SPOILERS BEWARE Little Busters is a story about five childhood friends who form a baseball team at the eldests Kyousukes sudden request. The flashback scenes that the first episode shows gave me strong Anohana vibes which is a pretty amazing start since I cherish that certain series so much. Little Busters may seem innocent and light hearted at first however with time you dive into many of the characters problems and since this is a Key production whose work I absolutely love I knew that if this was even a fraction of what Clannad or Angel Beats offered then I would love this series too. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/985530627967287356/unknown.png The first glimpse that we got at what Little Busters really offers would be Komaris arc. Komari being the deredere of the group seems like the happiest character of the show however she carries a pretty tragic sad truth that is revealed. Komari used to have a brother however he passed away from some sort of illness. With his dying words he told Komari that all the time they spent together was only a dream which is exactly what Komari dreams about she mentions about a possibility of an older brother that keeps appearing in her dreams however only in her dreams. Its not till her date with Riki where she sees a dead cat which triggers a flashback to awaken her locked away memories. With this she is faced with the reality that her brother really is dead and it was not in fact a dream but real events which happened in the past. With these memories resurfacing our deredere character became completely broken and shattered to run away from her reality she even saw Riki as her older brother however thanks to Rikis book she is able to overcome her unfortunate past and acknowledge the reality that her brother really is gone. She also realises that she is cherished by all members of the Little Busters so even though her brother has passed on she still as many friends who want to create new happy memories with her. This short arc only span three episodes however it already gave me a very good indication of what to expect from this series and oh boy this was only the beginning as the series gets that much better later on. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/985531532930347058/unknown.png Komaris arc was the first to be adapted from the source VN its very blatantly obvious that this adaption is from a VN since it focuses heavily on specific characters for a period of time similarly how Clannad or Kanon did it. The next major arc would be Mios who is a very obvious kuudere so no wonder within a few minutes of this character being introduced I already took a liking to her. Once again a kuudere character instantly draws me to them like no other dere personality. Mios arc spans a few more episodes longer than Komari however its well worth it in the end. For a while during this arc I wondered who exactly is Mio Nishizono and why does she always carry a parasol with her it wasnt long till I finally got my answers as the conclusion to her arc explains this. By the end of this arc Mio disappears and is replaced by Midori who was an imaginary sister that Mio created due to her loneliness. Naturally only Mio could see Midori however over time she saw Midori less frequently to a point where it was only once a month if even that. Midori had the personality that Mio wanted to have she wanted to be cheery and surrounded by people however what she didnt realise is that she already had this. Mio believed that she had to be lonely in order to be her true self but thats not quite true as she can still be the Mio she wanted while joining the Little Busters and being one with Midori as she will live inside her now. The conclusion to this arc was beautiful it certainly had me feeling tearyeyed by the end of it. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/985532157512548423/unknown.png CLANNAD SPOILER: The next major arc that gets shown would be Harukas. Haruka comes across as wild and carefree most of the time however deep down she is sensitive to the things she does actually care about like the Little Busters in this case. She herself wanted to join the Little Busters but had a hard time finding the words to get this across due to her personality. The first episode of this arc reveals that Haruka and Futaki are twins but share a different last name. Haruka reveals that in her family tradition each woman gets two husbands. Harukas father is a murderer that attempted to commit arson for good reason which is revealed by the end of the arc. With this bombshell dropped her past is revealed and spreads like wildfire throughout the school. In this bizarre scenario Haruka and Futaki are twins from the same mother but different fathers...how does that kind of situation even happen considering both seem to be of similar age??? This means Harukas mother must have had intercourse with both men within a very small time frame either way this situation is straight up fuked thats all By the end of this arc Futaki gets her redemption moment which justified the way she was portrayed up to now. She was particularly harsh on Haruka in order to protect her as the Saigusa family threatened killing her if she wasnt harsh enough. This is why Futaki had always acted like a total bitch