Discussion of Riki Naoe’s character in Little Busters!. Spoilers are permitted, but consider tagging lategame events with the [spoiler] tag as a courtesy to other members. If it turns out that spoiler tags are being used on every post, I’ll consider lifting this restriction.
His birthday is the 17th of January.
Let me take a minute to talk about goddamn Riki Naoe.
As far as Key protagonists go, Riki cops a lot of flack. Compared to just about every other Key protag who’s a tall, well-built guy with heaps of sarcasm to go around, Riki is comparatively puny, weak, shy and often sincere (though he DOES have a darker side, which I’ve dabbled on a bit in my common route reflections). So when people think of him, they often look down on him, criticising how he sounds and acts like a girl, and coming down on his weakness. But you know what? In my opinion, Riki shows more development as a character than any other Key character (except maybe Kotarou). And that development makes him strong in my eyes. He’s looked down upon form the world as the weak one that needs protection. And in the beginning, they’d be right. But after overcoming repeated trials he becomes stronger, physically AND emotionally, than any of the Little Busters. Refrain is all about how Riki manages to surpass Masato’s strength, Kengo’s skill and Kyousuke’s wits to truly become the successor of Kyousuke’s legacy as the leader of the Little Busters. In the end he surpasses everyone’s expectations and becomes a young man that everyone genuinely admires, accomplishing the unthinkable and saving everyone. I think of him as a family member who I’ve watched grow from someone small and insignificant into my own personal hero. He’s really an amazing guy.
TAKING ALL THAT INTO CONSIDERATION, I hate how the only aspect of Riki that seems to be acknowledged in the fandom is when he’s put into a girl’s uniform. Poor form guys. Riki deserves better.
I think it’s unfair that a boy can look cuter than girls.
But the officials really want to make him into possible trap, so too bad for Riki blessed with his cute babyface.
Riki is easily my least favorite of the male Little Busters, but his character growth really is one of the best executed in all Key games. While I do think Kotarou had overall better character development, “growth” perfectly describes Riki’s, and they nailed that hard.
Trap!Riki x Kyousuke anyone?
I struggle to understand this idea that Kotarou had better character development. Riki worked in a nice continuous growth pattern, whereas Kotarou only developed via time skips.That is at least, from what I remember of the two.
No.
Happy birthday, Riki! Be always strong!
That’s a passionate manly opening to a post I can really get behind.
I don’t really care to interact with such people.
They’re either a shallow minded fool I care not for, or looking for their self insert and want someone cool to make them feel better, which I REALLY care not for.
Riki is a character of worth far beyond those girls everyone loves.
Also he looks fucking great in a skirt so kawaii wow.
I completely agree. I feel that Riki underwent the most development out of any Key protagonist, maybe even more than Tomoya. And for all the talk that he is a weak character, I would like to ask these questions: Is saving Mio from her own self destruction and not forgetting her considered weak? Is doing a job to provide comfort for Rin despite suffering from Narcolepsy considered weak? Is all the things that he did in Refrain (reforming the group despite various obstacles facing him) considered weak? . The answer is no, it’s not. Despite the hurdles, he had willpower and wasn’t willing to give up ( unless you choose “Give Up” but that’s a different story ). And yes, he was not the strongest person in the beggining but the fact that he underwent a lot of obstacles and for the most part didn’t let anything get in his way says something. Not to mention every Key Protagonist (as far as I know) had a weakness; they weren’t perfect.
Rant aside, I also liked Riki as a character. I found him to be likable, friendly and he was the reasonable one of the group (aside from maybe Kengo). Plus I liked the bond that he shared with the rest of the Little Busters, especially Rin and Kyousuke. So overall, I really like Riki.
His voice is annoying and his character design is meh. And thats pretty much where the criticisms end. Because his story was incredible. And hearing his thoughts makes him an extremely likable character. So I’m really glad Riki was the protagonist of Little Busters!.
One of my favorite parts of Little Busters! is the purpose of the whole story. Like, I’ve sat around several times wondering if Key and Maeda started out writing the VN with the goal of Refrain in mind, or if it started out as just being about a group of friends called the Little Busters.
I mean, because literally the whole story is really about Riki getting stronger. (This fanart (Refrain spoilers) describes it perfectly for me.) Which is really what ends up making him relatable for me. He starts out as a good(likable) character anyway. Someone who was saved, who has an amazing group of friends, but who is still scared, whose fear is embodied in his disease. He really is weak, and weakness is not a quality people want to relate to. But his growth is really just flabbergasting. Similar to Rin, the way you slowly see him gaining self-confidence really uses the mechanics of a visual novel to the fullest.
