SPOILERS BEWARE Little Busters Refrain the sequel which I had set my expectation decently high for after experiencing the first season really delivered to satisfy those expectations. This season was a stepup from the prequel which was already amazing however Refrain seriously took me on a rollercoaster of emotions and didnt let go till the very last moment. This right here is another example of why I love Key so damn much another series that I never heard anyone mention yet its this stunning and beautiful. This season proved that everything what I thought I knew about Little Busters was just a lie a big liehowever it was the good kind since the sequel turned the whole anime on its head. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/993553558945398834/unknown.png The first three episodes cover the missing arc which I was pretty confident was going to get adapted. In fact if were talking purely about the girls arcs then Yuikos was the best and my absolute favorite. All five of the girls arcs were pretty incredible however a certain Yuikos sits on top of them all. To put it bluntly dont fuk with Yuiko as you definitely want to have her as a friend than an enemy... She talks how shes always thought she could live her life without emotions however that changed when she became friends with the Little Busters. This is the first time we saw Yuiko mad and holy fuk she is so cool and badass In summary dont mess with Yuiko or her friends. This arc strongly emphasised one of the theories I had for this anime and that being that Kyousuke is a supernatural person its not revealed till later in the series but the foreshadows to repeating worlds or different timelines was very visible in Yuikos arc. Then the final episode of this arc concludes Yuikos character development. Yuiko made a wish for these happy days to never end which came true for a little while at least. That is why Riki had been experiencing June 20th over and over however the larger picture is that he has been experiencing this semester over and over countless times without realizing it Riki was seeing the world through her dreams however in the end even this dream ended and then Yuiko disappears for good which again had me stumped at the time but the later episodes explain exactly why this was the case. It was pretty sad seeing the best character of the show disappear first which gave very strong Angel Beats vibes however the way this anime came together in its climax was truly a treat to feast on. I do have to mention the ED that is present in this episode called Song for Friends since its godly no genuinely this OST that plays near the end of this episode is sublime and this is only a fraction of the incredible OST that this anime offers. Last seasons OST was pretty good however this season felt like it went to another level. The OST and EDs were truly something else here. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/993554400125661234/unknown.png https://www..com/watch?v=hqWXXvZC1dslist=LLindex=4abchannel=PeterZombie Soon after Yuikos arc ends the pair of Riki and Rin receive their final task now at the time it isnt fully revealed that its Kyousuke sending these letters but we know it is and I already had speculations it was him by the end of the first season. Hes been sending all these tasks in order to prepare Rin to move on and the final task was another which forced Rin to have more confidence in herself. If I disliked anything in this season it would be some of the decisions in these middle episodes only recently did Rin and Riki start dating however Riki goes from not wanting her to leave to allowing her to leave within a short amount of time making his mood swing like a change of clothes. It is extreme to tell Rin pretty directly to leave in order for her to gain more confidence in herself it feels kinda forced as there are certainly other ways she could mature and gain confidence as she has been since their Little Busters group started gaining members so sending her to another school far from all her friends seemed like a bit of stupid idea as it certainly backfired since Rin breaks as she simply couldnt hang in there anymore. In this world when Riki was out of ideas he ran away with Rin believing he could protect her all alone however this proved far too difficult as they were found in the end. After this capture the world resets once more following on from the final scene of the 6th episode. One of the episodes showed us a scene with Mio Haruka and Kud leaving which gave me a lot of speculation at the time however the real answer was that Kyousukes power had been dwindling which is why them three and Yuiko had disappeared from this closed off world but I will come back to this later in the review. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/993555539151822898/unknown.png 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/993556448044924939/unknown.png The remaining episodes may be considered as the final arc of Little Busters however there is plenty to cover so lets break it down a bit. The 7th episode shows May 13th which is the same date that S1 began on I believe and also the date that Kyousukes closed off world always resets back to. The Rin in this world is the weakest Rin weve ever seen we didnt even see her this fragile at the beginning of S1 meaning Riki had a LOT of work to do in order to prepare her for the cruel reality that awaited. At the time a possible theory that crossed my mind was that Riki and Rin may be the only two survivors of the bus crash which was mentioned a few episodes ago if this theory were to be true then it would have blown my mind and naturally this was indeed the secret of the world that had been spoken of so much. With the world being reset and Kyousuke broken isolating himself from everyone it was up to Riki to make Kyousukes wish come true. In this last world Riki is trying to form the Little Busters once again similarly to how Kyousuke did when they were kids. He first defeated the unbeatable Masato and made him realise that being an idiot and not being the strongest is actually okay. Riki followed in these exact same footsteps by defeating Masato and making him join the Little Busters once more. This episode explored Masatos childhood and background and it was warm to see. In the following episode Kengo is challenged by Riki similarly to how Kyousuke challenged his dojo and defeated his father when he is defeated he once again also joins the Little Busters. This episode similarly to the last explores Kengos childhood and background and once again its heartwarming to witness. All Kengo wanted was to play more and his wish was finally granted when he found the Little Busters. