Little Busters! - 17

"I Wanted Someone to Stay Beside Me"

I wonder if the Saigusa/Futaki family ever heard of DNA testing.

I think it's very easy for us to look at Haruka and Kanata's case and say that their family is terrible for blaming an innocent child for their parent's crimes, but the fact is, we hold children to their parents' actions all the time and don't even realize it. Obviously the Saigusas are an extreme case written for dramatic purposes, but is expecting the twins to show proof that they are a "bad seed" really so different from expecting, say, a celebrity's child to also become a celebrity? A musician's child to show talent for music? Our societies have always placed bizarre expectations on children based on their parents accomplishments and misdeeds, and we as children have always had to either grow into or out of those expectations. This, of course, does nothing to justify Haruka and Kanata's situation; both are victims to the family's prejudices and need for a scapegoat and their unfortunate case of heteropaternal superfecundation provides that excuse. Here's the part I have a hard time taking seriously though: clearly the Saigusa/Futaki family is one of means, so why not just get the girls and Saigusa Shou tested for paternity? That doesn't change the fact that one of the girls was bound to be chosen as a 'sacrificial lamb', if you will, but at least they wouldn't have to live with the uncertainty that perhaps the family chose the wrong girl to torture. Perhaps not knowing was the point though. If the family wanted to chose a successor, then it would be best to choose the most competent girl, and perhaps it gave them peace of mind not knowing which was which.

Regardless, the fact that Haruka was chosen as the scapegoat doesn't necessarily mean that Kanata is at fault. Haruka is wrong to take her anger and revenge out on Kanata, since it isn't her sister's fault that the family did what they did. However, Kanata is also at fault for not doing anything definitive to help Haruka, though she does imply that her position in the family isn't all that better from her twin's, and she's even slapped for considering that the family is being too harsh by spreading rumors to keep Haruka in line. In essence, both girls are revenging themselves on each other, rather than on the family that caused everything in the first place, and its destroying them both. As Riki rightly observes, the sisters are like chained prisoners, unable to escape the rules and expectations of their family, and unable to escape from each other.

In a sense, that makes this arc center on two girls rather than one, though Haruka is definitely the star of the two. She's the ostracized twin, the lonely one, who has never had anyone care for her or treat her kindly, and of course, this is what Riki is best at fixing. I think there's something to be said about this anime as a series about loneliness; beginning from Riki himself, all the lost and hurting children are brought together under the name of the Little Busters. It's here that they find individuals like themselves who understand what loneliness is, and who value friendship above all else because of their past experiences. However, this is the first arc that really carries romantic undertones; Haruka has already been saved by Riki's kindness once, and her reaction at seeing Kanata pretend to be her and make advances on Riki implies that perhaps she already thinks of him as more than just a friend.