And in the end, I realized I actually related to him the whole time. I am weak. We all are.
“We were all born alone.”
He even says. But none of us should ever stay alone (Fuck yeah, Mio’s route). And even when our friends have lost something dear to them (Komari’s route), or they feel like nobody loves them, even their own family (Haruka’s route), or when they are thousands of miles away (Kud’s route), or they couldn’t even understand friendship and feelings (Yuiko’s route), or they are just as weak as us, and we are are the only one who can protect them (Rin’s route) we have to be there to support them too. We make our friends stronger, and they give us strength. Even when it feels like everyone is against us, there will always be someone who still supports us (I love you Kengo). Even if the best thing they can do for you is just act fun as usual, as if nothing ever happened, and give you the utmost respect as a friend (I love you Masato). Even if they know that this is the end for them, even if they know only thing they can do is help you grow, even if the only thing can make it fun, and even when they think they’ve screwed it all up (NO, I love you more Kyouskue).
Therfore, Riki became strong. Therefore, we all can become strong.
Therfore the Little Busters are eternal.
Admittedly, Riki doesn’t make a strong impression at first and he won’t strike you as an interesting protagonist early on. He’s not returning into a town for the first time in 7 years while lacking memories of that place, he’s not a mysterious traveler, not a gun-wielding scavenger in a world that rejects life, not a delinquent and he’s got no superpowers, either.
He’s an ordinary boy in an ordinary school where he and his friends make the most of their ordinary everyday life. The only irregularities in his concept are dead parents and a sleep disorder.
Yes, his concept, at first glance, doesn’t seem interesting. But that’s ok. Because ordinary means peaceful.
Riki is a protagonist who’s good at whatever he’s currently needed for.
As long as his life is ordinary, he doesn’t need to stand out. He only needs to be able to have the most fun and be happy.
Recruit members for a team? No problem. Riki can approach just about anyone naturally and he’s got zero enemies. He’s nice and always ready to help. He won’t tease people for the fun of it - his comedy routine is retorting, not attacking.
Even when things get serious and someone close to him is in real trouble, Riki will demonstrate incredible dedication and willpower. He will stand his ground and do everything he can in order to support and save his loved ones. Sometimes he’ll fail due to lack of strength, only to come back stronger and face the challenge again.
He’s not strong and capable from the get-go, but his mentality allows him to grow stronger over time.
The same is true for his concept: It’s not unique and interesting at first, but it becomes amazing later on.
And hey, he’s good at talking to girls. That’s an awesome skill. He’s not the handsome senpai type, but he can win over most girls naturally.
That’s a side-effect of being feminine~ Is being feminine a skill? o.o
Being good at social interaction is definitely a skill. Riki is also perfectly hetero, so there’s the hurdle of talking to the opposite sex, which he skillfully overcomes. Being feminine may give him an advantage, but it’s not doing all the work for him.
Forget feminine, Rin is an actual girl. And look how good she is at talking to girls -_-
Riki is a very strong contender for my favorite Key protagonist, and currently is.
I’ll never have a favorite, probably, but mother of Maeda I love this character. He’s absurdly well written and Rin 2 and Refrain blew my mind with how much I grew to appreciate what an excellent MC he is and how he breaks the typical MC mold. He’s undeniably valuable to the story of LB! and integral to what makes it such a great VN without fail.
I would like to talk about this point made in another topic:
Did they ever really explain what exactly triggered Riki’s narcolepsy? I didn’t seem to quite get that, and if they did, then this is just me asking a simple question 
We know it started when he had the car accident with his parents. So it is obvious to think that he falls asleep whenever something bad/sad happens. But this theory gets negated because he randomly falls asleep when something good happens either. I can’t remember if it gets a clear explanation somewhere
Yeah. It’s not very scientific, but the idea is that he developed narcolepsy as a defense mechanism against traumatic events that he can’t face. Only problem is that as a result, he has narcolepsy, so it can and will kick in at completely random times. But what’s important is how his narcolepsy symbolises his fear of loss. After confronting that and overcoming it, he was able to be born into a new world where he wasn’t afraid anymore, and therefore his narcolepsy was gone.
Until he realized at the end that his nightmares were of his parents lying dead in front of him,
I had always thought that his nightmares/narcolepsy had to do with “the secret of the world”. Because they very first line after the OP plays is him talking about having a dream, it seemed to me like the OP was supposed to be his dream. And with all the foreshadowing in the OP, and taking to account the events of Refrain, this actually would have made a ton of sense if they hadnt come out and directly explained it.
Yeah. It’s a bit of a red herring for the secret of the world
