Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Blistering performances.

Wow, let me just say this, I am shocked by the amount of work that was put into the animation of this anime but the lack of intelligence of the argument...If you want to slowly die of boredom this is the perfect anime, during 13 episodes of pure nonsense I guarantee best results.With a story that COULD have been good if the producers didn't sub-estimate the overall IQ of their spectators ( or maybe they didn't and we are all dumb after all) they managed to ruin my day, thanks for that by the way. (SPOILERS START HERE) So the story is about a couple of children (god knows how old they are, yes because in 13 episodes all you know is there is a class 2 and a class 3 but no ages are mentioned) that are best friends for ever over 13 episodes of gayness, fillers and more fillers, a guy stroking another's guys face, a couple of children who "need to behave as a couple" (even though they look like 10 years old and have no idea what being a couple means) and they urgently need to " grow up and get strong".This argument, is repeated so many $#%$#%#$ times " grow up, be strong, behave as a couple" that not only it becomes annoying but morally itches on my back.Why not let children be children? Thank god they didn't start having sex all over the baseball yard although they managed to put them BATHING together in the same bath tub in some shrine in the #"$"#$ mountains.But the BEST argument of all, which really makes you LOVE this anime is the sentence " Life is made of losing", like if having ALL YOUR FRIENDS DEAD IN A BUS ACCIDENT wasn't enough you get to hear this crap only to find out that this was just a JOKE because in the end (after surviving a gas explosion aha...too good) the retarded brat and his dumb girlfriend manage to save them all ( yes, they manage to save a bunch of people that are losing liters of blood and manage to carry all of them away from the gas / explosion) even though they are only children, I bet they must have Hercules as their father.Another sentence you will adore is when Rin talks one supposed "last time" to her best friend, Blondy, and after all her friends are DEAD Blondy then says " Don't be such a cry baby" yes, because a "10 year old kid" just lost ALL her friends in a bloody accident, I mean WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU WANT TO CRY RIGHT? This argument meanwhile goes completely against her OWN PURPOSE because she returned to the " created dream world " precisely to HELP Rin and her boyfriend not to sink into depression after they return to the real world where the accident happened....What the Duck.Now check this last precious one out, the red haired leader guy ( and no I did not botter to register his name because it was too boring, sorry) is in a coma so BADLY that he moved to another hospital and NO ONE is allowed to see him (wow sounds harsh right?) BUT WAIT, a few episodes later HE COMES TRHOUGH THE SCHOOLS WINDOW LIKE SPIDER MAN MAKING A FLIP IN THE AIR AND GREETING HIS FAG FRIENDS!And if THAT super power wasn't enough, now after the come he also knows how to drive a "$"#$" car.Congratulations, IF you ever want to participate in gaining a price for dumbest execution of an argument, I admire your dedication, really.Now why did I give the anime 2 stars and not 1? If we ignore all those "little details" the anime still has a very nice soundtrack and animation, to be fair, the soundtrack was my fav. part of those 13 episodes, I even put it on repeat because well...I was getting used to the "repeating" thing I guess.My fav. character, miss piano at the start just made a short appearance, too bad because she was the only one who made me watch the anime, THAT and the fact I was expecting maybe a plot twist that could save how bad this anime is something like Rin and fag-boy save their beloved friends and end up dead themselves or...Maybe they could have locked them in their own dream world once again and it would always stay in that cycle for ever....and ever...and ever.... (then again PLEASE NO MORE 5 EPISODES OF JUNE 20TH PLEASE I BEG YOU).I never write reviews, but I think this is so priceless I needed to, sorry if I offend any of the very happy lovey dovey fans here but if you got brains...this #$"#$ is not for you, watch 13 episodes of Elfen Lied instead and come back with a depressive YET satisfied soul.

