Little Busters! - Anime vs Visual Novel

[@gilles4prezudent650]

Kinda have to respect seeing a man ragepost about the state of pokemon, get a million views, and then, instead of chasing the same audience, he just goes "nah, this obscure text game is what I want to talk about for an hour and a half views be damned."

[@gilles4prezudent650]

Little Busters absolutely blows pokemon out of the water btw. Not that there are many points of comparison, that's just my raw assessment.

[@santiagoacosta3372]

Riki: You maybe are a little bit sad, but my parents are dead and the little busters save me, please stop being sad

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

Riki living in 3021 over here. How has science not caught up with him?

[@czpertz]

I'm just glad that someone actually made a video covering Little Busters

[@sunnyleung7118]

Kyousuke: Our girls are in depression, they need your help... Riki in the anime: My parents are dead and little busters saved me, so stop being sad.

[@puturere]

Kud: can i helupu me..?

[@IamLaTerry]

My guy really went and made a full length documentary about an obscure anime/visual novel. Luckily I've actually played this visual novel (though I haven't seen the anime) so this should be good.

[@limephoenix7428]

No offense but i wouldn't call little busters obscure considering the fact that it has an official english translation

[@stephaniejanong4146]

Anime only watcher but yes!!!

[@wolfandspice]

@@limephoenix7428 Plus making anime is very expensive, it at least has enough of a fanbase to make adapting two seasons worthwhile. And looking at the wikipedia page, it apparently was one of the top sellers at the time of its release for PC games in Japan, both the original and Ecstasy. Not exactly obscure.

[@JMHV]

This is the best video I've watched in months. Great work!

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

Thanks for watching!

[@potatoking2161]

Always a great day when you upload, can always expect good stuff even if I’m not initially interested in the topic

[@OriginalGreenYoshi]

RIP to Haruka's Route. The one route that got hurt the most during the transition to the adaptation :(

[@OriginalGreenYoshi]

Fun fact, in the vanilla version of Little Busters, Haruka's POV in her route and certain parts of her bad ending didn't exist, and were later added on in later versions, including the English Edition.

[@gino14]

@@OriginalGreenYoshi I was wondering why I never saw her PoV, as I'd played the fan translation

[@vanderan]

Man, after being gone for a while, you came back with a vengeance. Mad respect for the amount of time that probably went into this. Also, for being a guy that had no clue this anime/novel existed before, you made it really easy to sympathize with your experiences and frustrations. Fantastic job!

[@ImJustAPlayerMan]

Great video! I never really understood the negative reception on certain arcs of the anime up until you explained it. A lot of the points you explain is very clear and has come up for me as well when I compare them. Personally, I feel the only badly-adapted arc was Komari's now that I've read up to Refrain in the VN.

[@ahomestucker]

thank you so much for putting the music in the description .. so few ppl do that and its just rly nice if u hear a song and are like "god i need to hear that again"

[@dante22723]

Great video, so glad that refrain was adapted well, I love this story what a masterpiece

[@registeel142]

This is my favourite video on KZbin, everything from the structure to how well spoken he is is perfect. Keep up the good work!

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

I appreciate the kind words. Thank you!

[@OriginalGreenYoshi]

For anime fans, another good reason for pickup is if they wanted more from characters like Futaki, Sasami, Kurugaya etc. EX routes add in more regarding some plot elements, even adding onto Haruka's route. The adaptation for EX anime OVA was very short. Two episodes for Sasami and Kanata each were not enough and cut out a lot of very important elements.

[@womkers3613]

Your channel deserves much more attention. Great work!

[@PhoenixFalcarius2024]

You might have just inspired me to reread Little Busters. Your analysis was quite frankly quite passionate and so thorough especially when you talked about Komari and the recurring theme of mental health. It makes me wish I was just as insightful as you when it comes to reading visual novels haha. Amazing work. I’ve read the vn before I watched the anime and personally didn’t see much wrong with it so it was very interesting to sit through your whole video.

[@optimysticquest]

KZbin really doesn’t want me to see your uploads. Just now saw you had something new. Will watch now!

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

Thanks man, it's super long and super niche so don't force yourself if you're not into it haha. How are things on your end? Any videos on the horizon?

[@optimysticquest]

@@ItsYourPalJacob I don’t know anything about it but you kept me interested in your other vids in which I knew nothing about (except FFII). Gotta show support! And yes I have three vids I will be releasing soon. I am also going to be changing the name of my channel. I will release an additional vid soon discussing why. Keep an eye out!

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

Awesome! I'll definitely keep an eye out!

[@annaphorra]

this video made me invested in something i had never heard of before, nice

[@NoahsArchive357]

Just started playing Little Busters! myself (well, pretty recently- I started about two weeks ago and just finished my first character route which was Mio's), I'm looking forward to coming back to this video once I finish it completely. Just wanted to applaud the fact that you made an hour and half-long video to talk about Little Busters! (specifically how the anime fails to adapt the story well).

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

Tell me what you think of the game when you finish it!

[@NoahsArchive357]

@@ItsYourPalJacob Will do! I actually do a bunch of visual novel reviews on my channel, so I might end up making a review of it when I'm done (if I can write a script through my tears because I'm assuming this visual novel is gonna put me through the emotional wringer by the end of it)

[@NoahsArchive357]

@@ItsYourPalJacob I know it's been five months since you responded but just wanted to let you know that I finished the original routes and Refrain and I absolutely loved it! What a fantastic and emotional rollercoaster it is (I might make a video reviewing it myself but that depends if I can get my thoughts on the visual novel together in a well-spoken and timely manner). I still have to play the additional routes unlocked after beating Refrain (Saya, Kanata, and Sasami) so I was wondering: does this video have any spoilers for those characters routes? I'd really like to watch this video but don't wanna get spoiled for the character stories I have left to finish, so if you did talk about them I'd just wait til I completely finish Little Busters! Regardless of when I watch this video I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on how the Little Busters! anime did not adapt the source material well. I'm debating if I wanna watch the series out of a morbid curiosity despite hearing it's pretty subpar all around (which is a shame considering how good Clannad's anime by KyoAni was).

