White Album 2 manga
Volume 1, chapter 1
Character Descriptions page
Top R: Setsuna Ogiso
Houjou High School, class 3-A. Has held a prominent position as the champion of the Miss Houjou High Contest, an unofficial event for the school festival, two years in a row. A school idol with a bright character, who treats everybody the same without favoritism or discrimination, and is remarkable both in looks and in personality.
Top L: Kazusa Touma
Houjou High School, class 3-E. Habitually late or absent, and when she does come to school, she just sleeps through class. Has no associations with her classmates, and coupling that with her chilly beauty, she comes off both solitary and aloof.
Middle: Haruki Kitahara
Houjou High School, class 3-E. Has a helpful personality, relied upon not only by students but by teachers as well, and is also an honor student with high academic achievements. Belongs to the Light Music Club, but his status as a beginner relegates him to the position of substitute guitarist. His real reason for joining the club lies not in the instrument, but in the notes…
Table of Contents:
SESSION01 The Songstress’s Secret 01
SESSION02 Solitary Pianist 33
SESSION03 Their Lesson, Their Call 67
SESSION04 Where The Three Of Them Arrived 103
SESSION05 Two and One 138
SESSION06 Unreaching Love 173
Middle Header: Characters
Bottom R cluster: Setsuna’s Family
Father (Susumu)/Mother (Akina)/Younger brother (Takahiro)
Takahiro is a third-year in middle school, three years younger than Setsuna.
Bottom L cluster
R to L, top to bottom: Takeya Iizuka
Houjou High School, class 3-G. Haruki’s best friend since their first year of high school. President of the Light Music Club, and unrivalled playboy.
Tomo Yanagihara
Houjou High School, class 2-C. Runner-up in the previous year’s Miss Houjou High contest. Could be called “positive,” or the “get-things-done” type, who works aggressively to get what she wants.
Io Mizusawa
Houjou High School, class 3-A. Has been inseparable from Takeya since middle school, for better or worse. Has a clear-cut personality, easy to befriend; especially popular with her female juniors.
Youko Touma
Kazusa’s mother, and a world-famous pianist.
Page 1
1.1
Setsuna: I’m Setsuna Ogiso, from class 3-A. My family has four people in total, with my parents and my younger brother.
Setsuna: My best subject is English, and my worst subject is… um, this is a little embarrassing, but maybe classics?
1.2
Narration: What…
Page 2
2.1
Narration: What the hell is going on…?
Chapter title: SESSION01
The Songstress’s Secret
Page 3
3.1
Club member: Yeah, I can’t do this…
3.2
Club member: I’m quitting.
Takeya: Wh—
Club member: Same here.
Takeya: Wait!
Tomo: Then, I’m quitting, too.
Takeya: ?!
3.3
Takeya: H-hey, hang on.
Tomo: Well, everyone’s gone.
Tomo: We can’t have a band like this.
3.4
Takeya: You’ve got a bit of responsibility here, too, y’know…
Tomo: Sorry, but I have to get home for my lesson.
3.5
Tomo: Bye-bye!
Page 4
4.1
FX: Aaaugh
4.2
FX: Slump
FX: Twang
4.3
Haruki: Well, that’s the end of the Light Music Club.
No wonder she kept telling us to give it up…
Takeya: But it would have gotten everybody’s attention! She’s the second hottest girl in the whole school!
4.4
Haruki: In her case, it would have been her problems that got more attention.
4.5
Narration: That’s right. She—Tomo Yanagihara—has kind of a tricky history.
Last year, she was the runner-up for Miss Houjou High…
And there are rumors that she took “every possible measure” to get that title.
Page 5
5.1
Haruki: And so, because you couldn’t come up with a flawless circle-breaking method…
Takeya: C’mon, I’m just devoted…
Haruki: Our Light Music Club has disintegrated mid-air.
5.2
Narration: All we have left is the club president, Takeya Iizuka (guitar)…
5.3
Narration: And me, Haruki Kitahara (backup guitar).
5.4
Takeya: Man, if we had her, we’d have won for sure…
5.5
Notebook: Unreaching Love
Are you pretending to be alone?
Page 6
6.1
Takeya: …Maybe this really is the end…
6.2
Haruki: See you.
6.3
Narration: I guess this means our school festival dream has fallen through, too…
Page 7
7.3
Narration: The piano I always heard from the music room next door, propping up my clumsy attempts at the guitar…
7.4
Haruki: Thank you for all you’ve done.
Page 8
8.1
Narration: In the end, I was never able to play along with the sheet music…
8.2
Narration: but these hours were truly fulfilling, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.
8.3
Narration: Yes, thanks to this piano music, and singing…
8.4
Haruki: …
8.5
Haruki: Singing?!
Page 9
9.1
FX: Slide
Narration: I thought it was all over…
9.2
Narration: But…
9.5
Narration: But…!
Page 10
*no text
Page 11
11.3
Setsuna: U-um, you’re…
11.4
Haruki: Ogiso…?
Page 12
12.1
Setsuna: Oh, right… You’re the helper from the school festival committee!
