When Little Busters!: Refrain started airing, I was torn. After having been so sorely disappointed by [the first series], would it really be worth my time to pick up the sequel? JC Staff botched the adaptation of Little Busters! in a fundamental way; the direction, the pacing, the production values and anything else you could care to mention that wasn’t the music were all a bit crap. Determining whether the issues were entirely their fault or if the source material just wasn’t that good was difficult, considering I had never played the visual novel. I had plenty of good reasons to consider Refrain a waste of time and could justifiably give it a skip. But I picked it up regardless.
Why? Many people who played the visual novel had nothing but fantastic things to say about the Refrain arc(s), even going so far as to describe it as being to Little Busters! what After Story was to Clannad. I have seen Clannad: After Story – and I utterly adored it – so hearing that from people I trust piqued my interest to say the least. And on top of that, I still caught glimpses of the Key magic that made Air, Kanon and Clannad so enjoyable for me in Little Busters!, albeit only briefly and rarely. While I didn’t have much, I still nurtured some hope that Little Busters!: Refrain could be good; it certainly wouldn’t be difficult to at least be better.
All I’ll say for now is that I am so fucking glad I picked it up.
Little Busters!: Refrain picks up pretty much exactly where Little Busters! left off – simply adapting the arcs for each of the girls. This wasn’t exactly a point in favour for the first season, so it’s fortunate that there was only Kurugaya’s left (barring Rin’s, the true route). Unfortunately, it doesn’t start off on the best of notes. The first episode was incredibly fast-paced, had Kurugaya act suddenly and jarringly in a way counter to her previously established characterisation, and heaped on the melodrama in lieu of dedicating time to build it up adequately. It’s pretty clear – especially so in retrospect – that this was simply a result of not having enough episodes to do it properly, and the events in this first episode are quite insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but it was still a poor start and did little to instil me with confidence. It was better than most of the first season episodes, without a doubt, but certainly not by much.
The second episode, however, was very interesting. It was mostly hijinks, with the boys deciding to fuck around with fireworks and give the girls a little show, as well as attempting to give Riki a chance with Kurugaya (there were some romantic undertones made a little more overt leading up to this). The hijinks were relatively annoying – the girls are by far and away the worst part of this series, almost having a nails-on-chalkboard like effect – but the scenes between Kurugaya and Riki were surprisingly sentimental and satisfying. It was a marked improvement over everything we had seen so far, but still fairly inconsequential. The lead in to the next episode, however, seemed to promise something greater, something far more interesting. And boy, did it deliver.
Episode three was marvellous. It was incredible! Astonishing! Absolutely everything about it was fantastic, and I genuinely had nothing to complain about! The pacing, one of my most common criticisms with Little Busters!, was just right this time as it slowed things down and made it all bit more contemplative, helping to contribute to the hazy, dreamlike atmosphere and. The direction was so very different to anything else previously seen in this series, making use of a more abstract presentation and incorporating far more stylistic touches, not only making it visually arresting but also furthering and emphasising every emotion and thought in the characters. The writing was substantially improved over past episodes, revealing the fact Riki was repeating the day in an intelligent and subdued fashion, and not succumbing to cheap melodrama to give impact to the climax of Kurugaya’s arc.
In fact, that whole final sequence deserves far more attention and praise. Every point I made above holds true for everything preceding this sequence in the episode, but they are heightened tenfold here. The stylistic touches go from simple things like whiting out Riki while he’s deep in contemplation to fully embracing the tone, mood and emotions of the scenes. The piano room Kurugaya had been practicing in slowly fades away into white nothingness as snow falls all around them; the colours lighten and desaturate until the blacks are nothing more than pastel shades of purple barely standing out against the dreamlike backdrop; and every sentimental note of music adds to the heavy, painful emotional weight. Amidst all this, Kurugaya reveals her feelings, her past, and her final wish, as the line between what is real and what is merely a dream becomes increasingly more blurred and indistinct. And in this ambiguity, she says “goodbye”. Everything comes together so neatly and perfectly to deliver this one, moving farewell, and made all the more powerful for the uncertainty that it’s seeped in. I don’t think it could have been done any better.
To say I was shocked by just how damn excellent that episode was would be an understatement. Seeing Little Busters! be at such a high level of quality in every respect was something incredibly unexpected and unfamiliar. Fortunately, I was given plenty of time and many opportunities to get used to those feelings, as Little Busters!: Refrain chose to remain this good for the rest of its run. I’m not lying. The awkward pacing that had so plagued the first season was never to be seen again; there was some amazing and inspired stylisation where it mattered, building the atmosphere tremendously and making the show far more interesting to just watch; the music was never not phenomenal; the production values were notably higher, resulting in it looking crisp and sharp, unlike the blurriness of the first season; and the direction was simply better, with it really bringing out the emotion in the story careful and subdued manner.