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

I just saw this lmao, sorry about that. Glad you liked the VN, it’s one of my favorites! In the video I cover Komari, Haruka, Kud, and Mio’s route, which were the routes that were adapted in season 1 of the anime. No other routes were talked about. It’s been 5 months so maybe you’ve already watched the anime haha.

[@NoahsArchive357]

@@ItsYourPalJacob All good on the response! And I actually still haven't watched the anime yet haha. Around the time I finished all the post-Refrain routes, I ended up just getting much busier than usual between work and school and that hasn't slowed down at all. So I do still plan to watch it one day, just might not be for a while! I did get a couple of the anime Blu-Rays for when the day comes I am ready to watch it though

[@silentsonata7333]

I wish you keep making videos like this, i know it's time consuming but i can feel the love put into it.

[@milicamilic7433]

What I took from the sleepover scene is that Riki cares for Rin so much that he'll put up with a lot more humiliation than most guys for her to smile and be comfortable.. Guess it's all about life experiences and how they shape what we interpret from these scenes like many have said

[@BongOfDestiny]

For all I know you left this out for brevity, but just in case you haven't seen it, there's an alternate path/ending to Kud's route in the Visual Novel that's only accessible after beating Refrain that acts as the real emotional climax for her route and directly tackles the emotional issues she was facing instead of masking it through the symbolism of her guilt-driven trip back home. It's a much more satisfying ending for her character arc and easily solidified her route as one of the strongest in the VN at least imo

[@Particle9a4]

I'm really glad I discovered the VN first before the Anime. It's extremely good and I was only able to enjoy the anime since I already got to know all of the characters. Otherwise I don't think I would care as much given that the character works in the anime are really rushed. The only better one was Rin and Kud. Kyousuke & Masato was the same as VN (They're great no matter what) while Kengo is okay (I'd argue that they screwed up by removing his undefeatable aspect, making that scene in Rin 2 less impactful, but aside from that his character still holds really well). The other girls though, were removed from a lot of thing that makes them great (Haruka is indeed the biggest offender of this, which is sucks because I love Haruka). And yeah, that Riki flashback become really tiring quick and most of the time didn't fit with the characters (Again, Haruka wouldn't stop cursing herself just because of that). I'm pretty mixed on removing the romance aspects, it works in some parts, but it mostly come at the cost of removing key relationship moments and character works. Haruka route really suffers from this (Like more than half of her route are practically non-existent) and Kurugaya is literally unable to be adapted without including romance (which is why they still include some aspects). In lesser extent, it also detrimental to Komari and Mio route, as there are no explanation why Riki is the only one who remember Mio (Which makes Midori intervention feels really out-of-place) and what make him that special to Komari. And yeah, Kanata just deciding to leave the family was really dumb, if it was that easy why don't she just do it from the start. That closure in the VN only happen in Kanata route where She, Haruka and Riki essentially run away for a year or so while letting the police handle the family. I don't know why they feel the need to change it so she just decided to leave... (I also watched EX, and after that Wedding Buster the 3 didn't run away, just stopped somewhere in the city which are really weird) For Haruka route in the VN, maybe it's a cultural thing but it feels fairly simple to me. I'm not from Japan but those cult-like family custom also exist in my country (I even have friends who are from those families) so I could easily understand what they're going for. Kanata also feels really cold & villainous because it's the image Haruka have of her (Refrain Spoiler). I'd say that the Kanata in Haruka route was Kanata from Haruka POV while the Kanata in her own route is the real Kanata. Yeah, In case you didn't realize yet, Haruka is my favorite character in LB and one of my favorite in other fictions as well. While I agree that Komari route & character was did dirty in the anime. I liked how they emphasize the importance of her relationship with Rin (Which in the VN didn't really presented until near the end). I actually disagree that the romantic aspect was that important in Rin routes. Her route in the VN feels way more focused on the relation between the 2 and the rest of The Little Busters (Masato, Kengo, and Kyousuke) while also serves as the prologue of Refrain. They could remove the romance aspect, lean to them being very best friend and it will practically be the exact same. I would even say that the romance aspect in Mio & Komari routes are far more crucial to their characters. (Refrain Spoiler) So much so that I feel it's Kyousuke messing with the world to make the 2 fall in love just because it will be the easiest motivation for Riki to protect Rin. I mean Rin confession just comes out of nowhere and never really pays off (Down to her preferring her newfound cats to Riki). The only important thing from the romance aspect in her route was the fact that Rin is still childish and doesn't understand love (Which got removed in the Anime anyway). Her Anime route feels better since the build up for Rin romance are present from the start, though for me still not as important since you can remove all romance scene with her and it will feels the exact same. Honestly I think they should switch the main girl to either Kurugaya or Haruka. Since romance are a core aspect of their characters. But considering Refrain Spoiler, I understand why they don't want to. Better yet, make it like Higurashi and let every route be a self-contained story building to the reveal, so they can keep each girl romance. Especially since Little Busters have a really good plot for that type of story telling (Because of Refrain Spoiler). Sorry for the wall of text, lol.

