Little Busters! Refrain - Episode 13 (Completed)

Riki and Rin have chosen to ignore Kyousuke's pleas to live on and prepare to move forward without their friends, but can they really save their classmates?  Before this can even be considered, Naoe needs to overcome his narcolepsy.

To do this requires him to revisit the very start of his troubles - not just the accident that claimed the lives of his parents which went on to cause his first bout of narcolepsy, but all the way through to his birth and the innate understanding that "to live means to lose".  Accepting that living your life means losing things dear to you gives Riki the confidence to awaken and face the difficulties before him, and thus he and Rin can go about trying to rescue their friends from the bus crash threatening to snuff out their lives at any instant.

Between their hard work and quick thinking, the pair manage to extract all of their friends aside from Kyousuke - first, from the immediate danger of the bus, and then up the hill to outright safety.  With Kyousuke's bravery having led to him plugging the coach's fuel leak with his own body, he's the last to be extracted, and not a moment too soon... although this trauma leaves him in a coma, we're ultimately left with a happy ending as the group are reunited and given the rest of their lives to look forward to.

While sudden happy endings often feel less than satisfying in anime, Little Busters actually felt agreeable in this regard - Kyousuke's sudden transition from coma patient to fighting fit aside (which was at least in character), the rescue of the group by Rin and Riki felt like a believable and worthwhile outcome to what had gone directly before.  Whether this strong ending is enough to justify everything that went before is certainly arguable, and the story as a whole still doesn't fit together in as satisfying a fashion as the likes of Clannad, Refrain did at least provide some powerful moments to justify all of its setup, even if it's perhaps the weakest adaptation of a Key work that I've seen.

Little Busters! Refrain - Episode 12

It's time for Riki and Rin to face up to the harsh realities of the real world to which they're about to be returned - a challenge which is easier said than done.

As promised by Kyousuke, the pair awaken to find themselves in pain and aching all over, but ostensibly safe a suitable distance from the devastating bus crash which seems to have taken the lives of all of their friends.  Having picked themselves up and dusted themselves down, Naoe realises that they need to get away from the area before the bus's leaking fuel catches alight, but having made good his escape with Rin, Riki simply can't followed Kyousuke's instructions and worry only about his and Rin's own survival.

Thus, Riki turns and heads back to the crash site in the hope of saving his friends and classmates - a decision made all the more difficult by what looks set to be an attack of narcolepsy.  Meanwhile, having left Rin alone in safety she has to face her own emotional distress, as memories of how Kyousuke saved her from darkness and introduced her to myriad friends comes flooding back.  From trying to avoid and hide away from the terror confronting her, Rin uses these memories to steel herself and find a more positive outlook as she too returns to the crash site.  But can anything be done to alter the destiny of Rin and Riki's friends?

Having pitched its emotional content pretty much perfectly in its previous episode, I'd argue that this week's Little Busters! Refrain tries a little too hard to expound upon those emotions - it isn't entirely misplaced, but Rin's feelings are readily apparent without spending half of an episode focusing upon them and why they exist.  This results in the show's penultimate episode losing a fair amount of its emotional energy and slowing its pace, which leaves me curious to see where and how it's going to end with only a single episode left to run - hopefully it can find its way to deliver a strong climax, given that it still has a fair amount to work with.

Little Busters! Refrain - Episode 11

The core of the Little Busters have been reunited, but time is running out as the truth threatens to encroach upon Rin and Riki's world.

With the rest of the school's populace gone and even the sky no longer moving, there's one last thing to be done - to play some baseball, of course.  For Naoe and Rin this is just another opportunity to play with their friends, but for the other trio this is an opportunity to say a last goodbye with a smile upon their faces.

Once Masato vanishes right in front of Riki, there's nothing for it but for Kyousuke to tell him the truth - the horrific bus crash on a school trip wasn't a disaster that befell another nearby school, it was a tragedy that befell them.  As their dying wish, Kyousuke and his friends desperately hoped for a way to allow their two most fragile friends to grow and mature enough to cope with the aftermath of an accident from which only they will survive, with their sheer will creating the world they now reside in - an endlessly looping semester which enabled Kyousuke to try and outfit Riki and Rin with everything that they needed to get along in the world in spite of the horror they have to face.  With the truth out, it's time to say goodbye to Kengo, then Kyousuke, as the world around the group finally crumbles entirely.

