White Album 2

White Album 2

White Album 2: Introductory Chapter visual novel cover art featuring Setsuna and Kazusa.
ホワイトアルバム2
(Howaito Arubamu 2)
Genre Drama, Romance
Game
White Album 2: Introductory Chapter
Developer Leaf
Publisher Leaf
Genre Eroge, Visual novel
Platform Microsoft Windows
Released
  • JP March 26, 2010
Game
White Album 2: Closing Chapter
Developer Leaf
Publisher Leaf
Genre Eroge, Visual novel
Platform Microsoft Windows
Released
  • JP December 22, 2011
Game
White Album 2: Shiawase no Mukōgawa
Developer Aquaplus
Publisher Aquaplus
Genre Visual novel
Platform PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita
Released

PS3

  • JP December 20, 2012

PS Vita

  • JP November 28, 2013
Light novel
White Album 2: Yuki ga Tsumugu Senritsu
Written by Masaya Tsukishima
Illustrated by Takeshi Nakamura, Keiichirō Katsura
Published by SoftBank Creative
Demographic Male
Imprint GA Bunko
Original run March 15, 2013 – September 12, 2014
Volumes 6
Anime television series
Directed by Masaomi Andō
Written by Fumiaki Maruto
Studio Satelight
Network Tokyo MX, MBS, TVA, BS11, AT-X
Original run October 6, 2013 – December 29, 2013
Episodes 13

White Album 2 (ホワイトアルバム2 Howaito Arubamu 2) is a trilogy of Japanese adult visual novels developed by the visual novel company Leaf for the Microsoft Windows PC, and is the sequel to Leaf's earlier visual novel, White Album.[1] The first part of the series, named White Album 2: Introductory Chapter, was released on March 26, 2010. The second part in the series is named White Album 2: Closing Chapter[2] and was released on December 22, 2011.[3] An all-ages PlayStation 3 version combining both chapters published by Aquaplus was released in 2012 and ported for PlayStation Vita in 2013. The gameplay of White Album 2 follows a linear plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction. A television series anime adaptation aired in Japan between October and December 2013.

Gameplay

A female with a sad face is on the foreground looking away from the viewer with a car of a train filled with passengers in the background. Text is overlaid on top of the image and three buttons, "Auto", "Option", and "Skip", can be seen in the bottom right hand corner.
A scene in White Album 2 depicting the protagonist talking to Setsuna Ogiso. The text can be visible at the bottom and some controls and menus can be seen on the bottom right hand corner.

The gameplay in White Album 2 requires minimal interaction from the player as the player spends the majority of their time on reading the text that is displayed at the bottom of the screen. The player's only interaction with the game is to click a button to advance the game by rolling the next line of text onto the screen. Unlike other visual novels, there is only one ending in Introductory Chapter and there are no choices for the player to select. In that regard, Introductory Chapter could be regarded as more like a movie than a video game.

Plot

Settings

White Album 2 takes place in the same setting as its predecessor with approximately ten years having been elapsed since the events of the first White Album.[4] Introductory Chapter begins during the second half of October.[5] Closing Chapter begins three years after the events of Introductory Chapter.[2]

