Little Busters!: Refrain Episode 8 Discussion

xMaebaraK1x said:
Somehow I lost almost all hope for Refrain after this episode.
That's all I can say until I rewatch the episode on himado again >_>;;

julyan04 said:

Correction, they were not thinking XD

Ol-Hybrius said:
As always, gonna wait for Horrible Subs, but you guys make me worry. I wanted the defeated Masato asking Riki if they were going to have fun from now on with Little Melody played... You're talking about the instrumental version of Song for Friend, right ? Putting the voiced version here would be kinda bad...

Seano299 said:
Guys, stahp! You're scaring me D: This episode has to be perfect, or else I'm going to be so fucking angry. This was and is still one of my favourite moments in the VN. If they've fucked this up, tables will be flipped. I really hope Song for Friends isn't as bad as you guys are making it out to be for that scene. My body is hopefully ready for this and that you guys are exaggerating. PLEASE BE EXAGGERATION! DX

egnaro315 said:

But they did...

Ol-Hybrius said:


Holy crap... So the rumor about the new song were wrong ? This would have been better. Not as good as Little Melody, but... Song for Friend ? Seriously ? They're definitively going to play Tick Tock Routine in the last episode...

Ar least, did they put the flashbacks with the young Masato ?

Seano299 said:
Guys, stahp! You're scaring me D: This episode has to be perfect, or else I'm going to be so fucking angry. This was and is still one of my favourite moments in the VN. If they've fucked this up, tables will be flipped. I really hope Song for Friends isn't as bad as you guys are making it out to be for that scene. My body is hopefully ready for this and that you guys are exaggerating. PLEASE BE EXAGGERATION! DX

Ol-Hybrius said:
Seems to be wost every week... Crap ! Did they put the two point of views ? And played "A Wolrd Where Nothing Happened" ?

Ol-Hybrius said:
Seems to be wost every week... Crap ! Did they put the two point of views ? And played "A Wolrd Where Nothing Happened" ?

xMaebaraK1x said:

Actually I think this episode is worst-ly adopted comparing to the previous episodes in this season.

egnaro315 said:

I wonder, were the people working on Kurugaya's arc different to those assigned for Refrain. The directing is too different when I re-watch it.

xMaebaraK1x said:

I remember the assistant director did the storyboard for the second episode, which is magnificent.
Storyboard of the first and the third was done by the director and are so-so.
While in the eighth, the storyboard is done by the one who also did the eighth episode in the first season (the kud episode).

DeathDoUsPart said:
Thats JC Staff for you, sigh... now im scared to watch this episode.

egnaro315 said:
Episode 2 is also my fav ep this season. Strange that they hired that story boarder for this crucial part instead of the main director or assistant director handling it.

xMaebaraK1x said:
Actually the storyboard of episode eight from the last season has one of the best storyboards in the series except for that one scene when kanata caught them going into the girl's dorm with the lightning background and the weird walking. All the movements in that episode are animated in great detail, while in this episode, none of these positive elements are really shown.

Ol-Hybrius said:
All I have seen for now is the pictures on the official website. The animation looks good, but what with the red-eyed Masato (looks like a Yu-Gi-Oh card's name ha ha) ?

Rawr_Taiga said:
Man and here I was worried that this was actually bad judging by peoples reactions.



The first half was kinda meh. They did a good job with Masato's prospective (though short)+the fight (RIKI) and the flash back feels with Kyousuke+Masato was enjoyable.

Karliee said:
Was the episode THAT BAD?
I'm getting scared now,lol.

Vladz0r said:
Well, Riki looks like season 1 Riki again with the derp faces and designs.
The first half of episode was comedy gold. Masato walking like a zombie, ahaha,
and so much for "I'm the bloody strongest!"
ORE GA SAIKOU DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
He sounded like he was drunk. (edit: Oh wow, they fixed it from his perspective...)
This Zombie Masato is beautifully hilarious. http://i.minus.com/i3WL0rxtmMBmh.gif
Okay, Masato walking like a zombie before he gets stuck to the statue, and with the music playing just couldn't keep me from thinking of Frankenstein.

I'm glad Riki's perspective is finally over. Rin was the saving grace of those parts. with her cute comments on how much fun she's having by taking down Masato, lol.
All these Masatos. For some reason I couldn't take it seriously, even though I read the VN. I imagined all the Mastos having a grin or smile on their face to sort of be teasing him or something, but they're kind of blank-faced. It was decent, but the Masatos lasted for only a little while. A World Where Nothing Happened saved those parts a bit, and I could almost take them seriously.
OMG Masato with Riki's voice is so weird and awkward.

