White Album - Episode 5

The last episode of White Album left Touya on the brink of a night of passion with Yuki - The trouble is, after a hard day at work, poor old Yuki ends up fast asleep by the time Touya has showered, which is always a bit of a mood killer.

So, rather than wake her, Touya decides to set off home, at which point he finds himself intercepted by Yuki's manager who offers him (well, pretty much forces him to take) a lift. Of course, during their drive she regales Touya with stories about how both Rina and her career were damaged by the paparazzi early on, and how she wants Yuki to become strong enough to avoid such problems and obstacles. It's pretty clear that Yayoi sees Touya as one of these obstacles, but her way of dealing with it is rather... unique. Rather than appealing to Touya's better nature, she instead appeals to his carnal nature - Forcing him to grope her breasts, making him go out on a date with her and kissing him in the taxi on the way home. This and a big wad of cash will resolve the issue as far as she can see.


Aside from that, Touya also appears about to be dragged into Misaki's problems - After being asked to proof-read her script, we see her getting a bit of a rough time from the drama club, with a hint that she's had to go to some pretty extreme lengths to even get her script viewed by them... Oh, and Rina is still after some time with Touya too - He's a popular guy, although heaven knows why.

As with every episode of White Album thus far, it really does set up a bit of a love/hate affair with its protagonist. His reactions to Yayoi are almost a perfect example of everything that is wrong with Touya - He reacts angrily to her suggestions that he break up with Yuki, pulls away in disgust when she pulls his hand to her chest, yet at this point he doesn't walk away but allows her to give him a lift home, and worse allows her to take him out with her later that same day. He redeems himself a little by paying little heed to her kissing him and offering him money, but still doesn't tell her where to stick her bundled Yen in the manner befitting of a guy with a girlfriend. Add to that his lack of comprehension when it comes to dealing with the various other girls in his life, and you have one relatively hopeless individual.

Still, in a way it's this personality that keeps things going in White Album - If he'd sworn his undying love to Yuki and pushed away all the other girls we wouldn't have much of a series, would we? So, frustrating though he is, I'll forgive his faults in the name of plot progression, while wondering if some of the things in this episode even happen in real life - Sexual favours to get scripts viewed by a drama club? Managers getting their charge's boyfriends to grope them? It's like something out of a dra... Oh, wait.