ホワイトアルバム Episode 21
White Album Ep. 21 review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Ogata reveals to Kanzaki’s assistant that he’s ruined the real painting of the blonde girl. Yuki and Yayaoi meet Rina and Touya at work were Yayoi gets Touya into a bathroom stall for sex. Menou runs away to see Touya and discovers a cameraman in the bushes. That cameraman, Rina’s first manager Hiiragi, is found my Tamaru who wants Hiiragi to work for him. Yuki pays Touya’s father a visit on her Coming of Age ceremony day where she wears her kimono before going to a photo shoot. Rina and Touya have dinner where Touya is not interesting in talking about Yuki.

Touya gives Hana an early present for her birthday in case he doesn’t see her on the day. Kanzaki comes home and discovers that Rina’s manager is in fact her daughter’s tutor. As such, she tells Hana this fact and that Touya is actually dating Yuki. Hana gets mad, trashes her room, then runs away. She doesn’t return so Kanzaki is frantic and attempts to contact Touya through various means. When she finally does, Touya calls Misaki where she reminds him of the cabin Haruka used to stay with her brother. Touya decides to take a trip there.

Meanwhile, Tamaru’s father chastises him for his indiscretions with a woman. After crying, Tamaru makes contact with Misaki while Hiiragi calls Yayoi to arrange a meeting.

Thoughts/Review:

So, Tamaru is being brought back into the story. Well, he does make the most sense when it comes to getting the Hiiragi reinvolved in the story. Hiiragi has been hiding in the shadows (literally and figuratively) ever since he was fired as Rina’s manager. It was pretty obvious that he was the one stalking Yayoi and since Touya is banging Yayoi, his grabbing photos of the two would fit in with his loser, no life having, stalker mentality. Personally, I’ve never understood stalkers, but then again any stalker has mental problems for sure.

Speaking of mental cases, Tamaru is certainly one. He did stab Misaki in the first season but then didn’t get into trouble legally. Then he brags about it during his meeting with Hiiragi and that’s just nuts. He impregnates a woman, cries like a baby, desperately wants Misaki, and is a complete scum bucket. With someone like this, there’s no telling what he’d do but for whatever reason, he appears to have convinced Hiiragi tocontact Yayoi while at the same time Tamaru contacts Misaki.

Touya can’t stop banging Yayoi. Their relationship is so strange. Touya is a scum for banging her in the first place but her apparent need for his “services” continues to be a puzzler for me. I’ve surmised in the past that she is likely filling a need of her own, whether loneliness, horniness, or whatever else. However, why she’d continue to choose him is the core of my puzzlement. Surely she could bang any number of other guys, right? Why Touya, whom she knows will bang other girls if they come into his orbit. *_*

I’m surprised Touya and Rina didn’t get busy in this episode. They did go out to dinner but it seems to me that Rina wouldn’t mind things going further. Pardon me while I throw up in my mouth a bit. *_*

Then there’s Touya and Mana. Mana being a tsundere character is one thing, but now I’m convinced she’s in love with Touya for some reason. While looking for Christmas images, I stumbled onto a few images from the White Album visual novel and witnessed Mana hooking up with Touya. Excuse me while I go off to seriously vomit. Ewwww. OK, I know that in visual novels, the male character bangs all the women but this was too much. I really, REALLY hope the anime doesn’t cross that line but who can say. *_*

Still, when it comes to Mana, I can understand her feelings of loneliness. I can’t understand her attraction to Touya though, but when her mother stated that Touya was dating Yuki and was Rina’s manager, Mana’s reaction was one of having deluded herself into thinking that Touya was hers alone. Very odd but we’ll see where the story takes things.

As for Kanzaki, she’s a poor excuse for a mother. Her life is so tied up in her record studio and the idols she employs that she has no time for Mana. No wonder Mana feels so alone.

Speaking of girls and Touya, what does Menou see in him? Ugh.

I liked the coming of age stuff shown with Yuki. That doesn’t show up too often in anime or manga but I have seen it in the past.

In the end, this episode renewed my interest in the series. I hope the remainder of the series will continue to do so.