The fade into the flashback with Kyousuke was pretty nice, and Masato's reaction when he's punched and then it shifts to his perspective. The flashback itself is really fun and I liked this part with Kyousuke and Masato going around their neighborhood.

Where Song For Friends starts playing Kyousuke and Masato start punching each other is pretty nice. I can see why they would use Song for Friends when we have this whole scene going on, though I would've liked Little Melody to end it off.
I think the problem was that it didn't feel emotional or dramatic at all in this flashback. I didn't quite feel the sense of relief for Masato, either in the flashback or in the perspective with Riki. It would've been much better with the original song, because that song gave a sense of a relief to the whole situation after the fight with Kyousuke/Riki and all the tension Masato was going through in both the past and present.

Hm, I didn't really feel the initial view of Masato backed against the wall, probably because of how they made the effect similar to Kurugaya's from episode 3. The closeup of Masato once he grabs Riki's hand was pretty nice.
But holy shit, they better not use the colors/style from Kurugaya's in episode 11.

The first parts with Riki were all over the place, the music directing changed to songs a whole lot, and I would've shifted up some songs for a better mood and impact. The sound direction keeps it going from serious to silly at a moment's notice. We go from Masato rampaging with "Parthelion" to Riki and Rin making the trap with "Race". I guess it felt weird with all the crazy pacing. They started it off with A World Where Nothing Happened when it didn't quite fit, and they switched to Two Sugars for a quick bit, and then Masato's weird behavior was fine with what they used. (If Only I Remembered In Time, I think)

The main offenders were Derp-looking Riki, Zombie Masato, the music director (mostly because of the quick pacing, but some song switches could've been better, no Little Melody, but they've been switching up the music for all of Maeda's best parts, so I guess we'll get more awkward changes because the screenplay doesn't want to compensate for the original dramatic effect.

I mean, I can see this Song for Friends scene with Kyousuke and Riki working fine, and it seems good if I didn't expect the scene with Little Melody at the end from the VN. I experienced more hilarity than I felt any sense of sadness relief from Masato's perspective this episode.

I guess let's see how the anime-only watchers like it.

julyan04 said:

Contrary to my initial comments, it was not THAT BAD. There are flaws, yes... but it was still an enjoyable episode. The impact is not there though.

Vladz0r said:
Yeah, I just found out about the original scene being like that, and I blame pacing more than song placement/changes.

I would've liked to see the most impactful scenes from the VN actually, you know, done well in the anime.

There was no Masato reaching out for Rin saying "Finally, someone that isn't me!", and Little Melody with Masato saying "Kay" at the end with Riki to tell him to take a rest.

I guess asking for that is too much, though. They'd rather just remove the best parts and change up the screenplay into something else.

Stark700 said:
Does Kurugaya ever come back in Refrain?

Seano299 said:


Do you really want us to give you answers? You'll find out by end. Just be patient :)

dizzyworld2 said:
Oh wow, that young Masato doing muscle dance was so cute XD
I agree with the others that the screenplay is strange at times. But those flashbacks were good enough for me. Some of music choices were iffy though.

I'm jut hoping that Masato was fleshed out enough for anime viewers to like it...

Stark700 said:


I miss her from the first few episodes ;.;

egnaro315 said:

Your avatar puts me at ease.

dizzyworld2 said:

Here, have another one. http://25.media.tumblr.com/f037611bba839abc7d5a4ddb5361d818/tumblr_mwq061Y8881qelmfeo1_r1_400.gif
Little Masato's muscle dance is the best!

dizzyworld2 said:

I'm jut hoping that Masato was fleshed out enough for anime viewers to like it...

Seano299 said:
Oooo, mixed feeling from me all over the place. First of all, so glad they used a world where nothing happened. Second, I actually really like how they handled Masato's perspective. They were able to get all the details and still make it feel quite creepy, which I like. The problem I have though, is the pacing. It felt like it got to Masato's rampage really damn quickly. Almost as if it just 'happened'. It doesn't have much impact. It's a shame, because this really is one of the best parts of the VN. This will have to be the first time I'm genuinely disppointed with how an episode turned out :(