Little Busters - Anime Spoilers & Speculation (for experienced Little Busters only)

[Free]

Not just the ball. The whole city (lights) came into existence in front of him.
The show takes on a different feel when you know that the only two that don't know the world's secret are Riki and Rin.

[Aspirety]

Ah yes. I mentioned it earlier but didn't go into detail: Kengo and Masato's reaction to Kyousuke's "If only this could continue forever." They looked shocked, Kengo even looked angry. It was subtle but it was there. That's something that only makes sense after reading Refrain.

[Draneor]

Originally Posted by Aspirety

Ah yes. I mentioned it earlier but didn't go into detail: Kengo and Masato's reaction to Kyousuke's "If only this could continue forever." They looked shocked, Kengo even looked angry. It was subtle but it was there. That's something that only makes sense after reading Refrain.

Yes, that was a great subtle detail. Between that and the creation of the world, I wonder how many nods they're gonna throw at us.

[RedKey]

Rewatching the episode with subs, and... wow, Mazui-UTW put giant spoilers in the OP lyrics XD
>itsuka kujiketa sono hi no mukou made
>until you can move on past the day we'll have died

[Linkark07]

Originally Posted by Aspirety

Ah yes. I mentioned it earlier but didn't go into detail: Kengo and Masato's reaction to Kyousuke's "If only this could continue forever." They looked shocked, Kengo even looked angry. It was subtle but it was there. That's something that only makes sense after reading Refrain.

I'm glad J.C. Staff is doing this for the people who read the VN.

Dunno if I may be wrong but at the beginning it seemed that Masato was already expecting Kyousuke to arrive.

[Shiina]

Mio's shadow in the OP is really going to bother me. Maybe we can assume it's her end-of-route self? It's the only way I can write it off.

Also the Warner producer tweeted that a "certain girl" was hidden in the first episode...



I love all the nods and bits of service they're throwing to the VN players, reminds me of when iM@S was airing.

[Linkark07]

Didn't notice that one. Thanks for posting it.

[Ringil]

Originally Posted by Balzac

Tossing ideas around, I offer this thought.

Spoiler for the heck of it:

In the game, the fulcrum of the route, the important transition, if you will, was in the baseball game. Whether one won or lost, the reader would be pushed towards their specific character route.

Now how would the animation handle the match specifically? When will the game be? Early on, and it loses its luster compared to the game, as the baseball match was the highest point of the characters' camaraderie and fellowship. Too late, and taking into consideration the format of presentation, one has the situation wherein the character routes may have to come before the game.

Secondly, what would be the intended impact of the match? Will it cement the Little Busters as the group they are? I suppose, to rephrase the question, would it be a big, one- or two- episode match or half an episode? There's never been much interaction in the game, as that portion was given over to odds, player positioning and planning on the player's part with little story interaction. This portion would have to be "original".

One might argue that this and many other elements in the common route are unimportant as long as the routes are reached. But I disagree. In Key games, the common is crafted so that it is the foundation of the game. Sadness and despair, emotions evoked during the chara-routes, is defined by joy and good-natured cheer (sometimes to the point of blatant idiocy, though of the good kind). This, I feel, is more important in Little Busters! because the other higher point of the game in my opinion is Refrain. The character routes were average to lacking at most. Of course, the characters themselves are memorable, but in visual novels, great characters are sometimes saddled with bad routes - but I digress.

So I come back to the baseball match, which also dovetails with the discussion on the "Endless Semester". How the animators will handle the baseball match might also reflect how the repeats are established. In the game, one has no idea until the very end of the existence of a reset, or a secret reality, only that there is a "secret to this world", a place where bizarre things occur, which are further reinforced by Kud's, Kurugaya's or Mio's routes.

So I restate, the baseball match is the key. What comes before and after it will be an indication as to their direction (which is already quite obvious plotwise to game veterans). It's plausible for several baseball matches, letting the audience believe that there are several matches, though that means more animation time for the matches which again would be a burden for their assigned budgets.