[@BizkitRebellion1]

To add more to your comment, because I completely agree with you on Haruka, I would even say that you honestly can't do her route without romance. Like what the guy in the video said, a large part of getting to know her comes from Haruka's trust in Riki. It's further enhanced when it's revealed in the VN that she has a crush on him. Because of these two factors, just doing away or virtually deleting them makes future scenes like the twin swap reveal and asking her what she really wants scene (That they made HEAVY changes on), just not work at all. If they have to change it, then I can understand. But how many changes can they make before we have to start asking "Are they really adapting the route?". We can even take it further by including Futaki and her motivations. Even though it's not said, it's implied that the only reason she took things this far in Haruka's route was because of Riki getting closer with her sister. It's understandable that she only became mean to Haruka because of the family blackmail but we really don't see her involvement until Riki starts hanging out with Haruka more. The anime tries to remedy this by having her shown more episodes before the route is touched on but they all didn't really do or add much other than remind us that she's the head of the disciplinary committee. But by taking away the romance, it calls into question why Futaki even had to go that far after 15 episodes of doing nothing lol. I still can't fathom why they chose this direction with Haruka and it's a damn shame because I genuinely think if they had properly adapted it, even if they still let Riki go with Rin, she would have been way more popular than she currently is. But a couple of things I want to mention in your comment, you mentioned that Futaki in Haruka's route is what Haruka sees as while the Futaki in her route is the actual one. I disagree with this because this would mean that the Futaki that Haruka sees would only be limited by what Haruka knows. Meaning that whatever this Futaki (The one in Haruka's route) knows, Haruka knows. Except Futaki reveals that she did what she did because of the blackmail from her family. This was further confirmed in her own route, so considering Haruka had no idea of this info, there is no way her version of Futaki (If we're going with that theory) could have known. Another thing I want to mention is I replayed the VN recently and found it interesting that the first playthrough when finishing Refrain and despite the game heavily leaning to Rin being the main girl, it ends with Riki being with no one. I took this as the real canon ending for Riki and the makers just wanted to give the players the option to pick who Riki should end up with. I believe this because you can still end up with other girls. Haruka is a big one considering she and Rin are the only ones you can get Riki together with (Refrain Spoilers) "In the real world". But sorry for adding more walls of text lol. I had so many thoughts on how they treated the best girl, lol.

[@puppetmaskerr]

Hello, do you know how the common rote is structured. I mean, what is the common element in the common route( VN). I'm at my second route right now and scenes with kengo and the injured girl got added.

[@BizkitRebellion1]

@@puppetmaskerr The common route is basically the route that introduces you to the characters and get a insight of what their routes are gonna be. Its mostly the "Slice of Life" or "Hanging out with friends" portion of the game. As you complete more routes, new scenes are unlocked. (For example: Kengo and the eyepatch girl are unlocked after you complete 1 route)

[@SkaPhilosopher]

It's great to see another video from you! I'd contribute 5-10 per video on Patreon, or like 3 a month, at the minimum, any perks or whatever notwithstanding.

[@s0urp0wer5]

Don't watch anime but I find your channel so chill and cozy to listen to while I do chores etc. Thanks man

[@frankjaeger9588]

A NEW VIDEO. WOOOOOO

[@floraevoli3330]

Thank you for including subtitles!

[@ren-sama4203]

Little busters had its ups and doesn’t need confusion but I loved this anime and visual novels so much and highly underrated, season 2 was a big DESPRRSSION

[@lman9034]

Yo bro, why don't you just get over your negativity SMH. Riki was negative after his parents died, but the Little Busters got him through it.

[@EbullientSMP]

