Little Busters! - Side Stories General Discussion (Spoilers!)

Key Discussion
#1

This topic is reserved for discussion of all of the assorted Little Busters side stories! (Because having one for each felt excessive) Please use headings in your post to clarify which side story you’re referring to.

This topic is open to Refrain and EX spoilers! Please mark references to external works with [spoiler] tags, providing adequate context in parenthesis.

A huge thank you to Shiranehito for translating all of these side stories for us (with the exception of “Bokura” no Asa). They’re a great read, and I’m so glad we’re able to experience them in English.

Little Busters! SS
Vol. 1: One day, fine day (Prelude to the main story)
Vol. 2: Little Busters Kansatsu Nikki / Little Busters Obervation Diary (Common Route Fun)
Vol. 3: Aru Amu no Hi no Koto / One Rainy Day (Common Route Feels)
Vol. 4: A Snowy Day (Mio Route Continuation)
Vol. 5: Shiawase Hitotsu to Aoi Tori / One Happiness and the Blue Bird (Common Route Fun)

Little Busters! Ecstasy After Stories
Vol. 1: Stars far away (Continuation of Kud, Haruka and Kanata routes)
Vol. 2: A Snowy Day (Same as SS)
Vol. 3: Riyuu Shirazu Tabi ni Deru Kare e / To him, who went on a journey for who knows why) (Post-Refrain Post-EX fun)

Others
“Bokura” no Asa (Refrain Epilogue)
Nishizono Mio’s Locked-Room Murder Case?! (Common Route Fun)

#2

Bokura no Asa’s sole purpose is to debunk a theory that you almost never see brought up anyway. I think I’ve seen the whole “The epilogue takes place in a second dream world” thing mentioned twice in 6 years.

#3

I was very much on board with that theory after reading Little Busters. And it was debunked immediately after I listened to bokura no asa

#4

Huh, I always felt the opposite. It brings to attention the constant insecurities left within the group about whether they’re actually in what they’d call reality, or if they’re still within a fake one… And ultimately there’s no way to know. They might be, they might not.

It brings it into question, but it certainly doesn’t debunk anything.

#5

I feel that depending on how you want to look at it it could go either way. The way that that even go out to mention it feels like they are trying to say, this is not a dream. This is real, this is what you achieved.
However, if you look at it on the flip side because they make note to even mention it being a dream, it draws attention to it. This reminds me when I once had a dream and I pinched myself in my dream and I didn’t wake up. It could be Kyousuke telling Riki, hey just forget about it, everything is fine as long as you believe.

I personally think the narrative points to it not being a dream because it doesn’t really have any cues to the reader that would instill any doubt. Other than the characters outright discussing it. If their goal was to sway the audience the other way there would have been more in that regard. It isn’t like an Inception moment or anything.

#6

Yeah I guess there’s not a whole lot to say about this story. It’s mostly a cute little epilogue. I do love that scene with Riki and Kyousuke though, how Kyousuke goes back on his earlier order to tell him he can cry just this once, how it’s now ‘The Little Busters you protected’. It’s a great way to cap off Refrain, with Kyousuke finally acknowledging Riki’s efforts as his successor. Good stuff.

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#7

I mean, Kyousuke acknowledges Riki’s achievement at least 2-3 times in the original as well. Also, apparently Maeda liked Bokura no Asa much more than the game epilogue, to the point that it was hard to believe they were written by the same person.

#8

“Bokura” no Asa:

Kyousuke is back in his leader position, making sure that everyone’s having fun. But he’s also ready to graduate and let Riki take over. Indeed, Riki is the one who did most of the work - saving the members, keeping this new Little Busters together and protecting it, as opposed to Kyousuke who never expected it to last, using it as a stepping stone instead. It reminds me of the common route scenes where Kyousuke points out how Riki did all the recruiting ans should give himself more credit.

Also, everyone is back to their usual selves. Not just their lives, but their smiles, too, have been protected. I’m glad that after numerous switches, Kengo is going to stick with his silly, jumper-wearing personality.