Main Characters

Haruki Kitahara (北原 春希 Kitahara Haruki)
Voiced by: Takahiro Mizushima
The protagonist of White Album 2. He is a third year student at Hōjō High and a member of the light music club and has excellent grades. He dates Setsuna at one point, but in the end, he confesses to Kazusa Touma, and says she is the one he truly loves. [6] Haruki plays second guitar.A student with excellent grades, who's meddlesome and preachy. But for some reason, he's in the light music club. Lately he's been concentrating on practicing the guitar for the school festival, but he's not talented enough to go on stage. Haruki is surprisingly free with his emotions when involved in his love life. He is normally an energetic class president, but despite his intelligence and top grades, he is quite clueless when it comes to dealing with his love life. He likes to take charge and is extremely diligent in his work ethic and studying.[6][7]
Setsuna Ogiso (小木曽 雪菜 Ogiso Setsuna)
Voiced by: Madoka Yonezawa
Setsuna Ogiso is the other heroine turned antagonist in the anime and Introductory Chapter. She is a third year student at Houjou High and has been Miss Houjou two years in a row and enjoys singing karaoke. She confesses to Haruki and becomes a couple with him, secretly knowing Kazusa and his feelings towards each other. In the end, she accepts that he has always loved Kazusa, but still comforts Haruki when he cries over Kazusa leaving.She is beautiful and friendly when approached, yet places a wall between herself and others so she has no close friends. However, this is definitely not Setusna really wants. She build that wall just to protect herself as she went through considerably unhappy things during her time in Junior school. However, she is this way precisely because she was consecutively voted as the prettiest girl in the school, and her classmates all expect her to be a fashionable, wealthy young lady. She is kind and caring. When she feels happy, she would like everyone around her to be happy as well. Her taking initiative to confess her feelings for Haruki may be deemed to be unacceptable in narrow perspectives. However, there is intrinsically nothing wrong with it. Everyone has the freedom to pursue his or her own happiness. She shows great understanding after she knows that Haruki betrayed her, and she blames it all on herself. She decides to take whole responsibility and acts strong in front of Haruki and putting up fronts in general.  [4]
Kazusa Touma (冬馬 かずさ Tōma Kazusa)
Voiced by: Hitomi Nabatame
Kazusa Touma is one of the two heroines in the anime and Introductory Chapter. She is a third year student at Houjou and is in the same class as Haruki. She often dozes off in, is late for, or skips class. She is a very talented pianist, and comes from a wealthy family. She is sometimes cruel to Haruki, but in the end, they both confess their feelings for each other.She is antisocial who skips class as often as a delinquent and is on unfriendly terms with just about everybody. She is actually the daughter of a famous pianist, and a musical genius who dropped out of Houjou’s music division. She is particularly annoyed with Haruki, who has been persistently pestering her for the past half year. However, once Haruki befriends her, she is an invaluable ally for the cultural festival, and is also an spoiled child who really is helpless at everything but music. When it comes to music though, her passion and confidence is unrivaled. [8]
Io Mizusawa (水沢 依緒 Mizusawa Io)
Voiced by: Ikumi Nakagami
Io is a classmate of Setsuna's and used to be the captain of the basketball team.[9] Io was in the same class as Haruki during first year[9][10] although the two of have known each other since junior high.[10]
Takeya Iizuka (飯塚 武也 Iizuka Takeya)
Voiced by: Takuma Terashima
Takeya is a close friend of Haruki and is the president of the light music club.[5][9] Takeya plays the guitar[11] and is surprisingly popular with girls.[5]

Story

The story of Introductory Chapter begins around the second half of October[5] with Haruki Kitahara and Takeya Iizuka troubled over the fact that all the band members they gathered for the school festival have left.[12] After a bit of hard work, Setsuna Ogiso and Kazusa Touma are recruited into the club. With Haruki, the three of them play together at the school festival.[5] They perform Yuki Morikawa's "White Album",[13] Rina Ogata's "Sound of Destiny", and an original song named "Todokanai Koi".[14][15] When the day draws to an end, Setsuna finds Haruki and then confesses to him and the two of them start going out together.[16]

Some time later, Setsuna decides to host a birthday party at her place.[17] While en route to Setsuna's place, Haruki remembers how much Setsuna wanted Kazusa to attend[18] and becomes concerned about whether Kazusa ever got the notice so he decides to go to Kazusa's place directly to see if she is around but instead finds Yōko Touma, Kazusa's mother, there. Yōko tells Haruki that Kazusa will be living with her next month[19] and that she will not make the party because her plane arrives an hour after it has started. Haruki goes to pick Touma at the airport and tries to convince Touma to go to the party.[20] The two get into an argument[21][22] and Kazusa runs away but not before the two confesses their love for one another. Kazusa shows up to school one last time to tell Setsuna that she will be leaving for Vienna[23] and then never returns to school again.

Kazusa does not show up to their school's graduation ceremony but when Haruki is told by Setsuna that Kazusa was at school at one point because she found a letter from Kazusa,[24] Haruki runs all across the city looking for her. He goes home fruitless but receives a call from Kazusa and finds her standing near his house and the two of them reconcile and intercouse. On the next day, Setsuna convinces Haruki to go to the airport together to see Kazusa off.[25]

Development

The director, artist, and character designer for White Album 2 is Takeshi Nakamura[2] who had previously worked on Leaf's other games such as December When There Is No Angel[26] and the PlayStation 3 port of Tears to Tiara. The scenario for White Album 2 is written by Fumiaki Maruto and Kikakuya.[27] The pair has worked together before on other visual novels such as Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku o.[28] The producer for White Album 2 is Naoya Shimokawa.[4]

