alot of CC was just extremely boring. The lows don't make up for the highs. Watching the college arc and Haruki in an office was brutal. The only good heroine introduced was Koharu. and Haruki literally apologizing for no reason during the sex scenes and million's of other times just irritated me, Many other VN's I've read balance out the boring parts with very bright highs. I enjoyed IC way way way more than CC.
But also Haruki was an extremely relatable character for the selfish lust that many men experience when we're young. I've found myself putting my hands in the air because of how many terrible things Haruki did. The VN is a solid 7.8/10.
After watching this, i think Setsuna deserves better. When her ending is marrying her love who doesn't truly or fully love her but loves her best friend instead, I think she really deserves a better ending.
I mean it's no better than Haruki choosing Kazusa because she has no one else and having to leave everything behind in her ending. Inevitably, someone will get hurt, and Haruki will never stop loving the other. Setsuna's true route is fine honestly, and it's the only ending where everything works out for the better. My ideal route would be Setsuna to get together with Kazusa though :(