In Komari’s route, Riki spots Kengo when he’s at the graveyard visiting Takuya’s(?) grave. There’s not many people I could imagine whose grave he could be visiting. That and it makes Kengo’s overreaction in the cheap tricks scene make more sense.
5 Likes
Umu. Rather than directly stated, it’s heavily implied that Koshiki died in the real world.
3 Likes
I still think it would have been better if it was directly stated, but this is just my personal opinion. Key leaves a lot of questions just “implied” in their works with no direct answer and I admire that, but I think there are questions that really deserve a direct answer.
1 Like
Why does it deserve an answer, though? It’s not related to the main point of Little Busters, rather, it’s about Kengo’s own story and regrets. Having to directly state it, I feel, would be disrespectful to Kengo.
3 Likes
Disrespectful? I don’t get what you mean. How can it be disrespectful?
Kengo’s story and regrets are part of Little Busters. I don’t think it’s a necessary thing for Refrain, I just simply think it would add more about Kengo’s character and more in-depth about him. Refrain was really good, but I think it should’ve been longer.
Not only Kengo’s story, but also Komari/Rin relationship could’ve been more explored (but actually, this doesn’t apply to Refrain, but to other parts of the story). Also, we got a lot of each heroine in their routes, but there was little about them in Refrain (I mean, since the routes are in the dream world, we only get something superficial about the reality of the girls).
I am going to repeat: Refrain was perfectly fine without those things, I just think I could’ve been better.
It’s implied that they have left the world (actually shown in the anime).
1 Like
Think about it for a minute. If they stated, literally, that “Miyuki is already dead”, then where would they do it? Would Kyousuke state it to Kengo during Refrain? That would be hella disrespectful to Kengo. Would Kengo state it to Riki? That would also be disrespectful, as it forces Kengo to bring up these memories that he should be getting over. Kengo’s story in Refrain was about his alienation from friends as a child, and how the Little Busters became instrumental to his youth. Miyuki was a side-story from this, and, if mentioned, only serves as a way to make Kengo seem like a weaker character, which we didn’t need at the time of Refrain.
2 Likes
Riki could just have mentioned it in the real world, like without saying, just telling the readers.
It could’ve been added that Kyousuke and the others helped Kengo dealing with her death. I know she would be useless in Refrain since she had nothing to do with this. But who decided that she had nothing to do with it? The writers. The same guys who could’ve made her useful in Refrain.
That would be extremely out-of-place. The events during the real world are supposed to be happy, and adding unnecessary drama (since that topic is already over-and-done with) would harm the overall feel of the epilogue.
[quote=“sillylittlemelody, post:27, topic:286”]
It could’ve been added that Kyousuke and the others helped Kengo dealing with her death.[/quote]
But did they, really? It seemed to me that it was only Kengo’s burden and part of Kengo’s character is that he kept the burden to himself and himself alone. m
But, like I said, I think that having that become a major point in his story would alter Kengo’s personality as a whole. Kengo was very attached to Miyuki, and having her become part of Kengo’s story in Refrain would have caused Kengo to seem like a more dependent person. His story was about how the Little Busters changed his life, and having him introduce his other problems to the Little Busters would make Kengo feel like a different person altogether.
1 Like
I agree that it would feel out of place. My mistake. I don’t know how, but the writers are the ones who wrote it, obviously. So, if they had planned to add this information since the beginning it wouldn’t feel out of place.
Nope. They didn’t. But like I said, it could have been different. If it was planned to be different, it would be different. I know this could also change some other stuff, but it all depends on planning.
The Little Busters were Kengo’s friends. If they didn’t help Kengo when he needed, then they couldn’t be called that. And I don’t think he would feel like a more dependent person, depending of the way his friends helped him. If they had helped Kengo through this, they would’ve been making Kengo a stronger person, leading to the person he is when grown up.
What I mean is that Maeda could’ve used more what he created. It is not necessary, and it felt good without it, but if he had established even more links inside the story, it would’ve felt better.
Damn it man Refrain is the story of the Little Busters and their relationship, focusing Kengo’s part on some other girl is would be completely out of left field and un fitting with the route.
5 Likes
It would. Okay, I can agree. But it COULD HAVE BEEN different if the writers had planned it differently.
See, this is the part where I disagree. I’m trying to say why it wouldn’t have felt better because it would either have been out-of-place or not true to Kengo’s character. Yes, the Little Busters are Kengo’s friends, but Kengo is the kind of person that likes to deal with his problems by himself. It’s that kind of stubbornness that makes Kengo, well, Kengo. As @Kanon said, Refrain is all about the Little Busters, and if they included Kengo’s pain about Miyuki, I don’t think it would have been better.
1 Like
Okay, but this is just our opinions. The thing is, I like when the story adds a lot of functions to each character, like, making almost everything a plot point. When a lot of stuff is coincidentally linked to each other in the story. When I say those things about Miyuki, it’s just my desire that she had more links to the story than she had. The same thing about other stuff in Refrain.