(There are no spoilers in this review)So, Little Busters. It's a visual novel adaptation that fans have been demanding for many a year now. Long regarded as one of visual novel developer Key's finest works, and seeing as how most of their other works have received adaptations, it was a foregone conclusion that it would be animated some day. That day has come, and boy, was it ever a disappointment for some of the fans. Being as how Key has yet to disappoint me, I set off into Little Busters with reasonably high expectations.And you know what, I enjoyed it. Little Busters may not have lived up to the mountains of hype, but it's still a good way to spend twenty-six episodes.If you've seen any of Key's previous shows, you know the drill: You have your male main character who is surrounded by various quirky individuals, all of whom have their own problems the protagonist must help fix. Along the way, he will undergo some kind of personal growth himself and may even fall in love. The main way in which Little Busters differs from the usual Key formula is that there are noticeably more male characters in the cast to help balance out all the sickeningly sweet girls we meet along the journey.The cast is a ton of fun once you get to know them, but the main problem that Little Busters slams up against is that our protagonist Riki just isn't that interesting of a guy. He's a nondescript nice guy who acts as a foil for the insanity of the rest of the cast, nothing more and nothing less. He lacks the biting wit or interesting qualities of previous Key protagonists and the show suffers as a result. We're never given much of a reason to care about him, as his only real purpose on the show is to run around fixing other people's problems. By "problems", I mean that everyone in this story has some kind of ridiculously tragic past that they must overcome. Tears are shed by the bucket, melancholy music is played, and many a heart-rending speech is delivered. And that's not a bad thing. If you're watching a Key adaption, chances are that you love this kind of exaggerated drama that Key has become famous for.If you want a show to tug on your emotions, Little Busters is more than capable, but it does rank by far as the worst Key adaptation yet. It's got Jun Maeda's signature style of drama stamped all over the story, but it rarely reaches the emotional heights and lows seen in his previous works. Certain parts of the various tragedies contained in the series are hilariously illogical, even by melodrama standards, and some of the drama feels strangely hollow. The quality of the drama is enough to keep you watching, but it isn't exactly what I would call heartbreaking.When Little Busters isn't hammering its way through character arcs, we are treated to episodes centered on comedy or light drama. Your mileage will vary with the humor in Little Busters—certain jokes are repeated until they utterly lose all meaning—but I found myself laughing quite a bit throughout the series. Just watching the characters goof around with each other makes for some fantastic entertainment. I was surprised to find myself enjoying some of the in-between episodes just as much as I did the character arcs.Beyond the character arcs, there's an overarching mystery throughout the series, but it isn't the focus by any means. It becomes deliciously intriguing in the last few episodes, but it will sadly remain unresolved until the sequel series is released. Speaking of the sequel, I sincerely hope the producers at J.C. Staff steps up their game in the animation department.Let's just be blunt, the animation isn't all that great. Lower your expectations at the door, this isn't Kyo-Ani or anything close to it. There's a worrying lack of detail in many of the drawings, character motion is often stiff, and then there's the occasional goof in the animation to laugh at. I'd peg the overall animation quality at slightly below average compared to other modern anime. It's not bad enough to distract you, but it's not going to sweep you off your feet like the Kyo-Ani adaptations.All in all, this is a good series, even if it doesn't live up to the lofty Key standards. You won't be on your knees in front of your monitor sobbing your eyes out, but there are plenty of emotional moments, and there's even some great comedy to break things up. The series has its share of problems, most notably the bland protagonist and the weak animation quality, but there's a lot to love here too. It's not representative of Key or Jun Maeda at their finest, but Little Busters is a great way to scratch your itch for melodrama if you've already exhausted Key's other adaptations.

This show doesn't quite measure up next to titles like Angel Beats! and Clannad. It was fairly enjoyable, but in terms of writing and animation, it was just slightly above average. The animation had it's moments but while the trees and mountains in the background looked gorgeous, some other simple things like grass and walk cycles felt neglected. The writing was pretty average, but it felt like it focused too much on the theme and cramming as many optimistic and important messages into our heads that the actual story lost focus and felt a little too far fetched at times.The character design and the characters themselves were some of my favorites, and it was a blast to watch them interact, with just a few notable exceptions like Kurugaya (one of the worst Mary Sues I've ever seen in any anime).I do understand, however, a lot of the flaws in the story really aren't flaws. Instead they are dependent on the story of the second season, Little Busters Refrain, which isn't out yet. I have high hopes for season 2, and if it meets my expectations, I'll be able to ignore a lot of season 1's problems. I'd recommend it if you're a fan of the genre. Otherwise, wait and see how the second season turns out.