You tricked me!
As the first season of White Album nears its conclusion, I thought I’d jot down some thoughts about one of the soapiest series of the season. It’s very easy to dismiss White Album for its terrible male lead, but what many viewers do not seem to understand is that Touya is constructed this way with a well thought out purpose. This is in contrast to most eroge adaptations where the male lead is vague and indecisive because he is just a stand-in for the viewer to vicariously screw all the girls.
If you think Touya is bad, clearly you have read about as much Robert Browning as Touya has. Consider this section of Browning’s popular poem, Porphyria’s Lover:
Happy and proud; at last I knew
Porphyria worshiped me: surprise
Made my heart swell, and still it grew
While I debated what to do.
That moment she was mine, mine, fair,
Perfectly pure and good: I found
A thing to do, and all her hair
In one long yellow string I wound
Three times her little throat around,
And strangled her. No pain felt she;
I am quite sure she felt no pain.
Obviously the first reaction is “Dude WTF?!” but when you think about it, there is a reason why Robert Browning’s book is pushed so hard in White Album. In both Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess, the speaker commits shocking acts to preserve himself as the sole object of the woman’s affections (in his own mind). Just like the speaker, Touya is convinced he only loves Yuki and he is cheating on her and avoiding her in order to help her. Touya convinces himself that he doesn’t want to be an obstacle, and commits crazy acts of infidelity. At times the argument seems persuasive, until the viewer realizes that small gifts and occasional letters would probably be a better way to encourage Yuki.
There's only one way for this to end
I know, I thought the book of Browning poems was just a throw-away plot device too, but after Tamaru failed to knife Misaki (ironically, due to Browning’s book) I realized that I had been tricked into watching 12 episodes of an anime adaptation of Victorian poetry. It’s not just the way that the characters reveal their thoughts in text, but how we come to understand Touya better through his thoughts used to justify his actions.
Rather than thinking out loud, the character composes a self-defense which the reader, as “juror,” is challenged to see through. Browning chooses some of the most debased, extreme and even criminally psychotic characters, no doubt for the challenge of building a sympathetic case for a character who doesn’t deserve one and to cause the reader to squirm at the temptation to acquit a character who may be a homicidal psychopath.
Akira’s line in episode 12 lamenting how Touya always comes through as the hero in unexpected ways has me suspect that Touya will eventually be responsible for Yuki’s final transformation into a confident, independent idol. Touya is building up a very diverse portfolio of romantic transgressions and lies, and I believe that this will be the pain-bringer that shocks Yuki into severing her last tie to the old, helpless Yuki who relies on her horrible boyfriend. I find Yayoi’s character especially delicious in the way she hurts and helps both Touya and Yuki, and I feel that this models the way in which Touya’s deplorable actions will end up saving the day once again.
I also find it notable that all the males in White Album seem kinda nuts. Akira’s been cheesecaking and stalking Misaki for five years, and yet would rather pass out crime scene fliers than help her with her dream play. Frankie never talks and just sits around listening to music, and Touya’s dad brings the photo of his dead wife with him wherever he goes. Eiji is constructing fiendish schemes in a way that would have most boards of directors replacing him in an instant, and we have yet to get a real explanation for the secret entrance in the broom closet. And then there is Tamaru who tried to knife Misaki with a lead paint-coated prop knife to punish her for getting a new boyfriend.
Anyway, what do you think of Touya?
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21 Comments
This is a nice and helpful analysis, but for me, meaning art does not justify a lack of entertainment value.
But then again, maybe this anime is oddly directed towards a very small otaku niche that is into romantic poetry?
This is a fair criticism of White Album, and I do think that sometimes WA tends to trudge along. However, I think this is a result of the type of story being told, rather than a lack of skill in storytelling.
Dude WTF?!
When I first started White Album, I also reallyy liked how for once the main protagonist isn’t one of the good guys. It’s good to finally see some truly flawed characters in anime, but my whole problem with the show is that it wants to do too much. There are too many subplots that go nowhere and it starts throwing in these useless soap opera plot twists whenever it can.
