|
View Poll Results: Little Busters ~Refrain~ - Episode 13 Rating | |||
Perfect 10 | 16 | 34.04% | |
9 out of 10 : Excellent | 13 | 27.66% | |
8 out of 10 : Very Good | 6 | 12.77% | |
7 out of 10 : Good | 8 | 17.02% | |
6 out of 10 : Average | 3 | 6.38% | |
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 | 1 | 2.13% | |
Voters: 47. You may not vote on this poll |
|
Thread Tools |
2013-12-28, 14:26 | Link #21 |
Japanese Culture Fan
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Planet Earth
Age: 33
|
First of all, let me also chime in with my relief at how the anime successfully enacted the true happy end of the VN while avoiding the stupid time-travel deus ex machina that plagued the ending the of the VN. Heck, just by removing that idiotic Maeda cop-out, that already makes the anime ending better than the VN's, but aside from a few forgettable mild issues, the last three episodes of the anime were just fantastically well-done. Frankly, I can't see modern KyoAni improving on them much if at all.
In terms of endings for Key anime, I'd probably rank this one as second-best right below Air's. Here are the beach photos at the end of the episode for anyone interested. Mio's camera shyness is especially cute. |
2013-12-28, 15:53 | Link #22 |
ANEGO Worshiper
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: By the vending machine, drinking tea.
|
Well...with the anime done here's my quick thoughts:
Did I like the anime more than the VN? Hell no, but that was to be expected...it had a huge hurdle before it. Do I think the anime made the VN justice? Not even close. While I don't believe it made it justice, I also don't believe it was a disgrace either. Would I have changed anything in the plot choices in the anime? OH God yes...all the yes...so much yes... Did JC Staff do a good job? Meh, decent enough...it got better in Refrain but they made a lot of decisions I do not agree with at all. The animation had its ups and downs, sound was ok (the nostalgia factor helped). Did I enjoy the anime? Yes, it was decent. The anime was nothing special or memorable for me (despite being the adaptation of my all-time favorite VN) but it wasn't bad either...it was in that middle ground with a couple of really spectacular episodes but with the rest being really, really average. Overall...Meh... |
2013-12-28, 18:04 | Link #25 | |
Often Disappointed
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Portugal
Age: 38
|
Quote:
Spoiler:
I wasn't very fond of this part in the VN, so this episode felt weak to me. Still, the added bits of Little Busters' interaction at the beach were great so despite the situation mentioned above, the episode managed to be enjoyable. All things considered, Refrain was a good enough adaptation. I prefer the VN by a long shot, but the anime did a good job at telling the story. |
|
2013-12-28, 18:18 | Link #26 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
|
So in the end they survived huh... it's hard to explain but somehow I feel that it doesn't fit IMO...
In any case... I'll say that at the very least I'm glad I sticked with LB Refrain... sure there are aspects that I really can't get into like the "Key Magic" but overall it's a good watch and at the very least it gave me some idea about the VN. Still have no plans on touching the VN though...
__________________
|
2013-12-28, 18:28 | Link #27 | |
Kana Hanazawa ♥
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: France
Age: 37
|
Quote:
The VN ending, on the other hand, is easily just as bad as Clannad if not worse. I'm glad the anime staff decided to make these changes, I would been very mad if they had remained faithful to the novel. Never thought I'd say this but... good job, J.C Staff.
__________________
|
|
2013-12-28, 18:38 | Link #29 |
ANEGO Worshiper
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: By the vending machine, drinking tea.
|
Also,if I remember correctly (in the VN) Kurugaya had the most injuries out of everyone aside from Kyousuke, far more than the others as she took longer to get out of the hospital (not Kengo) which to many implied that during the crash she did something similar to Masato and Kengo to the other girls or something of the like.
This is of course speculation, but the extent of her injuries was something the anime didn't mention. |
2013-12-28, 18:51 | Link #31 |
Senior Member
Author
|
Going into this episode, I was prepared to hate it. I was prepared for a horribly out-of-nowhere forced happy ending, based on how last episode ended.
