Little Busters! ~Season 1~ Blu-ray

Riki Naoe lost his parents as a young child and fell into grief and depression — until four kids calling themselves the Little Busters pulled him out of it with their energy, their friendship, and their complete refusal to let him stay alone. Now in high school, the group is still together: Kyousuke Natsume, the charismatic leader; his sister Rin, tough and cat-loving; Masato, the muscle-brained gentle giant; and Kengo, the disciplined kendo practitioner. They want to form a baseball team, which means they need more members — so Riki and Rin are tasked with recruiting. Each new girl who joins brings her own story, her own pain, and her own need for something the Little Busters can provide. The first season works through these individual routes one by one, building an ensemble while establishing the bond at the center of the series.
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Little Busters! is a 26-episode drama produced by J.C. Staff, directed by Yoshiki Yamakawa, and based on Key's 2007 romance adventure visual novel — the same developer behind Kanon, Air, and Clannad, all of which were adapted by Kyoto Animation. The decision to produce Little Busters! at J.C. Staff rather than KyoAni was controversial among the fanbase and remains a point of discussion. The score features music from the original visual novel composed by Jun Maeda and Shinji Orito — Key's signature composers. Sentai Filmworks released Season 1 on Blu-ray and DVD on November 19, 2013, with an English dub produced by Sentai's Houston studio under ADR director Chris Ayres.
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<b>Notable Staff & Voice Talent</b>
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<b>Director:</b> Yoshiki Yamakawa<br>
<b>Series Composition:</b> Kazuho Hyodo<br>
<b>Original Visual Novel:</b> Key / Visual Art's (Little Busters!, 2007; English license: Sekai Project / VisualArts)<br>
<b>Studio:</b> J.C. Staff (Slayers, Shakugan no Shana, Familiar of Zero, Maid Sama!, Wagnaria!!)<br>
<b>Music:</b> Jun Maeda & Shinji Orito (Key composers — Kanon, Air, Clannad, Angel Beats!)
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<b>Japanese Cast:</b><br>
• Yui Horie as Riki Naoe (Kurogane Communication, Love Hina, Fruits Basket, Familiar of Zero — Henrietta, Star Ocean EX additional cast)<br>
• Hikaru Midorikawa as Kyousuke Natsume (Fushigi Yugi — Tamahome, Green Legend Ran, Gestalt, Arc the Lad, Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto, Junjou Romantica — Usami, Record of Lodoss War — Zelgadis)<br>
• Tomoe Tamiyasu as Rin Natsume<br>
• Nobutoshi Canna as Masato Inohara<br>
• Kenji Nojima as Kengo Miyazawa<br>
• Haruka Tomatsu as Komari Kamikita
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<b>English Dub Cast (Sentai Filmworks — ADR Director: Chris Ayres):</b><br>
• Caitlin Glass as Riki Naoe<br>
• Blake Shepard as Kyousuke Natsume<br>
• Allison Sumrall as Rin Natsume<br>
• Andrew Love as Masato Inohara<br>
• David Wald as Kengo Miyazawa<br>
• Juliet Simmons as Komari Kamikita
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<b>Blu-ray Features (Sentai Filmworks, November 19, 2013)</b>
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• All 26 Episodes — Complete Season 1<br>
• Clean Opening & Closing Animations<br>
• Sentai Filmworks Previews
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<b>Spoken Languages:</b> English & Japanese Audio, English Subtitles
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<b>Edition Details</b>
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<b>Japanese Title:</b> リトルバスターズ! (Ritoru Basutāzu! / Little Busters!)<br>
<b>Runtime:</b> ~650 Minutes (Complete Season 1, 26 Episodes)<br>
<b>Director:</b> Yoshiki Yamakawa<br>
<b>Blu-ray Release Year:</b> 2013 (U.S. Release, November 19 — Sentai Filmworks)<br>
<b>Original Broadcast Date (Japan):</b> October 6, 2012 – March 30, 2013 (TBS / MBS)<br>
<b>Publisher:</b> Sentai Filmworks<br>
<b>Rating:</b> 14+<br>
<b>Region:</b> Region A (North America)<br>
<b>Genre:</b> Drama, Romance, Comedy<br>
<b>Themes:</b> Found Family, Key Visual Novel Adaptation, Character Routes, Baseball Team Formation, Jun Maeda Score
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Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.