Kyousuke Natsume (center) is the leader of the group. (He is voiced by Yui Horie, a popular female seiyuu.) He is the only member of the group who is basically normal–the others are kind of nuts. Riki (left) is still the smallest and weakest of the boys, with childlike features and a girlish voice. However now they are in high school and are faced with the prospect that the graduation of the oldest members will lead to the permanent dissolution of the group. The Little Busters had many mischievous adventures and made many wonderful memories together. He was eventually pulled out of his depression by 4 other children who invited him to join their gang, the “Little Busters.” (In Japanese slang “Busters” means a group of heroes who fight for Justice–as in Ghostbusters.) When Riki Naoe, the protagonist, was a little boy he was emotionally devastated by the loss of his parents. These shows all seem silly at first glance but their appeal lies in their underlying complexity and emotional impact.
This will be resolved by a happy ending that at first seems to make no sense, but if you go back and rewatch the series and think about it the meaning may become clear. If the past is any guide we will have a series of increasingly poignant story arcs culminating in a heart-rending tragic climax. Little Busters! begins much like Clannad with some comic episodes devoted to high school hijinks. This might have been a much better show if KyoAni had done it.
Unfortunately I am starting to feel that the fans were right. Its animation quality may not be as good as KyoAni’s but it is generally above average. Staff is a large studio with many successful shows to its credit. But animation quality is generally less important than the quality of the writing and voice acting in making a successful anime. Kyoto Animation is a small studio known mainly for the high quality of its animation. In this case I thought the fans’ concern was probably excessive. Works and was less successful, though I felt the real problem there was that Jun Maeda wrote the screenplay and his inexperience showed. KyoAni did Air, Kanon and Clannad and those were all big hits. However there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth among the fans when it was announced that Little Busters! would be produced by J.C. (I call these “Jun Maeda stories” because Jun Maeda writes the scripts for the games and composes much of the music.) I haven’t played the games, which are not available in English, but I have enjoyed anime adaptations of some of their other VNs including Air, Kanon, Clannad and Angel Beats!.
No other anime series this season has been as long and anxiously awaited as Little Busters!, an adaptation of the most popular visual novels ever released by Visual Art’s/Key.