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Episode was good, Dem farewells had me, but not as in so many tears like u guys "experienced" lol. I barely cry during emotional scene's in anime :P but yea Tears were produced but not much.
-Riptide- said: You guys are so lucky you already watch it. I still have to wait 9 hours because its night time here and my dormitory have curfew. College life sucks!
In the mean time, was it the best episode JC Staff ever created?
It's pretty close.
The best episode they ever created is probably episode 5 or 6 of honey and clover 2 if you ask me.
This episode was so good, but.... I don't know why but during farewells I felt that something is lacking.
Still when Kyousuke started crying my heart broke. So sad... T_T
Stark700 said: On a % scale, how faithful was that to the VN?
Overall the anime has been pretty faithful in terms of story but they lacked comedy and random events from the VN. But this episode was pretty much nailed perfectly.
Well, for me this episode is 4/5, is very good adapted except one thing, when Masato leaves it totally destroyed me in the VN, i couldn't stop cry because is my favourite character on LB, and here on the anime it didn't give me the same impact...
because that ''moe'' Masato, Masato is serious in this scene, not moe.
One of my favourites CG VN , dont open if you haven't seen yet episode 11. http://imgur.com/wlnmhFY
hhmm
i don't know why, but... iexpected more from this episode.
i'm not a VN reader, just from what i heard and u all wrote i thought i'd cry my eyes out like a little girl
don't take me wrong, it was a great episode. was painful to watch them leaving, especially Kengo.
but was lacking something, or maybe i wasn't into characters too deep to cry there
whats wrong with me?
Gitah-Muttan said: is it just me or the timing of Haruka Kanata is a bit off when Kyousuke started to cry?
Not just you, I was waiting for the music to fade in when he turns... but nope
Also, why Masato's scene not so touchy? why wasn't there Haruka Kanata????
YES! EXACTLY! That fade is needed to amplify the feels!!
I thought the fading of all the characters was a bit too sudden really, was like someone snapped their fingers and they weren't there anymore instead of fading out over a few seconds
Gitah-Muttan said: is it just me or the timing of Haruka Kanata is a bit off when Kyousuke started to cry?
Not just you, I was waiting for the music to fade in when he turns... but nope
Also, why Masato's scene not so touchy? why wasn't there Haruka Kanata????
YES! EXACTLY! That fade is needed to amplify the feels!!
I thought the fading of all the characters was a bit too sudden really, was like someone snapped their fingers and they weren't there anymore instead of fading out over a few seconds
I think making it like that would be overdoing it.
Even in Angel Beats, they disappear from thin air too.
HaXXspetten said: I thought the fading of all the characters was a bit too sudden really, was like someone snapped their fingers and they weren't there anymore instead of fading out over a few seconds
Or like Angel Beats, disappear after changing of camera angle~
The last part where the members of Little Busters who have already disappeared, it would have been so much better if they weren't standing in one straight line and sitting at the desks around Kyousuke.
Well, that episode was awesome, but it quite didn't feel right for masato's part, but it was still ok.
If you only watch the anime, and if you have time and are interested, you can watch how this part is done in the visual novel here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmMzVT6g1Qs
But don't forget to stop before spoil yourself at 27:20 ( if you can ~~ )
This was pretty well done. Starting with that great version of Song for Friends instrumental.... Adding the girls at te beginning made my tears start to show and everyone at the end finished me. The disappearance of the world was pretty good also.
However, the characters vanished too suddenly. Masato seemed to read a teleprompter while bidding farewell and hasn't the tone I expected. Kengo's part gave me feels, but not as much as in the VN. I don't know if it's because Faraway started a bit late in comparison or anything. I would have loved to see him smile before slowly vanishing.
I really liked the teared up Riki. Nevertheless, while I usually prefer his anime VA, this time, I prefered the VN's. His lack of understanding was so sad to see in the VN, as for him beseeching Kyousuke. Also, pretty sure I'm the only one who have prefered the totally confused Rin from the VN.
However, Kyousuke's farewell was so well done it totally outdid the VN to me. Dat voice acting, dat movements, dat tears... I really thought back the tears and trust me, it was such a hard thing to do.
This was really an awesome job JC Staff did. It could have been better, as always, but I'm still satisfied. I'm eager to rewatch it when Refrain Subs air their version.
Omg that episode hurt my soul... So many tears. Masato's goodbye was sad but I thought kengo's and kyousuke's were done better. Riki's confession to kyousuke created the kyousuke route :)
Anyway, I compiled this image gallery full of symbolism, foreshadowing, and explanations for occurences throughout the Little Busters anime.