I don't think I have to elaborate on how many times my patience has worn thin with Little Busters as a whole, but I have to give it credit where it's due for this strong, emotional pay-off - an eye-catching twist and some heart-rending goodbyes ensures that it has no shortage of ways of pulling at the viewer's heart strings.  Whether this is enough to justify a lot of the less compelling content that came before is another matter entirely, but if the final couple of episodes can further build on the core of the story now that it's finally been delivered in an impressive fashion, at least Refrain has a good opportunity to claim a strong ending for itself.

Little Busters! Refrain - Episode 10

The core of the Little Busters have been reformed thanks to Riki's hard work, and it's time for the gang to pay Kyousuke a visit...

As the quartet head to Kyousuke's room, it's the main himself who becomes our guide and narrator for this episode, sending us into a recap of sorts that skims over all of the events of the entire series from his point of view.  In other words, this is the point where we finally get to see some of the wiring under the board and understand Kyousuke's place in proceedings.

As has already been made clear, Kyousuke has been a guiding hand throughout the events that Rin and Riki have been facing - however, it's the true scale of his influence that is revealed here, as he talks of effectively creating an entire world around the two characters and seeding that world with everything required for the pair to learn to grow, mature and outgrow their shortcomings.  When they failed, the world would be reset so that they could start over until they got things right - a plan which seemed to be working perfectly until Kyousuke's powers began to dwindle and his final attempt to ensure that Rin and Riki are ready for the true problems that face them goes badly wrong.  However, Riki's efforts to rebuild the Little Busters seem to have undone all of this damage - is it finally time for Kyousuke to claim victory and move on to reveal the secret of the world to his charges?

Although there's still plenty left to be explained, this proved to be a simple but pretty satisfying episode of Little Busters - sure, it was a little like a recap episode with a commentary track laid over it in places, but there were some striking visuals intermingled with this and narration that confirmed many of our expectations while still holding enough surprises or unexplained moments to keep some intrigue hanging in the air.  It seems as if the next couple of episodes will be the real make or break moment for the series, so we shall have to see what that offers to really pass any judgement, but this is certainly a step in the right direction.

Little Busters! Refrain - Episode 9

Having won Masato over from whatever insanity had gripped him, Riki's next target in his reforming of the Little Busters is Kengo.

Just like Masato, Kengo immediately knows what's up when he's approached by Naoe and he wastes no time in warning him off trying to get him to join his merry band.  With no obvious way of persuading Kengo appearing before him Riki talks to Kyousuke, who lets slip one slither of information - that Kengo is lying about something.  A brief look at Kengo's behaviour soon makes it clear what that lie is - either his previous injury has now healed and Kengo is continuing to pretend it's a problem, or the injury was never real in the first place.

Either way, Riki now knows what he must do - that is, to challenge Kengo.  With the thought of playing kendo to decide whether he should join the Little Busters out of the question, it's inevitably to baseball that he turns as the source of his challenge.  Kengo can't say no to such a request, but his determination to win is strong, and perhaps more importantly for the viewer he lets far more slip about the state of the world and the secret being kept from Naoe - in short, events keep repeating, and it seems as if Kyousuke's failed grand plan was an attempt to break the cycle to whatever ends he was hoping for.  In a similar vein, Kengo sees victory over Riki as a chance to move forward, but perhaps fate is conspiring to ensure that this isn't the case...

Although I still feel like Little Busters! Refrain is keeping its cards a little too close to its chest, this week's episode managed to avoid being a rinse and repeat of last week's instalment by letting a few details slip out, thus allowing us to at least start building a picture of what's going on and why Riki and Rin are being kept in the dark.  It has the potential to be some intriguing stuff so hopefully the revelations will keep on coming, as they surely must to keep this series moving now that it's finally slowing glimpses of getting on track with just a few episodes to go.

Little Busters! Refrain - Episode 8

Trying to recreate the Little Busters from their recent adventures as a baseball team have proved fruitless, but that isn't the end of the matter for Riki, as he sets his sights on going back even further into the group's history to effectively recreate it from the very start.

