The way I read your thoughts (and I totally agree with this) is that we just want an Aya after. Essentially we want a VN version of what we saw in the end credits scene 
Such is the irony of this route. It leads you on, and makes you want this reality so so much, but it never gives you that. It shoves in your face that it’ll never happen and can never happen. It’s pretty much a punch in the gut by Maeda, and I have no idea what he was thinking at the time 
Hm, maybe? I mean, my thoughts are a bit more “Aya should have just been a more normal character route instead of doubling down on the gimmick”, since a) I’m in the camp that doesn’t think she’s getting saved and b) I’d still just rather see more of the base Little Busters, but yeah I do think Aya deserved a more “daily life” route and I can definitely see where an after game would do wonders for her.
Also, wow, I only just realized that I somehow completely bypassed the time machine conversation in my reaction. Like, holy crap, Saya’s line about wanting to visit her past is suuuuper relatable (even if it’s maybe a little counter to the story’s theme of enjoying these days but moving forward), and I have no idea how I didn’t mention it. (Honestly, that’s probably a big part of why my first thought when I saw the last scene was her consciousness looping, since it seemed like a decent enough bittersweet to grant her her past despite stealing her future.)
The missing CG’s are in fact from baka Riki.
Oops, my bad I don’t have that one either 
Someone will come around who knows what it is…
@Nguy_n_Minh_Long
That CG is from the bath room on (I believe) B4F. IIRC, You have to choose ‘investigate outside the room’ and find the sign saying ‘mixed bath’. Riki will then take a bath with Saya and you will get the CG.
This route is interesting, but way too ambitious. I appreciate the premise of another existence hacking into Kyousuke’s world, and I think it managed it well enough for most of the route, but the ending seemed to give up the ghost, as others have argued above. The character of Saya was fun and well-written, but the gameplay segments eventually began to drag, even with the comic dialogue breaking them up. Despite its length, it seemed underwritten given all the divergent elements that were introduced.
What makes this route interesting is that way it exposes the skeleton of the visual novel. Like the player, Saya is an interloper in the world of Little Busters! who is able to influence Riki’s choices. Little Busters! overall has this meta-visual novel quality—a world of infinite and concurrently occurring possibilities—but by introducing another ‘player’ like Saya, Maeda can really play with the game-like plasticity of Kyousuke’s world. Also like the player, Saya meets multiple bad ends on her way through the route. If LB can be interpreted as a meta-commentary on visual novels, then Saya’s route is almost like a meta-meta-commentary.
At the same time, many of these ideas were not necessarily new by the time the player arrives at Saya’s route, so it’s not something the route can hang its hat on. What you see in her route is more an interesting extension of the conceptual basis for Little Busters! than something totally different. For that reason, the route’s flaws end up coming to light. The romance was sweet but I can empathise with those who feel it was underwritten at times; I couldn’t connect strongly to the drama. The ending was confusing and gave little closure. The gameplay became a chore after some time; although it was lightened by the Ecstasy mode gimmick at the end.
Overall, a good but not great route. Saya is a lively enough character to bring it to life even in its slow moments. I prefer it to Sasami’s, but Kanata’s remains my favourite EX route.
Thanks for your help a lot ^^ !
I still have yet to finish this route LOL. I had watched the anime few years back. I was waiting to have it fresh in mine for when the podcast rolled around, but I do know I have lots to say about this route. I do have to say so far, I’ve really enjoyed these two routes, over Kanata’s.
[Warning: If you haven’t finished Saya’s route, or watched the EX anime adaptation and Angel Beats!, this comment might give you wrong ideas or might feel spoiler-ish. Reader discretion is advised]
Ever since I finished Saya’s route, I couldn’t help but connect it with the setting of Angel Beats! in my mind. I’m having crossover-ish visions that expan both of the stories like crazy. Like, all of the Key universes are actually virtual worlds maintained in big mainframes, and are connected via a big terminal central called God Complex and everyone is a digital entity. I’m even trying to write those thoughts into a story lol.
Then, I’ve recently stumbled upon a song on Spotify and I associate it with Saya’s story and my thoughts in general so much, so I wanted to share it with you guys:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHSbLy6XufI
I’d Like to get right into discussing this route, all of its time-bending confusion, the sugary-sweet romance, the over-the top comedy and the mystery of its ending.
But there’s something even more important I have to get off my chest first.
taking a deep breath…
FUCK YOU, AYA’s DAD! FUCK YOU A THOUSAND TIMES OVER!!! YOU GODDAMN IRRESPONSIBLE MORON! It’s your duty to take care of your own child first and foremost!
Why drag your own flesh and blood into wars and suffering all over the world? If you really can’t stay put and do your most important job, at least leave her with friends or relatives back in Japan or something! Why pointlessly risk her life and rob her of her youth like that?! Pretty much anything would be better than the shit you’re putting her through!
She died having NOTHING worth remembering - except for that one boy who played with her for a while! Just cause you had to go pursue your grand, heroic goal! Doesn’t matter how many lives you save - if you mess up your child’s life for no good reason, you’re a failure as a grown up.
Fuck shitty parents.
