Little Busters! - 20

"Cure the Lovesick"

All these "world secret" episodes feel to me like a running arc for Rin; I wonder if I'm reading that wrong?

You don't need to be particularly perceptive to realize that Rin is the main heroine of this Key work, but it always surprises me to see her being featured so blatantly during these little inter-arc episodes. Normally she's a bit of a background character: she's there, she's important, but she yields to the current heroine without putting up much of a fuss. Compared to Clannad's Nagisa, she seems to melt into the surroundings when it's not her job to be there, so to see her get a big focus, even if it's only for these humor-centric episodes, is interesting. I'm not yet really sure about where I stand about Rin; I certainly don't dislike her, but I don't think she's my favorite of the heroines yet either. She's a bit of a ditz, with her outrageous plans and confusion, but she's not unpleasant, and I appreciate that she's less of a moe appeal than Kamikita (though Kud is adorable, so she doesn't count). Still, it will be some time before we really attack that particular route, so for now I'll take what I get.

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think I probably like Rin (quite certain, aren't I?) and her cat-loving personality. For one thing, I completely understand how hard it is to talk to strangers (13 years at the same school with the same people will do that to you), and I also know how ridiculous you can come off when you try, though of course, on Rin it looks cute; on me it looks idiotic. Still, Rin is quite fun, and while she's not necessarily the sharpest tool in the shed, she's not completely dumb either. For all her half-jokes about not understanding lovesickness, she does understand they're talking about affection rather than an actual sickness quite quickly and I do like that she pretty much couldn't care less for her self-proclaimed rival, Sasasegawa Sasami, other than having a general feeling that she dislikes her (I totally get you Rin, her name is hard to remember and she's pompous).

Speaking of Sa-something-or-other, I don't particularly remember why it is that she and Rin don't get along (other than Sa-whatever being somewhat amusingly annoying), but it's still nice to see Rin willing to put aside their argument for the sake of the guy she's helping out (I forgot his name; I know, completely unprofessional, and no, I'm not being lazy in not wanting to look it up, I'm multitasking at 2:30 AM and scanlating is the other job) and speak to her. What purpose this and the other notes and tasks have in the larger scheme of things, I don't know; I assume that they'll tie in when Rin's arc comes full circle (and when she realizes that she probably understands that heart clenching feeling more than she professes she does). It's a little strange that this episode was placed smack in the middle of Kud's arc, but I'm not complaining; it was a pretty entertaining little excursion into much needed comedic material before the heavy emotions come pouring in from whatever loneliness Kud has yet to reveal.