Little Busters! episode 23

Guys. Guys. I am not liking this new Photobucket thing. I put it off as long as I could but now I have to use the new format and it is no bueno. It was much easier for me to blog with the previous version. Why do things have to change? Don't they know I am old and set in my ways?! I hate change!

Everyone is worried about Noumi for good reason.

But I shall push through so I can be productive in the two hours before bed. Up next in terms of anime is Little Busters! episode 23. Spoilers for......Rin's arc being 32983 kinds of awful if this trend continues.

TIME TO LEAVE!

Episode Summary: Since Noumi has been gone the Little Busters have been watching the news nonstop to hear all the awful details that are happening in Noumi's homeland. Yuiko comes up with some random facts about the country, how the natives are pissed that the whities came and used their natural resources to fund this super unsafe project. Add in a reactor not doing well and the native rebels ….well start to rebel. Super dangerous indeed and Riki wonders if it was the right thing to do to tell Noumi to go home. Noumi has arrived on the island and watches the chaos from a mountain top. She is taken by car to the house (her house?) where her Grandfather is hiding. He is happy to see her and says that there might be a chance the astronauts survived. Later the Grandfather learns that yes all the astronauts did escape the craft although the mother was injured saving someone else. Grandfather goes to rescue the mom and tells Noumi not to leave the house. Back in Japan Riki is becoming more and more depressed that he sent Noumi away. The other Little Busters have varying degrees of sadness and think about Noumi and her horrible situation. Kyousuke seems to think this is what Noumi needed to do as Rin takes care of the dogs.

Thanks for those random facts.

A rocket is then launched in the building that Noumi is hiding in and when she comes to a gun is pointed at her head. They recognize Noumi as the astronaut's daughter and kidnap her. Naked and stuffed in a cave Noumi dangles from chains reaching the ceiling. Clearly having the worse life ever Noumi starts to cry, saying she is a worthless gear, and that she was no help to anyone. Everyone in the Little Busters was reflecting alone about Noumi and think kind thoughts of her. Riki himself was holding the broken gear Noumi tried to throw away. He thinks of her and how he hopes she is okay. Noumi herself thinks that she needs to help the others and keep her promise of going back to Japan. Riki and Noumi seem to have visions of past events and POOF Riki is able to wish the gear to Noumi who uses it to smash her chains. She is able to escape the cave and travels down some awful water, thinking about her mother and the gang along the way. She makes her way outside and sees a beautiful sky. She is happy and free. Later the others are playing baseball and talk about how Noumi is okay and her mom is okay and soon she will be back in Japan. As if by magic Noumi appears behind them, smiling and crying at the same time. Everyone takes turns saying hello to Noumi and crying too as Kyousuke looks at her knowingly. Noumi then decided to follow her own path...which means being an astronaut and enjoys spending time with the Little Busters. THE END!

No Komari....you really did see that. I understand your confusion.

Just...I....I have no words. What the hell am I watching? I know that Kannon had a fox girl and Clannad might have brought someone back to life. But besides that I think everything made sense in some way. And even that I think things made sense. There was a legend about foxes taking on human appearances and only after the main character collected enough feel good points could he grant a miracle. It all made sense in the setting.

For what?!

But this show...I don't even know. No I have not played the game/read the source material/ect. So if I started ranting and raving about things that are wrong well I am only going by what I see on my little computer screen. Maybe later things will make sense and I will go OHHHH I see why this was so magical. But for now I am going to talk about what I see and why it doesn't make sense.

This isn't what really happened in the episode. So....a separate timeline?

Noumi was talking to Kyousuke last week about remembering things. Clearly that meant that THIS event had happened before as she was locked in a prison this week but remembered being in a prison last week. So that means that the world is either repeating itself, time traveling is occurring, or there is some parallel universe stuff happening. I am thinking it is more repeating itself. None of the other girls/characters are aware of this but Kyousuke. Riki is starting to suffer from repeating too many timelines and soon he will be the most powerful magical girl ever.

Um....yeah. Why are you here again?

So my question is...WHY DID NOUMI DO THIS?! If she knew what was going to happen to her why would she do it again? What wish? What wish indeed?! To me it looked like Noumi went to her home country, got kidnapped/raped?, and escaped through the power of Riki sending things across time and space. How was any of this necessary? How did Noumi do anything positive? She keeps on saying that she is tired of running away and that is fine. But what did she accomplish?

Um.....I don't understand how that is the reason...

The only thing I can think of is that by Noumi going to her home country her mother was not kidnapped/killed herself? That if they had not found Noumi in the house it would have been her mother instead? Because other than that I got nothing and I am starting to worry about the other girls. Each girl's story is getting worse and worse (and more unbelievable) so I am starting to think Rin is going to have a heart attack and someone is going to steal her kidneys.

How about you worry about yourself!

So since there is no reason for Noumi to go home I have to assume this is not really what happened. That everything is working out way too perfectly for this to be real. I mean...Haruka has the world's evilest grandmother but everything ended well for her after all of this time? Seems too perfect to me. Noumi's arc has been the most unbelievable. So I am thinking that Noumi's mom is not okay. And that Noumi went through much more than what was seen on the screen. And that maybe she didn't come back at all during the first timeline. Now since I don't know what is going on I am not sure WHY she went there. Only that something major is missing from this show, an explanation on why Noumi would go through all of that if it would have worked out fine had she stayed at home.

Even Noumi is surprised.

I don't think I am explaining things well. Just that Noumi going back and Kyousuke encouraging Noumi to go back when nothing GOOD would come of going back. Maybe mom did die and Noumi had her chance to say goodbye. Whatever the real reason....Riki sending something across time and space was a little special. I mean everything else he has done so far has been possible even if the situation was impossible (Mio and her other self). He just used his words and the power of friendship to fix everything. But now Riki has evoked the power of magic...and headaches that either show the future or past timelines. X___X Is he really Madoka now? Does he have powers to do...well whatever he wants because of what he has been through?

Everything is all better weeee!

Another confusing point for this episode was how Noumi was able to bounce back so fast. And that she returned to Japan so quickly. I would think after all that she went through (even if she wasn't raped she went through more than what most will ever) she would spend some time with her mom. But then again she has spent more time with Riki and her friends than her absent mom. Maybe that was just natural. But if Noumi spent all that time and energy in putting herself in danger I would think that she would spend more time there, that the emotional reunion would be with daughter and mom, not Noumi and her friends. Another sign that things are off or that this show takes friendship to new levels?

How about we go home to Japan where it is safe?

I was going to write something negatively about the grandfather and how he didn't go see Noumi before going to their home country. But that is his daughter. Sometimes you do irrational things for family. Or to them...not that I am bitter or anything. It looked super dangerous and maybe he should have taken Noumi with him to pick up the mom. But then again since I don't believe what is going on maybe that was the right move. Moreso I really can't talk about the situation in that country, just that things SEEM to take a dramatic turn very, very fast. Yuiko had a lot of knowledge about a random island country did she not? At least she didn't start quoting Hamlet.

Everything is fine now guys. That kidnapping and almost dead mom thing was a whole week ago!

In the end everyone was worried about Noumi, there was so magical moment that allowed everyone to save her, and basically when rockets explode an entire country goes to crazy town. But Noumi has made it back alive to Japan to play baseball with all her friends. So...yeah. WEIRD!