After quizzing Rin on how Kyousuke started the Little Busters, he learns that his first target is to be Masato, although directly approaching him and asking him to join the gang really doesn't go well at all, with Masato asserting that all he wants to do is to be the strongest while warning both Riki and Rin to stay well away.  This is no idle warning either, as it soon comes to light that Masato is wandering the school randomly punching people's lights out for what seems to be no reason whatsoever.

As a result, Riki takes another leaf out of Kyousuke's book, devising a trap to ensnare Masato so that he can talk to him and win him over.  Even this is reckoning without the full strength of Masato, as he overcomes attempt after attempt to slow him down, leaving Naoe with nothing for it but to abandon using his brains and resort to brawn to get his way.  For his part, it seems that Masato has entered some kind of hallucinogenic state that causes him to see everybody as a copy of himself, because.... oh, I'll be damned if I know, does anything that Little Busters adds to its narrative make sense any more?

I can certain appreciate what Refrain is trying to do at this point, but yet again its clumsy handling of its ideas seem likely to hole it under the surface - I'm all for some mystery and touches of the supernatural as per other Key works, but on this occasional subtle touches along those lines have been replaced with a sledgehammer to beat the plot into submission whenever the story requires it.  I keep on hoping that everything will be explained at some point, but there's now so much material in the "stuff that needs to be explained" inbox that it's going to need a full-time staff to keep track of it, again fueling my suspicions that aspects of the story are just making things up as they go along - there's a big difference between not holding the viewer's hand to leave them to figure things out and simply making no sense, and Little Busters is veering dangerously close to the latter right now.

Little Busters! Refrain - Episode 7

Their attempt to run away ending in failure, it seems that everything has changed as this seventh episode of Little Busters! Refrain begins.

Perhaps the most marked shift here belongs to Kyousuke, who returns from job-hunting in Tokyo a broken man with no interest in his friends, instead locking himself away in his room, reading manga, and generally being decidedly emo.  Things aren't much better for Rin, who has reverted back to a kind of child-like state where she wants nothing to do with grown-ups, or even Masato and Kengo, responding only to Rin and even then in a half-hearted manner.

With Kyousuke effectively out of commission and the rest of the cast missing completely, everyone seems to be looking to Riki to take the lead and find exciting and entertaining things for the remaining group to do - not exactly his forte, it has to be said.  Ultimately, all he can do is focus on making Rin happy, which also proves to be easier said than done in her current state.  When she responds positively to an opportunity to play baseball however - something which to Riki's knowledge they haven't done for many, many years - perhaps he's stumbled on the perfect opportunity to reunite the old gang?  Not so, for both Kengo and Masato want nothing to do with it, leaving Naoe and Rin contemplating the fact that they might just be the only ones who haven't been let in on a particularly important secret.

Although I'm willing to cut it a significant amount of slack for the fact that it's clearly done deliberately, this is certainly a discombobulating episode of Little Busters, throwing us with gusto into the next stage of its story without doing anything to clean up the events at the end of the previous instalment or give us any grounding into where we are now.  This certainly helps to bring us into line with Riki's own experience, which is a confusing existence of half-remembered events, half-truths and things which don't add up in his mind, although I'm not sure even that knowledge makes it a particularly satisfying viewing experience for at least the first half of the episode.  That said, I am now really intrigued as to what's going on, so even if its story-telling is a little flat it's still doing enough to drag me along for the ride.

Little Busters! Refrain - Episode 6

As if having to say goodbye to Rin as part of her temporary transfer of schools wasn't bad enough, Riki also has to swallow the fact that the entire thing - and indeed the entire history of the Little Busters - was manufactured by Kyousuke as a way to help Rin in growing up and maturing.

Although Naoe has no problem with that concept in and of itself, the way Kyousuke has gone about it leaves him seething.  While Masato seems happy to remain loyal to Kyousuke no matter what, Riki at least finds a kindred spirit in Kengo, who also agrees that Kyousuke is out of line.