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/993557836229509191/unknown.png 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/993558309510586368/unknown.png The 10th episode of this season is likely the most important episode of the whole series as this episode explains the whole plot of the anime. The bus theory is actually true Riki and Rin are the two sole survivors of that tragedy or so we thought at the time Kyousuke created a closed off world where he wanted to strengthen and mature Riki and Rin for the cruel reality that awaited them. Using his powers he must have sealed off Riki and Rins memories so they dont remember the events of the past worlds which had been reset as everyone else remembers everyone else that joins the Little Busters likely died in the accident which is why they are used as part of Kyousukes scheme as they are the game players in order to strengthen the duos resolve. With time Kyousukes power had dwindled which is why Yuiko Mio Haruka and Kud disappeared from the world followed by Komari soon after he was simply too weak to uphold their presence in this world. Kyousuke also mentioned that he stopped the gasoline from leaking in order to give them time the time he mentioned was in order for Riki and Rin to save all the wounded students before the gasoline ignited and blew up the bus which would have resulted in no survivors because as we know this anime actually has a happy end. The secret of the world has finally been explained and also the important thing that Riki and Rin felt like they were forgetting is likely the bus accident from the real world. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/993559773129740369/unknown.png The previous episode may have been the most important however the 11th is likely the saddest. This entire episode is just feels from start to end. Seeing Kyousuke break down the way he did was horrifying This is Angel Beats vibes all over again as its definitely the saddest episode of this series. The secret of the world has been explained as its the fact this world theyve been living in for countless loops has been fabricated and the cruel reality is about to dawn on the duo survivors. At the time this episode hit me like a truck however knowing the fact that they all survive in the end feels like it takes just a tiny bit away from this spectacle compared to Angel Beats where I knew once the characters disappeared then they disappeared for good but in Little Busters the whole buildup feels like it loses just a fraction of its value knowing that everyone miraculously survives the accident. The penultimate episode shows us exactly how the accident occurred as well as its aftermath. During the heat of the moment Masato shielded Riki while Kengo saved Rin. This episode shows us Rins traumatising incident from her childhood with the adults as well as an abundance to flashbacks of memories that Rin made with all the Little Busters and why she cannot forget about them. Like with Yuikos arc this episode also dropped a new ED which was simply beautiful once more I am reminded why I love Keys OST since it never fails to deliver. The ED song Hanabi present in this episode was so good The lighthearted yet bittersweet feel it carries feels so warm. Ive heaped countless praise on Keys OST throughout all the series that had adaptations and its no different here as I am always amazed. Clannad Angel Beats Kanon or Little Busters you name it and I guarantee the OST will be incredible as such is the nature of Keys work. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/993561146923679774/unknown.png https://www..com/watch?v=AXkEV6tWxDglist=LLindex=3abchannel=LiNKAGE The final episode tackles Rikis narcolepsy which seems to happen when he sees something sad or scary and start of it may have been when his parents died in a car accident. In the end Riki and Rin save all the wounded students who miraculously survive the crash. Quite literally all survive which again makes it seem cheesy as the buildup of the whole anime was to strengthen Riki and Rin so they prepare to live a life without all the friends and memories that they made in the closed off world. Its not a bad ending but it definitely seemed to have done a big Uturn on where it was heading originally. I was actually really hoping that they wouldnt all be brought back to life through anime means however the way this approached it was okay since they didnt technically die yet so I can appreciate this ending. The feels that I experienced throughout this season werent a lie this was pretty sad and emotional however knowing that they all survived in the end definitely takes a chunk of the sadness out of this series but still my tears werent a lie. Looking back how S1 started off as compared to Refrain being this much darker was pretty shocking in the end but what a memorable experience this was. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/993562380107788439/unknown.png If I were to nitpick here and there it would be minor faults that I had with this series since for the most part I had an overwhelming positive experience out of it. Key have done it yet again another one of their works is truly art Im genuinely stunned that I never heard of Little Busters till now which means this is another underrated series that must simply be overlooked. This isnt quite a masterpiece but its certainly not far off as some of the episodes of Refrain were genuinely close to being some of the best episodes Ive seen from Keys work. There were even times when the series had me thinking outside of the anime and concerning reality and when that happens then its truly approaching the highest standard of anime. Little Busters is certainly worth your time if you enjoy slice of life and drama or if you enjoy Keys work then this is a must see. Lastly this series is adapted from a VN which you can sure believe I will be checking out in the foreseeable future too since Im sure the original source is even superior to this adaption. Take nothing away from the anime which did a splendid job though. Im glad I was able to be part of and experience who the Little Busters were. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/993562818827800696/unknown.png S1 Reviewhttps://anilist.co/review/17093 EX Reviewhttps://anilist.co/review/17526