Little Busters! - Rin Natsume Route & Character Discussion (Spoilers for all pre-refrain routes!)

Key Discussion
#1

Rin Confession.jpg800×600 180 KB

Discussion topic for Rin’s route of Little Busters! Specifically Rin2. This topic assumes that you’ve read Rin2, meaning you’ve completed all of the vanilla heroine routes. Character discussion of Rin is also welcome. Her birthday is the 2nd of September.

Feel free to discuss any events that take place in her route, as well as references to any of the non-refrain non-ex routes without spoiler tags, but please mark references to everything else with [spoiler].

What would you rate this route?

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Little Busters! - General Discussion
#2

Rin sucks.

Jk I only said that to provoke bone :stuck_out_tongue:

Her route was interesting. I loved how she was bad end either and the independent part in Rin2 in the farm house was brilliant tbh.

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#3

I liked Rin. She was very likable and her shy moments were quirky. I liked how much she developed not only during the common route but also during the other character routes; during those routes, you could feel that she was becoming more mature and sociable compared to the beggining. I also loved the bond between her shared and the cats ( especially Miles )and her moments with Masato are hilarious.

As for character route, I liked how Rin’s route dealt with the consequences of running away from reality and it was pretty interesting in that both Rin1 and Rin2 had technically bad endings even if you made the correct decision.I love the farm house scenes, which contained some funny moments (the bath scene) and some deep emotional moments and what Kyousuke did to Rin (the cat missions and sending her to the Sister school) was understandable and I could sympathize with his actions.

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#4

I didn’t like Rin, but there are two things about her route that I found amazing.

1: The scenes with RING RING RING in the background.
2: The police raid.

#5

Rin is my second-favorite LB heroine after Haruka. Her theme is catchy as hell and as a part of the original Little Busters, her interactions with the group are priceless.

Her route is also one of my favorites. First off, I can never stop myself from going through Rin1 before any other. It just feels natural that Rin1 be the very first route I go through. While the tasks mostly just kinda happen, where this route shines is in its differences to Rin2.

So you go through all the character arcs and return to Rin’s route. This time, Rin is far more sociable, far more able to deal with the tasks herself. You’ve come so far, this time it will surely go well.

NO.

It doesn’t.

I honestly would have expected Rin to be able to master her final task. To see her breaking instead was really a shock for me. Following that, the CHEAP TRICKS scene is one of my all-time favorites in any visual novel. And while the whole running away together arc was a little lengthy, it was very moving, and a perfect prelude to Refrain. And when that New Game button turns into “Refrain”… god damn, I really felt like I did something that could not be reversed.

So yeah, I really like Rin’s route. Splitting it up into two parts was a really smart move, especially with the great ripple effects on the common route that come from completing Rin1. One of the good examples of why Little Busters works so well as a visual novel.

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#6

Guys, what if Kyousuke sat up Rin2 before the VN, but not in the way he wanted it to turn out? Think about it, all the Little Busters other than Riki contributes a strength to the team that we can plainly see. Masato has strength, Rin has force of will (that’ll one stormcrow please :wink: Kyousuke has inspiration, Kengo patience and perseverance. Riki has approachability??? So why Riki?


Well, I believe Kyousuke knew that his sister will have a hard time find the right person in life so he needed someone who was approachable and a counter to Rin’s headstrong-ness. So essentially he set Riki up with his sister from the beginning so she would have a chance at a more normal life instead of the confrontational person she … almost ended up as. In addition, Riki now has someone who can support him emotionally in life whenever he needs that support, Rin gets somebody that can offset her shyness and social deficits. Unfortunately with the accident happening before his plan matures, he puts it into overdrive to make sure they are ready without his guidance, but because he gets desperate he pushes Rin too hard thinking that her FoW was strong enough and in the end burning her out.

Why is the end important? Remember what Kengo said in the beginning of refrain? He said they’d make a nice couple. Now Kengo is not one to be making decisions so easily, he is more of the reinforcer, the kind of character that points out things that are there and regurgitates it in more thought provoking manner by using his calm demeanor. In addition Masato, also tries to pair the two together in refrain. However he does it through actions like distancing himself to let those two bond in a intimate way. Another thing I see is that Masato would not support any original ideas from Kengo. If we wanna go strictly from the VN we can see it during the scene where Kengo tries to force the roommates to play games with him and Masato trying to refuse for the most part. Those two would never come to the same conclusion unless there was a unifying force and that force can only be Kyousuke because by the time of refrain the other girls have mostly “left” the LB team.