Inevitably, word soon starts to filter through from Rin that she's decidedly unhappy at her new location - surrounded by depressed people and unable to make any friends, she only withdraws further into herself and simply doesn't know what to do - a fact not helped by her being unable to e-mail Komari for some reason, which Naoe suspects is another part of Kyousuke's plot.  When Rin returns for a weekend back at "home" as little more than a mere shell, Riki decides that enough is enough, and with Kyousuke determined to send her back he and Kengo challenge him to a dual, which of course they summarily lose. Thus, there's nothing else for it but for Naoe to run away with Rin - another option which is only ever likely to end in failure.

While I remain intrigued as to where Little Busters! Refrain is heading in the sense of its wider narrative, it's struggling to grab me at all on an episode by episode basis - a lot of its plot points either feel poorly fleshed out or simply without anything to make them interesting, which leaves the series limping along seemingly unable to draw any real emotion out of its circumstances.  It's certainly still a million miles away from the Clannad anime adaptation, which seemed to know how to entertain and fascinate even when it was just going through the motions.  This really shouldn't surprise me given the mediocrity of the first series of Little Busters, but I was still expecting more here somehow, and remain disappointed at its inability to consistently deliver at this juncture.

Little Busters! Refrain - Episode 5

All that purportedly now sits between Rin, Riki and the secret of the world is a spot of volunteering at school - what could possibly go wrong here?

So, with this final task delivered by Lennon at hand, this new couple steps up to the plate and volunteers when required of them by their homeroom teacher.  It turns out that what they're volunteering for is the duty of escorting an inspector and his colleagues around the school - something which proves a little tricky for Rin given a combination of her shy nature and her tendency to be rather blunt.  Still, everything seems to go smoothly, and even Rin's happiness shines through her dour exterior sufficiently for the inspector to take note of it.

Unfortunately perhaps, Rin's personality proved to be a little too noticeable, as the next thing we know she's been selected to take part in a student exchange programme with a school currently reeling from a bus crash which killed a number of its pupils.  Although Rin has agreed to think the prospect of taking part in this exchange programme over, Naoe is dead set against it and initially gets Rin's agreement that it isn't a good idea.  However, racked by guilt that he's simply press-ganged Rin into her answer, Riki ends up shifting his stance and insists that Rin should go, making a mess of their relationship in the process.  With Rin all set to leave, Naoe starts to piece together the true purpose behinds all of the tasks brought by Lennon, and it leads to only one conclusion as to who was responsible... Kyousuke.

As keen as I am to get more purchase on Kyousuke's character as he moves slowly but surely towards becoming a focal point of this second season of Little Busters, the way this week's episode panned out with a view towards that goal isn't one that I can ignore... and by that I mean that it was almost willfully bad.  Having already felt like the sudden blossoming of Rin and Riki's relationship seemed forced, it was as of nothing compared to the story's attempts to force them apart - the whole "let's set up an exchange programme to cheer up the students of a school where a lot of pupils died" thing I can give a free pass to, but Naoe's monumentally stupid behaviour in trying to persuade Rin to go felt totally out of character.  Having said that he wants to let her make her own decision, why did he then go and effectively force her to made the decision to leave?  It makes no sense aside from as a necessity to progress the plot, and that really isn't good news for a series where creating believable characters and interactions between them should be the key.  Perhaps it can lead on to better things in the long-term, but boy was this a bad way of going about it.

Little Busters! Refrain - Episode 4

Kurugaya seems to have vanished without a trace, but it's some of her parting words that are playing on Riki's mind as this week's Little Busters! Refrain begins - a demand that he look after Rin.

This request is brought into relief yet further by a stalker of Naoe revealing herself before dealing him an impromptu confession to ponder.  Happy though he is to find a cute girl telling him that she loves him, all he can think about in the aftermath of this confession is Rin...could this mean that his romantic feelings are, in fact, dedicated to her?  This seems to be further cemented by Riki's sense of concern when Kyousuke tells him that a boy confessed to Rin not so long ago before being promptly shot down, but while Naoe spends his time fretting it seems that the object of all that worry has no such qualms and straightforwardly suggests that they should start going out.  Well, that's that then, I suppose.

With that agreed upon, all that remains is for the pair to tell all of their friends, all of whom are happy for this new couple, albeit tinged with a little regret and jealousy here and there.  It's Kyousuke's reaction and subsequent actions which garner the most interest, as there is clearly more to this actions, responses and knowledge than meets the eye.  With cat-cum-messenger delivering Riki and Rin a supposedly final task to handle however, perhaps all of these elements are finally coming together.

