(this review contains heavy spoilers)

It's behind all of our lies, all of our laziness, it's the reason we cheat, and ultimately is the reason to the rottenness of our species. It's also the reason we love. Not one soul can escape selfish desires. There are those who will run from them until they are at their limit, and there are those who will embrace them at every step. WHITE ALBUM 2 exemplifies those perfectly, taking the viewer away from their comfort zone and inducing reflection.

WHITE ALBUM 2 at first gives us the same impression as any other music anime, and to a certain extent it doesn't escape much from the formula. 3 high school students, though with very different personalities, get together with the goal of playing at the Student Fair. During such process, the anime already shows us glimpses of the direction the narrative is going to take us, but it isn't until after the student fair, episode 7, that it does so.

~~Nagisa~~ Setsuna Ogiso is (narrative-wise) the first one to move on her selfish desires. Knowing Haruki would never turn her down (because it would make her sad), she makes a move on him. Setsuna's selfish desire is not just based off of her love for Haruki, but her love for and jealousy of her friend, Kazusa Touma, and the wish to stay with both of them forever, though knowing of their feelings for each other. Her actions tell me she's someone that embraces her desires. Regardless of how sad it makes both other protagonists ultimately.

After the Student Fair and ultimately the confession of Setsuna Ogiso, Kazusa starts distancing herself from the loving couple. Of course she would, she was scared she was gonna act on her own selfish desires, and she was hurt whenever she saw Setsuna and Haruki together, it reminded her that she lost. Even after taking Haruki's first kiss.

Kazusa Touma and Haruki Kitahara have the same selfish desire; Each other. Though seeing glimpses of those in Touma throughout the anime, they show us a flashback of Touma falling in love with Haruki, in 2 thrilling episodes. after the end of the flashback, we return to a scene of Haruki, while still dating Setsuna, kisses Kazusa in one of the most uncomfortable and shocking scenes in all anime. He ran away from them until he was at his limit, and he gave away. Through the next few episodes the narrative continues, with Haruki feeling guilty. The scene of Kazusa and him encountering each other, and sleeping together is, aswell, one of the most uncomfortable scenes in all anime, as I'm sure Masaomi Andou intended all along.

The story clearly wants to tell us and teach us one of the most important lessons in life: Not all stories have heroes and villains, most of them have only villains, and maybe victims.
(alright story review time is over)

The character writing is another point where the anime is sure to grasp you, though at any time a side character is involved in the scene, you kinda wish they would leave. The chemistry between the 3 protagonists is amazing, and you are sure to love every conversation between them.

The soundtrack is impressive, which is to be expected from a music anime. it's tracks are melancholic and fit well with the narrative, the song will never truly take grasp your attention, it's not what it's trying to achieve, but they are enjoyable to say the least. (good job, Aquaplus!)

The art is unimpressive, though not to an extent that makes it bad. It doesn't really fail to grasp the emotions of the characters, though I'm sure other studios would've probably made a better job and maybe the narrative would've been even more enjoyable. (sorry Satelight!)

Though making us uncomfortable throughout a lot of it's narrative, WHITE ALBUM 2 is an important anime that resonates with all of us to a personal level. Much like Clannad: After Story, WHITE ALBUM 2 isn't necessarily a narrative you would call easy to digest, but if you're willing to leave your comfort zone and reflect on the subjects the anime presents, you're in for a great time and I totally recommend you giving WHITE ALBUM 2 a try.