Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
emberreviews
Little Busters is the first adaptation of a Key visual novel to come out after the KyoAni trilogy, which very much puts it in an unenviably position by comparison. As a work of animation, it does certainly fall short in that regard, but not by as much as one would think. While the overall aesthetic initially presents as somewhat generic for the time period and there aren’t many moments of raw impact, it still manages to come off as fairly pleasant to look at through its solid sense for composition and editing, strong lighting and color direction, and character designs that manage to be distinctive even within the broader Key canon. As with many Key adaptations, it also gets a huge boost from Jun Maeda’s catchy soundtrack work filled with melodies that feel extremely Key, but also distinctl…
Read at the sourceD4SBOT
So first of all, I must say that the VN is one of my favourite pieces of media ever, so I won't be able to escape bias, and for that, I apologise.
I think we should give credit where credit is due, it's not easy at all to adapt a visual novel with as many routes and as much content as Little Busters into a tv series without much sacrifice. But even then, I believe this one is decent, especially as fan service, but no anything special.
At a technical standpoint, it's straight up weak. The art style is alright but the animation is very lacking and you can clearly notices awkward moments if you pay attention.
Story wise, it's all over the place. Routes like Mio were honestly adapted very well, except for the ending. But one thing that did confuse me is how they adapted the supernatural ele…
Read at the sourceAngeVNs
With how much love the Clannad anime by Kyoto Animation gets, I’m surprised the Little Busters! adaptation by J.C. Staff doesn’t receive similar appreciation, despite doing almost the exact same thing Clannad did. Both took on the Herculean task of adapting visual novels with over 50 hours of content, both developed by Key and written by Jun Maeda. In some ways, Little Busters! is even more impressive because it actually manages to adapt all the routes instead of just most of them, even if J.C. Staff had to use OVA specials for the Ecstasy routes.
Structurally, Little Busters! Season 1 follows Clannad’s approach almost exactly—mixing common route content with main heroine drama in between. Does it always work cleanly? Not really. But for the most part, it balances the tone well enough so…
Read at the sourceshiratori90
Jun Maeda has done it again! He's created another story of youth and strong feelings that will tug at your heartstrings.
I'd give it a solid 7.5! The story is really lovely. It might feel a little empty at first, but that's just because you're waiting for the characters to get along! And as you watch, you'll find yourself wanting to keep watching to see how it all plays out.
The soundtrack is just perfect for the anime! It has that youthful drama vibe that really delivers what the anime needs. I just have to say, Daamae did a truly amazing job!
I'm a huge fan of Jun Maeda, and I love that he was part of the team as a composer in the creation of this anime. He also wrote the original story for the visual novel game, which I think is really cool.
It's so great that I can watch another one…
Read at the sourceMrSlamboni
Just like with Clannad and Clannad: After Story, Little Busters is just the formality you have to go through in order to get to Little Busters Refrain. Refrain is the really the interesting part. However, Little Busters on its own is not too bad anyways. Especially near the end it gets much better than the start and middle. In general, it's passable.
The symmetry between "Clannad + After Story" and "Little Busters + Refrain" is not just in the fact that the sequel is more interesting. It's also that Little Busters is a pretty normal highschool melodrama while Refrain takes a more serious tone. Little Busters follows a group of 5 friends as they try to make a baseball team before the eldest one, Kyousuke, graduates. The formula is basically that Riki tries to recruit people, which eventual…
Read at the sourceBrittaman12
The bad first. Little Busters is a story about making friends, loving eachother, being happy, etc. Its a Key anime adaptation, so I didn't really expect anything else. I'm not particularly against that type of theme but where Little Buster's really goes wrong is with its delivery. The melodrama, strange dialogue, awkward pacing, and boring characters really made me want to drop it early on, but my masochistic tendencies pushed me to continue watching (for research obviously). Its important to note that I haven't played the VN, which from what I understand is very good, so I don't have any source material to really compare this adaptation to, but I held out nonetheless. While the majority of the show was as described (boring, bad, stupid, etc.) it actually started to pick up in the last few…
Read at the sourceggol
Brief overview: It's so close to a masterpiece
This review will be based on both seasons of Little Buster
Story 9/10
If you want more content like Angel Beats this is an alternative version of it. It started off very similar like Angel beats where the story is average but if you give it enough time, especially towards a specific episode it gets insanely emotional, especially the second season. The story is about a group of childhood friends that has made a baseball club called Little Busters and throughout the seasons they are recruiting more members into their club. The first season is very easy to follow and does not give any complexity to the narrative until you reach certain characters where they dive deeper into the character's backstory which offers a great amount of emotional cont…
Read at the sourcecringeylazy
Some stuff right a lot of things wrong.