In spite of some pretty hefty tonal shifts throughout this episode of Little Busters, it actually worked pretty well - its foreshadowing is blatant but offset pretty well by a continued sense of mystery, and Riki and Rin's relationship just about manages to come off as feeling like something that would actually come about rather than purely being foisted upon them by the show's narrative requirements.  I'm still not enjoying this series anything like as much as other Key visual novel adaptations, but I have to admit that my curiosity on where this show is headed has been well and truly piqued by this point.

Little Busters! Refrain - Episode 3

What looked like a case of déjà vu on Riki's part has now escalated far beyond that, as he finds himself reliving the 20th of June over and over and over again - a series of events that led to me suffering from brief flashbacks to Endless Eight.

Although most of those around him seem to have no recollection of previous instances of the same day, Kurugaya also seems to be experiencing the same effect - not that she appears to be bothered by it as Naoe is; indeed, she almost seems to revel in it as she seeks to keep hold of her memories of the fireworks of that night.

Things are only getting stranger and stranger for Naoe however - first, he experiences snowfall in the middle of summer, then finds himself unable to wake his friends or even locate Kyousuke, all the while suffering from a nagging feeling that something important has been forgotten.  Eventually, he stumbles upon Kurugaya once again, and the truth is revealed - to never move on from the happiest day of her life is simply Kurugaya's dream, and somehow Riki has been pulled into it.  This allows us some insight into Kurugaya's past, exploring her childhood as a genius in both academics and athletics that led to her being viewed as aloof and thus shunned by those around her - until the Little Busters came along, of course.  Having experienced so much, and ultimately experienced love, for the first time, Kurugaya is ready to move on.  But to where?

As a finale to the current arc, this episode of Little Busters is really as proficient as you could ask of it - slightly touching but perhaps not as much as it hoped to be, and capable of exhibiting its "time loop" plot device in a way that made its point without becoming overly repetitive.  Taken as a whole though, this conclusion leaves a lot more questions than it answers - a state of affairs which hopefully bodes well for the rest of the series as I'm actually curious to piece together where it's headed, and curiosity isn't something I can say I've boasted before while watching this series.

Little Busters! Refrain - Episode 2

Naoe's latest bout of narcolepsy seems to have brought with it a strange sense of deja-vu - not that this is his major concern, as he awakes to find that Kurugaya has been taking care of him during his sleep.

Being the person that she is, it seems that Kurugaya can't resist teasing and flirting with Naoe, making him increasingly flustered before telling him that she likes him.  Naturally, this confession of sorts plays on Naoe's mind greatly - was she being serious, or was it merely part of her teasing?  Unfortunately, his easy to read nature ensures that soon Kyousuke and company are also teasing and probing their friend on what he's pondering, and before he knows it they've engineered a plan to help him confess to Kurugaya under the light of fireworks, much to the irritation of Rin.

Cheesy it may sound, but it's a plan that is executed upon almost flawlessly, and before we know it Kurugaya and Naoe are left alone in a classroom watching the fireworks together when Naoe dropping his phone gives away the grand plan.  This, however, is where things become odd - the next thing we know we seem to have returned to the beginning of the day once again, and while Naoe has obvious recollections of what has occurred nobody else around him seems to.  Was it a dream?  Or further déjà vu on his part?  Something is most definitely not as it should be here.

Although you've probably noticed that I'm not exactly a huge Little Busters fan for the most part, I am at least intrigued by where this story arc is headed and what it intends to deliver next - as long as it isn't Endless Eight all over again hopefully it'll be something worthy of that intrigue.  That aside, this was a pretty decent episode, that mixed its mystery and confusion with just the right amount of goofy comedy to keep things moving and entertain - something that this series has forgotten to do too frequently in the past.  Maybe things are looking up for Refrain after all, although perhaps it'll simply get stuck in a loop of flattering to deceive.

Little Busters! Refrain - Episode 1

Just as Clannad had its After Story, so Little Busters has its Refrain, meaning that this autumn sees this Key visual novel adaptation continue as it reunites its cast of students and their baseball team that isn't.

