AnimeSuki Forums

Register Forum Rules FAQ Members List Social Groups Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   AnimeSuki Forum > Anime Discussion > Older Series > Retired > Retired A-L > Little Busters

Notices

View Poll Results: Little Busters - Episode 26 Rating
Perfect 10 17 41.46%
9 out of 10 : Excellent 11 26.83%
8 out of 10 : Very Good 8 19.51%
7 out of 10 : Good 3 7.32%
6 out of 10 : Average 2 4.88%
5 out of 10 : Below Average 0 0%
4 out of 10 : Poor 0 0%
3 out of 10 : Bad 0 0%
2 out of 10 : Very Bad 0 0%
1 out of 10 : Painful 0 0%
Voters: 41. You may not vote on this poll

Closed Thread
 
Thread Tools
Old 2013-04-07, 10:02   Link #21
novalysis
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Spoiler for Clannad Comparison:


I cannot tell you what would have been a possible equivalent ending point to Clannad S1's on ending that Little Busters S1 could have ended at, due to the spoiler policy. Though to me, this is a decent ending point. There are two other ending points that could have ended the first season well too IMO, but I would hold my peace.
novalysis is offline  
Old 2013-04-07, 10:44   Link #22
Benigmatica
Deadpan Rambler
 
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Send a message via Yahoo to Benigmatica
Glad that J.C.Staff green-lighted Refrain. That's a good sign.

Spoiler for Episode 26:
Benigmatica is offline  
Old 2013-04-07, 11:11   Link #23
Kanon
Kana Hanazawa ♥
 
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: France
Age: 37
Did somebody drug Kengo or something? He was like a completely different person

Enjoyable enough episode to end the season with, but like the rest of the series, it failed to pull me in. The best arc remains Haruka's. The rest was incredibly subpar. I'm going to lower my expectations for the second season.
__________________
Rize and Kaneki
Kanon is offline  
Old 2013-04-07, 11:16   Link #24
Leon_Lelouch
ミシャだけ
 
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: below the sky, inside the time
don't really satisfied seeing how the baseball match in this episode
it's just like showing that the enemy is only playing around without being serious....
one looking embarrassed just by looking at Kud (ok I know she's cute but...), one looking at butterfly and getting hit by the ball -_-
Spoiler for in story and a mistake with the fansub:


not bad JC staff for showing the Refrain.... I guess this is what JC Staff said to look forward to at the end of the last episode....
hope Kurugaya story will be told too....
Leon_Lelouch is offline  
Old 2013-04-07, 13:51   Link #25
taichi-kun
Senior Member
 
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
This episode was awesome and I can't wait for refrain

But at the same time I must say that the baseball match was too short

and they actually lost ?

Kengo is amazing
taichi-kun is offline  
Old 2013-04-07, 19:20   Link #26
Deathscyther
Senior Member
 
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: The Netherlands
Age: 35
Great episode!

I have to say that J.C. Staff ended season 1 at a good spot. The baseball game was done pretty fast, but the scenes were pretty good. I loved the scenes of the girls telling Riki that he's the main reason that the members of the LB are together now. You can really tell that 'friendship' is the main theme of this anime. Rin was left out for most of the episode, but I am guessing that they did this on purpose.

I did like how they made shots of all the LB members just before the photo was taken. It seemed so serene/holy. That scene did make me think that Riki and Rin have become closer. Kyousuke and the girls were looking towards the sky, Kengo and Masato were being weird as usual, but it did seem like Riki and Rin were looking at each other with gentle (almost lovey-dovey) expressions on their faces, when Riki thought to himself 'I wanted this moment to last forever'.
__________________
Deathscyther is offline  
Old 2013-04-08, 01:33   Link #27
ronelm2000
Moe Kyun~!
 
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Philippines
Quote:
Originally Posted by taichi-kun View Post
This episode was awesome and I can't wait for refrain

But at the same time I must say that the baseball match was too short

and they actually lost ?

Kengo is amazing
The match was 18-10 where 18 was LB! and 10 were All-Stars...........
ronelm2000 is offline  
Old 2013-04-08, 01:33   Link #28
Triple_R
Senior Member
*Author
 
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Age: 42
Send a message via AIM to Triple_R
In most respects, this was an excellent ending.

