White Album - Episode 16

After a bit of a slow start to this second half of White Album, the drama really starts to pick up as we hit episode sixteen, with plenty of important goings-on to get our teeth into.

First and foremost, as Touya spends another night with Yayoi, his father collapses once again at home, which sees him rushed back into hospital as his heart troubles worsen. Even when he arrives at the hospital however, Touya seems determined to hide the severity of the situation from the likes of Misaki - But is it for the benefit of others or simply because he can't cope with the truth himself?


Meanwhile, Yayoi announces over breakfast with Touya that Eiji Ogata has had a change of heart regarding a long-term viewpoint that he's held previously, meaning that he'll be entering one of his production company's artists into February's forthcoming "Venus" music festival, a fabulous country-wide showcase which offers up a great opportunity for anyone who enters it. A bit like The X-Factor then I suppose, only with less talentless dimwits with any luck. Of course, the real key to this announcement is that any one company can allow allow one artist to take part, but will it be Rina or Yuki? At first glance, it appears that the decision has already been made and that Rina is naturally furious about it, but upon a second look it seems like that particular turn of events are nothing but a carefully staged charade with another motive entirely in mind, one which involves Yayoi and most likely Touya to boot...

After so much moping and general focus upon Touya at his useless worst, I was thrilled to see this episode moving away from that and into far more intriguing directions. If nothing else, the last few episodes have been crying out for more input from Rina, and the whole idol industry as a whole has far more potential for drama and bitchiness than Touya acting like an idiot (a pastime which admittedly I could write a whole book about regarding his personality and motivations by now). While I'm not too sure how Haruka and Mana are going to fit into the grand scheme of things, Menou's place in proceedings now seems pretty obvious, and all in all I'm now expecting better things from future episodes. Perhaps most importantly of all, is Touya finally going to get his comeuppance? The evil, vengeful person in me says "I hope so".