| Oh wow, didn't expect you to post here. Personally, I don't think Little Busters could ever possibly achieve After Story 2.0 status because of how Refrain portrays its emotions differently from After Story. People buy into the sadness sadness sadness and constant depressing music and heartwarming/depressing events of the last 6 episodes of the story. But also, I think Clannad's portrayal of Tomoya is something that was very well done, and the audience feels connected to him as a character. People don't want to step into Riki's shoes because of the type of character he is, sadly. He's just not the type of ideal character that everyone can relate to that well. In the VN, you don't really have to think about how he's a character too much. His transition to anime is true to his character for the most part, but he's a tough character to find to be lovable or interesting, even moreso by how he's been written for the anime and with the lack of Rin2 being animated. More episodes may be good, or maybe it would've just been delaying the inevitable, but simply adding in extra episodes that are the same quality of what JC Staff has produced could probably only make the show 5-10% better than it already is. It would need a total overhaul, and by this I mean improvements from the source material itself, in order to be on the wide appreciate level of After Story. People can appreciate simple things like character deaths and family ties in After Story, but the entire plot of Refrain is now mainstream and accessible to people that only have to spend 13 hours on. It isn't going to click well with as wide of an audience as Key's other works, because of how Little Busters quickly subverted the typical expectations in story direction once the Rin and Refrain arcs started. However, it could've reached a much bigger audience than it has. Top 5 for this type of story is near impossible because of the common anime watcher and how many will just call the dream world "contrived nonsense", no matter how much development its given, and people won't value the themes are strongly as VN players. |
| Realistically, this is not a very engaging series, at least up to the Refrain arc. The slice of life bits are boring, and the heroine arcs are too melodramatic. Even if the jokes and the routes were better adapted, Key humour isn't exactly the greatest anyways and the blatant illogicality of the world they live in (such as the Deus Ex Machina in Kud's arc) will put off many viewers, since they do not know the world's "secret". It would only be a matter of time before people get tired of the show. This just isn't a series for everyone, and it won't have the simplistic emotional appeal to the same community as Clannad did. There is a greater psychological component and motifs are far more intricate here. As Vladz0r said, this is is something that has a far and distant payoff. But most people simply do not have the patience for the "secret of the world". It took us fifty hours to complete the novel; it took over fifty weeks for an anime-only viewer to find out the "secret". And adding more episodes would only further wear the anime-only viewers out, even if the "payoff" is greater. JC Staff was very liberal on foreshadowing. If people didn't pick up on it, they were either too dense to realize it or didn't really care for the show in the first place. Again, this is NOT Clannad as people expect it to be. I think it's a unique story as an anime, and a very well done at that as well. And I wouldn't expect much from KyoAni anyways. Adaptations are usually inferior to the source material (Air and Clannad can attest to that), and the only thing that would've improved would be animation. I'd like to see it in the top 100 at least, but I don't think that will happen. |
| Co-owner of Anime Radio Network |
| Mhm, and the point about the heroine routes is why I feel that Kud's, Kurugaya's, and maybe even Mio's deserve a reread/rewatch. I didn't find the routes to be "not engaging" in the VN, but with the really long common route and oldschool comedy, LB is something tough to transition to anime. You can't cut it out because then there's no character attachment, and even if it's well done, it'll never be able to appeal to everyone. I think the melodrama in the routes don't hold up well on their own, and the show basically requires two watches to fully enjoy, which is something most people won't do. I at least wanted it to be comparable to the VN in its uniqueness. I couldn't care less if it reaches the level of Clannad or not, because Clannad is aimed at a more mainstream audience than Little Busters. LB's aim should've never been to be Clannad, because Refrain doesn't feel like anything I've ever seen from Key in terms of style, narration, and focus. Still, better animation would've helped LB's story reach a wider audience, and