Pros:

1. The most important thing is how it neatly tied together all the previous story-arcs and demonstrated a real sense of invaluable collective accomplishment on Riki's part. Riki is accepted as the leader, in spite of his practical weaknesses in this area, because his caring and kindness have earned him the love and support of the other Little Busters. This is one area where I think Little Busters deserves much credit - With other Key anime adaptations, I typically didn't feel that the whole was greater than the sum of its parts (i.e. that all of the various "girls routes" put together made a greater whole than either of them individually). But in Little Busters, I do feel that these "girls routes" really do come together in a way that makes the whole greater than the sum of all the routes.

2. Kyousuke greatly inspires Riki, who then uses that as an inspirational model to reach out to others, but Riki does it his way. Kyousuke is this cool but raw inspirational figure with a very manly feel to him, and Riki takes that example but refines it a bit so that it can reach an even wider circle of friends. Shades of Kamina/Simon of Gurren Lagann fame. This is definitely one of the stronger elements of Little Busters.

3. Kengo's character grew by leaps and bounds in this episode and the last. My impression of Kengo is that he's the kind of guy that throws his whole heart and soul into everything that he does. So, as a kendo competitor, he tries to capture the very essence of kendo, and that reflects his strong, stoic, silent personality throughout much of the anime. But as a baseball player, he takes on this RahRahRah! personality that's very fitting for that sport. This shows that Kengo is a highly passionate and very adaptable person. His core personality is probably very similar to Kyousuke - A very fun-loving guy, at heart.

4. The heroines never seemed more charming, and fully realized, then they did in this episode. There were many times when most of the heroines of this show seemed really silly to me, even by Key's standards. But this anime has done a great job of making them all grow on me. I think it was a particularly good call to play Haruka, Komari, and Kud as this almost always-enthusiastic trio that were consistently the first heroines to "jump in" to throw total zealous support to the more long-standing Original 5 Little Busters members. While the anime ultimately did a pretty good job drawing distinctions between Haruka, Komari, and Kud, it also recognized their significant personality overlaps, and turned that into a positive rather than allowing it to be a negative. Meanwhile, Kurugaya and Mio's very distinctive personalities were used well to add balance to the group.

5. The visuals in this episode were really nice. It truly looked gorgeous.

6. The baseball game itself was just loads of fun! Short as it was, it left me cracking up laughing. Silly as it is, I loved how "The Captains' Team" were overwhelmed by the cuteness of their female competitors. That was really funny. It was also good to see all of these supporting cast heroines (Kanata, Sasami, etc...) show up to cheer on the Little Busters. I was starting to wonder about Kanata, as she seemed to be drifting away from her sister and the Little Busters since the end of the Kud arc, and more into her old role of strict disciplinarian. So it was good to see the "new" Kanata reassert herself here.


Cons:

1. The pro sports fan in me can't help but to be disappointed that we never find out what the batting order was. I honestly had put some thought into that, lol. Kengo clearly should be clean-up hitter, batting fourth. The guy is going to be doing nothing but swinging for the fences with his one good arm, so you might as well take full advantage of the fact that "hitting for average" is the last thing on his mind. Masato should probably be batting fifth, since his personality is similarly "swing for the fences". Haruka strikes me as a very good runner, and she definitely has the personality of a base-stealer, so I'd have her batting first as long as she's at least a decent batter. Kurugaya strikes me as very possibly the best all-around batter on the team, so I'd have her third, just before clean-up. I'd probably have Kyousuke second. After the Top 5 it doesn't matter too much, you just then go in order from "best remaining batter" to "worst remaining batter (typically the pitcher)".

2. The metaphysics/supernatural elements of this show are weird. Even by Key's standards. After a full 26 episodes, I still have only the vaguest of ideas of what's going on. That darker, promotional bit for Refrain just made me even more confused. With Little Busters, I find myself thinking that the story would work perfectly fine without most of the supernatural elements. Why couldn't it just be a story of Riki helping out a bunch of girls over a few months while you have an overarching narrative of bringing a group of 9 great friends together to play a climatic baseball game? I suspect Refrain will justify the supernatural elements, but going strictly by this 26-episode two-cour original season alone, I really don't see what they add to the story. I can't escape the impression that they're getting half-assed, like the anime can't make up its mind between cutting them out entirely or incorporating them fully. And keep in mind that I'm saying all of this as an anime-only viewer.