Please excuse me for getting emotional for a bit…
Why is there so much shitty parenting in Key games? flashbacks to CLANNAD Side Stories
Well at least a lot of Key stories have parents…
Now I wanna talk about Riki’s relationships in Saya’s route. Of course, the most important one is his relationship with Saya, but it’s also worth taking a look at his relationship with everyone else, since it’s so much different in this route compared to all the others, which I intend to explore in my next post. But first off…
Relationship with Saya - the romance
You could call it a love at first sight. Riki has been captivated by Saya’s beauty from the first encounter on and his admiration of her kept growing by the day. Captivated by her beauty, then mesmerized by her coolness and skill and finally charmed by her clumsy and pure, therefore much more approachable personality.
The romance in this route is the kind of sugary-sweet, innocent and pure love that makes you think of nothing but your love interest and view everything through rose-colored glasses.
At first, Saya was a cool spy with all those amazing skills that made her look invincible. At the same time, Riki thought what it would be like if she was a normal girl doing normal things, so he could spend time normally with her - but then he would have no chance with someone as beautiful as her. So, was their life-and-death struggle something good after all? “I was no longer sure how to feel about our relationship”. How sweet.
The cafeteria contests between Riki and Saya describe their dynamic really well. Riki admires Saya for being superhuman and perfect. Saya knows that and tries to look as cool as possible to get his attention. But she’s also unlucky, so she ends up looking pathetic, thus inferior to Riki in the end. The failure to look cool frustrates her, causing an over-the-top reaction. A display of weakness that makes Saya look really cute, so Riki ends up falling for her even more. And since Riki is super lucky, albeit unskilled, that makes them such a perfect team.
At some point, Saya begins to reciprocate Riki’s feelings. And her feelings are the exact same innocent, pure, rose-colored glasses type of love. But she’s so bad at controlling those feelings, she ends up embarassing herself even more. Not a problem. For any of them. These two are so infatuated with each-other, their attraction does not dwindle no matter what they do. Not even if Saya hides her embarassment by saying vulgar and dirty things. Not even if Riki becomes idiot Riki. (Ok, that one kinda does come with a bad ending…)
And you know what? I very much enjoy seeing this kind of innocent love that makes people think and do stupid things and transforms their reality. It’s sweet.
I say Key wants to teach us not to be shitty parents. Like, seriously. There’s only 2 or 3 things that can thoroughly mess up a person’s childhood and force an unreasonable amount of struggle upon them.
So be good parents and you’ve basically covered 50%! That’s how you contribute to making the world a better and happier place!
Saya’s route is a big old mixed bag. On one hand Saya herself is an entertaining and very amicable character. She slots comfortably somewhere in between the tsundere and the ojou-sama without taking in many of the negative characteristics of either. Furthermore the later half of the route does a lot to make her sympathetic, using the logic of the dream world in a way that wouldn’t have been possible pre-refrain. On the other though, I find the actual plot of the route uninspired and somewhat convoluted, particularly with regard to the function of the dream world with regard to people outside the little busters. This is a problem that exists in all of the EX routes, but is felt particularly strongly here. That is, the means by which Aya is supposed to have come into the dream world are flimsy at best, especially when compared to how the world is described in refrain. The other point of light contension is that Saya’s route is a bit lacking in terms of thematic complexity when compared to the other heroines of the story. Where as the heroine routes prior tended to balance the pure romance with their larger ideas and messages, Saya’s route leans more into the romance and the action while not going as far to say as much in as interesting a way.
If anything, the strongest points in her route are actually the moments of action on the part of the other characters. While he still isn’t doing anything groundbreaking, it is quite refreshing to see Riki being more of an active protagonist. More so than that though I actually find Kyousuke’s actions the best part of the route. Kyousuke is a fascinating character for plenty of reasons, but the single most interesting thing for me was his cruelty. Key is not a developer that often touches upon true malice or really much antagonistic action at all. When they do, that malice is so exaggerated as to feel ridiculous. Kyousuke’s actions in Rin 2 were great because it was cruelty justified and reasoned. And it’s from that same place that his actions form here. Saya is an obstacle in the path to Kyousuke’s only goal–nurturing Riki and Rin and sending off his friends, so his malice is coming from a place that the audience can empathize with. He is a villain that is logically and emotionally consistent and reasoned and that’s more than one can usually ask from key.
It’s because of this that I find the ending either one of the best or worst things about the route. It’s somewhat open and vague as to allow for personal interpretation. If one considers this in the context of Little Busters being an anthology all about accepting the inevitability of death and defining one’s own maturity, then I always favored the reading that the ending was Kyousuke giving Saya, in the context of the dream, a life where she had all of the things she wasn’t afforded in her own life, before she dies in peace. It isn’t real, but it doesn’t have to be. Saya can not live and come in between the Little Busters, but Kyousuke is not a vile man. In that way the end is very reminiscent of Angel Beats for me. Both Saya and Riki have to accept that some things can not be won and nothing is eternal. And that’s a strong statement particularly since refrain had that perfect happy ending and Riki didn’t truly have to lose anything. And in that way it’s almost a little like Umineko, where if nothing else Riki chooses to believe that Saya escaped and found happiness, and even if that isn’t true that idea let’s him keep walking to his own happy end–refrain. It’s not the best EX route, that’s Kanata 
, but it’s pretty alright. Better than some of the heroine routes for sure.
