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IF there was ever a flawed masterpiece, it was Shinsekai Yori. This show man. This haunting sci-fi dystopia will stay with you long after you finish it. Without any further delay, lets get on with the review.

Story- 10
The story of SSY is by far its strongest part, as it is one of the most interesting dystopian stories ever made in my opinion. This is the aspect that will keep you coming back for more. Very basically put, it follows Saki Watanabe, a 12 year old middle schooler, and her life as she realizes the world around her is not as perfect as it seems. I ... can't go much past that without getting into spoilers, but it eventually gets into much darker topics like genocide, what it means to be human, and slavery. The pacing is pretty bad to be honest, as there are info dumps all over the place and the story doesn't kick into its top gear until the last 8 episodes, but when it does oh boy does it get good. Overall, the story is one that should not be missed by anyone, it starts off slow but by the time it gets to the last arc the story has picked up greatly and is honestly insane.

Character- 8
The characters were... interesting. The best way for me to put it is that most of the characters were rather one dimensional and didn't get much screen time. This, however, is completely forgiven for having an amazing lead female character, Saki, and an amazing villain who I can't spoil. The stoy follows Saki's entire life and her growth from a girl to a woman, and while she is a flawed individual, she is human and you feel for her. Her character is over-emotional, and its a great lead to this show. The main villain who I won't spoil is my personal favorite villain in any anime, and just a brilliant character with motives arguably better than our main characters. So yea. Good MC and Villain, a couple good supporting characters (Satoru, Kiroumaru, and Shun) and everyone else was kinda underdeveloped.

Sound- 10
This is one of my personal favorite OSTs in anime. The songs may be overused and the OST is small, but this is all made up for by how well it complements the show itself and sets the mood perfectly. This is exemplified by a song by the name of Traditional Song of Shadows, which you just have to listen to because it is beautiful. Finally, there is no OP but the ED is the single greatest in anime history. Watch it now.

Art/Animation- 7
Ok this is by far the show's weak point. The art style was done by A1 Pictures, and is a weird, not bad, but weird style. It could've be done right, but there were just too many faults to consider the animation more than just "good". Not much else to say.

Enjoyment- 10
This is controversial, because I enjoyed this show so much but I can see how many people could consider it boring. There is a lot of information to keep track of and the pacing, as mentioned, is incredibly slow and will bore a lot of people. But for me, the plot was just so interesting and I just couldn't drop it and kept watching episode after episode, and it was well worth it.

Overall- 10
Lots of people will get bored of this show and drop it, but for those who stick it out you are in for one of the greatest pieces of fiction I've ever seen with a top-tier story, and I highly reccomend it to anyone who likes shows with good stories and great plot twists.

SPOILERS
This anime, right here, is the single biggest improvement from a season one to a season two I've ever seen.

Something I hate in anime is when fans compare an anime to a different anime, just because it was made by the same company. Whenever a new show adapting a key visual novel is announced, everyone just instantly compares it to Clannad and Clannad after story. I think this is unfair, because this show, while having many very similar aspects was its own show and should be taken as such. Anyways, onto the review. Little busters was a nice little high school drama show, but suffered ... from unoriginality and some of the sad moments felt forced to me. This is all fixed in the second season, where all the buildup done in season one pays off for a very satisfying conclusion.

Story- *MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD* 9.5 (rounded to ten on the ratings)
This story took everything wrong with the original's story, and fixed it. It took the biggest problems, the unoriginality, and got rid of it. This follows directly after season one, and really just changes things up immediately. It starts off a bit slow, but then immediately really picks up. Once Riki realized that Kyouske was the one who sent Rin off to the other school, he completely hated Kyouske and for a while it looked like he was going to be the main villain. A very well done red herring. Another awesome idea was the plot twist in episode 11. The plot twist in episode 11 completely shattered the foundations and destroyed everything you thought you knew about little busters, and really was just well executed and unexpected. It also seems to have much more mystery than any other drama I've seen, which I commend it for. Everything that happens happens for a reason, and it comes together to make one of the best stories I've ever seen in anime.

Art-8
The art style for this show is good, the animation is nice and fluid, and everything just worked well. The problem is that nothing about this stands out, it just all seems plain and like all the other key adaptations. Not bad, actually its good, but it didn't do anything new.

Sound- 9.5
The soundtrack for this anime was just amazing. There were many amazing songs, but the real stand out ones for me were lamplights and boys don't cry. Boys don't cry was Kyouske's theme, and it really sums up his character very nicely and was just nice to listen to. Lamplights however, is one of my favorite songs in any anime. It reminds me a lot of Lost My Pieces from Toradora, another one of my favorite songs and it just gives me the feels so much when I listen to it.

Characters- 10 (Spoilers)
This is, without a doubt, Little Busters strong point. Little Busters Refrain has possibly my favorite cast of characters in anime history, they are all just amazing. Riki is a fairly normal main character, but the rest of the characters are amazing. Rin starts off really shy and not wanting to see the world, but she gradually opens up and becomes a likable female lead. Inohara seems to just be a dumb muscle head, but he turns out to be very well developed and more than meets the eye. Kengo is the exact opposite of Inohara, he looks like a calm and collected martial artist, but is actually very simple and not that smart. Finally, there is Kyouske. Kyouske is one of the best characters I've ever seen in an anime. He kind of reminds me of Kamina from Gurren Lagann, my favorite character of all time, because he always seems to be leading people and tries to help people improve themselves. In season one, he was very upbeat and was kind of a badass. However, in season two so much stuff happens with his character. At some points they make him look the villain, and quite a formidable one at that. He always knows what is going to happen and what is going on in the world somehow. However, he is actually just a very nice guy who wanted Rin and Riki to grow up before facing reality and making it so they can stand on their own.

Enjoyment- 10
I enjoyed this anime so much. All of the characters and the way they interacted really just made this a fun watch and kept me watching.

Overall-9.2
This anime was a fun watch with a great story and fantastic characters. If you haven't seen it yet, I would highly recommend it, it's one of the best dramas I've ever seen. It is very sad, but an extremely interesting and fun watch.