Okay, White Album 2 is Not White Album 1

This is a list of what White Album 2 is and what it is not.

• White Album 2 takes place in the same setting as White Album 1. 10 years later.
• White Album 2 has no other relationship with its predecessor except for its three songs.
• White Album 2 has a different writer from White Album 1. Maruto Fumiaki is an accomplished writer who has written Parfait and more.
• And to add to that, White Album 2’s Maruto will return as the screen composition for the anime adaptation.
• White Album 2 the VN is released in 2011. White Album 1 the VN is released in 1998.
• White Album 2 is animated by Satelight. White Album 1 is animated by Seven Arcs.
• White Album 2’s anime will focus on Introductory Chapter. Nobody knows if the staff is interested in adapting Closing Chapter and Coda.
• White Album 2 focuses on the high school, college, and adulthood years of three characters. Because of this, the game takes over a span of nine years in fragmented three year gaps.
• White Album 2 has a cute male character. He might be the cutest of the three girls in the love triangle.
• White Album 2 has fleshed-out characters whose backstories actually are short novels. I’m not kidding.
• White Album 2 Closing Chapter is the #1 VN in ErogeGameScape. White Album 1 is nowhere near there. Also, hi Maburabu Alternative: I see you’re on the third spot.
• And to add to that, Parfait, another Maruto work, is tied on 4th place with many VNs you all have heard of.
• White Album 2 Closing Chapter opening is animated by Masahide Yanagisawa (I know the animator from Cardcaptor Sakuga™); it’s pretty rad.
• White Album 2 Closing Chapter has a businesswoman who is so goddamn adorable she makes your heart melt in the inside.
• White Album 2 Closing Chapter has a qt 3.14 kouhai character who is a rule 34 of the male protagonist. She is adorbs when she frowns.
• White Album 2 Closing Chapter has Christmas Sex Time.
• White Album 2 Closing Chapter features a chocolate dispenser.
• White Album 2 Coda’s beginning is set in Strasbourg (video – mild spoilers).
• White Album 2 is a straightly played romance. It’s a “het” romance just like its predecessor. But it’s executed well and you will probably like it if you give it a chance to let the drama unfold.
• White Album 2’s characters feel as human as we are. They are flawed people and yet, they are great in their own way. Maruto’s writing has the ability to make the characters and settings alive.
• White Album 2 doesn’t ask for you to immerse yourself into the work; you will get into the groove without realizing.
• White Album 2 the VN plays with its medium. You have to re-read some of the game to get a whole new context of a character and a scene. Most famously, readers are recommended to skip through Introductory Chapter again to see a different character react to the scene.
• White Album 2’s drama does not feel “forced”. It unravels itself at a natural pace.
• White Album 2’s routes will throw you into a roller-coaster of emotions with its bizarrely huge amount of foreshadowing and shocking reveals. Yet, you won’t feel cheated by it because they’re well-placed. They’re in that sweet spot between Captain Obvious and Pulled It Out From The Ass. In other words, Maruto magic.
• White Album 2’s narration is playful and poetic at times. With sharp, introspective insights into Haruki’s mind, we get a feel for his character and get as troubled as he is when he encounters a terrible situation.
• White Album 2’s dialogue paints each character’s personality out more than one will expect. Setsuna and Chiaki in Closing Chapter have some of the best, painful lines to listen to. And they characterize their true nature, often in one simple jabbing line.
• White Album 2 is exasperating yet charming at the same time. It’s hard to feel one way or another.

And most importantly, White Album 2 is actually good.

Check your privilege, het-h8rs.

VN Information
Company: Leaf
Scenario Writer: Maruto Fumiaki, Kikakuya
Artist: Nakamura Takeshi, Katsura Edage, Yanagisawa Wasahide
Music: Ishikawa Shinya, Nakagami Kazuhide, Shimokawa Naoya, Matsuoka Junya, Kinugasa Michio
Genre: Romance, Love Triangle
Release Date: December 22, 2011
Links: Official site – VNDB – EGS

Misc. Stuff
Translation: Inactive translation. Thanks Futsuu (for killing an awful project off).
Recommended if you enjoy: character drama between three likable yet flawed characters, characters who grow up to be adults, a bitter exploration of first love and not letting it go, love triangles, chocolate dispensers
Similar VNs: other Maruto visual novels
Will people feels: Unless you don’t have a heart, yes, you will.
Kastel’s arbitrary VNDB score: 9/10