On the whole, a very rewarding ending. I rated this episode 10/10, as the two cons I mentioned above weren't enough to significantly detract from how enjoyable, heartwarming, amusing, and cool I found this ending.
__________________
Triple_R is offline  
Old 2013-04-08, 02:25   Link #29
Zankoku12
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Quote:
Originally Posted by ronelm2000 View Post
The match was 18-10 where 18 was LB! and 10 were All-Stars...........
It was a translation mistake.(or maybe they did that on purpose)
LB! team did lose the game but like Riki said,wining or losing doesn't matter.
Zankoku12 is offline  
Old 2013-04-08, 02:34   Link #30
Haiprbim
Banned
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Visual Dream Panire
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zankoku12 View Post
It was a translation mistake.(or maybe they did that on purpose)
LB! team did lose the game but like Riki said,wining or losing doesn't matter.
Didn't expect that coming, they took it without saying a word about it afterwards.
Haiprbim is offline  
Old 2013-04-08, 02:48   Link #31
Gohan78
Awakened One
 
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Northern Italy
Quote:
Originally Posted by thundrakkon View Post
I still feel that the ending of this series is not really conclusion. The example you used in Clannad, I felt that for Clannad, the first series ended conclusively. Even if they never made After Story, I would have been satisfied with the first series and not realized that I missed anything.
IMHO it's better to think of LB! as a split-cours series like Code Geass or Gundam 00. It's a 52-episodes show split in two seasons of 26 for production reasons. They found a neat halting point in the baseball match but the show should be judged in its entirety.

I remember that before the anime started, the director (or producer?) tweeted that they were going to adapt all of the heroines' routes and that there was no way that 26 episodes were enough to cover the whole story of Little Busters! So they have been planning the second season all along.
__________________
Tibi, magnum Innominandum,
signa stellarum nigrarum
et bufaniformis Sadoquae sigilim.
(De Vermis Mysteriis)
Gohan78 is offline  
Old 2013-04-08, 03:11   Link #32
Snuffle
likes cute things
 
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Searching for more imoutos
Age: 43
Quote:
Originally Posted by Triple_R View Post
Cons:

2. The metaphysics/supernatural elements of this show are weird. Even by Key's standards. After a full 26 episodes, I still have only the vaguest of ideas of what's going on. That darker, promotional bit for Refrain just made me even more confused. With Little Busters, I find myself thinking that the story would work perfectly fine without most of the supernatural elements. Why couldn't it just be a story of Riki helping out a bunch of girls over a few months while you have an overarching narrative of bringing a group of 9 great friends together to play a climatic baseball game? I suspect Refrain will justify the supernatural elements, but going strictly by this 26-episode two-cour original season alone, I really don't see what they add to the story. I can't escape the impression that they're getting half-assed, like the anime can't make up its mind between cutting them out entirely or incorporating them fully. And keep in mind that I'm saying all of this as an anime-only viewer.
Well to be fair, the viewer is not suppose to understand the KEY MAGIC in this show until Riki understands it for plot reasons.

Kanon had it's own magic, but it felt natural in that show. I didn't feel I had to try and understand it, since it suited it's story very well.

Clannad on the other hand, to this day, I still don't understand HOW the magic in that one works... I THINK I understand why it's there, but where did it come from??

The KEY MAGIC in Little Busters has a very good reason for being there, but learning about it is still very far off. IMO I think it would be best to not think about it until Riki has to deal with it. There is still so much story to tell before that even happens, enough to keep the viewer distracted and entertained.
Snuffle is offline  
Old 2013-04-08, 10:20   Link #33
kitten320
Senior Member
 
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Looks like Kengo lost a screw when he fell...

Nice episode.

Over all show left me wanting more since most of the time was wasted on mini filler episodes. Pacing was not the best and it took me while to get used to characters since most of them have 2D personalities and low IQ...

My fave arc is still the twins arc, I think that's where show managed to shine.

Over all I give this season 6.

However, preview for next season looks promising and I can't wait to see it. Will try not to spoil myself until then.
__________________
kitten320 is offline  
Old 2013-04-08, 10:38   Link #34
ronelm2000
Moe Kyun~!
 