Disclaimer: I must first give apologise for the overwhelming, tiring wall of text. As one KZbinr to another, I know how annoying these are to get in the inbox, but considering the amount of effort you put into this video, I wanted, if not had to do the same for what I have to say. ^^ I stumbled upon this video, and before I say anything more I want to preface that I acknowledge your effort, clear love and passion for the work in making this video. I’m not here to shit on any opinions here. I’m just personally on the opposite end of the spectrum here, and am personally a huge fan of this anime and consider it my favorite anime of all time, along with the original game being my favorite story of all time, so I find it neccesary to sort of add a different perspective since this is a story I love, even if clearly you disagree. Again, not trying to recklessly shit on any opinions, just giving food for thoughts and discussion from a fan to another. For the criticism of the common route, I do agree that character focused scenes are important, but what I personally think is most important about LitBus is the friendship dynamic between the entire cast to push that theme to the forefront. I think the anime does this really well if not better than the VN and I think those scenes, even if “pointless”, achieve that. SOL is neccesary to familiarise yourself with these characters, but I do think Mio was given the short end of the stick. Probably due to complications with her voice actress. For the pacing, I also think it’s important to keep in mind the difference of anime and VN mediums. I don’t mind scenes being longer since it’s a different medium. I know VNs are a “visual” medium too but with anime I want to be shown things happening instead. The reason the test takes much longer in the anime is because it shows all groups, while in the VN you choose groups depending on the route. Considering this is a linear medium, I would’ve done the same, it’s natural to do that since it satisfies all fans while not needing to introduce smth like a time loop in an anime which would just make things long and/or confusing. I actually think Mio’s route suffered more in the anime than you think for once haha, I attribute it to again, complications with her VA which made the anime scriptwriters take precautions by including less of her scenes early on and instead jamming them all right before her route, leaving for less time to know her. The thing with Kurugaya finding the book is very strange, I do agree with your statement there. I can see how the melodramatic bits can bother some but I disagree that it’s a detriment. I disagree with the lack of poem symbolism though as I find that’s very hard to include in a visual medium, and the ending not making logical sense is one that Key fans should be familiar with, Key leans into message and symbolism rather than logic, and I think even without the poem imagery you get the idea that it’s Riki trying to bring Mio back from an unreachable place. Mio’s route, at least I think, is a very obvious allegory for loneliness and suicide. I do agree the route isn’t adapted as well, but it’s strange that we think it’s for completely opposite reasons, lol. I agree that Kud’s route in the anime is amazing and even better than the VN as you said, but personally give it more credit than you say, It’s a powerful story that really inspires me to look in the beauty of people. I again, disagree that including the cast into the plot is a bad thing. Little Busters is a story about friendship and overcoming things together, I want that more and if anything it’s an aspect of the anime that I prefer. I don’t think people coming together to discuss and help solve a problem is a bad thing, I think it shows people care, and Little Busters is entirely about how friends can support you in this way. Haruka’s route is my favorite route in both anime and visual novel, and I personally love both versions of it a ton. I do agree that a lot of Haruka’s scenes were cut out, and I do think maybe your idea of shortening two SOL eps into 1 could’ve helped to include more, but at that point I also think it’d be more difficult for them to conclude all of those threads with just one episode extra onto the runtime. I do agree Haruka could’ve acted more impulsive and brash in the anime compared to the VN, but I don't think it neccesary as, as is, it’s still a lot and making you feel sympathetic for a character while adding so much baggage feels overwhelming. I do think they could’ve maybe dedicated that theoretical episode to original buildup with Haruka to result in the bench snap being a bigger payoff as you mentioned, but personally I still find that scene to be a good scene in its own right. It gives a reason for Haruka snapping to how she needed to be in her route, and it was inevitably going to happen regardless. I personally got that Kanata was trying to make Haruka hate her in the anime perfectly fine, it’s just something that’s conveyed with her character especially in the ending as far as I thought so. I see your points in critiquing Haruka’s route, but I don’t think much of them are that bad. I suggested watching Little Busters with my anime club this past year, and the fact after Haruka’s arc, all of us ended up crying together says enough of how powerful it remained. Komari is one of my favorite characters in LB as well, but unfortunately this route is gonna be one I’d have to disagree with again, because I don’t think she’s changed that much compared to what you think and honestly, I dare say I prefer how it’s handled in the anime a lot more. I understand but ultimately disagree with your statement on how her kindness isn’t shown enough in the anime. I don’t need multiple scenes to showcase something I can already get from impressions of one or two actions. I think the donation scene showing that her goodwill has spread to the other Busters is a very adorable thing, and shows that her personality has a positive influence on the entire cast. I think Komari is still presented as a genuine character, although it could be due to the fact I personally love moe characters, I thought her personality in both mediums was very consistent. I never thought one particularly deviated from the other. I also think Riki being given the responsibility due to being the closest to her is a fine choice, although I agree that logically in a discussion, they could’ve contributed more. I did think though that they did that by supporting Riki through other methods, and for the sake of the story, shows that Riki was mainly able to do amazing things because of every single member of the Little Busters giving him the means to do so. While in the VN, Riki decides to take it all onto himself and specifically his bro friends just give him food to cheer him on. That’s fine, but I still honestly prefer how the anime implements a group dynamic and shows both Kurugaya and Rin giving their own support in their own way. I do think though, it would’ve been better if Rin had more influence since Komari is a very important character to her as well. I think the main difference of something like Komari’s parents teaching her this is obviously because the theme of Little Busters is companionship. As far as we’ve been shown, Komari has never had companions that stood by her side in the same way the Busters have, and personally this message hit me very hard. I, like Komari, want to bring people happiness, but struggled with a lot of mental issues. This route, on both mediums, reminds people to open up to people, and it’s helped me begin to take the steps I needed to put that very thing into practice. I don’t necessarily disagree with your criticisms per se, I understand what you took issue with, but I personally think this route in the anime is truly life changing as is the original, and is still one of my favorites. It’s unfortunate you have these issues with the anime, but I’m still of the mind that it’s a serviceable substitute for enjoying the story if one does not have the means or desire to read the visual novel. My main issue with the anime is people always say it’s one of the worst visual novel adaptations of all time, and like…I can’t agree with that at all. I’ve seen much, MUCH worse (have you seen ONE’s anime? If you want a Maeda story getting truly butchered look no further than that.) I still consider Little Busters’ anime one of the better Key anime, it’s not as perfect as Kanon’s, but I still consider it in a similar vein to something like Clannad. I’m really tired of the image its propagated as some unwatchable adaptation when it really isn’t. I’ve gotten so, so many people into Little Busters through this anime, so it definitely has its place. I think the staff tried their best with it, and I’m more than happy with the anime we got, which is more than I can say for something like AIR or Key’s anime original works. Either way that’s just my opinion to contrast your own. I hope I didn’t bore you with it, but as I said I wanted to give a stance that can match the amount of passion you clearly put into your video. It’s a well-put together video despite the differing opinions we have, and I hope you can have it in your heart to understand my perspective as well. :)

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

These are the types of comments I love reading actually. It's refreshing seeing a different take on something that isn't hateful or ignited by rage. It's much easier for me to see the opposing point of view when I'm not also being insulted at the same time haha. I also don't like the "objective criticism" mindset, as I've seen a lot of opposing criticisms for the same thing make sense even if they contrast each other. Different life experiences lead to people thinking in different ways. As I said at the beginning of the video, both viewpoints are valid. I really appreciate watching such a long video even if it criticizes something you love. Sorry this comment isn't as long as yours, I already spilled my guts in the video so I don't have a lot more to say than that haha. I did read the whole thing though! If there's one thing we can agree on it's that Kanon is great! (Even if I haven't played the VN...)