in the school and her personality was only solidified further by her role of head of the Disciplinary Committee which allowed her to take up the role of being hated by a lot of students due to her position in the school. She was doing this because she was forced and not because thats who she truly was. All this time it wasnt just Haruka suffering who manages to reach that conclusion on her own deep down in her heart when she remembered the promise that the sisters made in secret in order to one day walk hand in hand. This arc was pretty exhausting and the best the show has offered up to now. Little Busters started out as pretty tame and goofy however once the series started delving deeper into each characters then the true nature of this show reveals itself and its the kind that I absolutely love. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/985533332290949150/unknown.png The final of the main arcs which this season adapts is no slouch either this time we shift the focus to Kud and although she doesnt really act her age due to her personality and height her knowledge on space and beyond is dazzling. This all started when she realised her dream at a very young age being inspired by none other than her mum who is an astronaut. Kud casually decided that since her mummy loves space so shall Kud herself and well she certainly has an impeccable amount of knowledge but lacks common sense at times. Kuds arc spans only three episodes however these arent to be taken lightly the ending of the first episode proves exactly that. Kuds mother is based on an island called Tebwa and her crew were going to test a rocket they built. During the launch of her teams new rocket it malfunctions and explodes during lift off. We are once more reminded this is a sad drama anime... The next episode explores Kuds childhood and upbringing Kud gets a special occasion to go back to Tebwa to see her mum initially she is hesitant as she believes she doesnt have the right to do so however Riki reminds her that deep down she loves her mum and space like none other and cannot give up her dream of being an astronaut just yet. Riki also tells Kud that its ok to be herself rather than trying to aspire to be like her mum as either way her mother would be extremely proud of her daughter. In the final episode of this arc Kud goes back to Tebwa however there is an uprising by rebels that were opposed to the launch of the rocket which leads to Kud being found and blamed as she is the daughter of the person who proposed the rocket launch with the experimental reactor in the first place. Using powers of friendship she manages to break the shackles in order to escape. Was it cheesy? Yes but did it still hit hard? Absolutely The supernatural aspect of this series showed itself during the climax of this episode however that still didnt stop this episode from hitting me with the feels. With Kuds arc concluded thats four of the girls having their arcs explored however Yuiko never got hers in this season so I wonder if that will be covered in Refrain or was it just not adapted at all? I assume it must be adapted since shes the last member that joins the original Little Busters which hasnt had an arc dedicated to her but Im pretty confident that she has one in the VN. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/985534481828040754/unknown.png Over the course of this series Rin has been receiving mysterious letters with tasks inscribed in them which foreshadowed the future so my question is who is sending these and how do they always know whats about to happen. On that topic it makes me wonder if Rin will also have an arc since all the other girls seem to have one including Yukio since Im sure she has one. By the end of the series the Little Busters finally find their final member it was Kengo whos always been so very close yet never joined the team. The incident which broke his arm made him take up baseball since he was no longer able to pursue his dream of kendo at least temporarily. Another thing of note Riki has been recalling something important that he believes hes forgetting however we dont know much more than that so again this is likely something that will be elaborated on in Refrain Im sure. In the final episode Riki becomes the leader of the Little Busters however he thinks he cant live up to the reputation of Kyousuke however the girls hes saved already remind him how much of a leader he already has been. Like mentioned previously the only arc that wasnt covered here would be Yuikos from what I can see unless Rin has an arc as well and hey they finally managed to play a proper game of baseball too 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/985535360350187550/unknown.png To conclude this was another fantastic Key work which Im glad I had a chance to experience and since it also originates from a VN you can bet for sure that I will be reading its source VN at some point in the future. Since I enjoyed this season quite a bit I am going to have high hopes for Refrain since this is Key were talking about and Ive already experienced so many great work of theirs. If youre a fan of their work like me then this is a title you certainly shouldnt be sleeping on. S2 Reviewhttps://anilist.co/review/17431 EX Reviewhttps://anilist.co/review/17526