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Philippines
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zankoku12 View Post
It was a translation mistake.(or maybe they did that on purpose)
LB! team did lose the game but like Riki said,wining or losing doesn't matter.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Haiprbim View Post
Didn't expect that coming, they took it without saying a word about it afterwards.
it doesn't make sense though, for many of those who read the VN. Then again, why would it not make sense; there are a lot more things not making sense in this series anyway.
ronelm2000 is offline  
Old 2013-04-08, 11:48   Link #35
orpheus2
Pleased to Meet You
 
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Philippines
Great ending. Now, we will wait for Refrain. Judging from the preview, it looks like it will get serious and get to the real truth of the world.
__________________
orpheus2 is offline  
Old 2013-04-08, 15:37   Link #36
Deathscyther
Senior Member
 
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: The Netherlands
Age: 35
Quote:
Originally Posted by Triple_R View Post
2. Kyousuke greatly inspires Riki, who then uses that as an inspirational model to reach out to others, but Riki does it his way. Kyousuke is this cool but raw inspirational figure with a very manly feel to him, and Riki takes that example but refines it a bit so that it can reach an even wider circle of friends. Shades of Kamina/Simon of Gurren Lagann fame. This is definitely one of the stronger elements of Little Busters.
I find this one of the strongest points of Little Busters as well. Kyousuke is constantly telling Riki to become stronger and surpass him. Riki in turn has been constantly complementing Masato, Kengo and Kyousuke for their respectives strengths throughout the show, while seeing himself as weak (especially because of his narcolepsy). This episode Kyousuke and the girls Riki helped made him realize that he is strong in his own way too.

This show is great at showing what strength is all about. Everyone can be strong in his own way: physical strength (Masato); mental strength (Kengo); leadership qualities (Kyousuke); kindness/perseverance (Riki).

Quote:
Originally Posted by Triple_R View Post
1. The pro sports fan in me can't help but to be disappointed that we never find out what the batting order was. I honestly had put some thought into that, lol. Kengo clearly should be clean-up hitter, batting fourth. The guy is going to be doing nothing but swinging for the fences with his one good arm, so you might as well take full advantage of the fact that "hitting for average" is the last thing on his mind. Masato should probably be batting fifth, since his personality is similarly "swing for the fences". Haruka strikes me as a very good runner, and she definitely has the personality of a base-stealer, so I'd have her batting first as long as she's at least a decent batter. Kurugaya strikes me as very possibly the best all-around batter on the team, so I'd have her third, just before clean-up. I'd probably have Kyousuke second. After the Top 5 it doesn't matter too much, you just then go in order from "best remaining batter" to "worst remaining batter (typically the pitcher)".
I've though about this many times as well. This is the order I would have used.
  1. Kurugaya. I've always seen Kurugaya as a great leadoff because of her speed. They make her out to be quite athletic, so I think she'd hit pretty good as well. I think she'd be able to steal lots of bases with her 'ninja-skills' as well.
  2. Haruka. I don't think she's a strong hitter, but she'll be able to get some decent hits in. She's certainly got speed to reach first base after a decent hit. Her job is to get Kurugaya to second or third base.
  3. Kyousuke. He's good in nearly everything, so I think he's the best all-around hitter on the team. He'll try to get Kurugaya home, while getting the cleanup hitter ready to get him (and Haruka if she isn't out) home.
  4. Riki would be the best cleanup hitter. Kyousuke is training him to be the big hitter of the group. Also, Riki is the center of the Little Busters now (as we learned this episode), so everyone trust him to 'get them home', which in turn gives him more confidence. In the anime we did see him hit a home run, while getting Kud and Kurugaya back home as well.
  5. Kengo. He might be the strongest hitter of the group, so his job is to stop the pitcher from intentionally walking Riki. If Riki fails, he can get the others home in his stead.
  6. Kud. She's one the weakest of the group, sbut she has quite a bit of speed, so she should try to get to first base..
  7. Komari. She's the weakest of the group. She's slow and falls down often while running. She has to try to get Kud to second base with a sacrifice bunt or a weak hit.
  8. Masato. He's a strong hitter, so he might be able to get Kud home (if she isn't out).
  9. Rin, just because she's the pitcher. Nah, just as Kurugaya, she's fast and athletic, so I think she'd get a good hit in. I think she'd be good at stealing bases too.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Triple_R View Post
2. The metaphysics/supernatural elements of this show are weird. Even by Key's standards. After a full 26 episodes, I still have only the vaguest of ideas of what's going on. That darker, promotional bit for Refrain just made me even more confused.
....
I suspect Refrain will justify the supernatural elements, but going strictly by this 26-episode two-cour original season alone, I really don't see what they add to the story. I can't escape the impression that they're getting half-assed, like the anime can't make up its mind between cutting them out entirely or incorporating them fully. And keep in mind that I'm saying all of this as an anime-only viewer.
I wouldn't worry about the supernatural elements. I'm sure they haven't reminded us about 'the secret of the world' throughout these final episodes as well as the ~refrain~ teaser for nothing.
__________________
Deathscyther is offline  
Old 2013-04-08, 18:00   Link #37
MogMoogle1
Idol Power!
 
