Little Busters - Episode 1 Discussion / Poll

[Chiibi]

Originally Posted by Dizzyworld2

Kud's name is: Noumi Kudryavka (Kudoryafuka in Japanese pronunciation if I'm correct) (last - first)
and her nickname is Kud/Kudo (shortened form of Kudryavka)

Thanks.

I was calling her "Noumi" for the longest time....

[Coldlight]

I just watched episode 1. I have played the VN as well, and I have to say that I'm very satisfied. I think it's off to a great start.

It was quite faithful for a first episode. Loved how they used the BGM straight from the game. So nostalgic!

The only gripe I have is that Riki's flashback scenes were barely animated, with plenty of still shots. Then again, that's still (a bit) better than just all text. I think I can easily get used to hearing Yui Horie as Riki. Even Sasami's new VA sounds good enough for me. Excellent.

[monir]

Just finished watching the first episode of Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, another new series from Fall 2012 and found it interesting that J.C Staff is doing that one too. Hah! Mind you, the effort isn't brilliant or anything, but it still looked more palatable (visually anyway) compared to LB's first episode. Not sure exactly what's going on with the budget allocation or how much they are working with for animating LB, but I'm sure it will become crystal clear by episode 5 or so.

[Golden Witch Drugs]

My viewing of the first episode didn't occur until today, as I've been swamped with studies the past week and I really wanted to be able to sit down, relax and watch the episode. Now that I did, I really feel like I have to write a review, as I've been waiting 3 years for this to happen. (Warning! Veeeery long review ahead)

Spoiler for Review:

Animation - I didn't really mind the low-budget animation, heck, some of my favorite animes have some crappy animation (The first season of Higurashi had the most awful animation, yet I absolutely loved it) My problem with the animation was the way they chose to animate some scenes. Some facial expressions or movements just didn't seem to fit the scene, but honestly I guess that's because I've played the game so many times that I've kinda built my own view of how it would look in anime-form. Yet, I do somewhat like the animation, at least for the girls. The boys just seem a bit lanky and awkward, especially Masato and Kengo who I imagined would be rather buff. I'm not a big fan of the scenery either, some parts were done well while some just looked rather bad. Overall, I'm feeling pretty neutral about the animation.

Pacing & Script - I don't know about the rest of you, but wasn't the pacing awfully fast? At least for someone who've played the game I thought they really rushed the first episode, which made me really sad as the first day in the game is probably my favorite. Yet, I think they covered the story pretty well, even though it was fast-paced and alot of scenes were cut out. Some parts I think they did do very well on though was the witticism-part, which was just as I imagined it to be. I also liked the fight between Sasami and Rin, it jusy played out very smoothly, and the little noises from the game made me smile. The first scene with Kyousuke was also a nice way to start off the episode, and will probably make alot of sense to those who played the game (And will to the anime-viewers in the end too). And in opposite to most of you, I actually didn't mind the stills in the flashback, I thought they fitted in nicely. Some parts that needed some more work was probably the Masato vs Kengo fight and the baseball practice. The fight was just poorly scripted and it didn't really make sense (at least probably not to the anime-viewers). The baseball scene was also very rushed, but then again, we will probably be seeing plenty of it in the future. Oh, and also, I'm very mad that they didn't include the scene where Rin plays with her cats. That scene is one of the best in the entire game, really. Overall, I think the script was good, while the pacing definitly needs to be worked on. Also, I can't believe they didn't bring up Riki's condition.

Characters & Voiceacting - I like the way the characters were portrayed in the episode, and I saw few differences from their game-counterparts. Rin had some odd scenes that didn't really fit her character, although nothing I payed much attention to. I really liked the way Sasami was portrayed, it was a bit more dramatic than her game-counterpart, but I just thought that made her character even more interesting (and she was afterall already a big drama-queen in the game). I didn't like her new though, I wish they could've just sticked with the game ones. I didn't mind Yui Horie as Riki, however. The only thing I have against Yui is that I've heard her in so many animes now and she's starting to get quite boring. I also thought Komari's appearance (even though it was short) and her voiceacting was very poor, and the choice of words for her didn't make much sense, as there were supposed to be more lines preceding them. I guess I will have to wait until the next episode to judge her though. Other than that, I think the VA's did a good job, and the characters still have their original personalities.