Stay golden,
Bread
Time for Part 2
Relationship with the Little Busters in Saya’s route
Friendship is the central topic of Little Busters. But in this route, friendship took a back seat. A seat waaay back in a bus falling off a cliff.
Riki is surprisingly dismissive of his friends this time around. The common route events are happening, but Riki is sometimes reluctant to join in. Instead, his thoughts are with Saya all the time. Just Saya. Just Saya. JUST SAYA.
He’s distancing himself mentally - and later physically from the fun everyday events with the Little Busters. Not just that, Riki is also becoming awfully dismissive of his friends. And the one to take the full brunt of it is Masato. There’s a scene I found downright painful where Riki takes Masato along as a bodyguard - which his bro got him to pay with cutlets for - and Riki thinks that Masato wouldn’t even notice if he got abducted from right under his nose and just go eat cutlets without him.
There is one major exception, though. One person Riki does not mentally distance himself from, someone Riki’s feelings don’t change for. You could even say that this person is partly responsible for Riki’s crush on Saya. She is Riki’s “type”, so to speak. In Riki’s eyes, Saya has the traits of the best person imaginable - cool, beautiful, does crazy things and is an invincible superhuman. Yes, she’s just like Kyousuke! By the way, didn’t Riki develop a crush on Kurugaya in her route for similar reasons? Kyousuke is the one friend Riki does not become dismissive of in this route. On the contrary, our little protagonist just up and confesses his love to Kyousuke… to Saya in a funny scene. No wonder that Kyousuke isn’t cast away like the rest of the Little Busters. After all, this is a route about Saya, Riki… and Kyousuke.
However, Riki is not just being a douche, nor does he start thinking solely with his crotch. The way he (mis)treats his friends is… understandable considering his circumstances. You see, Riki is fully buying into Saya’s story. Every night, he’s fighting with his life on the line. He can’t talk about it to his friends because that would put them in danger. Even though he meets his friends - who are ignorant of his struggle - every day, he’s living in a completely separate world. Their everyday lives seem trivial and childish to him, who’s fighting horrors unknown to them. Saya is the only one who knows about his struggle, thus the only one who can understand him. The only one he can talk to. His ever-reliable partner. Some people here have mentioned the suspension bridge effect, but I sometimes wonder if this case may also have traits of… Stockholm Syndrome?
And with this route over, after 5 months of on and off playing (especially for the EX routes) and 96 hours of playtime I have finally finished Little Busters! (kinda)
A surprising amount of dislike towards this route but I understand why.
First and formost… Aya’s dad, no justification why he thought it would be a great idea to drag your child into a warzone eh Maeda? The fact that she began to train as a nurse implies that he wished for her to grow up to be a medic like him, but it is still heavily unjustified.
But, despite how messy this route was at first, it’s still one of my favourite routes.
It has some of the best comedy in Little Busters with Riki tackling a shirtless Masato from behind and saying he is trading his underpants with Kyousuke and horrifying Rin.
Saya and Rikis romance was arguably the best chemistry between Riki and a heroine. I really got behind the romance in this route because, like in Kurugaya’s route, Riki’s admiration towards people who take initiative such as Kyousuke and hence falling Saya or Kurugaya who do so too makes a lot more sense for his character. (a funny example of this shown below)
But despite the unbelievable backstory that could have been better foreshadowed in previous scenes in the route prior to the massive infodump that we got, the ending that is obviously Maeda not having a clue how to end the story and just giving us a deliberately confusing and open ending and telling us to fill in the gaps ourselves. The route still really holds up in my eyes with its likable romance, hilarious comedy and Saya’s fun character itself.
Final route rankings for me are: Kurugaya > Refrain > Haruka > Saya > Rin2 > Kanata > Sasemi > Mio > Komari > Kud
Related to the point made by Mr Saten regarding the strange way Riki interacts with the other Busters, but one of the gags that really missed the point with me was one early on with Kengo. I am going to critique a joke, so there is a grain of salt to be had with every event, but it was absurd. Kengo saves Riki from Saya’s attempt to make it look like Riki killed himself by way of hanging. This is all well and good and plays off Masato saving him from a Saya attack prior, however, this time Kengo really should be concerned as to him it looks like one of his best friends just tried to kill himself. Masato misunderstood the situation in a funny way, but with Kengo there’s very little room for question. Or if there was you’d think Kengo would indeedd have pressed Riki. Instead he just sort of laughs it off and gives Riki a slap on the wrist. You’d think given Kengo’s history with suicide that he would care more about this trap, and perhaps then Riki might even have been able to get Kengo’s help. But alas it’s just a joke that fits very strangely into the texture of the narrative and the characters.
What’s with all the burgers 
But yeah my opinion hasn’t changed all that much. This route is a mess but I love it for what it does well. I’m definitely interested to hear more of @HeliosAlpha’s thoughts though!