This is a spoiler free review from the perspective of a fan of the visual novel that rewatched the anime a year later.
Positives:
-I'll start off by saying I like the choice of voice actor/actress change for Riki as I find that Yui Horie fits the role a lot better than the original casting in the VN.
-The main cast (Riki, Rin, Kyousuke, Masato, and Kengo) share the same chemistry as the VN, which is very well adapted.
-Mio: Mio's route is adapted fairly well as they give it enough time. It's missing some key scenes, but overall, it's a good enough adaptation.
-The slice of life sequences, especially the episode where Riki visits the girls dorm, are very well adapted and fun to see animated.
-The opening and ending music from the VN is still present…
Read at the sourceNinnkigal
In Short, Little Buster is a pretty good anime and a decent adaptation, but it's still nowhere as good as the Source Material (Little Busters VN).
The Story isn't that Complex, it's a friendship themed, slice-of-life story. Or at least that what it is on the surface. Along the anime you'll get to know more about each character while uncovering the mystery of the world that was hinted by a mysterious person.
Common Route is clearly the best part of the Anime. The dynamic and relationship of each characters are really good. They remove, add, and combine some stuff from the Visual Novel, but overall it's really good and make you care with each of the characters.
About the production value I think it's quite good. It's definitely better than Clannad, and I like the art style much more. The…
Read at the sourcesakura3509
Here’s my quick and rough blurb. It’s been a rough year and it was an especially rough weekend. I decided to start watching Little Busters. I’m really glad that I did because it really cheered me up. I found myself laughing at nearly every episode. Yes, the show can get very melodramatic. I mean, it’s by Key. But for me, it was when the the Little Busters were up to their daily shenanigans that it really shined. The ED is especially nostalgic in feel. This anime now has a special place in my heart. Onto Refrain! ...which I am cautiously optimistic will be enjoyable.
Read at the sourceRESOLVING_POWER
I watched Little Busters (including Refrain, EX/Ecstasy, and the OVA). Here are my thoughts:
Similarly to other Key adaptations, genuinely emotional moments are dispersed within, but you need to be willing to overlook some drawbacks. There are some great impactful scenes but you need to be patient. Like other Key adaptations, the writing/direction/script feels ham-fisted. Underneath this though there are elements with appreciable artistic merit.
I'm actually quite forgiving of VN adaptations because I understand that by their very nature there are limitations on direction quality. My view is that VN adaptations need to be 'watched differently' compared to ordinary anime. The nonlinear and discontinuous nature of the source material must be taken into consideration. Even with this in mind…
Read at the sourcecameronrb24
Quick Thoughts:
Little Busters! was an occasionally funny SoL comedy with some confusing melodrama stitched in.
Story:
The majority of the story is about the main character, Riki, going around the school recruiting members for the baseball team he and his friends formed, the Little Busters. A lot of these recruits are misfits/outcasts at school; oftentimes Riki helps them with the issues and/or traumas afflicting them. I found a couple of these kind of compelling, which dealt with issues like loss or overwhelming expectations. However, I felt the other backstories ranged from overdramatic to ridiculous. This is in large part due to the supernatural aspects of this show, which seemed to pop up at random. The pacing was pretty solid though. The characters were introduced and developed at fa…
Read at the sourceFuzzyButtGaming
I rated it as a 10 just because that is how I am ordering every show in terms of rewatchability this way when I recommend shows I can share my list and they can start with the 10's and work their way down.
With that said, I HATE the name Little Busters, sounds more like an American name for a movie than a believable Japanese show. The part that I enjoyed the most was the Russian girls accent. I just like real life Russian accents so that is what sold me on the show. That and the cute vampire fang she has.
Besides that It is ok.
Read at the sourceJessysAnime
This is my first attempt at a review. I've decided to try it with the series I most recently finished, Little Busters!.
