White Album 2 isn't a masterpiece, far from it. But I'd still rewatch it over and over again because for me the show is damn near unforgettable. From the introduction of the characters to the music used, the way the tone shifts mid-way into the series and how the change in how their voices sounded were all things that stuck with me. The show started of slow and had almost an entire episode each for the main trio to be introduced. At first all of them felt flat, like a stereotypical harem setting would have it in but as the show went on those stereotypes slowly started crumbling down. One scene that stuck with me on the first half was Ogisa biting her lip before agreeing to sing the song Touma and Haruki wrote and how Ogisa was aware of Touma and Haruki's feelings for each other. The show starts to curve into a drama sequence on the second half. It steers away from the music and starts to focus on the relationship between our trio who constantly weigh their friendships over their feelings and how this ultimately ended up not working and the consequences of constanly preserving their friendship led to what follows. Although I bet the story could've been portrayed in a different way so as to not make each of the final episodes kind of throw away the buildup of their friendship the previous half had accomplished, it goes to show how messed up things can get when your emotions are left to do everything for you. From Ogisa's extremely kind nature ends up being the reason for her to constantly bellitle herself, seeing no blame to what Touma and Haruki are doing to Touma's suppresed feelings for Haruki, and Haruki's conflicting situation amidst realizing he has feelings for the both of them. Ultimately the anime seemed to have favored Touma in the end, and as someone who liked Touma's character and was on her side from the very beginning I did feel some sense of accomplishment that Touma seemed to be the one Haruki loved more. Yet despite this I didn't like how they made Ogisa seem like the villain, it felt somehow forced and horrible for the character of Ogisa. Haruki was also in the same boat, his rationality began to go straight down the drain as the story went on and it felt painfully obvious that they were trying to make him even worst than the episode prior. I guess you can call this part of the "only letting your emotions take control" yet that never seemed to happen with Touma, her realizing, coming to terms and then letting her feelings out all felt more like they had a sense of thought put into them than when it was Haruki or Setsuna. Like her constantly reminding Haruki about her relationship with Setsuna until the moment they had sex which was the only time Touma had disregarded Setsuna so openly. Yet despite the night and coming to terms with her feelings still didn't let them hold her back as she still continued her flight. One thing that made me feel as if Setsuna wasn't really part of the story or a central character was Touma and Haruki's sex scene. To me, that part was an accumulation of Touma's pent up feelings for Haruki and Haruki's own realization, it felt like the whole thing from him staying at Touma's to constantly nagging her out despite going out with Setsuna all led to this moment. But at the same time it made me question Setsuna's reason for being a main character in the first place, comparing Setsuna and Touma's romantic development with Haruki, it felt clearer that Touma was the one he would've chosen, it was blatantly portrayed as such and although Setsuna did have clear flags set up it felt as though after the concert she became a tool to further Touma and Haruki's relationship thus leading to them having sex. That part of the story I still don't fully grasp properly and still wonder why they made it that way.

Overall, as I said, the show is far from what you'd call a masterpiece, but for me it isn't a dumpsterfire either. The story felt real, yet exaggerated. Stuff like that happens in the real world, for sure it does. But not to the extent White Album 2 portrays. To me White Album 2 is a story not far from what you'd experience in real life. The scenes are exaggerated, the drama is upped ten-folds and the characters feel incredibly convenient at times. But I'd rewatch it despite its flaws, I've yet to forget how it felt the first time I saw it end, I had a feeling of melancholy and questioned myself if ever I was in Haruki's place would I have done the same unknowing of the events that happened and letting my emotions cloud my decisions. It felt so real that it scared me. White Album 2 is a good show, with a good plot but a pretty bad execution of ideas. I'd bring it up, but I wouldn't openly recommend it.