Editorial
White Album: Realistic? Unrealistic? You Tell Me.
One hackneyed phrase I often hear when people talk about romance-themed series is that it’s either “realistic” or “unrealistic”. Of course, White Album is no exception. I mean, in 3 out of 4 White Album posts (and even forum posts) you’ll see these terms overused, may it be in the post itself or in the comments — people defending the series for its realism on one hand, other people complaining about how unrealistic the situations are on the other. It sounds like a broken record now, a meme more than anything, especially when the “realism” and “unrealism” mentioned isn’t even expounded on. Kinda like “thought-provoking”, you know, the word you use to describe something smart or to sound smart but that you can’t quite explain? The kind that’s so thought-provoking it leaves you speechless.
I know very well that I don’t have the right to accuse people of not knowing what they’re saying when they talk about realism, because it’s something personal. Something becomes Real if you know it happened in Real Life, and it becomes Unreal if it strays away from the experiences you’ve witnessed or been through before.
This is why I try to avoid these words like a plague now, not unless I could defend it. I mean, who am I to accuse White Album of being unrealistic or realistic? I might not have met any assholes like Touya in real life, but who knows, perhaps somewhere out there in the world is his Real Life kindred spirit, and/or his avid fan who want to build his very own harem, and very much capable of it too.
From the way I see it, people’s views on the Realistic and Unrealistic aspect of romance shows vary from person to person, something that can only be cleared up if the said people actually expound on it. So let’s settle this once and for all! Dear readers, random passersby, etc., I ask you:
(1) What aspects of White Album do you consider to be realistic or unrealistic?
(2) Or in general, what aspects of romance-themed series would you consider to be realistic and/or unrealistic?
Feel free to enlighten me please, also for the sake of other ones who might not have the best idea of “realism” because their eyes have not yet been opened to reality.
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20 comments for “White Album: Realistic? Unrealistic? You Tell Me.”
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Realism for me personally has little to do with what I find realistic in relation to the real world as I know it, but how it real it feels to me. In another words, all about execution and presentation of its world and the characters. Crazy world of Now and Then Here and There or the overly optimisitc character of Shu may be nothing like what one observers from real life, but it feels more real than just about anything. When you cease to ask, ‘hey I haven’t seen these characters act this way in real life’ and start being immersed into their stories, sympathetic towards their thoughts, feelings and actions, then that is realism enough for me.
I think the situations in WA are unrealistic but the characters and realationships ring true for me. Oddly enough its Touya that pulls it off mostly but then he doesn’t seem like that much of an asshole to me, just a young man who has three problems that a lot of males in their late teens or early twenties have to one degree or another. One, weak willed, all tho in all fairness you get four or five pretty girls apparently itching to ride your jock and see how focused you can stay. This may just be there because of the “harem” aspect of the setting. Two, lack of responsibly, you can see this in how he interacts with his dad who you can tell doesn`t hate Touya but is fed up/frustrated with him. This is why I think Dad kicked him out of the house so Touya could learn not to be a screwup by living on his own, sadly it would appear this plan has failed. Three, he is self-centered, this is best seen in his goddess of the day shtick that the girls seem to like which is really just a reflection of his egotism. Does this add up to Touya being a bad person? Maybe, maybe not but he is more complex than the standard one dimensional harem lead so I’ll keep watching.
I could go on about the girls but I’ll spare myself even more of a tl;dr by summing up that the only one that I would willingly spend time around is Mana and not JUST because I’m a lolicon. ;-P
I think White Album falls under a third category: Realistic Enough. In other words, nothing crazy enough to break my suspension of disbelief happens. If a gang made up entirely of twins dressed in meido were to arrive and have everyone fall in love with Touya at first sight, then White Album would move into Unrealistic. Yayoi pushes it just under Realistic, but Rina, Yuki, and puppy-Haruka are believable. I think the only rating that really matters is Unrealistic, because that is when the romance actually starts to hurt the quality of the anime series.
Rough Romance Realism Scale
Realistic:
Toradora
True Tears
KimiNozo
KareKano
Realistic Enough:
Macross Frontier
White Album
Unrealistic:
Zero no Tsukaima
Love Hina
I think the basis should be how well the relationship is developed. I have no problem with some loser being adored by various girls, but it can’t just always be love at first sight, or love after being given a word of encouragement. That is crap. Also, once you get past 3 real love interests, I think the realism boat is pretty much sunk. The rest I think is fair game, depending on the setting of the series and the skill of the director.