First of all, I've watched Clannad, Angel Beats! and Charlotte before Little Busters!, and so the Key formula was very familiar to me. I expected this to be similar to Clannad, given it is about the same number of episodes and is considered just something to watch before the "superior" sequel, the same as Clannad with Clannad: Afterstory, and I was pretty much right. I haven't seen Little Busters!: Refrain yet, though, so can't say anything about if it's better than this first season or not.
Getting to the review...
Story: 6/10
It took place at school, like most anime. Very rarely were we shown other settings, as everyone stayed in dorms at the school and so had no rea…
Read at the sourceEmpyreanpain
First let me just say this. Personally I found the first several episodes of Little Busters! a mix of enjoyable, but also kind of difficult to get through. Trust me - If you feel the same way while watching this series, you MUST keep watching. It's absolutely worth the time.
Story: The story was amazing. Riki is a great main character that has unrivaled compassion. He's the center of the story and each chapter in this series gets more and more moving.
Art: Much like Angel Beats and Clannad, Little Busters! has great art. It never lets down, there's never any noticeable slipups of animation. Just beautiful all around.
Sound: The voice acting is all very good, but it's the mix of music played at the right times that really stand out when it comes to the sound in this series.
Characters:…
Read at the sourceSenpaiDray
As someone who expected something like angel beats or clannad, this anime didn't meet my expectation, I didn't shed a single tear in the whole anime because the drama is weak and not enough to touch my heart. Every arc is somehow resolved in a magical way which is pretty unrealistic and that's not a really good things for a slice of life anime.
The comedy, on the other hand, is the same level as angel beats or clannad, if you came here for the "comedy" then I can say that this anime is pretty fun and you would enjoy it, but if you came here for the "feels" then I don't recommended it.
The art is good, I loved the characters design and I don't have any complain about the animation, The sound is great and the VA were awesome! (except Riki's voice is too girly in my opinion).
For me, I watc…
Read at the sourceNana-Chan78
I have never had a relationship with anyone like the characters in this anime. Watching them grow and struggle was absolutely beautiful. I had the chance to live vicariously through all of them and I ended up learning so much from them. Their friendship is something to aspire and look up to. Watching how Kyousuke grooms Riki into a leader and watching Riki grow into that role was really something. Watching all of that grooming translate into something powerful enough to defy death and change fate was really special to me. Connecting with every single character, laughing with them, crying with them; feeling like you’re right there with them and actually in the show, part of the group is what is unique about this show. It does a phenomenal job of showcasing the themes of friendship, love, se…
Read at the sourceheadwardo
I went into this anime knowing absolutely nothing about the premise; I legitimately found it on the trap wiki so for anyone else who has watched this you know the shock I was in for. I was excepting some light hearted friend fun but wow I got a lot. This show tore into my heart and presented me with all the things I wanted from a show but as it went on I saw everything I was attached to fade away. I like to really get into the shows I watch but for the most part it's just fake emotion but this anime really hit home for me. It was a wild ride but I am so glad that I watched it because I actually think it might have changed my outlook on life (crazy right). Anyway this review may seem blinded by my emotional reaction but my analytical side was also very impressed. The story is very neatly di…
Read at the sourceJacake_W
At the time of writing I have already seen Little Busters Refrain (the second season).
So I'll try and remain as spoiler free as possible, but the story isn't the primary focus of this anime more of the characters.
Story I gave a 8/10
The story was good and emotional. It had a steady flow with appropriate pacing meaning that I was quite invested and in a longer series especially I find the pacing to rarely go along well.
It starts out very funny I was actually laughing and yelling at the characters like I was genuinely invested in what was going on but then a few episodes in it take a 180 turn to be extremely sad and depressing. This is when you realize that its based off a Visual Novel (one I've never played) and that's important because of how the story flows, which was a gripe for m…
Read at the sourceNiazelTephias
"Little Busters!" is a series that, at first glance, will seem like a typical cute comedy, but once you get into the series, you become hooked by the story as it is one that is far from predictable.
To start, the visuals are very cute and very pleasing to the eye. Where they aren't entirely beautiful, they still work for the type of story that is being told in the "Little Busters!" series. Along with the art, there is incredible music and sound that comes into play. Certain types of music play at just the right time, and although it's generally the same songs for certain events, they still pull you in with ease to tie you into the emotion that is being provoked at that given time. There are a few tracks that become quite notable and memorable once you start to get into the series and unde…
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