Little Busters ~Refrain~ - Episode 6 Discussion / Poll

[monir]

Welcome to the discussion thread for Little Busters ~Refrain~, Episode 6.

Thread Guidelines

• Raw requests and offers are not permitted anywhere on this forum.
• Spoilers or hints about future events must not be posted in this thread.
  If you need to reference something that would spoil a future event, reply directly with a private message, or seek out a more appropriate thread.
• Discuss your expectations of the episode if it has not aired yet.
• Be polite to your fellow forum members.
• Please try to keep the discussion on-topic.
• Do not post multiple times in a row. Please edit your existing post if you wish to add additional thoughts.

Episode Thread Spoiler Policy

• Any comment that discloses events, characters, plot or other information before it is revealed in the anime is expressly forbidden whether or not it is behind spoiler tags.
  Spoiler tags should still be used where appropriate.
  Please consult the AnimeSuki Spoiler Policy for more information.
• Adding a Spoiler tag:
  

  Just highlight your spoiler and click the button found on the "Quick Reply" and "Reply to Thread" forms. Make sure that you include a useful title!

• Please use the Report button if you see any inappropriate spoilers:
  

  Click the button found to the left of the post, just under the poster's avatar. Using the Report button is anonymous and helps the Moderators locate and deal with problems quickly.

• Posting inappropriate spoilers may result in a ban.
  Note: Reporting a post does not mean the poster will be banned instantly.
  The Moderators will use bans if warnings are repeatedly ignored.

[elior]

this was great episode i enjoyed every moment of this

[Aspirety]

Holy crap. They blew this out of the ballpark, heh.
The animation, the music, everything worked together to make this experience so memorable. I don't even care that they skipped over the stuff at the end of the episode.

This marks the second time I've cried watching something. It was even better than how the VN handled it. Best episode of the series? How about episode of the year.

10/10

http://www.rainymood.com/watch?v=CToJ-ecvGeU

Have fun guys.

[Zankoku12]

Rush,rush,rush everywhere and that Miyuki's scene was so weird wth...but for once,I can say the musics placement is quiet good in this episode.

Oh well

[Yye1]

wow, pretty good episode

[Kanon]

So that was the infamous cheap tricks scene. Yep, Kyousuke definitely acted like a dick there. I'm sure he has Rin and Riki's best interest at heart but his methods are questionable.

[ThereminVox]

Holy hell, that was awesome.

Kengo freaking out was a fantastic way to pay off all of the hints that Kyosuke might be

Spoiler for Episode 6:

a reality-warper

because not only does it more or less confirm that, it is also now apparent that he and Masato already know way more than they ever let on about what's happening. Again, none of this comes as a huge surprise, but it was still a really powerful way to show it.

[ChampDream]

a really great, intense and beautiful episode, it was so awesome.

[taichi-kun]

Awesome

masato you traitor

[Randrak42]

I actually really liked this episode, I wish they had developed the time Riki and Rin lived together at her grandpa's house a bit more but considering that the anime crew was short on time it was an understandable and actually well done cut (not like anything actually relevant happens besides Riki realizing he's still too weak to protect her on his own, which the anime explained anyway).

That said...end of Rin's Route so let the actual Refrain begin! The best part of the whole show, hopefully it will be done as well as this episode was.

[MCAL]

Now that was just fantastic...

And some excellent work by Yui Horie. Don't think the episode would have worked well with Tamiyasu's voice...

[Reckoner]

Spoiler for So glad to have finally gotten my:

CHEAP TRICKS! KYOUSUKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Well what can I say, I thought the episode was really well done, although as a VN reader i'm of course disappointed by some of the arc's omissions, but given the time constraints they really did as well as they could.

I really love how they nailed Kyousuke looking villainous here. The end of the game is heart breaking in many ways.

[Flower]

Whoa. Well done.

Very, very well done.

I also appreciated the bgm of the ep. Man, this series is really nailing it for an effective VN adaptation - meaning the refrain series in particular, though I enjoyed s1 of LB too.