[@EbullientSMP]

@@ItsYourPalJacob I fully agree with this. I think people disliking something is not inherently wrong, it's natural. I only really take issue when people try to prevent others from forming their own opinion and force their own down. I just wanted to share this because I feel a lot of negativity has unneccesarily spread about the LB anime when while it is flawed, is still a valid entry point into the series and worth watching for fans new and old. Heck, I'm sure without this anime, many, many people won't have ever read the VN. Kanon is great for sure, the anime destroys the source material in every way IMHO. It's the perfect gold standard of an anime adaptation as far as I'm concerned

[@spouwnerring]

TL;DR plz

[@BQD_Central]

So, basically, I'm through the true ending route, and watched the anime (2 seasons, no OVAs), pretty much ended the latter right now. And I really agree that the Anime is very servicable, and I agree with your points, especially about the group dynamic that was so dearly missed in the VN. At least in the intensity the anime gave. I also liked the fact that Rin was way more present in the anime. LB VN is a light romance novel with a friendship/comradery theme, LB Anime is mostly an anime about friendship.

[@HikaruDaisukii]

I love the vn. So i watched the anime, still loved it. Maybe im biased about the anime because i read the vn first but hey, i gave s1 a 9/10 and s2 a 10/10 in myanimelist. Also, an average sasami sasasegawa enjoyer here.

[@frog8779]

I like the idea that someone fails a math test or something, and Riki's immediately response is "Ya know, I was sad once, then the little busters...."

[@yadirect]

Still better adaptation than Tsukihime, Rewrite, and Umineko

[@simon_the]

😭😭

[@terrazaeleh]

Aw man. And Rewrite is my favourite VN... Hope the Summer Pockets anime goes well ;-;

[@gek0629]

Loved this review. Felt the same way. It has been a while since I've seen the anime and you just reminded me of so many things

[@Aleewho890]

" it's just a random freaking bird " i like this part

[@ascsla1667]

Detailed and genuine. Thanks for your great video. I was very excited when I heard the news of adaptation then. But the outcome blew away my expectation. If only the adaptation got the quality of the anime "Clannad" or "Kanon". "Little busters!" is an epic vn and it deserves more attention. By the way, there is a worse adaptation of Key vn afterwards called "Rewrite", which is also one of my favorites. Sigh:-( As for the part of Refrain route in anime, it is okay, good but not to my satisfication as a fan, I guess. Lastly, wondering about your opinions on Saya route and its adaptaion in the EX anime.

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

Thank you for watching the video! I've wanted to watch Rewrite but since the VN is so close to being released in English I'll wait to experience it that way instead, but I've heard from friends that the anime adaptation isn't stellar. As for Saya's route... I confess that it's the only route I never went through haha. I keep meaning to play through it since it's a highly regarded route, but I still haven't gotten to it. The rest of Little Busters was really easy for me to read through because I cared about all the characters, but Saya was a brand new character that I didn't know anything about so it was really hard to get interested in it. I'll go through it one day though!

[@ascsla1667]

@@ItsYourPalJacob I see, you've got a good point! One thing I want to remind you is that it will take you a long time to play through the VN Rewrite. Probably twice the time of Little busters' play length, I guess. So just take your time. Hope you enjoy it.

[@ashishjadhav5169]

what the fuck, you are saying that the whole time seens childhood i never thought that this was Riki route exploring every girl path, omg omg i always thought that this was happening in his dream because his friends are dying and wanted him survive and created a world inside a dream

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

Spoiler free btw

[@playboibryan]

The only way to adapt a visual novel or light novel properly is to give it the monogatari treatment

[@kendrillion7281]

This is my first introduction to your channel (as I wanted to listen to the LB theme song) and upon needing something to listen to while I work I must admit not only did you knock it out of the park with commentary and break down,” but your hilarious dude! I actually want to give the VN a chance 👍 you definitely earned a new subscriber

[@mr.preston1632]

So this is what took you 7 months to make, noice

[@PaddyMcMe]

Damn, I kind of hate KZbin for not promoting your content. Because you're not playing the algorithm game your content, which is truly excellent by the way, just isn't getting pushed the way it would if for instance you released these long videos in 10:01 instalments once every 3-7 days or whatever. Hey that's an idea. Just to grow the sub count a bit why not try that? Play their filthy game. Nobody watching your content will care as they'll just be glad they found your content like I am. Either way great video, thanks for making these I've really enjoyed them,

[@kudwafter]

#1 kud fan here PHEW binged this video and this was awesome i totally agree with you. i made a mistake by watching the anime before reading the visual novel i enjoyed the anime a lot but now when i watched this video and playing the visual novel, looking back now i saw so many of its flaws. thank u for this video!! also subscribed wafu!! this video was nicely made and so detailed and u made rlly good points. i hope to see more from you id really love it if youd cover little busters refrain and EX :D

[@mesph]

Really nice review of the anime adaptation, I agree with most of your points. However, at 37:09, that scene is not an anime original, IIRC it happens in Kud's alternative route as well

[@yannickluecker3983]

I'm 5 minutes and 10 seconds in and just thinking to myself: "Hey, that sounds like the exact same thing that happened to Higurashi in adaptation"

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

The 2006 adaptation or the recent one?

[@yannickluecker3983]

@@ItsYourPalJacob The 2006 one. It retold the plot decent, but really f*ked up the characters hard and put in a bunch of gore that wasn't in the original instead.

