[Abridged version of the storyline: A group of friends' decide to make a baseball team to play. One of the boy's become in charge of bringing new members to the group. Each new members that he persuades to join are not exactly the happiest of the bunch. Behind the smiles, the hardship is hidden]
This show really disappointed me. Every week, as new episodes came out, I really thought the series would get better, but it didn't. Here are the reasons:
1) The main character, Riki, narrates way too much. When he explains the situation to us, it really bores me to death. Usually, I like hearing the narrator tell us what is going on, but he basically pointed out useless information and I just wanted him to shut up. Riki honey, you need to stop talking! The narration, the voice acting, and the dialogues/ monologues swayed me away from this show.
2) There are way too many supporting characters. You can't really focus on each character individually because the group is too big.
3) All of the burdens are handed down to Riki. When any of the girls have a problem, it is Riki who comes to the rescue. This is a harem genre so it definitely makes sense, but many people says this show is about friendship- no! All the other characters just tag along and watch silently while everything happens. They're like little ducklings following their mama- in this case Rikki,
4) The art is fine. I was expecting it be nicer, but you get used to it.
5) The execution of the storyline was poorly done. This was the biggest problem for me. After the first arc with Komari (the blonde hair with the squeaky voice) was finished, there was a huge gap where nothing happened (if I remember correctly). Yes, you do get new members to the Little Busters but that's about it. I started losing interest really quickly. Furthermore, when the arc of each of the girls finished, the characters were really pointless afterwards. You won't get to see them as much. Seriously, the timing of the arcs were unbearable!
6) The blue hair girl. Her arc was interesting. However, I must be really dumb because it did not make sense to me. Her problem was really confusing and unrealistic. I understand how Key loves putting surreal elements to their shows, but the explanation still does not make sense. Also, not everything can be tied down on the last episode; it is just too much!
7) As for the character development, I did actually see Rin (the red hair girl) start to grow as the show went on. She had a little bit of personality change which is a good thing because she is the heroine of the show…although; I would have liked to see her as vocal and active as Riki.
8) The guy who was meant to provides comic relief for the show was more likely to be the guy who brought utter silence to ones house. He was not funny at all. I know he is different from comedians in other anime shows, but I swear he made me hate the show more. Eventually, I tried forgetting that he existed just so I could watch the show. The anime did have potential for good humor, because I actually did laugh at episode 20 with the silly, funny rap song one of the characters created.
9) None of the characters really appealed to me. In all honesty, the perverted female character was one of my favorite… and she had no real arc! That is saying a lot because I don't like perverted characters.
10) I don't regret watching it, but I do not think I will watch it again. One thing I did like was a simple speech about how sad people view other happy people. This was not an extremely significant part of the anime, but it resonated with me. It made me not completely hate it.
11) The voice acting: it took me a while to get use to some of the voices. I'm not usually picky about it, but I wonder if the dub can do better.
12) I continued watching this anime because I read the BIGGEST spoiler of all time, and I really thought it was going to happen in this anime. At first I was mad that I learned about it, but it was the only thing that made me want to watch it. But at last, the spoiler never came to form. They hint it through out the series, but the arcs really swing you away from the main storyline, and I do not think that the last episode could ever do that spoiler justice. If there is a second season (which will probably be awesome judging from the spoilers…look, I hated Clannad, but I loved After Story), I suggest you watch this for background information, but other than that, I don't know if you should watch it or not. It is up to you!
I would have scored this anime a 6 because I didn’t like it, but I gave it a 7 because the entire arc ended with a happy feeling and a (simple) message. This bothered me at first because I thought it was hackneyed, but I know if I had watched this a few years ago I might have enjoyed it…… (Keyword: might have).
[Update: April 7, 2013]
When I wrote the review, the only episode I did not watch was the last one. As of now, I have completed it. I still agree with everything I wrote. As I mentioned, it concluded with this feeling of warmth. It summarized what Rikki had done for everyone. However, it foreshadowed the tragedy to come. It ended nicely, and I do crave to watch the second season when it does come out...i probably will enjoy it more! Oh The Anticipation! Watch this series if you intend to watch the ever-so-hyped second season: Little Busters Refrain! Why? Because this season seems like the background information which tells us more about some of characters that will be relevant for the sequel.