Despite suffering from a strange dream in which someone seemed to be crying out for his help, Naoe awakens to find some fun times ahead, courtesy of the first ever Little Busters pancake party - cue far too much eating and lots of goofing around as the gang have fun together for the first time since the baseball match which closed out the first series.

Of course, this series being what it is drama is never far away, and this time Kurugaya is the centrepiece of it all courtesy of some fellow students who seem to have taken exception to her demeanour and past behaviour and are determined to make her pay.  To get their revenge, the two girls at the forefront of their plot seek out not Kurugaya directly, but instead her friends, targeting Kud and Komai for maximum effect.  The game is soon up however, and to say that Kurugaya is none too pleased at someone trying to bully her friends would be an understatement.  Such is the viciousness of Kurugaya's temper that she and Riki have to run to avoid the attentions of a teacher - an escape which takes them to the broadcasting club's room, in turn triggering a strange memory which Naoe simply can't reconcile as her drops into another bout of narcolepsy.

So, Little Busters is back, and judging by this first episode Refrain still feels like it's inherited a lot of the same problems as its predecessor.  In an opener that feels a little rushed at times, the tonal shift between its light-hearted moments and drama are simply too severe to the point of being jarring, and because of that aforementioned fast pace nothing really has time to sink in to have any impact.  That said, Little Busters did at least have some notable moments within its first season so it's far from a complete write-off, and perhaps if it can recapture some of those more successful efforts over the course of Refrain my early concerns will prove unfounded.

Little Busters! - Episode 26 (Completed)

After his initial reluctance to join their merry baseball-playing band, it seems that Kengo has warmed to being a part of the Little Busters, to put it mildly.

Meanwhile however, Naoe is still trying to come to terms with the fact that Kyousuke has asked him to take over as the group's leader - after dismissing it as a joke and Kyousuke poking fun at him, it soon becomes clear that his decision to hand over the reins to our protagonist was an absolutely genuine one.  But is Naoe really cut out to be a leader?  He certainly doesn't think so, despite Kyousuke's assertions that he simply hasn't realised what he's achieved already, and that he can easily surpass his mentor.

As Naoe frets over tactics and strategies for the group's forthcoming baseball match, it's time for his friends to repay some of the debt of gratitude they owe him, by reminding him how in some sense or another he "effectively" saved them all from their various moments of darkness, and that all they can ever ask of him is to be himself and to lean on them whenever he needs them.  Thus, Naoe's worries are assuaged, and the baseball game proves to be a huge success.  That, of course, isn't the end of the story though....

So it goes that Little Busters ends without really ending at all, and merely setting us up for the Refrain sequel that covers the rest of the events in the source material.  The trouble is, do I even want to watch more Little Busters after this tepid outing?  The honest is no, not particularly - save for the end of Kud's arc, the series had none of the emotional or dramatic power of other Key adaptations, and even the promise of better material second time around makes this a hard sell.  While it would be easy to blame everything on JC Staff here, I can't help but feel that the material they were working with simply wasn't powerful enough to compare to other similar works, as its execution was solid if unspectacular and didn't seem to be at fault for the most part.  My decision to watch Refrain (or refrain from doing so - see what I did there?) is one to be held over for another day, but for now I can say most assuredly that Little Busters was one decidedly mediocre anime series.

Little Busters! - Episode 25

After the onset of another bout of narcolepsy, Naoe feels like there's something important that he's forgotten that he can't quite put a finger on.  But never mind that, there's baseball to be played!

At least, there would be if the Little Busters weren't still one member short of a full team - something which looks set to be problematic given that Kyousuke has lined the group up for their first match against a team of "all-stars" comprising the captains of the school's various sports clubs.  For Kyousuke's part, he seems confident that they'll have their final member soon enough, but who could he be thinking of?

This concern fades into the backdrop as our attention turns to Miyuki Koshiki, an archery ace who has had to quit her club after her eyesight was damaged by illness.  Cut adrift by this loss of her hobby, Koshiki turns to Kengo for advice, and when his words are less than helpful it seems that she feels no other option than to commit suicide (from the school rooftop no less).  Still feeling guilty at his own words however, it's Kengo who steps up to save her as she falls from the roof, breaking his arm and destroying his own short-term dreams in the process.  It's of no consequence to Kengo however, as he opts instead to join the Little Busters for their inaugural match - it's almost as if Kyousuke knew what was going to happen...