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

I remember liking the first few episodes but thinking that the gore was a little much as it went on. I haven’t played all the VNs but I really like the first one.

[@yannickluecker3983]

@@ItsYourPalJacob I'll whole heartedly recommend you read on. It only gets better from there. Although, fair warning: Chapters 3 and 5 are incredibly hard to read due to the themes they tackle. Also, once you get to the second half (chapters 5-8), the soundtrack gets really amazing. It's the predecessor of Umineko, the king of VN soundtracks, after all. PS.: I just reread and realized you apparently watched the 2006 version to some further point. Let me make one thing clear in that case: It's not that the themes of Chapter 3 and 5 are different in the VN, but that they are executed well and handled with care. Except I lied, Chapter 5 works completely different experiencing it from the inside of Shion's head...

[@cheatcode436]

“I was sad and the Little Busters saved me.” This was written… by actual people.

[@moonyasnow36]

Ok, that thing with Mio and Midori where Riki says he'll 'never forget Midori' reminds me way too much of Fritz's good end in an otome game I like called 'Cinderella Phenomenon'. Like, dude, this character (not gonna be spoiling it) tried to take Fritz' place and Lucette obviously hated them with every fiber of her being but they still say 'don't forget me' like dude you have not earned that

[@Banashankarinn]

Who let my 10 year old self watch this anime with no subtitles, just Japanese, the entire thing just went over my head... the only thing I remember is the outro, now as an adult I suddenly remembered this anime and....damn....now I know why I turned out weird... My god this anime is something, my kid brain thought it was a slice of life anime with a group of friends.... I totally missed the romance aspect somehow...

[@Vacxy]

Season two has something season 1 is afraid to add: romance. Season1 leaving everything at the best friend level as he is afraid of spoiler the truth part of the world the whole first season. In the game, at the end of each route of a girl, Riki returned to the beginning of the dream. But in the anime, they tried to gather all the routes into one as they did in the Fate Stay Night anime and Clannad anime, despite LB has the perfect background that what they are living is a dream and instead of taking advantage of this resource for emotions and scenes get higher like in S2, it stops before it can reach the climax, leaving a feeling of discontent. EXTRA: the studio didn't adapt a Visual Novel since Tsukihime anime. That already is BIG flag. :3

[@DJSALTYNUTZ]

Unfortunately, the anime is mainly there to advertise their game. They highlight main events and try to appeal to a larger audience, therefore to increase sales. I watched the anime 1st then, read the VN. At the time i was only reading 18+ VNs because, it was motivation to smash waifus lol I have already read other VNs from KEY: Kanon, Air, Tomoyo After, and (All Ages) Clannad. I read it back in like 2012? Where it was just a fan translation and enjoyed the Little Busters EX playthrough. Mini games where indeed pretty fun to play even tho it was kinda confusing with the battle system and baseball. I personally HATE that there is no TRUE Little Busters EX translation other than the All Ages version. Yes, the H scenes are bad, and it MAY not be needed to the main story. (H scenes from KEY have always been bad lol) However, if the makers of the game put it in the re-release version of the game, because of fan request I don't understand why they removed it completely when it was localized. (Not even an uncensored patch like Nekopara lol) There are some events that do matter like Haruka, Kud, Mio, and Komari (only if you select the bad ending). I am personally against censorship when it comes to art. As a consumer I want to buy a product and have the same experience as they did in the East coast. For consoles like the switch, is fine I get that I guess; Steam is more of a mature-like platform anyways tbh. Which is why I did not buy the localized version simply because, of that reason. Too bad after Little Busters Ex. KEY started doing All Ages only, its not like its a big deal tbh; they're just cutting their revenue by doing so. Maybe one day there will be a translation for those specific H scenes; I just hate the feeling of being left out. Because of this shitty VN I am actually learning Japanese so I can at least get the Full EXP as those guys did in Japan.

[@breathofwind6083]

When I found this anime one year ago, I was so much happy and wondering if the anime was going to be as good as the game,but sadly it wasnt even close to the quality that i expected. My favorite route are of komari and rin,in the game i almost cried when i finished their routes,because it was so emotional. However, in the anime the romance between riki and komari got so superificial and lazy,and about rin's route,there isnt any amazing romantical scene like a kiss scene or even a simple hug with the prhase"I love you". In conclusion, the good points of the anime are(in my opnion): Good graphics and animation, beatiful art and a catchy music. the bad points: Very short considering all the routes of the game and lazy and emontioneless romance between any character and riki in anime.

[@woofer3284]

I guess the reason behind lack of romance is they want to make the anime totally about frienship.

[@erusha]

Thank you for crediting me for my voice! Great video ✨

[@El_Hectornauta]

Just wanted to say excellent video. I remember years ago I tried to watch the anime after playing the VN (loved it). I dropped it after komari was cured by the power of a book. I just skipped to Refrain (that was a lot better). I guess something similar happened to Rewrite :(

[@ComposerKuandohan]

1:30:51 I was NOT expecting you to go off like that. That made me laugh so hard. Excellent video by the way, I really feel like I would rather play the VN than watch the anime like I was going to at some point. I used to love Jun Maeda’s writing from having Clannad impact me so much when I was younger. But honestly, some of his story ideas, story resolutions, focus on moe, and melodrama are getting harder and harder for me to stomach as I age and consume more media. He’s not a bad writer, far from it. He’s just not as amazing as I used to think he was. And it seems like his foray into writing original anime lately is showing that, unfortunately. I’m honestly surprised he feels like he can write a whole story within 13ish episodes when he’s has, throughout his whole career, been writing high ass novels to tell his stories. It’s a huge difference. Even great anime like Angel Beats did so much better as a VN after its initial creation.