The thing is, emotional realism is not necessarily literal realism. We could trot out various statistics (okay, so the sociologists aren’t that detailed yet with their studies, but if they were, we could.) However I suspect that we’d find, at the end of the day, what is statistically most probable is not necessarily what we “feel” to be most real.
There is a spectrum of realness and everybody’s cutoff points or tolerance levels are going to be different. Lasting love at first sight is, I’d guess, wildly improbable in real life, but people are okay with it as a trope because bards and poets have pounded it into our brains for over 300 years now. However, multiple people falling in love at first sight? Less probable. Multiple people falling in love at first sight with the same person? Still less probable. All of the above, and that person returning interest to every single one? Even less probable. And so on.
Ultimately it might not even be explainable. Malcom Gladwell writes in Blink about how people can’t always explain the reasons for their own impressions. That doesn’t mean they don’t have reasons, just that they’re never going to be able to articulate some things in ways that other people will understand and accept them.
Hehe, I just watched ep. 8 so I feel like I need to babble (perhaps incoherently) about White Album
I am guilty of using the term “unrealistic” for this show, though I like to think that when I do, I adequately explain myself 
What I find unrealistic about White Album (and a whole lot of harems) is the number of girls who actively have a thing for the weak-willed Touya. Let me elaborate. There are certainly girls who fall in love with worthless guys, but we haven’t yet heard explanation for why (for example) someone like Haruka is so obsessed with him. He seems to be the replacement for her beloved brother (which would make sense of the obsession), but how did that happen? And why Touya of all people? Granted, this will probably be explained later, but I kind of doubt whatever background they give will satisfy me on this one. Also, it just seems doubtful to me that Touya could have given enough time and attention to all of these girls (Yuki, Misaki, Haruka, Mana?) in the past that they love him so much/depend on him so much now. And furthermore, that they not only like him, but are actively trying to get closer to him. I will say that for most of the girls, I don’t find their individual situations that unrealistic; it’s just that they’re *all* going for the same guy.
Well, Misaki’s situation with the drama club is unrealistic to me. I have never heard of a club that you cannot quit.
The whole thing with Yayoi seems unrealistic too, unless she is a nymphomaniac or getting paid by someone else. (If she’s doing it because she’s secretly in love with Touya …
)
Of course, maybe I have no right to speak on any of this, since as you said, there may be people like these characters out there. (
That’s kind of a scary thought.) I definitely base my concepts of realism on what I (or people I know) have experienced, and to be sure, my experiences have not involved pop idols or anything like that.
Sorry for the tl;dr comment. I have to say, it’s fun to hash things out when it comes to White Album
I think people label stuff realistic or unrealistic based on their experiences. Basically, if they have experienced something similar, or think that it’s within their range of experiences that they can… experience, then it’s realistic. Of course, this is all totally subjective, which results in such (often petty) arguments.
Methinks that White Album can be segmented into (’realistic’ and ‘unrealistic’) portions, each portion pertaining Touya and one of the girls. Taken individually, some seem believable enough – Touya ‘dating’ Yuki, Touya helping Misaki, Rina toying with Touya (?) – while some may require a bit more suspension of belief but still chewable in the realm of fiction at least – Touya the brother substitute, Touya the useless tutor, TouyaXYayoi (????). Then again, whether the scenario is ‘realistic’ depends again on the veiwer.
The ‘problem’ may be how they’re all overlapped over one another coming off as slightly haphazard and thus ‘unrealistic’ to a certain extent – sure one can have many of these ‘encounters’ in the course of a lifetime, but all at once? But I guess that’s the main ‘problem’ with these harem-esque romances, especially those adapted from games where you’re really encouraged to just stick to ONE scenario to keep the ‘realism’ intact.