In the end, I could be wrong and the animators decide that the anime can stand on its own without the match. The question now would be, what would your thoughts be if this were so?

I totally agree with this. The baseball game is the most important part of the common route imo such that it even surpass pretty much every heroine route.

[bahamut zero]

Originally Posted by Shiina

Also the Warner producer tweeted that a "certain girl" was hidden in the first episode...

Maybe it's Saya

[Aspirety]

Okay so, speculations about episode 2! From the preview it seems to be Komari-centric, with the meeting on the rooftop and inviting her to join the team. Do you think they'll be introducing one character per episode like this? For reference, the game introduced the heroines in the order of Haruka>Komari>Kurugaya>Kud>Mio. But the OP suggests the order of the routes will follow Komari>Mio, so maybe Mio will be introduced earlier. Also worth considering the order in which they were recruited, which is Komari>Kurugaya>Haruka>Kud>Mio. Next character to be introduced? Could really be anyone. Kurugaya is next on the team, Mio is probably the next route, Haruka was the first introduced, and Kud could fit in nicely after Komari's baseball practice. It's anyone's game.

I expect battle rankings to make their appearance after the baseball practice this episode. Oh shenanigans! If they have time maybe they'll introduce one of the other characters too.

I definitely expect that they'll be showing the scene with Rin and her cats this episode, along with the beginning of Rin's quest to discover the secret of the world. Either that or the introduction of a new character would be a great place to end the episode.

As for the reveal of Riki's narcolepsy, it's anyone's guess where they'll fit that in. Maybe they just wanted to reveal it in a less crude way than the Visual Novel,revealing it when it turns out to be relevant to the plot instead of just throwing it at the reader during Riki's self dialogue.

[Arturia Polaris]

Originally Posted by bigdeal000

I for one want to know what's that on Rin's head in the preview

Looks like a kitchen handkerchief, so I guess they're going to start with Lennon's missions...

You know, when the whole school's kitchen staff goes AWOL?

Arty

[Shiina]

Originally Posted by Aspirety

Okay so, speculations about episode 2!

Roger!

There are interviews for each of the main seiyuu (sans Mio's, unfortunately) up on the main site, and Suzuki Keiko mentions that Haruka will be appearing from episode 3 on. That shot of Mio in episode 1 makes me believe she'll be introduced soon even though she appeared kind of late in the common route. No idea about the others, but I'd like to see Kurugaya introduced around the same time as Haruka since they're with each other a lot.
As for route order, perhaps least magic to most magic? Komari -> Haruka -> Mio -> Kud -> Kurugaya. Going from the "wtf" at the end of Kurugaya's route to Rin2 and Refrain would be a nice transition IMO.

Introducing battle rankings next episode would make sense, but I still wonder how they're going to do it. Showing the ranking screen game-style like ep1's "No-con" would get old fast. In any case, we need Mask the Saito or the anime won't be complete!

Also baseball practice, who wants to see cat abuse and picnic crashing?

Originally Posted by bigdeal000

I for one want to know what's that on Rin's head in the preview

A white handkerchief? They might be cleaning the clubroom.
Edit @ Arturia - Doesn't look like a kitchen though...
And wasn't the first mission getting rid of bugs on a tree? Come to think of it, if they show that next episode won't it be kind of obvious that

Spoiler for .:

Kyousuke's behind it, since it's right after we saw the flashback with the bees?

Or maybe that's just because we already know, that it seems obvious now...

[Aspirety]

Nah, the order is pretty much like that in the game, it's not obvious at all. Not sure about the handkerchief, maybe that's an anime-only scene. My guess is cleaning up the clubroom.

EDIT: Yeah, derp. You see the note wrapped around lennon's tail in the preview, so that 100% confirms Rin's cat scene in the next episode, along with the commencement of the secret of the world quest.

And I looked into it, the first noted instance of Riki's narcolepsy is after Kurugaya's first baseball practice. On the way back he has an attack, and wakes up later in his bed with Kyousuke by his side. If there's anywhere they're gonna introduce it, I bet it will be there. They could do it at the end of next episode if they wanted, after Komari's first baseball practice.