According to Shimokawa, Maruto was the one who came up with the original design and concept for White Album 2.[4] After hearing the details from Maruto, Shimokawa felt that Maruto may be able to create a game that surpassed the original and decided to run with the idea.[4] When Nakamura was told that he would be the artist for the game, he went to speak with Hisashi Kawata, the artist for the original White Album, Kawata stated that he wanted to see the painful winter images that Nakamura would create.[29] Nakamura admits that because White Album 2 is a sequel that he does feel some pressure about the work.[29] Despite being busy with Kimi ga Yobu, Megido no Oka de and the PlayStation 3's Tears to Tiara, Nakamura went ahead and created the character designs for the game even though no one had asked him for them.[29]

When asked about the release date of the second part of the game, Shimokawa stated that it would be nice to release it some time during the winter season to align with the feelings that the title "White Album" evokes.[26] Shimokawa believes that the scenario should be all complete by then and that it would come down to whether the art is completed in time or not.[26] Unlike December When There is No Angel where there were two artists, Nakamura is alone this time and has to work on both the heroines and the supporting characters, making it a rather big effort.[26]

Release history

A preorder campaign for Introductory Chapter began on September 25, 2009.[30] Preorders that were received within an unspecified time period received a chibi model figure of Setsuna Ogiso.[26][30] Both the limited and regular editions of Introductory Chapter was originally planned to be released on February 26, 2010 but it was delayed,[31] Introductory Chapter officially went gold on March 12, 2010[27] and was then released two weeks later on March 26, 2010.[31] The limited edition of the game includes a hardcover novel with it.[26][30] The novel is named Yuki ga Toke, Soshite Yuki ga Furu Made (雪が解け、そして雪が降るまで), and was written by Maruto and illustrated by Nakamura.[30] The novel that comes with Introductory Chapter is told from a different perspective.[1] The novel that comes with Closing Chapter is a story set between the events of Introductory Chapter and the second game. Closing Chapter was released on December 22, 2011.[3]

Adaptations

Drama CD

A drama CD entitled Matsuri no Mae: Futari no 24 Jikan (祭りの前～ふたりの24時間～) was released on August 13, 2010 during Comiket 78.[32] The script was written by Fumiaki Maruto and the illustrations were done by Takeshi Nakamura.[32] A short novel was also included in the drama CD.[32] The premise of the drama CD was about the day before the school festival.[32] Haruki Kitahara, Setsuna Ogiso, and Kazusa Touma are voiced by Takahiro Mizushima, Madoka Yonezawa, and Hitomi Nabatame respectively.

Anime

A 13-episode television series anime adaptation of White Album 2 was announced in the May 2013 issue of Kadokawa Shoten's Monthly Newtype magazine.[33] Masaomi Ando directed the series at studio Satelight.[34] Fumiaki Maruto, the scenario writer for the original games, supervised and wrote the series' scripts and composer Naoya Shimokawa served as the music producer for the anime.[33][34] The series aired in Japan between October 5 and December 28, 2013, on Tokyo MX and on MBS, TVA, BS11 and AT-X later. Crunchyroll streamed the series with English subtitles.[35]

Episode list

No. Title Original air date
1 "White Album"  October 5, 2013
2 "Piano and Guitar, Side by Side"
"Tonariawase no Piano to Gitā" (隣り合わせのピアノとギター) 		October 12, 2013
3 "The Light Music Club, Together Again"
"Keiongaku Dōkō Kai、Sai Kessei" (軽音楽同好会、再結成) 		October 19, 2013
4 "Sound of Destiny"  October 26, 2013
5 "Touching Hearts"
"Fureau Kokoro" (触れあう心) 		November 2, 2013
6 "Before the Fair"
"Matsuri no Mae" (祭りの前) 		November 9, 2013
7 "The Last and Greatest Day"
"Saikō no, Saigo no Hi" (最高の、最後の日) 		November 16, 2013
8 "And Winter Finally Begins"
"Yagate Fuyu ga Hajimatte" (やがて冬が始まって) 		November 23, 2013
9 "Two Hearts Passing"
"Surechigau Kokoro" (すれ違う心) 		November 30, 2013
10 "From When the Snow Melts, To When It Falls Again (Part I)"
"Yuki ga Toke, Soshite Yuki ga Furu Made (Zenpen)" (雪が解け、そして雪が降るまで（前編）) 		December 7, 2013
11 "From When the Snow Melts, To When It Falls Again (Part II)"
"Yuki ga Toke, Soshite Yuki ga Furu Made (Kōhen)" (雪が解け、そして雪が降るまで（後編）) 		December 14, 2013
12 "Graduation"
"Sotsugyō" (卒業) 		December 21, 2013
13 "A Love That Cannot Be"
"Todokanai Koi" (届かない恋) 		December 28, 2013