Now that we can look towards its final episode, it's clear where its major hook emanates from, but unfortunately the whole thing was set up via another clunky episode that introduced a new character and then threw her to the wolves so quickly that we had no time to empathise with her at all.  It's a problem that has plagued much of Little Busters, and is a real blow to a show that leans so heavily upon its emotional angle, and I don't see even a stellar finale undoing much of that longer-term damage to what the show has tried to achieve.

Little Busters! - Episode 24

All is quiet once more now that Kud's drama has died down... but what's this, another mysterious task presented to Rin and Naoe to resolve?

This time around, the unusual letter attached to the tail of Lennon the cat implores its recipients to put on a puppet show - an odd request, until not twenty feet from the duo an argument breaks out between a bunch of younger kids which revolves largely around - you guessed it - a puppet show.  It's Rin who steps in to offer to do this show herself the very next day out of a determination to complete the task set before her - but can she really do it?

Of course, anything is possible with the help of the other Little Busters, and so the entire group set about trying to create a story suitable for a puppet show, with... well, let's just say not entirely brilliant results.  Ultimately, it's Komari who steps up to the plate to help Rin, offering up a story she has written and illustrated herself while also helping to create the puppets themselves just in time for Rin's big performance.  But just who is writing these mysterious notes, and how do they seemingly know the future?

After all the fraught and heavy drama of last week's episode we probably needed a change of pace from this week's Little Busters, but that doesn't really hide the fact that this was also a return to mediocrity for the series - some mild amusement on a couple of occasions aside, the story didn't have as much heart or interest as it clearly wanted to have, and the whole thing ended up falling rather flat.  It also didn't feel much like a late-game episode for a series that surely still has some important things to wrap up, which didn't help in terms of this installment creating the right impression either.

Little Busters! - Episode 23

Kudryavka may have returned to her homeland of Tebwa, but she certainly hasn't left the hearts of her friends back in Japan, who find themselves unable to tear themselves from the developing news of the country.

Unfortunately, it's far from good news - in the wake of the shuttle launch explosion, rebel forces have sensed an opportunity to lay claim to the land, sparking riots and violence as Tebwa spirals into chaos - a chaos into which Kud has just walked.  Although she manages to be reunited with her grandfather, and good news about her mother's condition soon springs forth, the diminutive girl still finds herself torn when it comes to meeting her mother again out of fear she'll be disowned or despised having not made good on her promise to become a cosmonaut.

While her grandfather goes to pick up Kud's mother for their big reunion, events conspire to keep them apart yet again as rebels attack the home where Kud is hiding out, taking her prisoner as the daughter of the cosmonaut who has become a symbol of what the rebels see as wrong with their country.  Meanwhile, the rest of the Little Busters fret more and more about whether they were right to let her go as they worry about her well-being, despite knowing that there's nothing they can do at this point.  Or is there?  The world of Key visual novels works in mysterious ways, and it's ultimately the power of her friends wishes for Kud's well-being that rescue her from captivity and set everything upon the right path for Kud's happiness.

I don't think I've been able to say this of any of its previous installments with any kind of assured tone, but this was a great episode of Little Busters - I didn't think that its continuing focus on Kud and its increased scope would work, but I was proved wrong in spades as we served easily the most potent and dramatically raw material of the series so far, which build wonderfully to its admittedly absurd yet still satisfying crescendo before giving us a happy ending that, for once, felt fully justified.  If only Little Busters had managed to polish off its other story arcs with this kind of majesty, I might have had a very different view of the series - still, at least this episode has brought me at least one fond memory of watching the show, for which I can only be thankful.

Little Busters! - Episode 22

Confusion reigns after the launchpad shuttle explosion in Kud's home country of Tebwa, with no news coming out of the country regarding her mother's condition or status in its wake.

With what little news there is suggesting that the country might be subjected to biohazards and the like as a result of the explosion, it doesn't seem like a place that anyone would be particularly keen to visit, but for Kud in particular there is a real dilemma on her hands as she's offered a plane ticket and the opportunity to return home to check on her mother.

