Little Busters! ~Refrain~ - 2

"That Time, It Also Rained"

Oh yeah, things are getting very dark, very fast.

If it wasn't for that last portion, I'd say a good part of this episode was a lot more reminiscent of the first season than I was expecting of the dark undertones in the premiere. But if there's something to be said about Little Busters, as with any Key work, that there's always something sad and dark lurking underneath moe smiles and laughter. I realize I'm a tad behind on coverage, though not on content, so it's hard not to skip ahead and talk about the newer developments. I do, however, want to dwell on this episode in particular first. This is the first time, after all, that I think Riki has stopped, really stopped, and wondered what the heck is going on with his world. It's not just the simple case of wanting to help one of his friends, or seeing the strange realities of their lives as before; this is the moment when he realizes there's a dream to wake up from, something lurking in the corner of his vision he hadn't quite realized was there before.

Of course, it's too early in the season to start dishing out actual revelations in the way of the conspiracy, but it's very difficult to hold in one's excitement and sense of anticipation at seeing Riki finally start grasping at the realities of his situation. I'm not sure exactly how much relevance this arc, which seems to be Kurugaya's, really has to the rest of the story, but I'm willing to bet it's worth quite a bit more to the world building than any of the other arcs seem to imply. This is, after all, the only heroine arc other than Rin's being included in Refrain rather in the first series, and while I'm not sure if the repeating day is part of Kurugaya's specific magical realism or of the bigger issue at hand, it does seem important enough to point out.

Until that moment of realization, however, things seem to be pretty rank and file, were it not for that which lurks in corners and disappears the moment you try looking closer. Even before the day repeats, Riki's conversation with Kurugaya feels important in a somewhat obvious, somewhat mysterious way. It doesn't help that narcolepsy strikes again ("and then it hit again. Nakorepshii."), something that feels a lot less arbitrary the more I watch. Is Riki's condition another indication that something is wrong? Or is it really just something he suffers from? I find the latter hard to believe in a conspiracy of this caliber, but it wasn't until this moment that I really narrowed my suspicions at it. It's kind of odd how Little Busters! can be like that, subtle as a bat to the face but somehow getting away with some of its intrigue despite that. What I can say with certainty, however, is that whatever this adaptation is doing, it's doing it wonderfully. I fully expect to cry my face off by the end of the season and that this will rise as my favorite Key work when it's done.