LITTLE BUSTERS!: REFRAIN

DESCRIPTION

CAST

ANIME ComedyLittle Busters!
SPECIAL ComedyLittle Busters! EX
MANGA ComedyLittle Busters!

REVIEWS

• 

  Amiki

  85/100
  Is an amazing anime on it's own, but lacks key details from the visual novel as an adaptation.

  Spoilers of Course
  Little Busters Is fun, comedic, and emotional anime.
  As a adaptation to the Visual Novel, It may not be the best adaptation, especially compared to it's older brother's such as Kanon and Clannad, mostly the latter, but we'll get to that later.
  As an anime itself, it does a great job at showing character's emotions, and keeping each character to their own personality.
  Little Busters! has about all the possible personalities you can think of, the quiet and smart bookworm, the loud noisy girl who is dumb, the onee-san, the shy one, the exotic loli, the sweet, always happy girl.
  Then of course there's the few male characters, such as the muscle head.
  That aside now, the characters stick to their own personality throughout the show, even during their arcs for the most part.
  The arcs are great stories, relating to one's past trauma, or even current trauma caused by one thing or another.
  Now of course, it's not Little Busters! without Refrain.
  Refain is by far the best part of the story, and possibly the most emotional, while proper refrain doesnt start until Episode 5 or 6, since the first few episodes are just Kurugaya's and Rin's Arcs/Routes, it does execute it well, with the childhood friends splitting apart due to Kyousuke's plan.
  Seeing these childhood friends, being attached to them since the start of the original series, is personally, in my opinion, very depressing.
  The end of Refrain once Rin and Riki save everyone from the bus crash, is indeed a happy ending, and luckily the true ending, it took me by surprise a bit, as the events leading up to this part would suggest Rin would possibly run away.

  Now for the adaptation part.
  Little Busters!, but itself as an anime, is wonderful, though as an adaptation, it lacks in several things.
  Firstly, the anime misses out on several key details from the Visual Novel, it attempts to be linear, in the Visual Novel, after each character's route/arc, storywise, Kyousuke resets time, the anime does not show or even imply this in anyway, it only shows Kyousuke resetting time a few times during Refrain.
  Second, the Arcs should've been longer, I get it, the routes in the VN are hours long, and it may be hard to put all that content into a few episodes, but extending the series 10-15 episodes wouldn't hurt, a good example is that in the Visual Novel, Riki dates each one of the girls in their routes, a little romance in the anime wouldn't hurt either, Clannad had it.
  Third, Kurugaya's and Rin's Arcs should have been animated in the First season, and kept out out of Refrain, since Refrain is only suppose to focus on Masato, Kengo, and Kyousuke for the most part., as I said before, adding those 10-15 extra episodes for it would be fine.

  I have only made it through masato's part of Refrain in the Visual Novel so far, so I cannot judge how well adapted the rest of Refrain is.

  In conclusion, Little Busters! as an anime itself, would be a great, emotional and comedic anime, but as an adaptation, it lacks certain details from the Visual Novel which could've made it far better.

  Conclusion 85/100

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• 

  GwynXV

  90/100
  Above all else, the most important thing in life is the connections we form with others.

  __Warning: Contains spoilers for Little Busters! and light spoilers for Little Busters!: Refrain__ _"We’ve spent time together that made our hearts dance. But every story has to come to an end. No one can stay a kid forever. Time passes, and people grow up. There will come a day when we will no longer be together.”_ -Kyousuke Natsume Based on the Visual Novel by Key, Little Busters!: Refrain (am I the only one infuriated by the colon after the exclamation point?) is an adaptation of some of the routes left out of the first season that leads into the Refrain route, which is the finale of the visual novel. And, going into Little Busters Refrain, I can't say I expected to be hit with a profound and beautiful tale of friendship and tragedy like I was. Even if the poignant and soul touching opening that replaced the absolute banger that was the opening to the VN used in the first season should've warned me that this season would be a bit less happy-go-lucky than the first. The second red flag I probably should've picked up on is that Little Busters! is a Key novel, and anyone familiar with Jun Maeda knows that he loves making innocent SOL shows then gut punching you and kicking you while you beg for mercy. Little Busters!: Refrain gives you a taste of what's to come through the form of the first three episodes (Yuiko's route), a tonal shift compared to the first season with an air of mystique and intrigue that makes the viewer really want to know what the secret of the world is that was constantly referenced but never explored in Little Busters! However, this is really all a precursor to the meat of the story. As, at it's core, Little Busters!: Refrain is a story about the original 5 members of the Little Busters. In the first season, they were never fleshed out too deeply to give screentime to the heroines who make up the routes of the first season. Yet, in this season the reverse is true. The cast recruited in the first season takes a back seat to let the original members truly shine. Little Busters!: Refrain deeply establishes the history of the group of friends known as the Little Busters. In this season we are treated to the backstories of all 5 members of the group and how they were all brought together by the real protagonist of the story, Kyousuke. While yes, Riki may be the person we see the show through and the catalyst for the plot moving forward, the real center of this story is Kyousuke. A character who was hilarious yet very mysterious in the first season but didn't have enough showcased about him to get a full grasp of who he is. And who is he? Well, I think he's probably the greatest character that Key has ever made. Kyousuke is an icon, someone who Riki respects and looks up to. He's the glue that keeps the Little Busters together and their ever-confident leader who always pushes forward in search of new exciting things for the group to do. From the first moments of the first episode of last season we are told that Kyousuke is the person that Riki relies on and trusts to lead him. We see this trust pushed to it's absolute limits in Refrain and see character deconstructions of both Kyousuke and Riki. Little Busters! is a coming of age story. It's about Riki learning to become independent and not be completely dependent on Kyousuke, while still being able to lean on those he trusts for support. It's a coming of age story where Riki isn't ready yet, but there is no other choice but for him to grow up. In this we see Kyousuke push Riki forward into becoming stronger. There's a reason that Kyousuke made Riki be the one to recruit the new members for their baseball team, he could've done it himself quite easily. It's really in it's last arc, and on it's focuses on the interactions between Riki, Kyousuke and the other 3 members of the original Little Busters that makes this story elevate from a "good" story to an "exceptional" story. I haven't even mentioned anything much about Rin, Masato or Kengo but they each have as much depth as Kyousuke and Riki and incredible stories of their own, that are told through the final route too. (Even if they are a tad rushed in the adaptation) This review could've been a full breakdown of almost every scene in the show, however, I didn't want to ruin this experience for anyone yet to see it. Please, do me a favour and watch this anime. And once that's done play the Visual Novel for an even greater experience. Just... get some tissues ready. I'll leave you now to enjoy the masterpiece that is the opening song to this anime. I think it perfectly captures the difference between this season and the last.
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• 

