Finally, a VN —> anime adaptation that actually does the source material some justice.
As someone who played and enjoyed the source material very, very much (and believe me, I’m definitely not alone on this, since White Album 2 is the highest-rated eroge on erogamescape of recent years), I stepped into the anime with skepticism. Eroge to anime adaptations tend to disappear into the ocean of mediocrity, and many aren’t suitable for the 13-episode anime format that seems to be the standard these days. Really, I was afraid of the anime being lousy and everyone else dismissing the entire franchise as being bad without giving the VN a second look.
Thank Satelight the first episode exceeded my expectations and turned out well. Aside from a few snippets in the beginning that are more openly spoilerific than expected (those who haven’t played the VN would not know of their significance yet, don’t worry), I have no major complaints about the first episode. It closely followed the beginning of the VN, even keeping quite a bit of Haruki’s monologues. The atmosphere is replicated accurately, and enhanced by the anime’s palette choice. The animation is clean and consistent, and the music is composed of remixed versions of the visual novel’s OST, the majority of which are great-sounding piano tracks.
Anyway, White Album 2 is a dramatic love triangle centered around a guy an two girls. That may not be so apparent though, as the first episode tries to avoid showing the face of the other love interest, and focuses on establishing the character of the protagonist, Kitahara Haruki, and his meeting with the school idol, Ogiso Setsuna. The character interactions are natural, and the protagonist has a distinct class president-type personality as well as a strong presence in the story. There’s also a musical theme to the story, as the protagonist starts off as the unskilled backup guitarist of the light music club that falls apart shortly before the school festival, and the main trio bonds through playing music. WA2 tries to go for a more realistic tone compared to other eroge (and eroge adaptations by extension), and does not use common ecchi elements to further its plot.
Of course, it has yet to be seen whether the rest of the anime will stay true to the VN seeing as how the meat of the story lies in the development of the humanly-flawed characters and dramatic scenes, but for now the first episode delivers and does justice to the source material. Considering how Maruto, the writer of the VN, is also writing scripts for the anime and the staff working on it are apparently all familiar with the source material, I have high hopes for the rest of the anime.
