In fact, that whole final sequence deserves far more attention and praise. The writing was substantially improved over past episodes, revealing the fact Riki was repeating the day in an intelligent and subdued fashion, and not succumbing to cheap melodrama to give impact to the climax of KurugayaвЂ™s arc. The direction was so very different to anything else previously seen in this series, making use of a more abstract presentation and incorporating far more stylistic touches, not only making it visually arresting but also furthering and emphasising every emotion and thought in the characters. It was incredible! Astonishing! Absolutely everything about it was fantastic, and I genuinely had nothing to complain about! The pacing, one of my most common criticisms with Little Busters!, was just right this time as it slowed things down and made it all bit more contemplative, helping to contribute to the hazy, dreamlike atmosphere and. And boy, did it deliver.ДЄnd so KeyвЂ™s relentless assault on your emotions begins in earnestД®pisode three was marvellous. The lead in to the next episode, however, seemed to promise something greater, something far more interesting. It was a marked improvement over everything we had seen so far, but still fairly inconsequential. The hijinks were relatively annoying вЂ“ the girls are by far and away the worst part of this series, almost having a nails-on-chalkboard like effect вЂ“ but the scenes between Kurugaya and Riki were surprisingly sentimental and satisfying.

It was mostly hijinks, with the boys deciding to fuck around with fireworks and give the girls a little show, as well as attempting to give Riki a chance with Kurugaya (there were some romantic undertones made a little more overt leading up to this). The second episode, however, was very interesting. It was better than most of the first season episodes, without a doubt, but certainly not by much. ItвЂ™s pretty clear вЂ“ especially so in retrospect вЂ“ that this was simply a result of not having enough episodes to do it properly, and the events in this first episode are quite insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but it was still a poor start and did little to instil me with confidence.

The first episode was incredibly fast-paced, had Kurugaya act suddenly and jarringly in a way counter to her previously established characterisation, and heaped on the melodrama in lieu of dedicating time to build it up adequately. Unfortunately, it doesnвЂ™t start off on the best of notes. This wasnвЂ™t exactly a point in favour for the first season, so itвЂ™s fortunate that there was only KurugayaвЂ™s left (barring RinвЂ™s, the true route). Little Busters!: Refrain picks up pretty much exactly where Little Busters! left off вЂ“ simply adapting the arcs for each of the girls. While I didnвЂ™t have much, I still nurtured some hope that Little Busters!: Refrain could be good it certainly wouldnвЂ™t be difficult to at least be better.ДЄll IвЂ™ll say for now is that I am so fucking glad I picked it up. And on top of that, I still caught glimpses of the Key magic that made Air, Kanon and Clannad so enjoyable for me in Little Busters!, albeit only briefly and rarely. I have seen Clannad: After Story вЂ“ and I utterly adored it вЂ“ so hearing that from people I trust piqued my interest to say the least. Why? Many people who played the visual novel had nothing but fantastic things to say about the Refrain arc(s), even going so far as to describe it as being to Little Busters! what After Story was to Clannad. I had plenty of good reasons to consider Refrain a waste of time and could justifiably give it a skip. Determining whether the issues were entirely their fault or if the source material just wasnвЂ™t that good was difficult, considering I had never played the visual novel. After having been so sorely disappointed by, would it really be worth my time to pick up the sequel? JC Staff botched the adaptation of Little Busters! in a fundamental way the direction, the pacing, the production values and anything else you could care to mention that wasnвЂ™t the music were all a bit crap. When Little Busters!: Refrain started airing, I was torn.

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