It hit me probably even harder than Refrain because of its unexpectedly bittersweet nature, all the other routes had a more or less straightforwardly happy ending following the familiar nakige formula. This one is different. The moment Saya revealed the treasure was actually a biological weapon genuinely shocked me, I was thinking “wait, no, no, no, you’re kidding right? Saya will replay everything again and there will be a happy ending, right?”… but there wasn’t one.

Actually the ending was somewhat confusing to me, especially the time machine part Kyousuke was talking about. Doesn’t help that by the time I reached the ending I already forgot some details from the middle of the route… After some forum digging this is the theory that makes the most sense to me: Aya (the real Saya) manages to recover after the flood accident and becomes a Little Busters member in the future, in the “real” world.

Overall, this route really reminds me of Angel Beats! anime a lot, it feels like this route was inspired by this anime (well, they share the same author after all).

TLDR - overall Little Busters! was a really great show and made me feel a lot of emotion, at one point I felt like it might become my favourite anime but the ending prevented that - mostly because of my personal tastes.

I wanted to start with some positive things like expressing how I feel that some of the stories/ moments in Little Busters! anime were some of the most beautiful and well constructed I have experienced in all fiction. Some of the writing really knocked my socks off because when the story started to get deeper into certain arcs or push to conclusions I realised that some of the threads of that arc/ plotline had been building for many episodes in advance - but in a subtle and understated way, and to me that is a real sign of quality writing and creators who have passion with their vision and story.

The characters were also really amazing, I loved every single one of the main characters and even side characters for the most part were really interesting. In particular I loved the side character Kanata Futaki because she is complex, and whilst she does stay true to her character she also gives the viewer just enough to invest in her without it feeling contrived or overstated, like rooming with Kud. She is also a prime example of a plot thread building long before the time of "execution", the conflict between her and Saigusa starts long before it becomes integral to the current plot, rather than being forced in when it suited the script.

This probably goes without saying but the soundtrack of this anime is something really special. I have all of the main tracks on a playlist and listen to them daily, and I love that they callback to certain characters/ emotional moments. In terms of voice acting - I watched dub and I have to say that I enjoyed every performance, they were all unique and inspired as if the VA was having fun with the role. I imagine the Japanese VAs are amazing too, especially if some are from the VN.

I scratched some notes about my thoughts on certain parts of the show:

S1

• Komari arc - 10/10
• Mio arc - 10/10
• Saigusa arc - 10/10
• Kud arc - 7/10
  • Kud deserved better, she is amazing and her arc felt so rushed to me, she should have been captive for at least 2 episodes to build tension and setup impact for her return.

Refrain

• Kurugaya arc - 9/10
  • after the later episodes (but before the ending) I could really start to see how amazing and meaningful this was, beautifully done, loses 1 point because I still think it is made in a way that needs some context from VN in the moment (maybe VN is same?)
• Rin / Riki final task arc - 8/10
  • lost a point because Rin doesn’t do much and seems like they rushed the running away part?
• Rebuilding Little Busters! Arc - 10/10
  • Masato and Kengo episodes were just "chef's kiss" so amazing <3
• Kyousuke reveal episode - 10/10
  • at this point I was wondering if Little Busters! could become my favourite anime??
• Ending - 6/10
  • this kind of ending to this kind of show stops it becoming favourite but I am only human and of course I smiled seeing them all on the beach while S1 OP played :)

To expand on my ending score - this is probably partly a "me problem" but I felt like the happy fluffy ending stripped away some of the impact from earlier episodes, and the sentiment of the plot as a whole. I am not saying everyone should die, that is probably too far the other way but I think Kyousuke should have died because that feeling of sacrifice would have been so powerful in the end that I think I would have cried some serious tears for a moment like that. There could also have been a bit more fallout from the bus accident, maybe some of the characters were very badly hurt for life or just something to show a lasting impression that really reinforced the meaningfulness of what the plot was all about in the first place, and why the situation looked so much bleaker to Kyousuke than it really was. In the end it felt a bit like....well the plan should have just been to save everyone all along anyway. It doesn't make sense to me that characters like Komari / Kud would get sacrificed but Rin and Riki wouldn't? Feels a bit like "cos MCs".

I do understand that the sentiment in the end was that Kyousuke didn't even know if Riki and Rin could ever become strong just to save themselves and live never mind save everyone, but I think the execution of it just didn't work for me.