Personally I feel like Koshiki’s involvement in the story adds a lot of reality to Little Busters. Not every loose end can be tied up neatly. Everyone has problems, and not all of these can be solved by the MC. Riki may have tried to console her that one time, but we quickly realise that it wasn’t his mission. It was Kengo’s burden alone. Watching Kengo silently shoulder the burden of Koshiki’s death without ever turning to the others for help is REALLY powerful and gives a lot of insight into his character. The way it’s only subtly touched on is very tasteful, and I wouldn’t have written it any other way. Do you get yourself involved with the deepest problems all of your friends face even if they don’t want you to? The same kind of thing applies here. It’s not what Kengo would’ve wanted.
And don’t forget. The one time Kyousuke drags Koshiki into the situation, how does Kengo react?
7 Likes
But we didn’t see Kengo dealing with her death, did we?
I have no clue about this stuff, because I’m a loner.
I know, but the one thing I think it is absolutely correct not to answer directly is the supernatural stuff. We know that happened, but the story don’t answer us exactly how. I praise Key for this, it’s much better to try ourselves to use hints of the story to understand those things, after all if the story got too much into it, it would change the whole genre of the story.
I just don’t like the idea of doing those things with the characters. In my opinion characters have to be used and explored to their deepest. Maybe this wouldn’t work for Koshiki, but the writers could have planned it so that it would work.
Ahh good ol’ Kengo, seemingly forgotten now that all the other topics have been bumped. But I ain’t forgetting about you bud! 
For the longest time, I’ve had a hard time figuring out what exactly it is that makes Kengo tick. What were his regrets, what made him get over it, and why did he finally decide to join the newly found Little Busters, led by Riki?
I guess I forgot one thing: Kengo is a lot simpler than we think. And i fell down the same trap that made Riki have a hard time getting Kengo to join. His regrets were simple: he regretted spending most of his life practicing on Kendo, and failed to enjoy life like a person his age should. Miyuki Koshiki made him realize this, when she attempted suicide because of losing her will to live after she could no longer do what she dedicated her life to. She, like Kengo, did not spend enough time enjoying life.
So, after he dons the Little Busters jacket, he resolves to spend his time in the dream world solely to achieve his regrets and have fun. After Rin2 happens, he gets scared; he gets scared that he would no longer be able to enjoy if Riki and/or Kyousuke continue to use this dream world to achieve their goals. This is because he knows that if they fail again, they’d all end up past the point of saving. Which is why he won’t play baseball and he won’t reform the Little Busters, because he is afraid Rin2 might happen again.
So what gets him to change his mind, at the end? This is probably the one that has baffled me the most. But the fact of the matter is, he lost the baseball game, and at the hands of not just Riki, but Rin as well. This made him realize two things:
- No amount of fun he had in this dream world could justify his hard work. His loss meant that no amount of fun he had in this world would overwrite all his hard work in being a perfect winner, thus forcing him to let go
- Rin and Riki have become way stronger than he thought, and they proved that they won’t let Rin2 happen again.
And thus is the simple mind of a great man, the way I see it
8 Likes
If we had a “Which Key character do you identify with?” discussion, I would choose Kengo. I’m often told that I’m pretty strict, serious, averse to childish behavior and also a “party pooper”. But I do join the fray and do silly stuff with my friends when the mood is right.
Of course, I don’t train my body and mind like Kengo does. I don’t have a definite goal in life, something I’m ready to dedicate all of myself to.
I didn’t have the same teenage life as those around me. Not because I was pursuing an important goal. It was simply because I was alone a lot of the time. I only got a taste of what it’s like to enjoy youth three years before graduation.
What makes me relate to Kengo the most is my fear of toiling and suffering pointlessly. I try to use as much of my free time to do things I enjoy. I hate studying and working. It takes away precious time. Studying is something I have the least discipline in. So when I do spend time with those, I don’t want it to be for naught. I didn’t want to end up like the characters of Angel Beats. I want my efforts to bear fruit. To be certain that the times when I did not have fun were still worth it. I don’t want to dedicate several years of my life to something I don’t like that wouldn’t pay out in the end. But life is unpredictable. And something like that did actually happen. Therefore, I always try to do something fun, even if it’s counterproductive, so that even if it all fails, I can still say it wasn’t entirely for naught. That even then, I still had something to enjoy. If possible, I just want to play around all the time. And that’s why, no matter how serious and mature I act, I’m the most childish of them all.
2 Likes
I love Kengo’s internal struggle. All he wants is for his friends to be happy, but he can’t truly allow his friends their unbridled happiness unless he can let go of the happiness within the World. I love that I can see Kengo’s actions throughout Refrain to be flawed, but I can understand completely why he would want to shelter his friends, especially after the events of Rin2. I didn’t really appreciate this character fully until Refrain, I think, but I just want to say that now I understand his character arc from the beginning of the dream world (where he doesn’t really buy into the whole wish thing) to Kyousuke’s nudging to accept the nature of the world, to his final breakdown when the world is about to break apart and he admits to everyone that his friendship with the Little Busters was worth more than anything else, even in fear of death he holds onto this feeling.
I kinda love this man. #bestboi
4 Likes
He’s such an innocent boi who’s just never had the opportunity to let himself enjoy life with his friends and his entire life is about trying his best to learn just how precious it is to do that until it’s too late…
3 Likes