Urgh, tl;dr, and though it seems I’m criticizing WA and all the other shows before it utilizing the concept of weaving multiple scenarios into one, it doesn’t explain how it’s still possible to enjoy them at all. Guess I’m just numbed out after watching the concept over and over again. (But I still think Yayoi is off the bizzaro scale for me, but then again, it ‘could’ be happening in a neighbourhood near you like you say…)
White Album is a crock of bullshit served with chips, there is one thing that makes this all a farce that it’s hentai pedigree just rachets it up to eleven. Touya has not paid his rent EVER. Oh sure he has time to go off on a date, buy Rina a gift, skip work to help Misaki, but where is he getting money? He just started as Mana’s tutor and he’s been bitching to his dad about needing money, this all has been conveniently swept aside.
If you look at Touya we see an idiotic young man who is ostensibly in college who does not take his studies seriously, cannot even hold down a job, and cannot pay his rent. I find it hard to believe that there are women out there that would fall head over heels for such a miscreant. to be sure there are stupid women, but for so many to congregate to him at once, well I think that is rather strange, statistically possible but strange.
Lastly Yayoi has no reason left to throw herself at him and yet she does… to be sure there are stupid people, but more often than not by her age they would have already fallen into the financial abyss from which there is no return.
I think it nigh impossible for anyh woman to want to be with Touya, I am no woman, but what say you usagijen?
Let me start off by saying: Interesting post. Really. I like it a lot.
Now for your questions, I like to take what Crusader has said above me and expand on it with my opinion. The bits of White Album that feel realistic to me are how Touya has to pay the rent, go to school, lose and get new jobs, etc. Those are the realistic elements of this anime even though Touya fails at them because lots of anime seem to skip this aspect of life.
However, the reason why it’s so ridiculously unrealistic is in fact the girls who fall in love with him and the situation they are all in to fall in love with him. I haven’t found a single good reason why any of these young ladies like him so much. And even if they do have a reason why Haruka, it’s not backed up enouh to make it believable. I guess what I’m trying to say is that the chances of all these girls with their separate problems falling for the same guy is little to none in real life and so it feels really unrealistic. Another reason to add to this is that in real life, IMO, the guys who really do get all the girls act nothing like Touya. Most guys who act like Touya lose girlfriends after girlfriends but like you said, it’s just my experience.
Realistic romances I have watched thus far
Kare Kano
Bokura ga Ita
NANA
Honey and Clover
Unrealistic romances
Most Harem anime like Shuffle
Fantasy Anime where the girl/boy falls in love immediately
Anime where hookups appear out of nowhere
Pure comedy anime with romance thrown in
Realistic romances to some extent with unrealistic elements thrown in
Toradora
White Album
Lovely Complex
Nodame Cantabile
I’m pretty sure that’s a good guideline though again, it’s my own opinion.
Good comments. I think I was one of the early unrealistic bashers, but thinking about it, I was quick to call it unrealistic, which is subjective and not absolute.
Personally, in my life, this sort of shit can and has happened (no I haven’t had a harem with idols), and it’s because of these coinciding special interest parties; the girls want something. Thankfully, I’ve never encountered such an idiot/ass as large as Touya, but it’s not the male driver which makes WA or situations like this that do happen “unrealistic”… just because something happens in reality doesn’t make it real. (reality tv for instance)
The ‘problem’ may be how they’re all overlapped over one another coming off as slightly haphazard and thus ‘unrealistic’ to a certain extent – sure one can have many of these ‘encounters’ in the course of a lifetime, but all at once?
I like this, because the issue isn’t realism anymore, it’s having details contrived so these things happen. It occurs in reality as well, and it has to, since there is hardly any way such occurrences would happen naturally.
WA is very forced, and it seemingly has the same plot parade of a hentai title. The thing thats buggy is perhaps a state of cognitive dissonance we experience because it looks genuine and authentic, but comes off with as much taste as the typical chart-topping rap lyric about cash, hoes, and drugs.
lol
(oh crap, did firefox just crash while I was almost done replying to the comments?! OTL)
@gaguri: Pathos as a means to measure ‘realism’? Sounds great to me. Perception might even be a more accurate way of measuring ‘realism’, as opposed to simply ‘what happens in real life’, especially events you can’t really sympathize with.
@carbon: Well “asshole” is subjective, and for me Touya’s like a “laid back asshole” or something lol. The passive NICE GUY, who messes things up by going with the flow and NOT DOING what he ought to be doing. and Mana’s great! More like, the only character I like out of the other WA girls now.
