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.