Anime Discussion :3

The 2Ds have always reigned supreme, since the first caveman drawing on an ancient stone wall, thousands of years ago!
I dunno, though, I just finished episode 6 (which, Jesus, Key, way to make gloom up the mood), and I found it very enjoyable. I really like Komari, and Naoe, but I'd say Komari beats Naoe by a little as my favorite character, in large part because of how strong her character is.

Unlike Clannad, every main character gets a backstory arc. After watching all the arcs bar Kurugaya's (Her one is in Refrain), my favourite characters are Haruka, Kanata and Nishizono, mainly because of their arcs.

I liked Nishizono from her first appearance, but Haruka and Kanata grew on me during their arcs. Their backstories is just really heartwarming and lovely (Oh god, I keep saying it) and made me like them a lot more, oh and not to mention a particular scene featuring Saigusa in episode 26 that I absolutely love, essentially 'sealing the deal' with my like for Saigusa.

For some reason though, I seemed to like Kud less after her arc...

It's weird though. Every series I watch, I always try to find the characters that are my favourite. I mean, every series I have watched, I can name my absolute favourite character, which I then associate the whole series to that one character.

Oh, and if you are curious, here are some...

Clannad: Sakagami Tomoyo, Sagara Misae
Angel Beats: Shiina, Kanade
Kanon: Makoto, Sayuri (Don't remember their surnames...)
AnoHana: I actually didn't like any of the characters here... But I generally associate Tsurumi with AnoHana
Choujigen Game Neptune: The Animation (Oh god): Noire
Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga ****ai: Takanashi Touka, Nibutani Shinka
Ef: A Tale of Memories/Melodies: Amamiya Yuuko
Fruits Basket: The Pig Girl (Don;t remember the name, it's been a while...)
Full Metal Panic: Tessa Testarossa, Gauron (Forging new ground as one of the only male characters on this list...)
Hataraku Maou-Sama: Kamazuki Suzuno
Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko: Tsutsukakushi Tsukushi (But I loved all the characters in this anime, they were all fantastic)
Hyouka: Houtarou Oreki (Hey look, another guy), Chitanda Eru (Oh, but I absolutely love Ibara Mayaka's voice actor)
Little Busters: Nishizono Mio, Saigusa Haruka, Kurugaya Yuiko, A-Chan (*****, I can have four if I want)
NouCome: Yuuouji Ouka, Yukihara Furano
Natsume Yuujinchou: The firefly youkai, Little Fox Boy
Sakurasou no Pet no Kanojo: Aoyama Nanami, Rita Ainsworth
Seitokai Yakuindomo: Mitsuba (God, I can't remember her last name), Amakusa Shino
Attack on Titan: Mikasa Ackerman, Sasha Brouse (********, overrated Levi)
Steins;Gate: Makise Kurisu, Suzuha something
Toradora: Kawashima Ami
True Tears: Yuasa Hiromi
Yosuga no Sora: Kasugano Sora, Prez (Don;t recall her name...)
Zetsuen no Tempest: Kusaribe Hakaze

Sorry if this sounds arrogant, but god, I'm impressed at my own memory... I'm surprised I can remember so many names.

Also, I probably shouldn't have gone with red... My eyes burn.

I just watched Pupa, that was disappointing as ****.

So far with Kanon, Ayu is my favorite. As for Angel Beats, Kanade was my favorite. I loved so many of the characters from Clannad, it's really hard to pick who, but it's either Nagisa, Youhei, Tomoya, ***o, or Akio, such a hard choice. For Little Busters, and Kanon, my favorite character might change, just because I haven't finished either of the shows, I think Kyousuke is pretty cool, but he's pretty ridiculous in some ways.
As for Sayuri from Kanon, I think she's really cool. Hopefully her character arc lasts a bit.

LOL Pupa's episodes aren't even five minutes long. I ain't even mad.

WOOOOOOOOH! LITTLE BUSTERS REFRAIN WAS AAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWEEEEEEESOOOOOOOOOOOME!

It's a bit too late to give a rant/rundown, but what can do is leave you with a fruity, juicy fan fact that I thought was awesome when I found it.



How is that fact related to Little Busters?

IT'S MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORNING!

Anyway...

"Little Busters!" and "Little Busters! Refrain" were both produced by the ever so famous Key studios, which wrote produced highly acclaimed, and in the case of "Clannad: After Story", some times overrated anime series. However, all of Key's previous works were animated by Kyoto Animation, where as the newest entry from Key's franchise into an animated form is developed by the somewhat hated J.C Staff. Did they do a good job?

Probably.

You see, "Little Busters!" was hated on, but it was hated on predominately because it (apparently) did not follow the VN too closely. This caused the fans of the VN be disappointed, and out came the biased reviews which eventually meant that "Little Busters!"was regarded as an outcast, the failure of a son that failed to live up to the same level that the high school jock, straight aces student that "Clannad" and "Clannad: After Story" was. You see, all this bad reception eventually led to me going into "Little Busters! with low expectations.

CHARACTERS
LITTLE BUSTERS!
Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe. Moe.

I think that's enough for you to get the picture. But you see, with moe, inevitably comes liable characters, and all the characters are absolutely fantastic. There is not a single one that isn't likable. Heck, even Komari in all her blandness was incredibly likable. Every member of the Little Busters was fantastic.