[@miragecoordinators]

cant wait to watch this after i complete both the anime and vn

[@classclown6ya]

People like you, jackdonsurfer, and running shine are the lifeblood of this site.

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

Haven’t heard of those guys, I’ll have to check them out. Thanks for the kind words!

[@gundambassexe31]

As a visual novel reader myself, I highly recommend the little busters vn over the first season anime

[@shuckleiscool7330]

The mental health flew over my head, though, I only watched the anime. Will probably try the VN next. But feel the anime shows the stages of grief more noticeably.

[@JRVChama]

I had read the VN, one of my first ones, around a couple of years or so before the anime was announced and I must say... the anime felt just alright when I watched it, the VN is just a lot better, the anime clearly didn't have enough episodes and budget sadly to do things properly.

[@gundambassexe31]

My thoughts exactly .

[@IanDerp26]

Man, I don't know how a Pokemon video essay led me here, but I'm so fucking ready to watch an hour long video about a visual novel I don't care about. Edit: I got curious when he kept talking about Refrain so I looked up a plot summary and holy shit.

[@Micahmancer]

i love this

[@firepuppies4086]

When the kids think of the future...

[@RacerC45]

Hey! I didn't think the anime was bad.

[@HikaruDaisukii]

Also, even though i like the anime, its maybe the worst key anime adaptation. (Not including anime originals cuz charlotte is a disaster) Well, different studios adapted it Kanon: Toei(2002) and KyoAni(2006) Air: KyoAni Clannad/AfterStory: Kyoani (The two above has a movie that was made by a different studio: Toei Animation) Little Busters: J.C. Staff Rewrite: 8Bit And yeah, J.C. Staff has the worst reputation of fking up anime adaptations. That is maybe the reason? Idk

[@ajj5735]

This video was a banger and a half, but in what version does Riki have voice acting like in here? 1:32:33

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

I commissioned erushaVA to voice Riki for this video, unfortunately there is no version of LB where Riki is voiced throughout the whole game :( youtube.com/@erusha

[@BillPlunderbonesTew8]

Little Busters/Refrain was still one of my favorites and one of the best friendship story animes i had seen (until One Piece) i still enjoy it especially Refrain but our good friends JC Staff strikes again lol (Shakugan no Shana and Zero no Tsukaima , oh Kimikiss too) once you learn truth of the world lot of the supernatural and memory stuff starts to make sense

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

The Visual Novel is one of my favorites for the same reasons, the friendship aspect was very well done. Honestly I would like the VN a lot more if there was no romance haha. As much crap as I give season 1, the episodes focused on them just hanging out were endearing.

[@ahomestucker]

honestly, filler on its own aint bad. if its just characters u like having a good time, sure, that sounds nice. but so much in an anime with strict limits on what it can adapt... that just sucks, cus it means theyre leaving out a lotta more significant stuff. you make an extra good point tho, why not add more important stuff as well?

[@rossi3108]

Great video. enjoyd it.

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

Thank you for watching!

[@usernametentwo]

Great vid n channel dude! id love to know your thoughts on more visual novel adaptations or your review of refrain :D

[@hollowslayer6252]

You're great I need more vids

[@justdark4690]

I love the anime but I do plan to check out the VN at some point, so before I check it out, I can say anything about how good or bad the anime is other than the fact, I love it I'll come back to this video, hopefully some time soon after checking out the VN

[@Himitsu_Murasaki]

It kills me inside to hear you say stuff like "The adaptation of Refrain was really good", because it really wasn't. You almost never hear someone talk about Little Busters nowadays. Good video! I'm not sure if you made it to praise either Haruka or Komari more. It's obvious you won't be making a Refrain video given it's been 2 years since this one came out. I'm someone who read the VN before watching the anime, and I was extremely disappointed by the anime, especially when Refrain came around, where they utterly butchered Kurugaya's route. I've written essays explaining why she is the best Key heroine, explaining everything that happens in her route, why Kurugaya is so intrinsically linked to Refrain without anyone realizing it, especially when first reading her Route without having known what "The Secret of the World" is. IMO, Riki is by far his best version in Kurugaya's route since it's the only one where he actively pursues a relationship with the heroine, where you feel that he is acting of his own accord and not getting influenced by Kyousuke all the time. It's sad to think the legacy of such an amazing character is a scene where she smashes a door and fanservice.

[@karooo1989]

this is honestly a really good video, will you be doing refrain next?

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

No plans for Refrain at the moment, but perhaps sometime in the future. I have other IPs I want to talk about. Thanks for watching the video and for your kind words!

[@YamatoFukkatsu]

I love that you call out all these "the gang's all here" scenes, because that's one annoying thing in a lot of anime that I honestly don't see getting enough hate (at least not vocally). Yeah, sure, just have the main character and/or the one or two characters who are actually relevent to the moment drag the entire friggin' cast with them everywhere they go. Like you said, it turns what should've been small, personal moments into awkward spectacles being viewed by a god damn peanut gallery, with most of the characters having nothing to do except staring in awkward silence, interjecting some completely useless filler lines, stating points that the relevent characters could've just as easily made, or repeating what was already said (same goes for tournament arcs in competitive anime, in which most of the cast sits in the audience stands and typically say crap that's just as useless). To some extent, I probably get it. Animation studios don't want their (highly marketable) characters to fall completely by the wayside, and I do think it's more than a bit depressing when they fade into the background (and in the worst cases, get put on a bus without so much as a mention) after their relevent character arcs are effectively over and done with. However, there's gotta be a better way to go about doing it, as shoehorning them into moments where they just don't belong really aren't that much better. Plus, in the case of Little Busters specifically, it's not like they really needed to go out of their way to promote characters who were already well-established prior thanks to the source material (and this is something I think the Key adaptations by KyoAni did well, as even though they also tied every route to a single canon, there was little to no intersection between them, with maybe the main girl, at most, being inserted into scenes with the other girls).