Music

Introductory Chapter has three theme songs, the opening theme "Todokanai Koi" (届かない恋), the ending theme "Twinkle Snow", and the insert song "After All ~Tsuzuru Omoi~" (After All ~綴る想い~). Both the opening theme and insert song is sung by Rena Uehara.[32] The ending theme is performed by Akari Tsuda.[32] Shinya Ishikawa composed both "Todokanai Koi" and "After All: Tsuduru Omoi" while Junya Matsuoka composed "Twinkle Snow".[36] Matsuoka handled the arrangement of "Todokanai Koi" and Michio Kinugasa arranged "Twinkle Snow" and "After All: Tsuduru Omoi".[36] A CD single containing all three songs was released on May 26, 2010.[32] The single peaked at 65th place in Oricon's rankings for one week.[37]

The opening theme to Closing Chapter, "Shiawase na Kioku" (幸せな記憶), was also sung by Rena Uehara.[38]

The anime series uses "Todokanai Koi '13" (届かない恋 '13) as the opening theme and "Closing '13" and "Sayonara no Koto" (さよならのこと) as ending themes, all three performed by Rena Uehara.

Reception

Introductory Chapter tied for second place in bishōjo game preorders in Japan between the months of December 2009 and January 2010.[39] It was the second most widely sold PC game in March 2010 on Getchu.com.[40]

