Little Busters - Anime Pre-Airing News and Anticipation

[MisaoFan]

I'm thinking of Shana/Index multiple 2-cour format, except they will cram almost everything in a non-rushed way.

[tsunade666]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

Unlike several of their other multi-cour works, Little Busters is finished. They don't have to wait for the novels to finish or anything.

This is why I can't think of it being a 2 season anime but why can't people wish for 4 cours I'm wishing for a longer run!

[spawnofthejudge]

Originally Posted by tsunade666

This is why I can't think of it being a 2 season anime but why can't people wish for 4 cours I'm wishing for a longer run!

CLANNAD was two separate two-cour runs.

[bahamut zero]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

Unlike several of their other multi-cour works, Little Busters is finished. They don't have to wait for the novels to finish or anything.

Toradora was also based on a finished Light Novel and it turned out really good.

[Ithekro]

Toradora wasn't what I was thinking of. That was a single two cour anime rather than a multi-cour anime (potentially split into three or more seasons) based on material that is not finished before the first season ends.

[hyl]

Toradora was indeed not finished when the anime was airing. That's why there were some minor differences in the endings.

[Pocari_Sweat]

Hahaha. I don't come to the thread here for 3 months and whining that Kyoani is not adapting/JC is adapting is still here.

Little Busters AS Thread = Endless Eight The Thread .

Back to serious mode. The main thing I'm worried about in regards to JC Staff adapting LB is production values. That's the main thing I see with production studios - they determine the production values (aka visuals, music, general "polish" on presentation). In terms of writing, characters and plot that's more up to the directors, series composer and music composer me thinks and it's been announced that their "A-team" will be working on it.

Now, JC is a big studio and their quality varies and it's been noted that their "A-team" will be working on it. Still, even A-team JC Staff visuals are not really "top-tier". I guess though that their background art is really nice. For example, I heard that PA Works outsourced Hanasaku Iroha backgrounds to JC Staff. Not as optimistic about character designs and animation frames though. JC does have some consistency issues when it comes to visual quality. Sometimes they are great like Raildex or Shana... other times it's an absolute shocker like in Bakuman.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Tempester

I'm not super-optimistic about this anime, but I wouldn't think of KyoAni as infallible when it comes to adapting Key's works. They, and Ishihara Tatsuya, aren't godly, just like Pixar isn't godly. It's very possible for another studio and development team to surpass them.

Really?

I'm hardly the biggest KyoAni-lover on this site (I've had plenty of critical comments about them in recent months and years), but you're drastically downplaying the quality of their Key adaptation work, imo.

They may not be downright infallible at it, but they're incredibly good at it.

So, no, it's not "very possible" that another studio and development team could surpass them. I honestly think you're doing a real disservice to KyoAni in making it sound so easy to surpass them. It's not. It's very hard simply to match KyoAni (when it comes to good adaptation work), let alone surpass them.

The initial reaction to JC Staff handling Little Busters! was probably a bit too harsh and negative, but now it's starting to swing to the other extreme. We'll be fortunate (and I'll be pleased) if JC Staff does 90% as good a job with LB! as KyoAni did with Clannad. To think that more than that is "very possible" is people just setting themselves up to be disappointed, imo.

Cautious and reasonable optimism is what's best here, imo. Not this pie in the sky "They'll surpass KyoAni!" thinking.

[OPN]

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

it's been announced that their "A-team" will be working on it.

Now, JC is a big studio and their quality varies and it's been noted that their "A-team" will be working on it. Still, even A-team JC Staff visuals are not really "top-tier". I guess though that their background art is really nice. For example, I heard that PA Works outsourced Hanasaku Iroha backgrounds to JC Staff. Not as optimistic about character designs and animation frames though.

Where did you hear that? JC staffs A team would be kasai on the directors chair and the others where they are best at (i have no clue what their other A team staff is ) but were getting the KMB director,OP writer and the idolmaster animation director. Not really a A team. Maybe shimada and the IM animation director would be B team but not A team.

[totoum]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Not this pie in the sky "They'll surpass KyoAni!" thinking.

Tempester will probably make himself clearer on what he means but we didn't interpret "very possible" the same way,I just took it as meaning "you never know,it could happen" (since he was replying to someone saying there was a 0% chance anyone else could match kyoani) rather than saying it's "very likely" like you seem to be interpreting it.

Afterall he started by saying "I'm not super-optimistic about this anime" so it's not like he has high expectations.

[tsunade666]

Originally Posted by spawnofthejudge

CLANNAD was two separate two-cour runs.

I forgot after story wasn't aired after the main story.

Well I'm still hoping for a longer run of LB! that's the only good news I can get from JC staff.

I'm hoping for a miracle but not really thinking their would be a miracle concerning this series and adaptation.

[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by OPN

Where did you hear that? JC staffs A team would be kasai on the directors chair and the others where they are best at (i have no clue what their other A team staff is ) but were getting the KMB director,OP writer and the idolmaster animation director. Not really a A team. Maybe shimada and the IM animation director would be B team but not A team.