[Deathscyther]

That was a really nice episode. The animation was solid and the bmg placement was very good as well. After the great execution of episode 3 and this episode, I have high hopes for Refrain.

The texting between Riki and Rin was really well done. You could feel Rin breaking down slowly and Riki becoming depressed because he wasn't able to help her. The baseball match was really well done as well. I've been waiting for this part of the story and I wasn't disappointed. The emotions were flying around during the match. Kyousuke looked really evil in the end.

The end of the episode was a little bit rushed, but this was to be expected with the amount of remaining episodes. I wish they'd given Riki and Rin living together a bit more time, but I still like they way it was handled. The song 'Hanabi' was a really nice touch here as well.

In the end, this episode gave off the feeling of despair. Rin was in despair because of her loneliness, Riki was in despair because of his helplessness and because of Kyousuke's plan and Kengo seemed to be despair after 'unfairly' losing the baseball match. Kyousuke and Masato seemed to be having a hard time as well. And to top it all, there was Riki's sentence in the end: 'For such a long time I'd forgotten that to live means to lose.' That's a really negative look on life. I guess the tone has been set.

[Ringil]

Did anyone else feel that Yui Horie's voice when Riki was arguing with Kyousuke outside his dorm room really did not feel like a guy's voice (in comparison to everything else so far imo).

Other than that, this was practically as perfect as it could have been. That image of Kyousuke looking utterly villainous is my favorite CG from the game and it was well captured here.

[Magicflier]

Riki running away from the problem instead with Rin, just because he can't solve it.
Your still a kid Riki, I thought you've at least grown a bit! D:

...and now the policemen have found them likely for tresspassing.

[DXMichael]

My respect points went wwwaaaayyyy up for Kengo and strraaiigghhtt down for Masato, why must they do this to me D=

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by DXMichael

My respect points went wwwaaaayyyy up for Kengo and strraaiigghhtt down for Masato, why must they do this to me D=

What makes you so sure that Masato is wrong for supporting Kyousuke?

Kyousuke's methods aren't the most appealing in the world, but is he wrong for wanting Rin to grow up and get out of her shell?


Some have speculated that all of the Little Busters, aside from Riki and Rin, are actually dead. I don't know, as I'm not that familiar with the source material, but the whole bit of "all but two of the students from another school died in a bus-crash" is certainly suggestive here. So let's run with this speculation.

Suppose Riki and Rin are the only Little Busters still alive, and Kyousuke somehow set up some place like the main setting in Angel Beats. A place to help the dead Little Busters move on, and the living Little Busters to come to terms with what has happened. Perhaps that place can't be maintained forever, and eventually Riki and Rin have to go back to the real world.

If so, then it's highly important for Rin to make new friends, and learn to come out of her shell. None of the other Little Busters (except Riki) will be there for her anymore.

Kengo understandably wants to keep the good times going, but if that's not possible, then it's simply not possible. Masato may well be the more practical person here who realizes that, hard as it is, the "tough love" that Kyousuke is showing Riki and Rin is necessary.


Whatever the case may be, this was a very good episode. I agree with what a lot of other people have wrote here. However, Little Busters really does push things a lot on the "secret of the world" and supernatural/metaphysical side. I've never been more uncertain about what's really going on in a Key anime than I've been with this one, and that's saying something.

The speculations I made above are almost total guesses based largely on Key's reputation. At this juncture in the narrative, I'd rather things were a bit more clear.

[Crashmaking Zoomatic]

My first reaction to seeing the latter half of Rin 2 condensed into three minutes was "...This is so weird!", but I got used to it after re-watching it a few times. In the grand scheme of things, it was probably a good idea. Great episode all around, though. I can't wait to see what they do with Refrain!

And lastly, using the Daydream remix of Boys Don't Cry was brilliant. I only wonder why JCStaff didn't pull a Kyo-Ani and use more music from the official arrange soundtracks.

[Benigmatica]

So wait, this episode isn't the Refrain route, but Rin's route?

Still, what a depressing way to play baseball... in the rain!