OP1.5 Sequence
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(Muhyossu, Saik da ze)
“Hell Yeah, This Totally Rocks!”
Don’t worry, Chairman-san – I don’t think I’d have noticed he was a guy either.
A lot of the time with Little Busters, my enjoyment comes down to the fact that its doing things Ive seen done before, but in slightly different ways. Theres much about this series that seems very familiar for good reason but closer investigation reveals that its less so than it first appears. Thats a distinction thats in the eye of the beholder, of course, but I consider my resistance to the sort of cute-for-its-own-sake anime LB is tweaking to be higher than most, so Im no pushover.
Stepping back and taking a look at what we got in episode 15, it doesnt seem like it would add up to much. Its another slice of life episode, one that isnt part of anybodys route but exists simply to entertain for its own sake and provide a little general character development. We got some BL gags, some yuri gags, lots of shots of the girls in nightwear doing cute things (and not just the girls), even some dessert porn. On paper I should be changing the channel right about now, but somehow as is often the case with Little Busters! the whole ended up being more than the sum of the parts.
In the first place, the episode was funny and that has to be the first place when it comes to anime comedy, otherwise all is lost. But what charms me more than anything into liking an episode that I normally wouldnt is the fact that its consistent with the general LB approach. As in, theres not a mean bone in this shows body theres a sense of good-natured joviality to what happens that undercuts the usually degrading nature of these sorts of scenes in anime. Starting with Rikis scenes with the guys in his dorm, yeah, these are yaoi jokes but theyre not mean-spirited. They work because the genuine friendship that exists between the four males (Kengo less than the others) has been well-established. When Masato says hes glad Riki isnt in love with Kyousuke because it would cut down on their alone time, I laughed maybe I shouldnt have, but I did because thats perfectly innocent and in-character for Masato. And I like the fact that when Kyousuke half-playfully fled the dorm after Riki rejected him, RIki shouted out I love all the Little Busters! unashamedly. Its a bit dorky, sure, but how often do we ever hear an anime character say they love someone using the actual words much less to a friend?
The slumber party scenes in Rins dorm room seem like a minefield this is not a good place for most anime to go but again, they work because even the sort of teasing Riki endures here is undercut with affection. Hes annoyed, but not really humiliated especially when he figures out that Kuragaya has set the whole thing up for Rins benefit, as she wouldnt have been able to tolerate the others presence for a sleepover had he not been present. And the fact is, Riki is just as comfortable with the girls as he is with the guys (more on that shortly). Hes just that sort of person utterly without malice himself, not unaware of the opposite sex but neither obsessed with ecchi or stammeringly nervous when presented with their charms. I found the humor itself a mixed bag in these scenes Im not that crazy about seeing Kud and Komari become a kind of moe Greek chorus (I like Kud better on her own). But the swordfighting scenes with their endless I am in your debt. How vexing! interplay were the sort of dumb joke that LB can make work by its sheer shamelessness and lack of pretense. Plus, seeing Mio in lighter moments especially turned-on by trap Riki is pretty darn enjoyable.
Theres another subtly clever part of this episode that fits into the LB pattern, too, and thats the way it tweaks the conventions of the VN structure. It isnt too often we get the lead asked straight out Who do you love? as Kyousuke asked Riki here, even though that question is basically at the heart of every romance VN. The show is also having fun with Rikis obviously somewhat delicate physicality without being too mean about it yeah, he really does look cute in a girls uniform and hes just as much at home hanging out with either group of friends. I like the fact that the stuff thats always the unspoken elephant in the room is just brought out into the open in LB like its no big deal. Its tough to pull off stuff like putting Riki in drag without it seeming cheap or cruel, but I think LB pulls it off by making it just part of the fun. Its all between friends here thats the theme that underlies everything in Little Busters, and provides insulation against the pitfalls that derail so many other anime that look superficially similar.
Full-length images: 2, 5, 6, 9, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 28.
Preview
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Operation “Blending in”, Mission complete :)So next is the more “serious” arc of Hinata and Kud. I wonder Anego would be last and after that, will there be LB EX heroine’s arcs as well?
See here.
That doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Pretty sure it’s just a cameo. I don’t know much about Saya’s route, but I’ve heard it’s very long. Since she hasn’t made any appearances (other than cameos), since her seiyuu hasn’t been listed, and since she hasn’t been in any of the news or promo images, I wouldn’t bet on her being in the anime unless they do an OVA.
thats not the only time she appears
1.) http://puu.sh/1QEe02.) http://puu.sh/1QEh3If you observe, shes the only yellow haired in the crowd 3.) cyber’s link
I still think it might just be a teaser for the fans of the VN. I would think that if she was going to appear in the anime, that she would have a few more appearances that had more impact than that. Or that she would at least show up in the other PVs and promo images.
