Thread: Crunchyroll White Album (All Episodes, 1-26)
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Old 2009-01-05, 12:18   Link #87
relentlessflame
 
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Age: 41
I don't know... I have to say that the more I think about the first episode, the more I appreciate it and really like it. It's definitely one of the more daring and clever series openers I've seen in a while.

A major theme of the episode is "time", and they did all sorts of clever things to play with this concept. Not up on the names yet, but...

- The guy's friend and his crush on the girl that lends the lead the poetry book. The lead says that it's been years, and the guy says he "goes at his own pace".

- Later, the encounter with the tennis girl on the bike who lost her brother. The friend this time makes a unintentionally hurtful comment, and the lead comments that it takes some longer than others.

- The numerous conversations he has with Yuki where he's watching her on TV in order to keep up with what she's doing, with her pointing out "that was a recording", including the whole "ruined dress" story used as an illustration. (Note how they paused the display right on Yuki's dress so the viewers could go "huh? it's not ruined?", and then the phone call and all the flashbacks -- oops, you're a week late!)

- The conversation about Yuki being the lead's "every day", and the retort about "how many months has it been since your every day".

Basically, the episode was about how everyone has their own reality operating at different speeds and times, and relationships only exist at the intersection of those points. At this point in the show, none of the characters "times" are in alignment, which is why the lead feels that his relationship with Yuki is slipping by him -- because she's moving much faster than he is, and not only is he not able to keep up, but she's not able to slow down either.

Anyway, it's very clever. I'm definitely going to watch the first episode again as soon as I can, because it's one of those shows that's rich with symbolism. If it seems confusing at first, it's only because they're trying to throw you into the "time" the lead lives in -- where everything seems jumbled and messed up. The objective of this show, I imagine, is to eventually straighten things out (though I imagine it'll certainly get more messy along the way). It's a bit soap-opera-ish, but the clever writing's definitely got me interested, anyway.

Edit: Oh! I forgot another obvious illustration in my list above -- the very beginning. Calendar -- "be at work at 8!" Gets up late, stares at clock: "It stopped? Must be noon by now!" Ended up late, lost his job. Combined with all the above... foreshadowing much? I'm sure there are a lot of others too.

Last edited by relentlessflame; 2009-01-05 at 12:42.
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