12.2
Narration: That’s right. I already have some acquaintance with Ogiso…
since she’s been helping with the unofficial “Miss Houjou High” event for the festival.
12.3
Setsuna: Were you playing the guitar?
Haruki: Y-yeah. I like this song…
Haruki: Was Ogiso the one singing just now…?!
12.4
Setsuna: Really?! I like it, too!
Setsuna: “White Album.”
Page 13
13.1
Haruki: U-um, Ogiso!
13.2
Setsuna: Y-yes?
Haruki: …
13.3
Haruki: …No, never mind.
Narration: What am I saying? We’ve already decided it’s over…
Haruki: Sorry to disrupt you.
13.4
Setsuna: You didn’t disrupt me at all.
Setsuna: Thank you…
for your lovely performance.
13.6
FX: Inhale
13.7
Haruki: Do you want to join the Light Music Club?
We don’t have a vocalist for the school festival.
Page 14
14.1
Haruki: I want you…
Haruki: to sing for us, Ogiso.
Page 15
15.2
FX: Sigh
15.3
Narration: Why would I say something like that…?
15.4
Io: Hey, what’s with you? Are you lovesick or something?
Io: You’ve got the top grades in our class, but you’ve never said a word about romance.
Has spring finally come for you?
Takeya: Eh, considering how deeply involved he is in the school festival…
I don’t imagine he’d have much time to mess around with a girlfriend.
He’s a festival committee member in front and behind the scenes, webmaster, class representative… Not to mention helping out with everything else…
Haruki: …
Page 16
16.1
Haruki: What are you two doing here?
16.2
Io: Well, obviously, we’re here for a reason.
16.3
Io: See, you’ve got a visitor, Haruki.
16.4
Haruki: Huh?!
Page 17
17.1
Setsuna: Um…
17.2
Setsuna: I stayed up all night, thinking about it…
17.3
Narration: She thought about it that seriously…?!
FX: Gulp
Narration: Then, is she…
17.4
Setsuna: I don’t think I can do it.
I’m sorry.
17.5
Haruki: What…?
Page 18
18.1
Takeya: Harukiii!
18.2
Takeya: I can’t friggin’ believe this…
18.3
Takeya: Why the hell would you try to take on the final boss right off the bat?!
Io: Buck up, Haruki!
Haruki: Seriously, will you two please leave?
18.4
Narration: Well… Maybe they’re right.
Haruki: Sheesh…
18.5
Narration: Setsuna Ogiso, class 3-A.
Excellent grades, attractive…
and the Miss Houjou High champion for two years running.
She’s picture-perfect, the number-one beautiful girl in our school.
Page 19
19.1
FX: Sigh
FX: Creak
Narration: She’s way out of my league, and she gave an answer that suited her worth.
19.2
Narration: That’s all.
19.3
Takeya: All right! Time for some karaoke, Haruki!
Let’s go crazy and forget all about this.
Io: We’ll all get really extravagant today.
Haruki: Sorry, but I can’t.
Takeya: Whaaat?
Io: Why?
19.4
Haruki: There’s still something I have to do.
Narration: That’s right. I haven’t given up yet.
Page 20
20.1
Narration: Because…
20.2
Haruki: Ogiso!
20.3
Setsuna: Yes?
20.4
Haruki: Hey!
FX: Slip
Narration: I know the embarrassing secret that she can’t tell anyone.
20.5
Apron: Gonda Supermarket
Box: Gonda Supermarket
Page 21
21.4
Narration: Green onions, bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, konjac… It’s so homey.
Haruki: Something warm… A stew, maybe…?
21.5
Setsuna: My family…
Setsuna: We aren’t all that wealthy.
Page 22
22.1
Setsuna: The tuition at our school is pretty expensive, even for a private school… We’ve been stretched pretty much to our limit since the start.
22.2
Haruki: Ogiso…
22.3
Setsuna: Still, at the beginning of my time there, I had a normal social life. We’d all meet up somewhere, go shopping, drink tea, chat, do karaoke…
22.4
Setsuna: Then, exactly two years ago, as fall was turning into winter, my life changed completely.
22.5
FX: Clench
Haruki: Did… Did something happen in your family?
22.6
Setsuna: No… I won the Miss Houjou High contest, and got stuck with this “perfect young lady” image…
FX: Creak
22.7
Narration: …Huh?
Page 23
23.1
Setsuna: Um, I mean… I wasn’t mad about it, so I just kept smiling vaguely, and it got harder and harder to back out…
23.2
Haruki: …Yeah?
23.3
Setsuna: Then, in order to protect that image, I had to keep putting up more and more fronts…
Setsuna: I wouldn’t accept invitations to hang out until I’d bought new clothes…
In order to buy those new clothes, I took this secret job…
And, because I had work, I couldn’t find time to hang out with everyone.
Haruki: …Ah.
23.4
Setsuna: I guess I could be overthinking things a little?
But, every now and then, I really do hear rumors about me.
23.5
Haruki: …Yeah, I’ve heard those, too.
Setsuna: Right?