The ending also leaves me with some questions:

• how did a kid Kyousuke beat Kendo's Swordmaster father?
• how did Rin and Riki end up so far away from the bus? Did Kendo and Masato carry them out then go back in and pass out?
• Where they all friends in real life in the same way before the semester loop started?
• Is it possible the end is still a false reality? Kyousuke backflips through the window and we see the same light effect used in earlier episodes.
• Did the archery girl actually end up committing suicide in real life? I am probably being stupid but I missed it if the anime ever confirmed it explicitly.

If you read all of my ramblings them I appreciate your time, and I also want to say that - if you think I misunderstood anything about the plot in the end I am certainly open to discussion/ correction to my thinking. In the end I really appreciated the story of Little Busters! (I even ordered some merch lol) so I hope that the negative parts of my posts won't be seen as any kind hating.

Does anyone know what it could be? I have 100% CGs, 100% music, done every ending including normal, common bad, alternate, A/B, and true. All routes including EX. Did every option for the test of courage, Kurugaya love trials, puppet show, etc. The only thing I haven't done is Haruka bad end B because I accidentally permalocked myself out of it. I'm wondering if the entry could be in there, but hoping not because there's no way for me to get it now. The entry is in the N category right above Noritama. It's the last thing I need to 100% the Busterpedia and the whole game. I actually finished the VN over a week ago but can't get myself to uninstall it because that 1% is bugging me lol

hi, i watched the anime (specifically "little busters" and "little busters! refrain") when it was airing on TV when I was a kid (i also can't believe it's been about a decade...lol). i found out a couple years ago that it was an adaptation of a visual novel, and ever since then i've been thinking about getting into it. here's some additional info:

• i've never played a VN before, open to learning/don't mind reading a lot of texts (it's a visual novel for a reason)

• i'm thinking of getting the switch version so i can play it whenever (i do have a windows computer but i'm too busy to use it)

• from what i heard there's an adult version of this game, but i'm not really interested in that kind of stuff (so if i don't have to play it to understand everything that would be great)

thanks in advance!

My understanding is that each time you play a character's route, Riki & Rin's stats become higher the next time you start the game. Does the permanent increase to Riki & Rin's stats correlate in any way with how much you've increased them through baseball practice for that playthrough?

While I enjoyed the baseball minigame, it dragged after a while since Rin delays the next pitch every time a cat jumps to get whacked by the ball. I'd like to know if playing through the minigame for better boosts provides any long-term benefit.

I finished the little busters anime and kurugayas route on my psp and a few things got in my mind

1. What was the first 20th of june

2. Why kengo and masato didnt protect theirself so they can save others

3. And lastly I'm currently playing haruka's route and kengo joined the team but he didn't in kirugayas route is this becausebi choose haruka or he joins the team in second playtrought

Please help

I've been wanting to collect the entire series on Blu-ray but I cannot find part one for the life of me. Is it out of print??

the title says it

Just finished Kurugayas Good End first, and am now doing the routes in order. Just got to the part where Kengo saves Koshiki and fractures his arm, then joins the baseball squad. He's hillarious right now. Acting like a mini Masato idiot. Can't wait to see what the reason for that'll be.

Im looking to reread the little busters vn and i thought i might as well check out the 18+ version this time around, cant find any available downloads for it so i thought id ask if any of you know where to find it, I mainly want it for the Mio H scenes so if anybody has a recording of those that would do too

To Masato. Who just walks up and does that? She insulted him for being stupid, which is the entire reason he is obsessed with muscles- to fight bullies like her! Also- cheated during the "fight". If Masato could have gone all out, he would have cleaned her clock. She even admits that. She didn't want to admit he'd be stronger than her b/c she's a woman- who the hell started the fight in the first place! Masato would have been cool with her- she's the bitch who started it b/c she thought he would be easy to beat down.

Also:

Kurugaya: Loves Riki- but derails his training set out by Kyousuke.

Masato: Literally is okay being driven insane by Kyousuke so Riki can complete his training.

My beard is soaking wet. No joke. Episode 14 of little busters in particular, holy crap. Snot was running down my face as I was crying so much with nonstop tears.

I am so glad that mio didn't end up passing away. My heart would not have been able to take it if that happened to her. What a tear-jerking this episode was. Haven't completed this anime so far, but her arc itself, and episode 14.. wow. a masterpiece in my opinion. I cried so much for Komari's arc as well.

No words.