In short, Kud isn't so much using Japan as a current home but a place of escape, after having (in her mind) shamed herself after joining an aviation school in her homeland in the hope of becoming a cosmonaut before being found wanting thanks to her unique traits.  Such is Kud's shame that she feels unable to face her mother, but at the same time it's clear that the only way she will find out her fate is to return to Tebwa.  So what should she do?  Nobody has the answer, namely because it seems as though there is no right answer, but needless to say it's ultimately up to Naoe to see through everything and nudge Kud in what seems to be the right direction.

Certainly, this made for one of the better episodes of Little Busters in some ways, as it took its outrageous circumstances and fashioned them into a more genuine moral dilemma that can at least be related to.  Beyond that, it's too late for me to become sufficiently invested in the show's character at this stage, which leaves the show dead in the water to some extent, although I'm curious to see where this particular story arc is headed now given that I assumed that Kud's departure would be the end of the matter.  Again though, even Little Busters on relatively good form simply isn't compelling enough to be truly memorable.

Little Busters! - Episode 21

Move over Space Brothers - Little Busters is about to tell you how space travel really is.

Okay, maybe not, but I digress... after showing us some further feline-centric improvements to Rin's baseball abilities and following a cleaning session in the Little Busters club room, it's time for young Kud to get some more of the show's focus.  More specifically, this means delving into big chunks of her back story, from the origin of her name through to her true home and its beliefs and rituals, and onwards to her relationship with her mother.

It's this final point which is the most important facet of this story arc, as Kud's fascination with space and the stars is clearly shared with (and indeed inspired by) her mother - not surprising, as said parent is in fact a cosmonaut.  As we're greeted with television reports of a controversial and potentially dangerous rocket launch on Kud's home island, we come to learn that the pilot of said rocket will be none other than - you guessed it - Kud's mum.  It's almost like they're setting up this entire plotline only to have the rocket explode on the launch pad or something.

If nothing else, I think it's safe to say that everything that this week's Little Busters attempts is carried out in an incredibly heavy-handed fashion - the building of Kud's back story feels like something that should have occurred organically throughout the series, but instead it's thrown over us like a tin of paint at this late juncture, and the entire plot regarding her mother's upcoming space flight might as well have pictured a rocket which featured a neon sign down the side that read "BUT WHAT IF I EXPLODE?!"  In short, this feels like another example of just how much Key's craft improved in later visual novels (assuming, perhaps unwisely, that this isn't simply J.C. Staff's adaptation at fault), as there's no subtlety or careful plotting going into what we see here, and thus most (if not all) of its impact is lost.

Little Busters! - Episode 20

Everyone has a secret to unlocking their full potential, and in Rin's case it seems that seeing a cat being bullied is exactly what's required to turn her into a frighteningly powerful pitcher on the baseball field.

This is by the by however, as this week's episode instead involves itself with another mission giving to Rin (and by extension Naoe) via one of Rin's menagerie of cat visitors, requesting that she fix the lovesickness of another classes top student.  It turns out that the lad in question loves not just hip-hop, but also Rin's deadly rival Sasasasasa Sasami... sorry, Sasasegawa Sasami.  Hardly being an expert in matters of the heart, is Rin up to this particular task?

It quickly becomes clear that this mission isn't going to be an easy one - for starters, Sasami has her eye on Kengo, who really couldn't be more different than Rin's "client", Aikawa, which leads to an abortive number of attempts to impress Sasami whether it be via the power of hip-hop or getting the bookish Aikawa to defeat Kengo in battle.  For once though, maybe Rin's relatively blunt behaviour will actually have the desired effect in the long run, and she might just be able to make another new friend in the process.

Overall, this is probably one of the more entertaining episodes of Little Busters that we've seen of late, although truth be told even this is damning the series with faint praise - it was still lacking in any particularly notable comedy and got by more via being more direct than your average anime series when it comes to matters romantic.  Yet again, it's hard not to compare the show unfavourably to other Key visual novel adaptations, all of which have had a stronger vein of comedy running through them, while this animated version just doesn't seem to have found any ways of sprucing things up, leaving it feeling like the whole thing has been phoned in somewhat.