@Kabitzin: there’s nothing wrong with being unrealistic so long as the series doesn’t take itself seriously. And for some reason AkaSaka came into mind lol. I’m pretty critical about relationship development, sometimes too critical for my own good
@moritheil: There’s a certain fulfillment and enlightenment to gain once you’re able to articulate your thought about something you used to not understand, and sometimes, all it takes is to see things from the eyes of another person, which is why I find the awesome feedback from you guys to be a lot of help
@Senna: Here’s to hoping we’ll get to see the explanations later? Or we can always speculate and poke fun at the show at its expense. As for the drama club, well Misaki’s lameness is the one to blame there. She’s too hung-up with her “tragic past” or whatever guilt and can’t make herself quit the drama club. Or that she’s too stupidly prideful to quit on her dreams~ I do think there are Misakis in real life though, unfortunately.
@issa-sa: hybrid realistic and unrealistic, yes! I’d like to think Yayoi is brewing some EVIL PLAN behind all this.
@Crusader: no SANE woman would fall for Touya, that is. It’s not surprising that he attracts the likes of Misaki his kindred spirit, for example, the type of person who could conveniently use him as a means of ‘escape’. Desperate women who have screws lose might just hang on to someone like Touya too.
@Minnie: thank you for the kind words, but you’d have the commentators for their epic comments to thank for that!
Oddly enough, it seems that I couldn’t care any less about realistic way of life of Touya presented in White Album, lol. The magnet-like characteristic of the lame harem lead will always be a point of contention among people, and as unthinkable as it is that all the girls flock to Touya, I try not to let it get to me and continue to hope that we’ll get to see the answer to this, sooner or later?
The realistic romance shows in your list seems like the cream of the crop, IMO :3
@Ryan: Reality is a very complicated subject matter, as I have now realized, and we can spend so much time arguing over what really is “real” and what’s not, when it all boils down to how we perceive things as such.
lol, how so true
IMHO, harem shows are never realistic w/c WA seems to fall under this category. Sure, if you take the individual situations between Touya and one of the girls then it is plausible but looking at it as a whole…hmm, I just don’t see it happening in reality.
Found this thread a little late
I think what BeLe said is very true and important. Eroge conversions almost always suffer the same problem: In non-intertwined paths in the game, the lead character tends to decisively and exclusively go after a girl, who eventually falls for him. In the anime version, which is trying to include as many girls as possible, these mutually exclusive paths make the male lead look like an indecisive wuss (or even worse, a multi-timer). Only for a select few games which are DESIGNED around the drama and conflict between the girls (think KimiNozo), this fundamental problem generally can’t be resolved in a satisfactory way.
Therefore, I have developed a bit of a tolerance for this kind of problem. As long as each seperate path can be rationalized, I’m fine. Without this kind of carte blanche, I’d say it’s nearly impossible to watch harem shows
That said, I’d certainly add White Album to the list of the “realistic” shows. Technically they’re going to great lengths to make the anime match the 80es – see the phones, the cars etc. Also, I see no problem in any of the characters or the relationships depicted… if anything, I see some eerie reflections of parts of my former personal life in certain aspects.
Urgh I’ve been trying to write a comment too long, I’ve given up on the original point I was trying to make (god know what it was), oh and this post contains no mention of WA because I haven;t actually watched it.
Anyway! I’ve been watching Bokura ga Ita recently and I certainly think it is the most ‘realistic’ anime I’ve ever seen and that almost creepy sense that I know people who could do these things (particularly among the male characters) turns the fairly simple story into something incredibly engaging.
Admittedly this kind of realism is reserved for romance series or romance plots in other genres and I think outside of this realism often gets blurred with character continuity but my mind is wandering again. I’ll end by saying that the simple storyline mixed with the complex characters in Bokura ga Ita was an interesting and refreshing change from the likes of (the competent) Toradora which feels like another series repeating themes and characters with some kind of shallow gimmick.
i like the way they display the text to portray touya’s thought.
I bet all of us have this situation where we are thinking to answer someone in a particular way but when we open the mouth, a different answer came out instead. I think that’s pretty realistic.
It’s pure crap. I now regret even watching this travesty of a show. Maybe I’ll just jump straight to a series review for WA (No more ep 13 notes) since I can’t wait to hurl the F bombs toward everyone in the series.
Realistic romances are mostly josei. Don’t expect one if the story is made for a male audience.