A lot of talk has been had about the “It’s enough” vs the “it’s not enough” choice and much of it has boiled down to whether or not it would have been better for the rest of the cast to be saved, or if Riki and Rin should have learned to accept their passing after the accident.
If I may, I’d like to explore this from a different angle.
By the time Riki and Rin were left in that hypothetical hospital bed, one thing is for sure. At that point, Riki has grown immensely. He was able to bring back the Little Busters, and has improved to the point of becoming like Kyousuke. I don’t doubt for any second that, at that point in time, Riki would be strong enough to accept their death and move on. He would be able to live life without the Little Busters and help lead and protect Rin after all that.
But what about Rin?
Would she be able to accept their death?
Would she be able to continue living life, knowing that her brother and her friends are gone?
Considering her reaction to Masato and Kengo disappearing during the baseball game was complete obliviousness, I would wager that, no, she would not. What would happen, if you claimed it to be enough, is that Rin would tag along Riki her entire life, the same way she tagged along behing Kyousuke in her early life. She would be completely dependent on him, totally incapable of becoming an independent human being, perhaps remaining that way until the end of her life.
And, I have to ask you: Is that enough? Is it enough to leave Rin like that? Is it enough to leave everything that Kyousuke hoped for unfinished?
Whether or not you believe that, I won’t judge you. But from me, that is a resounding “No, it’s not enough”.
Immediately after you decide that “It’s not enough” we are brought to Episode: Rin. And one thing I’ve learned during my re-read of this story is that episode Rin is extremely important to her growth.
So, in summary, the angle I’d like to present here is that the “It’s not enough” choice isn’t to save the rest of the Little Busters; It’s to invoke Episode: Rin. And a huge argument can be made that Episode: Rin is at least half of what contributes to saving the Little Busters to begin with. (the other half being Riki’s narcolepsy issue)