This might sound like OTP, but I think there was though put into this mode of thinking. Why? The answer would lie in the mangas. While I didn’t finish it from what I read so far It looks like they are trying to set up a Rin after with back stories and a lot more interaction between the two. I haven’t caught up to the latest one so any input would be great.

#7

Rin’s route is amazing, but most of its meaning and effect comes with Refrain. I read Refrain immediately after Rin2, and I’m starting to feel really bad for those people who had to sit there after the mysterious end of Rin2 and couldn’t read Refrain because the patch wasn’t released yet. I mean, it just feels like, similar to Rin1, the ending wasn’t the ending.

I think the reason Rin’s route feels very weird, confusing, and out of place is because those were the feelings they wanted you to have; that is kinda how Riki felt. It is literally the embodiment of all my feelings leading up to Refrain. First Rin’s confession scene comes out of nowhere, which is exactly how Riki says he feels. I definitely liked Rin, but I wasn’t sure why, and it kinda give my a strange feeling. But that was only the beginning.

Then it starts to feel like everyone is turning on you, especially Kyousuke. Kyousuke, the guy you look up to most, your best friend, who is so amazing he seems like a god, wants to send Rin away. He stops anyone from talking to her. He stops you from going to comfort her. He is the one who set everything up with Lennon, which might not have seemed like such a bad thing before, but now it seems like he’s some calculating villain. It seems like he wants to split up all their friendships. What the hell is going on!?

And then Kengo appears. Kengo appears like a savior. I had never really liked Kengo before. I had never really understood him. But now I loved him. “I will protect you forever, Riki. If you run away, you can NEVER let go of Rin’s hand. If you want this to stop, you must defeat Kyousuke.” So even Kengo was against Kyousuke now.

And then the CHEAP TRICKS scene. A scene I had heard about, but didn’t know the context of, and didnt know when it was coming. And it was the weirdest thing yet. WHAT THE HELL DID KYOUSUKE JUST DO. The CG with Kyousuke in the rain. “Called game.” EVERYTHING HAS TURNED UPSIDE DOWN. WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!? (When you see the same scene again in Kengo’s episode of Refrain, this became one of my favorite scenes. Combining all the “what the hell is going on” from before, with all of Kengo’s anger, with all the realization of suddenly starting to understand everything that was happening the whole time with you knowing… it is crazy.)

Suddenly, something that would normally make no sense, running away, seemed like the only option. And the craziest part, the person we’re running away from the most is Kyousuke. At first it seems like everything is gonna be alright: there is plenty of money, there is a place to live, Riki is with the girl he loves the most, and while Rin doesn’t really understand what love is yet, Riki is the only one she really trusts.

But then everything slowly starts to fall into darkness. Where’s grandpa? Narcolepsy attacks. More mouths to feed. Running out of money. Grandpa’s not coming back. Police questioning. Everything. Is. Falling. Apart.

Darkness.

The very last scene, I had no idea what had just happened. I had no idea what they were talking about. “How many times have you been to Kyoto?” All I could do was sit there. Shocked. Watching as everything collapsed. As the credits started to roll. As I recognized the song.

Regret.

Once again, after I had experienced Refrain, that whole last scene: the darkness, letting go of Rin’s hand, sitting in the classroom, everyone talking about the fieldtrip, Regret playing; realizing everything that had gone wrong, feeling all the regret; it also became one of my favorite scenes.

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#8

I loved the route for all the same reasons, but unfortunately Rin wasn’t one of those reasons. Just like in Refrain, the stuff happening to everyone else was crucial and Rin was just… there.

The ending destroyed me. No tears, but… it felt absolutely horrible. What was more horrible? The darkness, the loneliness, the lack of trust between the Little Busters, or Rin’s quick… abandonment of Riki?

Nothing worked out for Riki in the end. He was destroyed by that which the world fears most… Cats.

#9

??? I’d like to know what you mean by that one. I do believe Riki felt it was he who abandoned Rin when his narcolepsy set in towards the end.

Overall I think this is one of the weakest routes as far as relationships go. The problem I feel is that Riki and Rin felt too much like an old married couple in a scripted comedy instead of something that feels more natural. I can understand Rin not being mature enough to handle a real relationship, but I do concur that the whole thing felt forced. It’s the reason I made my shipping theory earlier because there really isn’t a way to explain why those to would start dating in the first place. Unless you count supplement materials as canon (which I don’t), there just isn’t any chemistry between them to suggest they’d be good for each other. Even the way it begins felt very disjointed, that moment where Rin suggest they start dating was like a ball from left field for me.

#10

I agree that somehow Rin’s route was more about how what happened to Rin affected the rest of the Little Busters that Rin herself. But I’d argue that Refrain did it at least some.