I thought Kenichi Kasai doesn't really direct for JC Staff anymore. I remember him doing the early noitamina shows (which were JC's golden era), but since Honey and Clover and Nodame Cantabile I haven't seen him do anything notable, unless you want to count that boretrash Bakuman lol. Tatsuyuki Nagai seems to be one of JC's top director now, though he's definitely not committed to JC. Anohana for example was done in A-1 Pictures and it's his (and Mari Okada's) most successful series.

But really, neither of these two directors seem suited for Key imo. It doesn't really fit their style. So I donno.

That statement of "A-team" was based off a tweet by one of their producers a long time ago. It's on the earlier pages of this thread but I cbf finding it exactly .

[OPN]

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

I thought Kenichi Kasai doesn't really direct for JC Staff anymore. I remember him doing the early noitamina shows (which were JC's golden era), but since Honey and Clover and Nodame Cantabile I haven't seen him do anything notable, unless you want to count that boretrash Bakuman lol. Tatsuyuki Nagai seems to be one of JC's top director now, though he's definitely not committed to JC. Anohana for example was done in A-1 Pictures and it's his (and Mari Okada's) most successful series.

But really, neither of these two directors seem suited for Key imo. It doesn't really fit their style. So I donno.

That statement of "A-team" was based off a tweet by one of their producers a long time ago. It's on the earlier pages of this thread but I cbf finding it exactly .

Ah i always get nagai and kasai confused . I personally am not a fan of theirs but i do know a lot of people like their shows so i consider them to be JC's A team directors besides at least their more suitable then the KMB director and KMB was a comedy after all . And that makes sense. I remembering reading a post someone mentioned on another forum where they said he/she heard JC was shifting 40% of their animators on LB and 60% on the other shows but who knows how accurate he/she was.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by totoum

Tempester will probably make himself clearer on what he means but we didn't interpret "very possible" the same way,I just took it as meaning "you never know,it could happen" (since he was replying to someone saying there was a 0% chance anyone else could match kyoani)

If that's all he meant, then just "possible" would be more appropriate. "Very possible" implies a certain likelihood.

Afterall he started by saying "I'm not super-optimistic about this anime" so it's not like he has high expectations.

KyoAni is great at adaptation work. They really are. The studio has its flaws to be sure, but when it comes to how well they adapt various properties into anime (especially VN properties) KyoAni has a fantastic, proven track record.

Surpassing KyoAni when it comes to quality of adaptation work is no small matter. It's like a NBA player outperforming Michael Jordan in a NBA Finals game. It's possible, but it's also a pretty big deal, and should be treated as such, imo.

[Pocari_Sweat]

To be fair, I have more optimism for JC adapting LB than Kyoani adpating Chūni-byō Demo Koi Shitai, given the premises and character designs for both. Or maybe it's my bias against romcoms with "loli-style" art in general since I have bad experiences with them . But who knows, Kyoani does have a tendency to grab very mediocre source material and turn them into something watchable and even something good at times. Hyouka for example, I had close to no expectations, but it's turning out to be pretty good .

Here, JC has gotten themselves the source material from the most accomplished VN franchise (alongside Type-Moon). Given the stakes atm, I'll take JC's LB over Kyoani's romcom adaptation for now .

[Triple_R]

Yeah, I probably should clarify here.

JC Staff's Little Busters! might end up better than KyoAni's Air or Kanon. It may even compete with Clannad, you never know.

But if so, a lot of that might come down to different qualities between the various source materials.

My point is just that KyoAni consistently gets the absolute most it can out of its adaptation work. It's choices of what to adapt can sometimes leave something to be desired, but you can be sure that their adaptation will do maximum justice to the source material.

[Ithekro]

So they need an "A-Team" anime?

Oh wait, that was Full Metal Panic.

[TJR]

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

I thought Kenichi Kasai doesn't really direct for JC Staff anymore.

He does a show with them every year. I don't think they have exclusive arrangements with any director (possible exception = Katsushi Sakurabi, who is a terrific storyboarder and episode director), even if they work with the same people a lot.

Weren't people criticizing Nagai a while back? I recall some negativity over Railgun.

[maximilianjenus]

A lot of the negative points of kyoani are automatically negated by our context ( a key animation), so eyah, whoever is expecting jc staff to do better than kyoani at adapting key work is setting him/herself up for dissapointment. I am expecting something around 80% or so of the quality, something with very inferior to kyoani but still above average animation, while the plot itself (pacing, events, etc..) can be as good or with some luck, slightly better than kyoani. the last pat mostly depends on they getting 2 or 3 coeurs and in teh case of getting 3, using them properly instead of the borefest filler that ruined several parts of shana.

[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by TJR

Weren't people criticizing Nagai a while back? I recall some negativity over Railgun.

It's a sore thumb in his resume though (and I guess the first Idolmaster anime, which I've never seen). Honey and Clover S2, Toradora, Anohana and Ano Natsu were good, with the first three being big commercial and critical hits.