keep people being more attentive to the show, because frankly a lot of these anime-only watchers seem braindead when it comes to paying attention, or they don't care for the cardboard cutout characters. When Yui's arc in Angel Beats manages to hit harder than anything in Little Busters for some people, I don't really know what to blame. All I know is that the dramatic execution of Yui's arc and the animation quality of the scene is much better than what I've seen from JC Staff, even though the story itself is quick and melodramatic. What makes a story emotional has a lot to do with how engaged people are. If you're playing a VN, it's easy to get engaged in this kind of drama, but it's hard to believe the drama of the LB anime if you're someone who gets a lot out of the animation, screenplay, and overall mood of the show. I think it would've been a smoother experience that would've reached a wider audience through KyoAni, simply because KyoAni's fanbase is anime watchers, and JC Staff's is primarily the VN players who will buy the adaptation regardless of quality. |
Sorayin said: Well it looks like even if you kept your words you wouldn't have to. The rank has even dropped. It used to be in the 160s, now it's in the 170s.Vladz0r said: Sorayin said: I don't believe it... I... Seriously? This show is so fucking bad and yet it's made it into the top 200? I knew most anime fans were quasi paedophiles who love anything cutsie no matter how shitty it is. But this? You should legitimately feel bad for liking this. Seriously... I'm so depressed now. Yeah, who knew that if you follow the main 5 Little Busters' struggle, which is somehow pedophilia to you, it's still good even with this bad adaptation. It sucks that you can't take a story about friendship seriously in the least. You should apologize with that stream, now ;) No it isn't. It's so poorly written and directed it's not funny. In fact that post you have on your profile summarises everything wrong with it very well. Why you are gave it a 9/10 when you personally identified it's gaping issues is beyond me. Also I have far too much to live for to pull an Abe Briggs on myself. Sorry babe. |
     Short of the day: Monotonous Purgatory(MAL) ✰Public Domain Club | One Piece Club✰ |
| I know I'm coming into this topic a bit late it into the airing, but did people seriously expect this show to do well? All I heard about the first season was that it was a poor adaptation and it seemed like the only people who continued over into the second season were people that actually enjoyed the first or those that played/read the VN. |
kyoycz said: I know I'm coming into this topic a bit late it into the airing, but did people seriously expect this show to do well? All I heard about the first season was that it was a poor adaptation and it seemed like the only people who continued over into the second season were people that actually enjoyed the first or those that played/read the VN. There was a hyped trailer showing better art than the first season, and people thought JC Staff would actually keep it consistent. Hypothetically, if a miracle like Fumihiko and Nagai writing and directing 2 cours of the 2nd half of Little Busters, with a good budget, adding 26 extra episodes of content to the mediocre first season, it could've done well, yes. People hoped Warner Bros. and JC Staff were going to make it more than 13 episodes, but it ended up being even more rushed than season 1 in a lot of areas. Many people were more disappointed with season 2 than season 1 despite the content and animation being better. So yeah, most of us had high expectations and actually thought JC Staff was saving all their budget and talent for the best parts of the VN, yet we get badly directed episodes and entire characters falling short of expectations (Masato), and the story is going through the motions without building up enough for people to care about. It's a decent adaptation, but there were a lot of constraints. It's hit or miss, and doesn't grab the attention that other Key adaptations have been able to do as successfully. Now, can this thread just die already, or can it at least subside until a miraculous remake is announced, with Maeda actually supervising it? |
| Looking at it a decade later, LB: Refrain struggles to remain even in the top 400 on MAL (being ranked #400 as of this post). Sadly, it's a mostly forgotten anime that hasn't been able to make a meaningful impact or do its VN proper justice for reasons already listed. Although by pure MAL scores, it actually ranks 2nd among Jun Maeda anime. Well behind Clannad: AS, but ahead of Angel Beats!, Kanon, Clannad s1. Probably due to "sequel inflation"/small user base, but I guess it counts for something. See y'all in 2034. |
| Co-owner of Anime Radio Network |
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