LITTLE BUSTERS! REFRAIN
The characters are basically the same. However, the non-original members of the Little Busters with the exception of Kurugaya don't get all too much screen time. The focus here is definitely on the original members. However, the original five definitely get a lot of character development in this series.

ANIMATION QUALITY AND SOUND
LITTLE BUSTERS!
The animation was good. I mean, scenes that were meant to be beautiful were truly eye-candy, scenes that were meant to be depressing looked dreary and dark. There were definitely some reused animations here and there, but every anime is guilty of them... Well, maybe not Chuunibyou.... Our Kanon... Or Clannad for that matter... Hmm... Anyway, The characters looked really good, and the expression on their faces was done really well. The sound wasn't all too outstanding. There's no memorable tracks for me, although it seems there's only one track for each mood that is being presented.

LITTLE BUSTERS! REFRAIN
The animation was more refined in "Little Busters! Refrain". The eye-candy was sweeter, the dreary scenes were darker and more artistic, it was all done incredibly well. The tracks... I didn't notice anything different or any new tracks.

STORY
This is where both series lost most of their marks.

LITTLE BUSTERS!
The storytelling was done well. I mean, it was simply straight forward, nothing innovative like how ef: a Tale of Melodies did storytelling. The storyline itself was really good. I mean, you can obviously tell it was adapted from a visual novel because it has that 'flavour of the month' type of story arcs, where a girl gets all the attention and then she's hidden in the basement, you know? The story arcs themselves were all really touching, of course, some being better than others. However, at times, specifically between arcs, the story felt a bit directionless. I mean, the focus would go from everywhere, one episode is the Little Busters cooking and then the next everyone is helping Kudryavka to study, and then it proceeds onto the Saigusa arc? It was just all over the place at times. Also, the ending. If Little Busters! Refrain did not exist, boy would I be pissed. It left you feeling incredibly empty.

LITTLE BUSTERS! REFRAIN
The storyline here was very good. It was happy, it was sad, it was heartwarming. So many emotions flow through you during "Little Busters! Refrain". The Kurugaya arc was... Interesting, although it was really confusing, and didn't really tie into who Kurugaya actually was, more so it's just a few episodes where Kurugaya was the focus. And then, when the focus shifts towards the original members, the story becomes absolutely fantastic. The ending was very good as well. You see, it wasn't a forced happy ending like Clannad: AS, where it relies simply on a miracle for a happy ending. This ending was actually plausible. It felt as if it was giant achievement that only the hard work and dedication that was presented throughout the series could achieve. It was a very meaningful ending.

The storytelling on the otherhand was atrocious. I swear to god, the storyline just changes halfway through, and you are just like "What the fu... is going on?" So, you see, you get all these questions on these sudden changes in scenario, and then when the answers for why all these changes comes, they cram all the ****ing information down your throat in one episode, yes, the answers TO ALL THE QUESTIONS IN THE WHOLE SERIES CRAMMED DOWN YOUR THROAT IN ONE EPISODE, and then you are sitting there forced to reach down your throat and then pick apart all the information to form the conclusion they want you to get from it before you choke under it. It's just a giant information dump.

ENJOYMENT
LITTLE BUSTERS
I enjoyed "Little Busters". I never got overly emotional, but throughout the whole series, I just had a smile on my face. There just so many moments where you just say too yourself, "Aww, that's so sweet and touching", or, 'Aww, how lovely is that?" It just makes you feel so warm and happy inside. However, like I said, if you had been watching this when "Little Busters! Refrain" hadn't even been announced yet, you'd definitely be frustrated from the ending, and it would leave a sour taste in your mouth.

LITTLE BUSTERS! REFRAIN
I loved "Little Busters! Refrain", I really did. I can say I can officially add it to the list of anime that made me tear, but you see, these weren't the tears where my eyes were watery, and it hurt too much to keep them in so you just try to squeeze them out, these were the tears that just flow out. I mean, you don't even notice it, you just act like, ""Oh wow, tears! Holy ****, I didn't even notice, well I better wipe them up" *scrub scrub scrub*" These just came out, not like some other anime where they simply beat the tears out of you. Also, the ending, god, I was absolutely over the moon after it. It was absolutely fantastic.

However, I cannot deny the fact that I was frustrated over the sudden change in story. The sudden change just left me confused and angry. I mean, there was no explanation or hint of it. It just thrusts you into a different scenario, and you are just forced to accept it. Of course, like I said, this led to frustration. However, I was talking with one of my friends, and he told me to just calm down, everything will be resolved. And then came the information dump, and I was absolutely more pissed than before. However, I just accepted it, and it ended up boosting my enjoyment of the series a lot more.

To conclude, "Little Busters!" and "Little Busters! Refrain" was fantastic. It will definitely be a very memorable and long-lasting experience for me. While yes, there were flaws in the stories in both of them, but the other major aspects of the series was so good, you just found it hard to not like "Little Busters!", unless you're a biased fanboy. So, finally, "Little Busters!" and "Little Busters! Refrain" get an...

(Click here before revealing the score)



(Also, I'm one quarter of the way to 5000 posts with this post, hooray!)

No idea what I walked into, but does avatar count as an anime, I don't think so but just wondering.

I dunno, maybe ask TormentedTurnip.

Nope. It is a western animation with Japanese influences, but it doesn't technically count as "Anime."