[@orqeo9660]

1:32:20 someone know how i can play at the visual novel with the riki's voice just like at this moment please???

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

I commissioned @erusha to voice Riki for that scene, so unfortunately the version you're looking for doesn't exist :(

[@orqeo9660]

@@ItsYourPalJacob ah ok rip, ty tho for answering

[@orqeo9660]

bro she should voice riki for the entire novel her voice is amazing and fits perfectely to riki @@ItsYourPalJacob

[@gek0629]

Can you review refrain and the differences between the anime and vn?

[@asayakechuurippu7821]

A random question: What's your opinion on Tomoyo After?

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

I haven't played it unfortunately. It was gifted to me recently so I should get to that haha

[@TimedragonX]

I read the visual novel many years ago (in Japanese when my Japanese was pretty below average) and I did not have fond memories of it. Kud was my favorite character and I got really invested in the conflict during her route. But the resolution felt so out of left field that I was completely dumbfounded when the credits rolled. I had never felt more insulted by a story in my life. It ruined pretty much everything. After two more routes (Kurugaya and Komari), both of which I didn't like either, I called it quits and only read the plot summaries for the rest. And I'm really glad that I never finished it, cause I would've completely lost my shit at the end of Refrain. Little Busters is one of those stories where the supernatual elements work to its detrement and I really wish they didn't exist, else I might have had a better time.

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

One thing that LB could have used more of was more build up towards it's supernatural elements. It's surprisingly light throughout the game besides Mio and Kurugaya's route (and then right at the end of Kud's route) before Refrain happens. I can see where you're coming from.

[@FEGTTTSDH]

Rewrite have a very similar problem, the Moon route is awesome and very good adapt to the anime, but heroins and normal route meh... not good. Still LB is legendary

[@fumomofumosarum5893]

Hi! I like your content. Can you be found or contacted on any other platform, like discord or facebook etc? I'd like to bother you with some questions about a mini RPG storyline.

[@studentshdhhdhd1849]

1.5 hour long vid on this!

[@WithYouInTheDark]

I like

[@karstensingh343]

can i just skip the first season and watch the second one?

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

There would be a lot of stuff that wouldn't make a whole lot of sense and have a lot less impact. If you don't have any access to the VN at all or just don't want to do a bunch of reading, then the anime is the only other option. If it's a money issue then I'd just wait for it to go on sale on Steam.

[@WildArmsV]

Please do this for Clannad too >:)

[@WildArmsV]

Also enjoying a lot the current video haha. Glad someone is taking the time to video and explain in a good way many things I have thought in the past. I also don't mind if things need to be changed for the sake of the adaptation as long as is they do the effort so things still feel natural... And taking romance away shouldn't be solved with just putting a group of people in the important scenes. Actually, I do feel taking romance away in these games really means they should just remake the routes completely, too many scenes are dependent of having that 1 to 1 he's my lover so I can share this with him" bond". I do think it isn't super important in some though so for some routes this "remake" might be simpler. I also agree that being overdramatic takes your immersion away, the same thing happened with season 1 and half of season 2 of clannad's anime for me :/ I dont get why they repeated it for LB. I didn't bother with the anime of LB the moment I saw they decided to do all the routes in 1 run. I definitely prefer adaptations like in the amagami anime where they just separate reach route into their own 3 eps... I think Amnesia also does this? And since is focused in 1 character they add the side chars little by little in different situations during them and eventually you kind of get to know everyone. So while is not perfect, it feels closer to the game... But considering the context of LB! it makes sense Riki "starts anew every amount of eps*. Anyway the point of me saying this is to let you know that the moment you showed the scene of the Mio part where Riki answers the phone it was the first time I watch it xD so the moment he says the "I know, we need to bring her back" part, I said "WHAT" and then you said WHAT? after me hahaha. Was a fun moment. BTW Kudo is the most popular character in Japan which is why she got special treatment. (and to ready everyone for her movie/ova or whatever I guess)

[@MrRhysReviews]

Always been a HUGE fan of Key's Visual Novels, I started back when the only option was to read the SOLID Fan Translations of Clannad, Tomoyo After, Little Busters & Rewrite on PC. I absolutely HATED the Little Busters adaptation, it was just kinda bad and J.C. Staff's animation sucks, especially when we had the AMAZING Kanon & Clannad adaptions from the GOATS at Kyoto Animation (they also did Air but that one is actually not the best/feels kinda rushed compared to the other two) Edit: Another example for me where the Anime sucks compared to the OG VN is Steins;Gate... That adaptation sucked considering I'd played the VN already 🤷‍♂️

[@BakedBanana]

oh?

[@DeardropsRiho]

59:29 Haha.

[@gamerlegend7137]

14:54

[@DocDoesGamingTV]

Would you say the anime adaptation is... a little busted?

[@Radi_vvanker]

Great vid, tht boy was written really irritatingly lol

[@lentos8912]

fooly cooly had the better little busters!

[@TheAnimeYoungin]

No

[@silver1350]

Imagine highlighting an anime in negative just because it's not a shitty copy of vn

[@ItsYourPalJacob]

You don't have to imagine it because I did it! Silly.

[@silver1350]

@@ItsYourPalJacob bruh