Before I started reading Little Busters, I would often talk shit about Riki. I mean… Look at him. He’s scrawny, timid, and has a girly voice. Surely he can’t be a God Tier Key Protagonist like my man Tomoya Okazaki, right?
Well, Riki is actually a pretty cool dude. He’s not as strong as the others, at least not initially. But we see him sort of “grow up” a bit in the common route and in the only route I’ve finished so far, Mio’s route. (More on that later.)
Initially, I thought Riki should barely even be considered a character. He was a shy observer, and Kyousuke seemed to be the real protagonist. Kyousuke brought everybody together and he is the leader of the Little Busters. Riki Naoe never led anything in his life. Nobody gravitates towards Riki as they do the other Key protagonists.
Riki begins to grow out of his shell a bit thanks to his task of gathering members for the baseball team. He says something along the lines of “Wouldn’t Kyousuke do a better job?” (can’t remember the exact words) The newcomers to the Little Busters form a figurative circle around Riki, same as the old Little Busters gathered around Kyousuke.
There’s one particular point where Kyousuke really pushes Riki forward, which is where he has to be the captain and choose the batting order for the game. I had a screenshot, but I can’t seem to find it (edit: Magus put it in his post). Basically, this is where Riki decides “Alright, I’m gonna step up.” I consider this to be the climax of the common route, at least in terms of Riki’s development. Common route didn’t turn Riki into another Okazaki whose body is one big callus, but Riki developed an identity of his own and became a protagonist rather than a cameraman.