Hmm, I think most of the subplots have been relevant actually, and because there is a second season definitely in the works, I am ok with the pace being set. Only time will tell if everything pans out, but I like where WA is going so far. I also agree that I enjoy following Touya, especially since it is clear to everyone (except Yuki) that he is flawed and not to be idolized.
I wouldn’t have made the Browning connection if you hadn’t pointed it out, but now that you mention it, it makes a lot of sense: Touya’s actions have been carefully planned to produce maximum viewing enjoyment, rather than maximum scoring potential, using Browning’s poetry as a model for his lunacy. If for one second Touya applied rational logic to, well, anything, this season wouldn’t be anywhere near as fun as it has been. It’s his disconnection from reality that makes the series so amusing, and that makes his innate ability to unerringly pick the wrong choice in any given situation hilarious rather than frustrating. Of course, I do enjoy trashy soaps….
I am now looking forward to the revelation that the awesome Yayoi is actually a man, as you cleverly pointed out with your opening graphic, and this:
made me laugh so hard that I cried.
I think an understanding of how WA is Browning-esque definitely enriches the show, and I am with you in finding Touya amusing rather than awful. Unfortunately, I suffer from the same attraction to trashy soapy plots that you do…
Uhhh… Dude, there’s still one episode left XD
Yes, and one season after that. I realized after re-reading my opening line that it sounds like I think the first season is over, but I really meant to say that the first season is nearly over.
Interesting commentary.
Have to say this is the show to both take and not take too seriously. The overdrama is amusing in a schadenfreuden sense( why so serious?
) and the themes behind it, as you’ve mentioned, are. (the serious business)
And there’s going to be another set of episodes in the fall. The 14-26. ’second season’. We’re clearly going for the atom bomb in this and the next episode.
Yeah, the extra drama can be a bit too rich for some tastes, but I still love it. I can’t wait to see how bad Touya can be in the final episode, to ensure that everyone has to spend the next season picking up the pieces =3.
Dude, awesome analysis. It makes everything so much clearer to understand now. Nice work on your research!
Excellent post, Kabitzin. Really excellent and quite enlightening. It will be interesting to follow the show from this perspective
I remember reading Porphyria’s Lover for high school English class. Needless to say I was scarred for life.
What else can I say but good job!
And I was sympathetic towards Touya for quite a while. His relationship has been in shambles since well before the show even began. Wanting to stay with Yuki even though it clearly wasn’t working, lonely time apart led him into the arms of a seductress. While I’m not condoning that type of behavior, I can certainly understand it. But lately, he’s taken it all a bit too far. Now he’s just being a jackass.
White Album is clearly a show filled with very flawed characters, but it’s interesting to interpret their general unsympathetic (with a capital U) portrayals that way.
Still, that doesn’t stop me from laughing at how pathetic Touya is, and I actually played the game…
Frankie never talks because those damned kids never listen, least of all Touya. Kampfer Fujii is to be commended for his unwavering loyalty to his deceased wife whose passing he mourns while that ungrateful pathetic excuse for a son shows no such respect.
I am unconvinced of any defense Touya may have to offer, for any pleas he makes is automatically guilty of wasting my time. My ruling stands GUILTY. I watch for Rina alone everyone with exception to Frankie and Kampfer Fujii can suck on eggs.
Finally, I got around to watching this, so I can actually read and comment.
Hm… so are you saying that because of what a giant failure at life Touya is, Yuki will be able to realize that dating him was a huge mistake and she can move on to bigger and better things?
Exactly. Sometimes it has to hurt before you’ll stop doing it (e.g. sticking your hand into a fire).
Well, that does explain a lot about Touya … but I still don’t really get the “what & why” of the rest of the characters. They’re equally out of this world and the logic of Browning’s work doesn’t seem to fit.
You mentioned that the men in White Album are all nuts, but the women are no less insane. Even Yuki.
Good observations! And I think you missed out Rina’s first male manager who seems to be a stalker/voyeur as well ^^;
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