Now that the Secret is out, I wanted to unveil my gallery.
Enjoy: http://imgur.com/a/fSJLK
omg Komari and the shooting stars thing from S1 was brilliant. I'll never expect that as a hint. Now I guess the 8 shooting stars represent all the LB's member?... wow.
Farewell Kyousuke, farewell Little Busters... Hikaru Midorikawa's performance is godlike!!! (;_;)
I've found he is acting supreme better than in VN! I think he's really crying when reading those scripts! T_T And the collapsing of the world effect is so well-done...
Cool episode felt emotion a few times especially with Kyousuke's goodbye, thought Kyousuke was the only one that died, my word everybody. Pretty good though.
Everyone is disappearing... T_T feels like it is Angel Beats all over again.
Yet again Kyousuke's words were just too damn emotional, as well as Masato and Kengo just bid Riki farewell as they disappear. Well Kyousuke was glad that Riki and Rin grew up to themselves and reopen the Little Busters again. The school fading away as well as the other members of the Little Busters, were well done and I think that JC Staff did a great job in this episode.
Now lets see how these two episodes will played out in the end.
You know, I think Masato's ending wasn't really emotional or anything. He did sound like he was reading from a teleprompter... but, I don't know... it really seems to fit him, imo. He's the idiot who just... didn't know how/what to say. I thought it was nice.
i'm really shocked i didn't cried, but the i guess it was because i was too busy being shocked, since i never played the novel i always wanted to know why was this anime always paired up with clannad and the rest of the sad key stuff, but god, that was overkill, EVERYONE dies, fuck, that has harcore as hell, plus thanks to thi thing, i can understand it way better http://imgur.com/a/fSJLK
now, off to see howcan they survive the real world ...damm i'm still quite shocked...
Being a fan is like having a penis. Its nice to be proud of it But don't pull it out in public and wave it in other's faces
Kyurem Black. Kyurem White. Together they are Pretty Kyurem.
For those who think KyoAni can't do better, love the series, or can't handle someone having an opinion different than their own.... this is all the opinion of KeyIsLove.
Mod Edit: Extensive discussion of differences between VN and episode follows. This is a potential spoiler for people who intend to play the VN, and is better suited for the separate thread on the VN vs. Adaptation.
Sorry, but I'm calling it. JC Staff screwed up the emotional parts. Now I know I've said before I never cried at Clannad AS or the Little Busters! visual novel, but I can still recognize when a scene is done right and they screwed up. Masato's farewell, which is my favorite part of the VN besides the end of his route, was dull. The music had little effect on the scene and it was done poorly. The CG looked better (for anyone wondering, the entire background was white, it was just Masato and Riki) than it did in the damn show.
In the visual novel, the entire baseball field scene was one hundred times more emotional. Riki questioned if Kyousuke was bullshitting him or not rather than just accepting everything (it was brief, but it was better than what JC Staff did). The farewells were simply not done well.
So this is my opinion. And I'm calling this one too: Kyoto Animation could have done better. The one thing I've realized since the first season when the voice actors mentioned it in an interview is that the visual novel was more emotional in the emotional scenes than the anime was, and this episode proves it to be true. JC Staff simply cannot properly do an emotional scene whereas KyoAni can and has multiple times. I rewatched some of the sad scenes of Clannad AS multiple times and every now and then I felt sad at them. Here was nothing.
We would never have gone through the bullshit we did in season one if JC Staff wasn't making this. No episodes where someone on here could almost see the storyboard frames for each scene, no two frame fall for Rin, no odd-looking falling of the roof for that girl Kengo talked to (forget her name), and most importantly EVERY emotional scene would have been far more impacting on everyone than what we got. Not to mention the final five seconds of this episode looked dumb with the way it just drooped down and vanished. They spend quite a bit of time making everything disappear all cool-like, then with Kyousuke they're like, "Shit, the budget's up. Okay just... do this. DONE," and we see the screen just slide down like blood (doubt that was intentional).
I'm sorry to rant, and again this is my opinion, and while I don't think this anime is F.U.B.A.R. (f---ed up beyond all repair), I think this is just a giant "we were right" for everyone who thought JC Staff could/did/is doing a great job and that "KyoAni couldn't have done better." The animation, music placement, emotional scenes, everything would have been done better.