Page 24
24.1
Setsuna: Anyway…
24.2
Setsuna: I think I’d better get home. I’m on duty for dinner tonight.
Haruki: You even make dinner…?
Setsuna: My mother works part-time three days a week, too.
Not to mention, my younger brother will be getting home soon, and he’ll be super hungry…
24.3
Haruki: Wow.
Narration: This is the true identity of our school’s number-one idol… With just one slip, she could be the most ordinary girl there… In a sense, a perfectly straightforward “typical good girl.”
24.4
Haruki: So, um… about today…
Haruki: I won’t tell anybody about it. Trust me on that.
24.5
Setsuna: Thanks. I trust you.
Narration: That’s what’s eating me so much.
Page 25
25.1
Haruki: You shouldn’t trust me so easily. Do you know why I came here?
25.2
Setsuna: Why…?
Haruki: …
25.3
Narration: You shouldn’t be so quick to trust someone who’s cool-headed enough to take advantage of others’ weaknesses…
and mean enough not to consider their circumstances.
Haruki: …Never mind. Yeah, I won’t say a word.
25.4
Narration: When I’m talking with Ogiso, it’s like I’m…
25.5
Haruki: …
Setsuna: …Um…
25.6
Setsuna: I’d like to talk with you again tonight… Is that all right with you?
FX: Lean
Setsuna: I’ll be waiting in front of Minami-suetsugu Station at ten o’clock.
Page 26
26.2
Setsuna: The real me is not the good girl that you think I am.
26.3
Narration: That’s what she told me, and here I am… But, what exactly is the “real” Ogiso…?
Setsuna: Sorry to keep you waiting!
26.5
Narration: Wha—!
Page 27
27.1
Narration: Wh—
27.2
Narration: Wh—
Staff: In order to make the song play…
27.3
Narration: Wh—
FX: Bip bip
Haruki: She’s just putting the code in directly?!
27.4
Narration: Whaaat?!
She’s doing choreography, too?!
27.5
FX: Gape
Haruki: She’s done three songs in a row…
Page 28
28.1
Setsuna: Phew…
28.2
Setsuna: Sorry for doing eight songs in a row… Did it put you off?
FX: Shake shake
28.3
Setsuna: Out of everything I hide about myself…
this is the very last.
28.4
Setsuna: Once a week, I come here and do solo karaoke.
Signs: Singing Space
Bar Irori
28.5
Setsuna: …You must think that’s weird, right?
Haruki: No, no, not at all!
Haruki: I get it! I-I mean, you’re pretty busy with work, right? So I guess you wouldn’t have much time to do it with your friends…
28.6
Setsuna: Ah, no, this is different. Karaoke is something I prefer to do by myself.
Haruki: Huh…? Really?
Setsuna: Well, if everyone were to come in, the cost for one song would go up, right?
Haruki: One song…?!
Page 29
29.1
Setuna: Also, it takes forever to come around to my turn, so I get irritated while I’m waiting.
If I can’t sing ten songs in two hours, it feels like a waste!
Haruki: Irritated… A waste…
FX: Bip bip
Setsuna: Oh, I’m going to put the next song in.
Setsuna: On that point, if I’m alone, I can sing thirty songs in two hours…
And, once I’m done singing, if I stop the track right away, I can buy enough time for five more songs.
Haruki: Non-stop…
29.2
Setsuna: …Also, the friends I’ve had since my first year never invite me any more.
When we went together at first, they’d get annoyed at me if I did five songs in a row.
Haruki: I guess some girls are like that…
29.3
Setsuna: I’m sorry. But, when it comes to singing, I just can’t give it up to anybody else, and I don’t want to deal with everyone else’s vibes, either.
Haruki: Ah…
29.4
Setsuna: That’s why when I hear something in my repertoire, or one of my favorite songs, I can’t possibly restrain myself.
Setsuna: Doing that on the roof made me so happy, and it was so much fun…
29.5
Setsuna: It really felt great.
Page 30
30.1
Haruki: Ogiso…
30.2
Setsuna: So, even though I declined at the time, I’ve been worrying and regretting it ever since.
Setsuna: Hey, Kitahara-kun…
Haruki: …Hm?
30.3
Setsuna: I’m retracting my rejection.
30.4
Setsuna: Sorry for jerking you around.
Haruki: Ogiso…
30.5
Setsuna: Now, allow me to introduce myself! I’m Setsuna Ogiso, from class 3-A.
Setsuna: My hobby is singing, and singing continuously is my special talent. I can go non-stop for up to three hours.
Page 31
31.1
Setsuna: I’ll bring great enthusiasm this school festival show… I mean, it’s my first time doing something like this, so I may hold everybody back.
Setsuna: But, in the main event, even if I’m not good enough and they laugh at me, I won’t give up! I promise to keep singing to the end!
So, please give me a chance!
Narration: The final school festival of my high school career…
31.2
Setsuna: You know, Kitahara-kun…
At this point, Setsuna Ogiso has no secrets left.
Setsuna: …Because you know all of them.
Narration: is starting to come alive.
Page 32
*no text