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#9
#10

It’s regrettably short notice, but I’ve decided we’re gonna open up the After-Refrain podcast to talk of all the side stories except for Stars far away. So if you have anything to say about the others, you have 3 days to get your discussion in!

#11

So I just went through all of the SS and After Stories, and damn, I’m impressed! Like some of these are pretty fluffy and lack substance but they’re all very well written. But some of them are amazing and only improve upon the routes! Let’s go through each of them.

One day, fine day
This is one of the very few instances where we get to see how life was like at school before the main story begins, before Komari has really developed any relationship with Riki. I love getting in Komari’s head and seeing how she views the world, but I love even more the ways we get to learn about the characters. How Kurugaya is lonely and teasing people on a whim, how Haruka’s relationship with the class has been going for quite a long time, how Kud is trying so hard to fit in, how Mio is a lot nicer to Komari than Riki… It’s just a good enjoyable experience all around.

Little Busters Observation Diary
We’re in the thick of the common route now, and we get Kurugaya playing some pranks on Komari. This is all pretty standard stuff, but a fun read.

One Rainy Day
I love this. If there’s one thing I wanted more from LB’s common route, it’s examination of Riki’s trauma and how it affects his daily life. We get a good load of that here, where it’s revealed that rain is a trigger for Riki’s trauma, as he associates it with the period after his parents died. I never picked up on this in the main game, but it’s a nice detail I appreciate. Also really cool how Mio is able to soothe him by showing him the beauty of the clear weather after the rain. Great atmosphere in this one.

A Snowy Day
Aka the one that was so good they had to include it again in the Ecstasy stories. An epilogue to Mio route!!! Something I’ve always wanted! Ahhh this is so good I’m gonna cry. Here, Riki and Mio clearly both remember what happened in her route, and they both share a moment of bonding over their memory of Midori. They both reassure each other that there may be a world out there where she still exists. It’s very emotional and heartwarming in a sort of bittersweet way. I love it.

One Happiness and the Blue Bird
Not much to say about this one. At a glance it just seems to be more reinforcement of Komari’s Spiral of Happiness philosophy, something we can learn from.

Stars far away
Well damn. That was incredible. It really feels like Shirokiri put her heart and soul into writing for Little Busters, and this story feels like one last regret she had that she felt the need to put to paper. Turns out Kanata had a dream for becoming a lawyer, to mete out justice and save other children who had to experience what Haruka and Kanata experienced. This one is clearly after Refrain, and everyone’s memories of the dream world are hazy, but they do persist, just barely. We get to see Haruka’s struggles to talk to her sister, and Kud’s dilemma with what to call Kanata. We see how Kud has learned from her route not to throw away her regrets, but to accept them and let them help her move forward. And she then passes that wisdom on to Kanata, to stop her from throwing away her dreams. It’s all REALLY GOOD, and goes to show how well these routes flow together.

To him, who went on a journey for who knows why
Ahhhhh this a fantastic note to end on. A final crazy mission for the Little Busters, joined by Sasami and Kanata! This honestly feels like it’s even better than the Kick the Can scene for me. Everyone acknowledging Riki as their leader, and then all of them taking on Kyousuke as the final boss (who happens to be riding a Horse holy crap), it’s all beautiful! Even the way Kanata is so much more lax and fun about things, throwing Haruka her marbles to perform the final blow on Kyousuke, it’s, it’s really good guys :sob:

Honestly if you were expecting something of the level of CLANNAD Side Stories, fear not, these side stories are top quality. Only ones that are average to me would be One Happiness and the Blue Bird and Little Busters Observation Diary. The rest are great.

What a treat to finally get to reading these! Took me way too long.

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#12

Oh yeesss! They are definitely a must read!

Stars Far Away and Snowy Days are my favorite, as they were correlated with their routes, and wrapped it up perfectly. It really felt like a true epilogue for me.

The rest are really great too. Some might be fluff, but they are good fluffs, I like it!

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