Cybersteel, I really think Saya’s story won’t appear not unless the anime version actually do a magic 2 episode in one go minimum.
or we might get something more like “Little Busters: Another World”I’d LOVE that. I’m all for Sasami!! >:D
Edit: Opps. i meant Haruka
Dunno… I was expecting Riki to look more like a girl.
Hard to get him look more like a girl when he is already so much like one. He is main “heroine” of the story after all.
I was expecting him to look like this though http://puu.sh/1QAgp
TRAAAP!
Here are my thoughts:1.) I really like how they animate the Newspaper Sword but they really missed one part. I really understand the time constrain though. They didn’t do Mio’s blade properly. It was suppose to hurt like a whip(see video here) when she hits Saigusa Haruka.Anyway, Full Version of the Newspaper Sword(Time: 15:52mins to 27:28 mins) if any of you are interested.2.) But I won’t forgive the part here.:It wasn’t time constrain but no proper music attachment.The part where the Let’s talk about love part was fine but the Kyousuke Depression part wasn’t , my prefered perspective of course..JC staff didn’t add a proper music to it.It should be something like this (See videio)
Listen to this part, while looking at this. Oh god.
This should’ve been an entertaining episode. Except the quasi-yaoi part was painfully forced and didn’t make sense. The guys failing to choose a person to go rescue Riki didn’t make sense. The girls taking a bath when there’s a guy in the room didn’t make sense. The president not recognizing Riki didn’t make sense. Her fixing Riki’s ribbon (even if it’s late at night when they shouldn’t even be actually wearing full uniform in the first place) doesn’t quite make sense.Usually after a couple of episodes, I could gauge how logic works in a particular anime series and tailor my suspension-of-disbelief towards that. This episode however seems to manage to screw what goofy logic I already accepted for this series. So.. sadly, this one didn’t quite sit well with me.
It’s crystal clear that Riki loves Kyousuke : x
I think its the opposite.
That’s dangerous territory you’re traversing, guys…Then again, both of you may be right (those two are totally into each other)
Factor in Masato and you have a Kyousuke–>Riki<–Masato love triangle XD Riki, you better play your cards carefully…..
In the VN, you have two choices when he asks if you love him:>Yes>Lie to him… pretty obvious :-p
Bah, give Riki Kyousuke’s hair style and he would have look straight up like a girl, instead of Riki in a girl’s uniform.
http://images.randomc.net/Little%20Busters/Little%20Busters%20-%2015%20-%20Large%2033.jpgGentleman, the true heroine of Little Busters – Naoe Rikiko.Kyousuke was probably going all “YAHOOOO!” when he received that, before going all cool and telling Riki he’s cute, Riki in turn giving him a meaningful blush.Of course, there’s also that confession Riki gave to Kyousuke prior to being kidnapped by the girls.
and then we can get an original anime end.Yaoi route. XD
I don’t know about LB, there’s a muscle route, but in Clannad I had gotten to the Sunohara – BAD END – Yaoi route.
Did no one got the feeling, that…there might be an loop at the beginning of the episode, where Riki suddenly awakes? -This episode was great and it looks like the next one is starting with the Haruka/Konata-Route :3
My reactionNow that you said that.
My reaction
HUGE, HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD (read only if you’ve already read the VN.[All of it])Sorry, as I said way back, no WMD spoilers, even in tags.
http://images.randomc.net/Little%20Busters/Little%20Busters%20-%20OP1.5%20-%20Large%2005.jpgTotally not channeling P4 there.http://images.randomc.net/Little%20Busters/Little%20Busters%20-%2015%20-%20Large%2036.jpgHeh.http://images.randomc.net/Little%20Busters/Little%20Busters%20-%2015%20-%20Large%2013.jpgI support this ship.I got a pretty good laugh outta this episode. Kurugaya is even more devious than Kyousuke XD Imagine the chaos they can cause if they team up 😉 I do feel a bit weird tht the guys is a bit too forgetful in saving Riki….. But oh well. Riki is one lucky basket… He not only gets to enter the girl dorm, he also manage to fool Ms President :O
He even manage to fool the scary(and cute) Kanata. :p
Are they really gay or It was a joke?