  leesonTV

  100/100
  "It's pointless in trying to run away from problems and sad things... it's time to grow up and face your problems"

  Alright, alright... there is a lot I want to talk about for Refrain. But I'm making this a thread simply because I want to just discuss how Refrain builds from Season 1 and how it works PHENOMENALLY.

  Little Busters! is a character-centric work, I mean with 10 main characters, that is to be expected. We get flashbacks to the past and how Kyousuke helped Rin, Masato, Kengo, and Riki get to where they are now from trying times. And their youth is what brought them together.

  Fast forward to Riki's second year in high school and that still has remained true, but now with Kyousuke starting the Little Busters back up as a baseball team, Riki feels inclined to help out Kyousuke by scouting out team members. And this is where the other 5 come in.

  In Season 1, we get to fully know 4 of the 5
  In order; Komari, Nishizono, Haruka and Kud

  We fully know what they have been struggling and having trouble with, to which Riki tries to help them as best he can, with assistance from the rest of the Little Busters which in and of itself is great for a series to convey the proof of friendship and that everyone is always there for each other.

  With this, we get to see everyone's resolve;

  • Komari needing to smile, even in trying times
  • Nishizono in believing in your one true self
  • Haruka in always opening your eyes to all different perspectives
  • And Kud in realising that she is as useful as the rest of the Little Busters, she isn't a broken gear.

  And at the end of Season 1, we see all of these messages get reflected... in Riki himself, the person who helped all of them is also the person who gets to learn that he is more than he makes himself out to be. He has gotten stronger, and he needs to proceed to get stronger.

  So now, enter Refrain and the first arc focuses on the 5th person... Kurugaya

  Kurugaya's problem is with not really being able to feel something and she has never had a moment like that up until the Little Busters conduct something for both Riki and Kurugaya. It's then at that moment, she does start to feel something and it's precious to her... but the day starts again as if that moment never even happened. But both Riki and Kurugaya know because of her own wish, she knows something about the world they live in that Riki doesn't.

  Her resolve was accepting things as the way they were though, and thus her disappearing hits a lot deeper. It's a sad resolution, but very impactful. From here on, we get the Rin arc and Refrain arc and these arcs are the ones that tell us the core message of Little Busters!

  "Even if all hope is lost and nothing seems fair, it's pointless in trying to run away from problems and sad things... it's time to grow up and face your problems head-on."
  This is a motivation carried not just by Riki, but also by Rin.

  Both were weak characters... but thanks to Kyousuke's overarching effect on Riki, and Rin trying her best thanks to the encouragement and love she felt for the Little Busters, they were able to try and be strong. Not having anything that holds them back... not even depressing and traumatic situations.

  They were able to surpass Kyousuke's strength and effect on the group and grow beyond expectation to build their own leadership together. The theming is here, the catharsis at the end is here, the resonance is here too... but not just for one character, for multiple. We can do anything by working together, and with that, we can do amazing things by ourselves with nothing holding us back either... it's outstanding how powerful that message is and I can't believe I would have ever come out of this feeling amazed even now that something like that was able to do this with no flaws or gripes whatsoever.

  I am legitimately stunned at the sheer impact that this series has left on me. While Season 1 was great and provided a very nice SoL experience, Refrain took it to another level. I say without a shadow of a doubt... Little Busters! Refrain is a masterpiece!

  So you know what, it's a 10, and it's my number 1 now...
  No joking around, this is amazing.

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