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Middle of nowhere, center of everywhere...
Overall good final episode. If they weren't planning on a second season, I would have raged for all the other stuff they left hanging.
__________________
Mirai from Kyoukai no Kanata
MogMoogle1 is offline  
Old 2013-04-08, 22:53   Link #38
Leo_Otaku
Rewrite of the Life
 
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Canada
Age: 37
Send a message via AIM to Leo_Otaku Send a message via MSN to Leo_Otaku
Quote:
Originally Posted by Triple_R View Post
In most respects, this was an excellent ending.
Cons:

1. The pro sports fan in me can't help but to be disappointed that we never find out what the batting order was. I honestly had put some thought into that, lol. Kengo clearly should be clean-up hitter, batting fourth. The guy is going to be doing nothing but swinging for the fences with his one good arm, so you might as well take full advantage of the fact that "hitting for average" is the last thing on his mind. Masato should probably be batting fifth, since his personality is similarly "swing for the fences". Haruka strikes me as a very good runner, and she definitely has the personality of a base-stealer, so I'd have her batting first as long as she's at least a decent batter. Kurugaya strikes me as very possibly the best all-around batter on the team, so I'd have her third, just before clean-up. I'd probably have Kyousuke second. After the Top 5 it doesn't matter too much, you just then go in order from "best remaining batter" to "worst remaining batter (typically the pitcher)".

2. The metaphysics/supernatural elements of this show are weird. Even by Key's standards. After a full 26 episodes, I still have only the vaguest of ideas of what's going on. That darker, promotional bit for Refrain just made me even more confused. With Little Busters, I find myself thinking that the story would work perfectly fine without most of the supernatural elements. Why couldn't it just be a story of Riki helping out a bunch of girls over a few months while you have an overarching narrative of bringing a group of 9 great friends together to play a climatic baseball game? I suspect Refrain will justify the supernatural elements, but going strictly by this 26-episode two-cour original season alone, I really don't see what they add to the story. I can't escape the impression that they're getting half-assed, like the anime can't make up its mind between cutting them out entirely or incorporating them fully. And keep in mind that I'm saying all of this as an anime-only viewer.


On the whole, a very rewarding ending. I rated this episode 10/10, as the two cons I mentioned above weren't enough to significantly detract from how enjoyable, heartwarming, amusing, and cool I found this ending.
1) It is a shame they never showed the positions. In the game you can pick them all or go with what is suggested or ask for help. It would have been good to see who Riki picked for what to show he can make his own decisions. Also we could see each strong suit of his team members played out in his mind of how he sees them. Oh well.

2) Let's just say it is like a puzzle, you need all the pieces to complete it to see the picture. So far we have only made the boarder edges and a bit here are there in the middle. But you still dont know what the image is yet, too many parts are missing. I will say they are doing certain things better than Clannad did.
Leo_Otaku is offline  
Old 2013-04-08, 23:42   Link #39
Rising7
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
With a story like this, it seems that the supernatural stuff is all done to service the drama aspect, which takes primacy. With that in mind it's a little more serviceable.

I found this episode quite sentimental, since the heroines whose routes have been covered were each briefly brought back into focus. Particularly Haruka's "happy-serious", which is a bit rare to see.

Kengo was pretty amusing here. I guess all the energy reserved for kendo found a new outlet.

Some season's end comments by the cast.
Rising7 is offline  
Old 2013-04-09, 00:20   Link #40
Tempester
Japanese Culture Fan
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Planet Earth
Age: 33
I have no idea what the hell happened to this anime production process, but it's like the staff put all their energy and effort into the last quarter. Seriously, every episode since the end of Haruka's route was great. And the last two episodes were just fantastic. There was more use of original content, better transitions of scenes from written to animated format, and even more vivid animation for the characters. I'm just floored by how much this anime has improved since the beginning.

If the staff can keep up this level of competence, they will make wonders out of Refrain.
Tempester is offline  
Closed Thread

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 16:31.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
We use Silk.