Only Kyousuke knows.
God Only KNows?
If I remember correctly I think only Rikki can go to the girls dorm legally for unknown reaason.
Because of his Nyarkolepsy
Yeah, that makes sense”Oh you can’t sleep? Might as well go hang out in the girls dorm.”wait…
We needed a light episode like this after the serious arc, and it’s great seeing Mio loosen up a bit. Look at her standing confidently in the first screenshot from the OP, and her being a little voyeuristic in the episode! 😀 This whole ep was amusing to, even though I question how traditional it is for high school girls to kidnap a male student for a sleepover against his will. 😀
The actual hatred why Komari gets hit a lots from Kurugaya takes back from KomariMax Vs Yui-chan part I bet Kurugaya didn’t want to lose again.
Komari forgot how to defeat Yui-chan
Ritoru Basutzu Saikou!This was very entertaining. 11 more episodes to go with hopes for a second season near.P.S. Of course Enzo would put a sole picture of Kud in the opening caps. This is not a criticism by the way, so don’t reply to this like it is one.
As you’d know if you were reading the full posts the last few weeks, Mochi is capping this show for me.
Ah! My bad Enzo. Like I said though, I wasn’t trying to critisize. I love Kud too, although I find Kurugaya the more interesting character. Also, I hear Kud’s route is very quirky. Sounds like more Engrish fun is comming our way soon.
very fun ep! the sudden complete plotless slice of life ep worked out real well
I like how all the shots of Kud’s room……doesn’t have any of Kud’s stuff in it.Did they forget she moved in with Futaki? XD
haruka is very playful as always but i think she has a thing for kuruguaya, yuri incoming
It looks like it’s going to get darker soon. Looking at the 6th Opening cap it looks like one of the girls with a lot of bruises. It looks like the disciplinary team leader. I’m interested to know what happened.
It really is quite by design that Kyousuke is much more the protagonist type and Rikki’s more, uh, main heroine if anything. It’ll all click later on, I’m sure. For now, at least Rikki didn’t uguu.
I quite liked this episode myself. Sure, it was more slice-of-life, but it was often funny, it had all the characters bouncing off of each other and pretty much every character got some time to shine. And like you, I quite liked Riki in these scenes – it seems like every character nowadays is either a pervert or completely embarassed in a situation like that, so it was nice to see someone take the middle ground for once.This episode felt quite soothing and nostalgic (because I remember all the sneaking into each others rooms during field trips – also just having fun, mind you – all too well), so it was perfect to cap off a week.
This is the original version of the sleep over:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL16thwjd4MFeel free to watch it. No spoilers guaranteed if you already watch this episode.But its really amazing how the director was able to mix/mesh a lot of common route events(Kyousuke depression, Newspaper blade, Let’s talk about love) in one episode. Though it still didn’t make me laugh much unlike the VN.
I want to see the couple Kengo x Riki and lovely Kudo arouse feeling like rapture…coolI think this episode is most engrossing episode I had ever seen. The character focusing episode like ‘Komari’ or ‘Mio’ fell my expectation that the story quality was low… in other words, boring…However, today’s sub-episode was great.. funny and delighted….Wish Kengo x Riki engaged…. Kudo is the purified existant… don’t ever touch her Riki
Kyousuke x Riki is my OTP.
Looks like the next two arcs are going to be Hinata and then Kud. Not sure if we’ll ever get a proper Kurugaya arc, unfortunately.Also, Mio’s umbrella is gone in the OP.
You mean Haruka and Kud?
Its not their fault that they’re forgetting her name.
Oops! Thanks for the correction. I’m pretty sure I did Haruka + Kanata = Hinata in my head =(
Look back to episode 2. There were hints that there will be a Kurugaya route 100%. Seeing the circumstances, her route will play out second to last. I am waiting patiently.
While it would be great to get Kurugaya’s route as well, I won’t go so far as to say that it’s a 100% chance certainty. Considering that we’re well on our way towards Rin’s route (tasks, tasks) Kurugaya’s route might be somewhat conflicting. It would take a bit of grafting to attach all of it to our all-in-one-playthrough anime adaptation. It’s also even more romance-involved than Mio’s route, so even if they do it substance may be lost in adptation. That said, Kurugaya’s route after Rin’s route (or at least her piano; it’s lovely) will be quite interesting.
Didn’t Kud moved to Futaki’s room?
Yes? why.A-chan(voice by the singer of the OP, Rita) does go to Futaki sometimes since she is the dorm manager andstrange things .