I can see how you would probably think that all of Rin’s development/strength/sudden importance at the end of Refrain seems too sudden and rushed. I even agree to an extent. But the whole point was trying to strengthen a girl who was so weak, so shy, so helpless on her own. And it worked. The first ending of Refrain, the second version of Rin remembering all her friends in the Fake World, and even the scene with Rin, Riki, and the girls in the club room in the Epilogue are all evidence of this.

It wasn’t great. It was subtle. I wish there was a ton more, preferably before that.

I have a whole long thing about this, but I was going to post in the Refrain discussion since you guys were having that Rin/OTP argument over there.

#11

Do tell, but I have no OTP, I just like to play devil’s advocate ;p

#12

If you don’t get it, I’d suggest you re-read the scene at the end of Rin2 where the police comes knocking on the door.
The tragedy of Rin2 is almost entirely Rin’s fault and the scene shows why Rin utterly fails as a heroine.

#13

You don’t even have to re-read the scene really. The anime portrayed it well. Save time and just check that out.

#14

Heck no, the most important moment is missing (Unless they added it in the BD version). So you need to re-read it too, Takafumi.
The anime had portrayed Rin in a way better light than the VN did.

#15

But it’s Kyousuke’s fault

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#16

It’s about 10-20% Kyousuke’s fault for taking way too drastic measures. But the reason he had to take action in the first place was Rin’s inability to make any progress on her own. Even after running away, Rin still had a chance. And she screwed that one up royally.

#17

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#18

I hope that line is sarcasm, at least I’m not arguing that point. My problem with Rin is that the route felt like it didn’t have a proper built up like the other routes. Yes, I’m not too thrilled about Rin being too much like a kid, but that doesn’t mean I think she’s a bad character. I personally believe that it’s just poorly executed compared to the other ones. I mean Kud’s route was anti-climatic but at least the beginning felt well placed. Rin2 had a great ending but heck, the built up to it didn’t have as much romance in the plot and felt disjointed and out of focus compared to a traditional heroine route. Which makes the refrain scenario feel a little forced or tacked on.

#19

It was a joke, but a true joke.

Rin is not only a child at heart, but a child at mind. I’d be surprised if her theory-of-mind has developed beyond that of a 4 year old’s. It’s not essentially a bad thing… but I have a problem with it.

#20

First, no, its just about entirely Kyousuke’s fault. Kyousuke said himself that the world was broken. I am of the opinion, and Kengo and Kyousuke seem to agree, that Kyousuke is the one who broke it. Rin had no idea she was supposed to be making progress. She didn’t know what the point of the world was, or even the fact that it was a Fake World. Therefore you can’t really call it her fault. If she had known all that, would she have made the same decision? I can’t deny the possibility based on her clearly childlike mindset and lack of ability to read her circumstances at that point. Then you could call it her fault.

[quote=“I21j_I21j_Hunter, post:18, topic:474”]
felt disjointed and out of focus compared to a traditional heroine route.
[/quote]I feel like I said this somewhere already but maybe my wording was confusing: thats the whole point of the route. It feels disjointed and out of focus because that’s how Riki feels. And there’s a reason you have to read it last before Refrain. The world is breaking. Its like a lead up to the climax. Your not supposed to understand it because whats happening doesn’t get explained until Refrain.

[quote=“Takafumi, post:19, topic:474”]
Rin is not only a child at heart, but a child at mind. I’d be surprised if her theory-of-mind has developed beyond that of a 4 year old’s. It’s not essentially a bad thing… but I have a problem with it.
[/quote]First of all they made it obvious in Refrain that Rin had suffered some kind of truama as a child. They didn’t explain what it was at all, which was extremely disappointing and stupid, but it was still mentioned several times. Then there’s the fact that she has never been left alone in her life since then. Before the Little Busters, she was probably never away from Kyousuke Riki said the most she had been away from him in the past 10 years was 3 days, and when Kyousuke was gone she was with the other three boys. And literally all they did was play. So of course she’s not gonna understand love, or being social, or be able to be by herself. THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT OF THE STORY. Kyousuke, Kengo, and Masato’s regret is that they’re leaving Riki and Rin behind, and neither of them are strong enough to live without them. And you can see Rin getting stronger through the entire VN, as her lines change practically every time you go through. And then Kyousuke pushes to hard when she’s not ready, and instead of making her stronger, she becomes even more broken then before. And I agree wholeheartedly that her recovery in Refrain was very rushed. But it was made clear that she recovered because of Riki. And by the end of Refrain, she is strong, and she does understand. Definitely not to the extent that rest of the characters do, but thats just who she is.

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