References

  1. 1 2 "注目の2タイトルとLeafのこれからをプロデューサーに直撃! 下川直哉氏スペシャルインタビュー" [Special interview with Naoya Shimokawa on Leaf's two featured titles], Dengeki Hime (in Japanese) (ASCII Media Works) (December 2009), 2009-10-30, p. 105, JAN 4910164071296
  2. 1 2 3 Leaf (2010-03-26). White Album 2: Introductory Chapter. Leaf.
  3. 1 2 "Official White Album 2: Closing Chapterwebsite" (in Japanese). Leaf. 2011-09-09. Retrieved 2011-09-18.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Push!! (in Japanese) (Max) (December 2009), 2009-10-21, p. 34, JAN 4910078831290 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Tech Gian (in Japanese) (Enterbrain) (January 2010), 2009-11-21, p. 96, JAN 4910063050101 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. 1 2 "Official White Album 2: Introductory Chapter website "Characters" section: Kitahara Haruki" (in Japanese). Leaf. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
  7. ↑ Push!! (in Japanese) (Max) (December 2009), 2009-10-21, p. 32, JAN 4910078831290 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ↑ "Official White Album 2: Introductory Chapter website "Characters" section: Touma Kazusa" (in Japanese). Leaf. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
  9. 1 2 3 Push!! (in Japanese) (Max) (January 2010), 2009-11-21, p. 90, JAN 4910078830101 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. 1 2 "Official White Album 2: Introductory Chapter website "Characters" section: Mizusawa Io" (in Japanese). Leaf. 2010-01-22. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
  11. ↑ "Official White Album 2: Introductory Chapter website "Characters" section: Iizuka Takeya" (in Japanese). Leaf. 2010-01-22. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
  12. ↑ Translated quote: "Ah, what should we do, Haruki? It's down to just you and me now..." Leaf (2010-03-26). White Album 2: Introductory Chapter (in Japanese). Leaf. なぁ春希どうしよう？とうとう俺とお前の二人だけになっちまった．．．
  13. ↑ Translated quote: "Ah, for the song we performed just now...let me introduce it to those that are not familiar with it just in case. / It's called "White Album", from about ten years ago or so I guess...it's Yuki Morikawa's debut song." Leaf (2010-03-26). White Album 2: Introductory Chapter (in Japanese). Leaf. あ、それで、今の曲ですが．．．一応、知らない方のために紹介しておきますね / 『WHITE ALBUM』といって、今から10年前くらいかな．．．森川由綺さんのデビュー曲です
  14. ↑ Translated quote: "It's an original song we just completed yesterday." Leaf (2010-03-26). White Album 2: Introductory Chapter (in Japanese). Leaf. 昨日完成したばかりの、わたしたちのオリジナルです
  15. ↑ Translated quote: "The title is..."Todokanai Koi"." Leaf (2010-03-26). White Album 2: Introductory Chapter (in Japanese). Leaf. タイトルは．．．『届かない恋』です
  16. ↑ Translated quote: "So I...well, um, I...I'm going out with Setsuna." Leaf (2010-03-26). White Album 2: Introductory Chapter (in Japanese). Leaf. だから俺．．．だから、その、俺．．．雪菜と、つきあうことにした
  17. ↑ Translated quote: "Let's have a party with everyone, why don't we?" Leaf (2010-03-26). White Album 2: Introductory Chapter (in Japanese). Leaf. みんなでパーティしようよ？
  18. ↑ Translated quote: "If at all possible, I'd like to celebrate with everyone." Leaf (2010-03-26). White Album 2: Introductory Chapter (in Japanese). Leaf. できればみんなに祝ってもらいたいから
  19. ↑ Translated quote: "I've talked with her. Starting from the next month, you'll be living with your mother...and that you'll be going off to Europe." Leaf (2010-03-26). White Album 2: Introductory Chapter (in Japanese). Leaf. そこで正直に話すんだ。来月から、母親と一緒に住むって。．．．ヨーロップにいっちまうって
  20. ↑ Translated quote: "I've come to pick you up for...Setsuna's birthday party." Leaf (2010-03-26). White Album 2: Introductory Chapter (in Japanese). Leaf. 雪菜の誕生日パーティ．．．迎えにきた
  21. ↑ Translated quote: "Why didn't you come talk to me about this at all? Why, why...Touma!" Leaf (2010-03-26). White Album 2: Introductory Chapter (in Japanese). Leaf. どうして俺に一言の相談もなく？どうして、どうして．．．っ、冬馬っ！
  22. ↑ Translated quote: "Aren't you the one that disappeared in front of me!? Aren't you the one that went to a place that I couldn't reach!" Leaf (2010-03-26). White Album 2: Introductory Chapter (in Japanese). Leaf. あたしの前から先に消えたのはお前だろう！？勝手に手の届かないとこに行ったのはお前だろ！
  23. ↑ Translated quote: "In any case, it's been decided. After the graduation, I'm going to Vienna." Leaf (2010-03-26). White Album 2: Introductory Chapter (in Japanese). Leaf. とにかく、もう決めたんだ。卒業したら、ウィーンにいく
  24. ↑ Translated quote: "There was a letter inside my desk...it wasn't there in the morning though." Leaf (2010-03-26). White Album 2: Introductory Chapter (in Japanese). Leaf. わたしの机の中に手紙が．．．朝来たときにはなかったのに
  25. ↑ Translated quote: "Let's go, Haruki. It's not yet over for the three of us." Leaf (2010-03-26). White Album 2: Introductory Chapter (in Japanese). Leaf. 行こう、春希くん。まだ、終わってないんだよ、わたしたち
  26. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Push!! (in Japanese) (Max) (December 2009), 2009-10-21, p. 35, JAN 4910078831290 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  27. 1 2 "Official White Album 2: Introductory Chapter website" (in Japanese). Leaf. 2010-04-02. Retrieved 2010-04-02.
  28. ↑ ""Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku o" official website's staff section" (in Japanese). Giga. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
  29. 1 2 3 Tech Gian (in Japanese) (Enterbrain) (January 2010), 2009-11-21, p. 94, JAN 4910063050101 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  30. 1 2 3 4 "Official White Album 2: Introductory Chapter website "Product" section" (in Japanese). Leaf. 2010-02-19. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
  31. 1 2 "「WHITE ALBUM ２」発売日変更のお知らせ" [White Album 2 release date change notification] (in Japanese). Aquaplus. 2010-02-17. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
  32. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Official White Album 2: Introductory Chapter website "Special" section" (in Japanese). Leaf. 2010-09-17. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
  33. 1 2 "White Album 2 Romance Visual Novels Get TV Anime". Anime News Network. 2013-04-06. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  34. 1 2 "White Album 2 TV Anime Promo Streamed". Anime News Network. 2013-08-11. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
  35. ↑ "Crunchyroll to Stream White Album 2, 3rd Season of Teekyū Anime". Anime News Network. 2013-10-03. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  36. 1 2 "TVアニメ『AB！』『WA2』など近日発売のCD4タイトルを紹介" [Introduction of four upcoming CD singles from works such as the TV anime "AB!" and "WA2"] (in Japanese). Dengeki Online. 2010-05-22. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  37. ↑ "届かない恋／Ｔｗｉｎｋｌｅ　Ｓｎｏｗ 上原れな，津田朱里のプロフィールならオリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  38. ↑ "『WHITE ALBUM2～closing chapter～』オープニングテーマ歌唱決定!!" (in Japanese). F.I.X. Records. 2011-09-30. Retrieved 2011-10-29.
  39. ↑ "PCpress' Preorder Ranking" (in Japanese). PCpress. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
  40. ↑ "PCゲームセールスランキング 2010年3月" [PC Game Sales Ranking March 2010] (in Japanese). Getchu.com. Retrieved 2010-04-04.

External links

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