Also, in light of that new info, I'm guessing they'll introduce a character an episode.

[Arturia Polaris]

I think it's because we already know.

They could perfectly fit 2 missions in one episode, specially since it's just the original quintet doing the missions...

This way they might be planning to do Rin1 first...

I agree it doesn't look like a kitchen... it was just a thought. Besides it's night time...

Arty

[Aspirety]

I wouldn't say this confirms Rin1 first... It depends how they choose to handle the repetitions.
EDIT: Oh god I feel like an idiot! It was being waved right in front of my face, literally! You can see the note wrapped around Lennon's tail at the start of the preview. How did that escape my notice this whole time? ^^;
No need for speculation, that confirms it.
EDIT2: Also, perhaps the Rin handkerchief thing is her encountering the mysterious lifeform? It's possible.

So, to revise.

Things that will definitely happen next episode:
Komari on the rooftop
Komari joining the Little Busters + Baseball Practice
Rin and her cats + The secret of the world quest commencement

Things that might happen next episode:
Battle Rankings commencement
Mysterious Lifeform
Reveal of Riki's Narcolepsy

[Dizzyworld2]

Originally Posted by Shiina

Roger!

There are interviews for each of the main seiyuu (sans Mio's, unfortunately) up on the main site, and Suzuki Keiko mentions that Haruka will be appearing from episode 3 on. That shot of Mio in episode 1 makes me believe she'll be introduced soon even though she appeared kind of late in the common route. No idea about the others, but I'd like to see Kurugaya introduced around the same time as Haruka since they're with each other a lot.
As for route order, perhaps least magic to most magic? Komari -> Haruka -> Mio -> Kud -> Kurugaya. Going from the "wtf" at the end of Kurugaya's route to Rin2 and Refrain would be a nice transition IMO.

Introducing battle rankings next episode would make sense, but I still wonder how they're going to do it. Showing the ranking screen game-style like ep1's "No-con" would get old fast. In any case, we need Mask the Saito or the anime won't be complete!

Also baseball practice, who wants to see cat abuse and picnic crashing?


A white handkerchief? They might be cleaning the clubroom.
Edit @ Arturia - Doesn't look like a kitchen though...
And wasn't the first mission getting rid of bugs on a tree? Come to think of it, if they show that next episode won't it be kind of obvious that

Spoiler for .:

Kyousuke's behind it, since it's right after we saw the flashback with the bees?

Or maybe that's just because we already know, that it seems obvious now...

Thank you for all the info *v*

I'll be looking forward to Haruka's appearance. How many episodes do you guys think the common route will be? I think that the common route will be 5-6 episodes minimum ahaha;;

[Eater of All]

Personally I hope the common route will be spread throughout the show, interspersed between heroine routes. A hard reset everytime would seem too jarring and obvious (unlike in the VN where players don't suspect it). It would be more subtle if the world gets reset multiple times in the background, just that different scenes are shown with occasional continuity inconsistencies or hints thrown in for anime viewers to speculate on (or declare as bad writing ).

I originally thought the baseball match had to be put at the end for this to work, but that idea about multiple matches works even better.

[erneiz_hyde]

I think I remember reading somewhere that Key got a brilliant idea on how to incorporate the separate routes, which was one of the reasons why they didn't rush to make an adaptation because they were still puzzled on how to handle this issue until then. It was quite long ago though so I forgot where I read it and if I remember it right.

Originally Posted by Shiina

Mask the Saito

umaa uma uuuu

[Pik2Rob]

Originally Posted by Aspirety

Okay so, speculations about episode 2! From the preview it seems to be Komari-centric,.

What preview? Can I have a link to where you found it

[Free]

There's a preview at the end of each episode, and there is this.
The text, in summary, says Riki found Komari on the roof, told her about the recruitment. She took Kyousuke's entrance test. Meanwhile, Rin found a letter that was tied to one of the cats.