People look at Clannad images and feel nostalgia for them. They remember a great anime about life and friendship, the funny moments, the sad ones, and in general think of it fondly and with great feelings. Ask anyone to look at a bunch of images from the series (e.x. my wallpaper dump on imgur) and talk about what they feel: this series will never have that. It simply isn't emotional enough. The only reason this episode was as emotional as it was is for the fact that the source material is emotional (as in, they can only do so bad with something so good).
Nonetheless, the episode was a C+. Flame all you want, this is again my opinion. And no, I'm not mad, just kind of saying, "I told you so."
/rant
Note: I do feel like watching all the episodes since last year has been a bit of a waste of time though. The emotional pay-off was supposed to make all the crap we got from season one's lowest points worth it.
EDIT: CG comparison of Masato's leave from the VN and anime:
I think Hikaru Midorikawa was really crying during the recording. Hear his voice, it's so real ;_;.
He himself is actually a huge Little Busters! fan since the Little Busters! VN came out. I believe he and other seiyuus were crying in the same recording room just like the Clannad seiyuus did... Gosh!!
Oh my god.... I can't handle the feels anymore :( I cried through the whole episode like a baby and now my eyes hurt. This episode was well made and 1:1 to the VN. I'm looking forward to the next episode but I was expecting that the episode will end with Riki and Rin waking up near the bus.
UWAAAAH IT HAPPENED, FINALLY!
Kengo and Kyousuke's farewells were done just perfect, that Haruka Kanata! I felt both the tension, and the impact, and finally had some tears in my eyes.
Kyousuke... I feel like I'm losing part of my soul every time I see this scene.
TIME TO REPLAY THE GAME. WHERE IS MY KYOUSUKE X RIKI ROUTE ANYWAY.
JimRaynor said: I think Hikaru Midorikawa was really crying during the recording. Hear his voice, it's so real ;_;.
This man has to be the best seiyuu ever, undeniably.
KeyIsLove said: So this is my opinion. And I'm calling this one too: Kyoto Animation could have done better. The one thing I've realized since the first season when the voice actors mentioned it in an interview is that the visual novel was more emotional in the emotional scenes than the anime was, and this episode proves it to be true. JC Staff simply cannot properly do an emotional scene whereas KyoAni can and has multiple times. I rewatched some of the sad scenes of Clannad AS multiple times and every now and then I felt sad at them. Here was nothing.
I'm going to have to make a rare post here because I simply cannot agree with this. You can say it's your opinion all you want, but you're pushing 'kyoani would have done it better' as fact, and that does not sit well with me.
No, KyoAni would not have done it better, it would have looked absolutely terrible if KyoAni had did it.
I know what you're thinking, but I'm not talking about animation quality, I'm talking about artstyle, that absolutely disgusting artstyle KyoAni has had since K-on.
The faces don't fit and the colours do not belong even close to LB!
If KyoAni did it, it would barely resemble Little Busters from day 1.
Even if KyoAni could do better, it would come at the cost of looking god damn horrible, I will not accept 'we were right that KyoAni would have done better' when JC gave a basically perfect episode here that looked like Little God damn Busters. The bright simple style used is perfect for Little Busters, KyoAni would not use this, I am totally confident in that statement.
Yes the first season was bad, the first season was absolutely bad, I wrote an entire blog post on why and where it fucked up. But you've got to be actively looking for flaws to say Refrain has been handled badly(wouldn't surprise me, in my experience KyoAnifags are the kind of people who would do that). At absolute worst, it's been a few nitpicky things that are mostly due to time constraints, something even your precious KyoAni would have to deal with.
And for one last remark, might I remind you that KyoAni REJECTED Little Busters? Frankly they don't deserve to make this masterpiece if they're going to be like that.
This was fantastic, the most powerful moment in the VN was enhanced, I won't let it be insulted to give that undeserving company praise.
JimRaynor said: I think Hikaru Midorikawa was really crying during the recording. Hear his voice, it's so real ;_;.
He himself is actually a huge Little Busters! fan since the Little Busters! VN came out. I believe he and other seiyuus were crying in the same recording room just like the Clannad seiyuus did... Gosh!!
That's really nice to hear! I'm sure Tamiyasu is a fan as well since she has the main role and I remember reading that she loved it as well.
Mod Edit: Extensive discussion of differences between VN and episode follows. This is a potential spoiler for people who intend to play the VN, and is better suited for the separate thread on the VN vs. Adaptation.
_Kanon_ said:
No, KyoAni would not have done it better, it would have looked absolutely terrible if KyoAni had did it.