Soundtrack - It was really nostalgic hearing all the BGM's from the game. I was really sad they didn't include Ring Ring Ring though, as it's Rin's theme and should've been used at the scene of her playing with her cats (that didn't get included, unfortunatley). I was also thrilled that they put in a new, short piece of music that wasn't in the game! Really looking forward to hearing the rest of the game's amazing music.

Opening & Ending - I thought the opening was well done, albeit a bit boring. They did put in some interesting scenes though, which made me happy. Also, the scene with black-haired and white-haired girl (Not putting in their names since I've gotten banned for that reason before :|) cuddling was really sweet, my heart almost melted. The ending was good too, it was a scene I didn't expect, but I liked it, it was very Little Buster-ish.

Overall - The first episode get's a 6 from me. It wasn't bad, but it was far from what I expected. They cut out some scenes I would've really liked to see, which was a shame, and the pacing was much too fast for my taste. I'll propbably keep watching the anime for 3-5 episode (at least until black-haired girl appears, I absolutely have to see her animated) Mostly this is because I haven't played the Ecstasy version of the game yet, and I don't know if they will keep the EX stories in the anime or not. So, to not get spoiled, I'm just watching a few episodes until I finish ecstasy. Looking forward to the next episode!

Sorry for the long review, but again, noone's forcing you to read it :>

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by monir

Mind you, the effort isn't brilliant or anything, but it still looked more palatable (visually anyway) compared to LB's first episode. Not sure exactly what's going on with the budget allocation or how much they are working with for animating LB, but I'm sure it will become crystal clear by episode 5 or so.

I've said this in the other thread, but I think it isn't really budget, just art direction.

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

I think the biggest difference between the two shows is really the art direction and the compositing/effects. In terms of the actual animation of characters, there isn't really all that much going on here, but they mask it by making it all look really, really pretty (it's a show that looks great in stills). They say that anime is an art of finding creative ways to mask your lack of budget, and I suppose the lesson here is that the director for this show was more successful in that task (based on the fact that people are having this conversation).

The other thing is that, of course, large animation production companies aren't monoliths. The two shows are being made by two completely separate teams with separate staff. So it isn't necessarily all that surprising that the two shows have little in common, visually.

[Marcus H.]

How many studio "subdivisions" does J.C. Staff have?

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

How many studio "subdivisions" does J.C. Staff have?

Good question. I'm supposing they may not really have fixed "subdivisions", but more of a dynamic workforce that forms and reforms based on the projects, and the requests of the episode directors (and requirements of storyboards). In any case, they can certainly manage a lot of work, though. Their official website says that they have 120 employees (including contract workers), so that's a fair bit of capacity (but obviously they outsource like everyone else).

[Insane]

I’ll give it to episode 3 before passing judgement. Throughout this episode I kept waiting for the hook to set and pull me in, and it never happened. I hope it gets better because it doesn’t look or sound bad, just no story yet. It’s just not a strong first episode compared to other shows this season.

[TJR]

Yeah, they don't appear to have fixed subdivisions, so it's never a case of assigning one project to "Team A", another to "Team B", etc. Their management is highly centralized anyway, so a looser structure makes sense.

[Jmac]

Kinda miss Sasamis old VA, but the new old still seems to capture the sprite of the character. Overall a very good opening episode.

[s07195]

Hmm... I did play the first 20 minutes of LB!, so I mostly have a grasp of what's going on (so far), and the transition to anime seemed quite smooth. Some gags I laughed at (particularly the fight scene where Masato was left with an Eel Bread), and some I felt were only slightly funny and could have been added in better (Rin's title). The situation is set up well, overall.

Really loved the ED, though judging by Key's works, I can assume there will be mood whiplash in the future, just like Clannad Afterstory.

Overall, this episode was average, loved the game references thrown in (pretty much the only ones I'll get, with how far I've played), but looks to get a lot better.