Speaking of the story, it was far more interesting and focused than in the first series. This is to be expected – after all, the first season simply adapted a bunch of the girl’s arcs while only really building to an overarching narrative in a minor way – but it’s fascinating how much having one added to the series. Even though it was only established and lightly touched upon in the first series, it was still a long wait for the payoff, which of course made it all the better. The nature of the timeloop that Riki seemed to be stuck in, the truth about the world that Riki and Rin had been seeking, their own past, everything was revealed piece by piece and the conclusion to that side of things carried a genuine, immensely emotional punch. I can honestly say I teared up quite hard at, well, what was a final scene. The actual plot had too much going on for the emotional climax to coincide with the narrative climax and have anything make sense, which is a shame in a way, but I can’t say that it didn’t work. The narrative climax was a bit weak though, and probably stands as my only criticism of Little Busters!: Refrain. They could have made an unbelievably powerful and bittersweet ending if they had chosen, but for better or for worse they didn’t. At least they didn’t rely on some magical bullshit deus ex machina to resolve everything, which could have easily happened.
Arguably the best part about Little Busters!: Refrain is the use of characters – or at least it’s the most improved part of it. First, let’s consider the ‘featured’ girls from the first series – Komari, Mio, Haruka and Kud. They varied from “uninspiring” to “oh god SHUT UP” and “haha this is fucking awful”. Their role this time around is (mercifully) to basically never appear for ~reasons~! And they’re pretty good reasons too! But seriously, do you have any idea how much more enjoyable Little Busters! is when it just focuses on Riki, Rin, Kengo, Masato and Kyousuke? They’re far less annoying and far more entertaining. But – and this is the really cool thing – despite barely appearing the girls are still important, ensuring that the time spent of them wasn’t wasted. It’s the best of both worlds! And in some cases, the story manages to retroactively justify their arcs and contributions, in some cases making them a lot better and understandable. Kud’s story, for example, is no longer entirely bullshit! And if that’s not impressive, I don’t know what is.
But enough about bad characters. The core five – the original Little Busters – are the focus of Little Busters!: Refrain and they are used and developed splendidly. Kengo, Masato and Kyousuke all get a lot more development, and certain revelations show that they have far more depth than you would initially assume. The strength of their friendship and the protective and loving attitude they all have for both Riki and Rin comes across so, so well in the end, and thanks to how believable they are as friends they all get some powerful, heartfelt and moving scenes towards the finale. Would you have believed that you could get choked up about Masato playing baseball? Because it happened, and it was sincere.
Riki and Rin’s development, of course, is what’s central and vital to the story, and it’s thankfully great as well. It’s all about them becoming stronger, and the way this manifests itself repeatedly is clever, subtle and brilliantly thought out. There are difficulties, of course, but the manner in which these are presented and the effects they have help drive the story into some fascinating, surprising and wholly engaging areas. This is where the core of Little Busters!: Refrain lies, and it’s unfortunate that discussing it in any greater detail would spoil a lot of things because I spend ages talking about what was going on with them. Suffice to say, it succeeded at this far better than I ever could have imagined it would.
Little Busters!: Refrain is better than Little Busters! in every single conceivable way, but isn’t merely satisfied at being just ‘better’. It is truly excellent, presenting an engaging and deeply moving story about friendship and hope in an original and inspired way, deftly building up a wonderful, dreamlike atmosphere in which the characters are given far greater depth and meaning, and avoids making the same mistakes its predecessor did. Hell, it even managed to make the first series better by simply providing greater context for the arcs (context that couldn’t have been explained earlier without sacrificing the impact of the reveal) and incorporating plot threads that started back then in meaningful and clever ways. Put simply, JC Staff managed to do what I thought was impossible: they captured the Key magic in much the same way KyoAni had previously. And the end result is something truly wonderful. If you watched Little Busters! but didn’t give Little Busters!:Refrain a chance, you have done yourself a massive disservice.
9/10
As I understand it, Jun Maeda only wrote two arcs in Little Busters: Refrain, and Saya’s Route (which is currently being adapted in Ex, the first episode came out this week). Which possibly explains the differences in quality.
This is definitely something I had heard before, but completely forgot to mention! But yes, that could possibly explain it.