--NOTE--
First of all, Little Busters! is still Airing. So this review is based on how many episodes i've been watching. So for people who hate someone who reviews the anime when it stills Airing. Please, we just want to 'guide' some people who hasn't watch the anime yet. So that they can tell whether it is a perfect anime for them or not based on episodes that have been aired. And note that i will edit and update this review till the anime finished airing. Though, for now i will be tallk more on comparison between the anime and the VN.
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Little Busters! or LB for short is an anime that adapted from VN. If u know Clannad, Air, or Kanon (Key Trio) this is another great VN from Key. It tells a story about Naoe Riki whose father and mother were dead when he stills a kid. Spend his remaining day in sorrow and sadness, comes 4 kid that pretended to be called "Little Busters". Sadness that always been tailing Naoe now has gone because they comes to his life. And so they still spend time together in High school...
Well, that's for the synopsis. The story itself is great (in VN). As expected from Key. As for anime, good news that J.C.staff really adapted the story carefully. Although, the time frame looks different from the VN. And a lot of scene from the original story (VN) is edited or deleted here and there (Clannad too, but managed to be as great as the vn). Lets hope that J.C.Staff had a good reason for this. As for me, i really enjoyed the pace of the story. It likes when i'm watching Clannad. Slow and Entertaining. Lots of Comedy here. But anyway some part funnier in the VN though. An example is the old man Kojirou's screaming. Back in the VN i was laughing for 5 minutes or so when Riki comes to his rooms and he Scream like hell, too funny. In anime? a little boring.. But now i get it, Little Busters is a tale of friendship and adolescence. So, maybe they focus more on LB Team Friendship than a comedy, though the comedy now gettin' better. And of course for the drama too.
Art.... i must say that the art... is average. Yeah right it is colorful and the background is beautiful. And the character face.. looks similiar from the original VN. Great. Too bad it looks pale. But now J.C.Staff seemed put more effort on this anime. The animation got better and better. Good news for fans. And keep this up J.C.Staff!
For some reason, the animation style looks similiar to KyoAni's. So for people who love Clannad and K-on! Art, you will love it too. Plus, if you are a moe seeker, enjoy the ultimate moe in Little Busters. Although, some people hate the extensive moe in Little Busters.
Komari "Fuueee.."
Nggghhhhh!
Kud "wafuuuu~"
NGGGGHHHH!!!
But.... there are random panty shoots in Little Busters. Too bad, if it can be like Clannad (no panty shoots) it will be perfect, i think...
The Opening "Little Busters" is great. Just great! I believe people sing along the opening when they watch Little Busters. Best Opening so far in my opinion for Key's anime. And to be honest, i played the VN because i saw the intro in youtube and love the song LOL. And for the ending, again its the best Ending for Keys VN (and Anime). Although the BGM is not that great.. the best BGM will be Clannad i think, Little busters BGM, is good, just average. Good news that J.C.staff used an unused track in the VN. And its good.
And now character. You know Characters from Keys always seem interesting.
First, the main male, Naoe Riki. I love his character, really. Clumsy but can be cool sometimes. Always picked up by Kurugaya. Has a baby face. So long, he's alright. Just, in Komari's Arc when Komari fell to depression, how can he be that calm? It seems that he has this in his mind, "Ah next episode Komari's Arc ended so everything will be alright."
Feel unnatural there. But, later on, he matured a little by little. As he and the teams always work together to solve the teams or individual problems.
And now Rin, she is the main male (right?). To be Honest, among all the girls, she is my favorite. Dont know why but her shyness is just cute. And i like her when she kicks Kuzu, ahh i mean Masato LOL. And i was "NGGGHHH" when she played with the cats. Moooeee.....
But i feel like crying when she cried and hug Komari when her Arc ended, sweets.. And she get many char development till now (episode 17). Good thing that the development easy to notice so thats the viewers can feel the development and the character deeper.
Kyousuke, i just LOL'ed. All he did was almost out of place. Like creating a battle game that use a random weapon. And the way he test someone who want to join Little Busters team, LOL. Clannad funny because there are Sunohara, Little Busters funny because there are Kyousuke and Kuzu ahh i mean Masato.. Kinniku Yay Yay~ But sadly, in the first few episodes, he shines so much, bring the heavy content comedy to the viewers. But the comedy content that he (with Masato and Kengo) brings now decreased little by little.
For people who read the VN. Maybe you will notice that some characters seems different (personality). That because J.C.Staff edited some scene from the VN as we have talked before. But in exchange of edited scene, they added more friendship themes on this anime. Its now brings the viewers more about how LB team communicate with each other. It, for me is a great thing. As you know that, in VN, especially romance genre, when the story (of each arc) is near the end, its only about the main protagonist and the main heroine in the arc. It just the lovey dovey couple. But J.C.Staff didn't do that in the adaption. Because they want to show more the relationship of each member of LB!. They want to show more the Friendship among the members. Which is great.
Little Busters is a funny and (will be) heartwarming anime this season. I have high hopes for this anime. Although its too bad KyoAni break a contract with Key to animate Little Busters. But its alright if J.C.Staff can keep up the good work, as we know the quality of the anime has increased. And Little busters! reached 2nd place together with Chuunibyou (Yes, KyoAni's anime) in the "Most Popular Fall 2012 anime" polling with 1060 votes while the 1st place (Sword Art Online) is 1082 votes. So, J.C.Staff did their best to produce this anime so that it can rivaled the KyoAni's anime : Chuunibyou.
So for people who complaining :
- Why it is J.C.Staff who produce Little Busters! not KyoAni ?
- The anime is slow-paced
- Why it has a lot of Moe here and there?
- I hate the voice of She/ He
- I hate the personalities of His/ Her
Well, first. As we know from above, Little Busters! managed to get the 2nd place in the polling. Meaning that J.C.Staff is doing their best. And don't forget that J.C.Staff has a lot of great anime that they produce : Toradora, Sakurasou (still Airing), Shakugan no Shana, Ano Natsu de Matteru, Azumanga, Bakuman series and many more. So believe and enjoy their hard work.
You hate Moe? Can't say much, its your taste. But i believe, Animes that adapted from Key's VN (And Jun Maeda is the story creator) always had a extensive Moe-ness, slow paced, and the same comedy-style. Clannad, Air, Kanon is another example. So maybe Key requested that their VN adapted anime must be like that. You know the remake of Kanon by KyoAni? That happened because Key unsatisfied with the Kanon 2012 version (the predecessor of kanon 2006 by KyoAni). Maybe the 2012 version : didnt have Moe?, too fast-paced (13 episodes). Clannad, Air and Kanon is high rated despite that they have moe-tification, slow-paced. If Little Busters follow their Senpai, i think it will be success too and satisfy the viewers. Which is great right?
As for people who hates some of seiyuus or some personalities (maybe changed a little from the VN), as we know, although J.C.Staff changed a bit of scene in order for friendship themes cause but despite that, they put an effort to keep the originals being kept if possible. So they have to keep the original seiyuus from the VN although some of them didnt satisfy you. However, some characters suffer a seiyuu changes, because of some reason. Example : Nishizono Mio.
Well, if you understand those, hopes that you now can view Little Busters! differently = free of doubts. So that u can enjoy the show to their fullest. But of course i respect personal opinion and taste. After all i wrote this review so that you can decide whether this anime is for you or not. Not to urge you to watch it no matter what.
And for the closing, i enjoy this anime very much. Enjoyment = 9. For people who love Slice of life or Drama and love a heartwarming tale with comedy. And love the friendship themes but alright with the ultimate moe-ness and slow paced (KEY VN adapted anime styles) , Little busters is for you. Do watch it.