I know what you're thinking, but I'm not talking about animation quality, I'm talking about artstyle, that absolutely disgusting artstyle KyoAni has had since K-on.
The faces don't fit and the colours do not belong even close to LB!
If KyoAni did it, it would barely resemble Little Busters from day 1.
Even if KyoAni could do better, it would come at the cost of looking god damn horrible, I will not accept 'we were right that KyoAni would have done better' when JC gave a basically perfect episode here that looked like Little God damn Busters. The bright simple style used is perfect for Little Busters, KyoAni would not use this, I am totally confident in that statement.
Yes the first season was bad, the first season was absolutely bad, I wrote an entire blog post on why and where it fucked up. But you've got to be actively looking for flaws to say Refrain has been handled badly(wouldn't surprise me, in my experience KyoAnifags are the kind of people who would do that). At absolute worst, it's been a few nitpicky things that are mostly due to time constraints, something even your precious KyoAni would have to deal with.
And for one last remark, might I remind you that KyoAni REJECTED Little Busters? Frankly they don't deserve to make this masterpiece if they're going to be like that.
This was fantastic, the most powerful moment in the VN was enhanced, I won't let it be insulted to give that undeserving company praise.
Clearly, this guy doesn't understand that KyoAni has different teams of character designers used for different works. I don't know what makes you think they would adapt Key VN designs to anime the same way they've adapted K-on designs.
Anyway, KyoAni didn't "reject" Little Busters. They have a 1 project at a time rule, and they were booked with several other anime ahead of Little Busters. KyoAni gave Key the option of waiting, and Key turned down that option and accepted an offer from JC Staff, thinking that this studio could exceed the quality of the original source material.
So, what did JC Staff do badly that I think KyoAni could've handled?
Let's see what else they did off the top of my head.
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Kurugaya- no diary opening to show her struggle to maintain her memories, her time loop was made into a "wish" to stay friends with the Little Busters forever, romance was heavily toned down, no Love-Love Hunters with the bros asking out the girls. Kurugaya actually shipped Rin in her own route, and warned Riki to protect her. The fireworks had added friendship with all the other girls watching them. Rin teared up at the fireworks, showing her feelings for Riki, ruining the mood and creating a needless love triangle-esque tension for this route.
In Rin's route, they got rid of Kyousuke replacing Rin as the pitcher and playing the games each day as Rin was at the sister school, which built up the tension. The tour guide part was also a montage and they got rid of all of Masato's great comedy like the "private time with Kengo" joke with Sasami. They "forgot" to include Kengo's warning about what would happen if Riki runs away, "Only despair will wait".
In Masato's arc, they didn't include him reaching out to Rin going "finally, someone that isn't me!" from his perspective. He also looked like a retarded drunken zombie and it wasn't serious at all.
They didn't use the same songs (Little Melody) for Masato's or Kengo's arcs- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA5cJKmE7Aw
They changed it to Song for Friends- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EmhlYh-bLU
They got rid of LAAAWREEEENCE in Kengo's arc.
Oh, and in Kyousuke's arc, they show him actually crawling in the real world and positioning himself at the bus to block the gas leaking.
JC Staff masterpiece, "No changes to the story."
The perspective shifts were done as third-person flashbacks of material from earlier on in the anime, so they were barely actual perspective shifts due to the low budget.
Episode 7, the start of Refrain, was one of the worst looking ones in the season.
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The way they mishandled Masato's character is terrible, and they kept it up right up through the farewells. They turned him into a punching bag, and nothing more.
KyoAni at least has experience with Key and wouldn't try to fuck up the story impact that Maeda wanted to deliver like JC Staff has. Warner Bros' budget combined with JC Staff's incompetence just leads to blatantly WRONG decisions about how to go about the series.
Your claims about them using a K-on art style for Little Busters are about as fucking retarded as the idea that they were going to make Clannad look like Lucky Star, because that show aired before Clannad was announced.
Anyway, it's speculation of a low budget studio with its worst director and few too many episodes, vs. speculation of a studio who has lived up to Key's source material previously, and has actual talent available to deliver the impact of the original work.
This anime was made for VN players anyway, so I pity those who didn't like it, but liked Key's other anime adaptations, and didn't get a chance to play the VN before JC Staff did... whatever they hell they did to this show they're claiming to be "Little Busters".
I cried. Damn visual novelists knew this was gonna happen the whole time I thought everything was about to return to normal, but no they were ghosts the whole time..
5/5 Next week couldn't get here any slower.