To my considerable relief, the narrative did a surprisingly good job of transitioning to a very happy ending after spending so much time clearly building up to a decidedly bittersweet/tragic one. The way the narrative did this was two-fold... 1) Finally, Riki's Narcolepsy, a seemingly important recurring element that many of us nonetheless found kinda obnoxious and/or laughable, was used very well. 2) Adding a deeper meaning to the idea of Riki "surpassing" Kyousuke. By clearly tying these two recurring elements into Riki and Rin successfully saving everyone, the ending manages to at least feel like it did not come absolutely out of nowhere. In order for Riki to save his friends, he had to overcome his recurring weakness - His narcolepsy. And that narcolepsy was directly tied into him panicking during a truly terrible personal tragedy. So to get a better result with this horrific vehicular accident, Riki had to overcome a weakness that plagued him in a previous one. Riki also had to "surpass" Kyousuke in maintaining hope in rescuing his friends, something that Kyousuke himself clearly never imagined possible. So, kudos to JC Staff for decently managing something that is pretty hard to manage - And that's completely changing tone in the last episode and a half of an anime show. That being said, I probably would have respected this ending a little bit more if it had stuck to the theme of how it's important for people to become emotionally strong enough to overcome great personal loss (since just about all of us will face that at one time or another in our lives). My one other major critique is based on how one of my fields of training is Occupational Health and Safety. Part of that training involves learning about Emergency Preparedness, and how best to respond to emergencies just like this one. My background here is part of the reason why I really didn't like how neither Riki or Rin called emergency services last episode. The fact they didn't do that this episode either does exasperate me a bit, I have to be honest there. Riki and Rin are heroes, but what they did in this episode was absolutely reckless in the extreme. They never called for emergency help, they tried to do everything themselves, and they even took a major risk with a freaking gas leak. I really hope that nobody considers this a good example of how to respond to a major emergency involving a major vehicular accident. However, this is still a reasonably well-executed happy ending, and that is a treat in itself. It was very nice to see more scenes of the full Little Busters gang, including all the girls, including all of them alive and well. I'll give this finale a 8/10.
__________________
|
2013-12-28, 20:42 | Link #33 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Age: 38
|
Only thing that got me was how fine Kyousuke was in the end. I'm not even talking about the "someone should've died" thing. He was comatose for at least three months, right? Shouldn't his muscles have atrophied quite a lot? To the point that he could walk, but not even run, let alone climb a wall or backflip into a room?
|
2013-12-28, 21:09 | Link #34 | |
Senior Member
Author
|
Quote:
But the way he returned was too fabulous for that sort of emotionality, lol. His return was extremely cool and swashbuckling. It was fun! But it's not as emotional as it could have been, so yeah, mixed feelings.
__________________
|
|
2013-12-28, 21:15 | Link #35 | |
Alive
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: in my really nice house
|
Quote:
__________________
|
|
2013-12-28, 21:16 | Link #36 | ||
Rewrite of the Life
|
I loved the change the made with Riki at the beginning from the novel that improved a lot of what was missing before. Also wtf with how about already doing Kick the Can that was unfair!
Overall they did a really good job with this last episode, except they omitted the hospital scene. I agree with some people saying there should have been some casualties. I really agree with this. Though we did have one in the series that was highly overlooked was Miyuki Koshiki I believe she deserves a spin off. Quote:
Spoiler for Just a reply:
Quote:
|
||
2013-12-28, 21:40 | Link #37 | |
Senior Member
Author
|
Quote:
Having a couple casualties would have made it feel a bit more ballsy, and would have still kept (a little bit) to the theme of Riki/Rin learning to be emotionally strong after enduring painful personal loss. OTOH, it can easily create a nasty "Am I supposed to be happy or sad?" clash (honestly, I felt this way about Gurren Lagann's ending, for reasons I'll get into in PMs if anybody wants me to). It's also a huge kick in the gut for fans of the specific character(s) that don't pull through. I mean, imagine Kuruguya is the lone casualty. That would be really harsh for some fans here, I think. So I'm honestly leaning towards "If you're going to have Riki play the Big Damn Hero then go all the way with it. Don't half-ass things. Either keep it BITTERsweet, or make it sweet indeed!"
__________________
|
|
2013-12-28, 21:42 | Link #38 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
|
Quote:
|
|
2013-12-28, 22:02 | Link #40 |
Raindrop Melancholy
Join Date: Jul 2009
|
Yeah, we can totally take it like that. The ending of the first 15 minutes was ambiguous enough. And Kyousuke in the 2nd half is too genki for all that have happened
Though I think people would rather look at the more positive interpretation, so whatever Not that I don't like the happy end, but I do want Key to go with a real ballsy ending in their "Dying World" line of work. The other Key works that don't belong to this line all have more bittersweet endings
__________________
|
|
|