Overview

Little Busters! Ecstasy was the eroge version of Little Busters!, released a year after the original game. A range of new music was created for the title, including a diverse handful of original compositions and some theme song remixes. These were compiled together in the Little Busters! Ecstasy Tracks album and are, for the most part, an impressive listen.

Body

Despite being an eroge adaptation, most of the new music for Little Busters! Ecstasy is far from sleazy. "Will & Wish" and "Glassware", for instance, are piano-based compositions filled with sadness and fragility. "Will & Wish", in particular, blooms into a beautiful tutti that captures the depth of Kazuya's feelings. It's Key at their sentimental best! Continuing the plaintive sound, "Run" and "Saya's Melody", are instrumental renditions of a song that originated from Key's original album Love Song. "Saya's Song" is also covered by Lia, in a standout performance, elsewhere on the release. While this song did not originate from Little Busters!, it fits well with the soundtrack's ethereal and emotional sound. Somewhat frustratingly, though, it is needlessly repeated in a short and long versions here.

A couple of others, "Cat, Glass, and the Round Moon" and "Thinking Time", have the peppy mood expected for a bishoujo game. But in addition to unforgettable melodies, both have hidden depths that make them fine compositions; the shifts in mood during the former evocatively capture Sasami's character, while the latter brings a fresh jazz sound to the mix. Composed by Jun Maeda's old-time collaborator Ishisan, "Labyrinth" is an unexpectedly experimental addition to the soundtrack. It deviates from the emotional melodic pieces of Key in favour of moody electronic ambience; not all will enjoy it on a stand-alone level, but it's spectacular in the scene it is used in. Equally fresh is "Shadow Buster" with its jagged but uplifting electronic beats.

There are several other vocal covers featured elsewhere on the album. Japanese rock band MintJam inject some rock flair into "Little Busters!" and "Alicemagic". While Rita's vocals are unchanged, a2c's electric guitars provide a fresh injection of life here. Note that the full version of the latter is exclusive to the Rockstar Busters! album. The soft piano-supported ballad "Song for Friends" also returns from the Little Busters! However, Key collectors will be disappointed to learn that it is truncated version of the original, rather than a true arrangement. While short, the truly memorable "Sha La La Ecstasy" makes up for it. A hymn featuring the voice of Haruka Shimotsuki, it feels warm and magical.

Summary

Overall, the Little Busters! Ecstasy Tracks are a fine supplement to the Little Busters! Original Soundtrack. All the instrumental tracks are interesting and emotional for one reason or another, while the surplus of vocal themes will appeal to mainstream audiences. The album is a little sparing in content and a little muddled in presentation, but has enough highlights to be worthwhile.

Overview

As with their three previous major visual novels, Key bundled an arranged album in the limited edition of Little Busters! Rintaro Iwashita of the unit PMMK reprised his role to arrange a number of instrumental music and theme songs from the original score. Rather than offer straightforward interpretations, he experimented in the area of electronic ambient music to mixed results.

Body

Rintaro Iwashita establishes the abstract tone of the album with the opener, "tonica". Blending warm ambient synthpads with disorientating voice samples, it helps to take listeners to a different dimension, but is hardly accessible to most ears. With the first full instrumental arrangement "Bugs (so tiny)", Iwashita creates an enigmatic soundscape using pensive piano chords and oddball percussion motifs. While the effect is inspiring at first, it loses interest through its repetitive and aseptic development. Indeed, the track shares none of the emotional feel or rich elaborations that made original, "Lamp", a highlight. More effort was clearly put in to the implementation than the arrangement.

For the most part, the album offers a unique but rarely superior interpretation of the originals. "Brother (so quiet)" and "Tomorrow (so artificial)" have a more attractive focus, through their respective guitar and flute leads; but like most entries here, their repetitive development prevents them from really soothing and inspiring listeners. "Sister (so lonely)" and "Dive (so fast)" are considerably more punchy and energetic, clearly inspired by the more experimental electronic dance music out there. These tracks will be too great a departure from their originals for some people — the former an especially distant relation to the opening theme — though others will appreciate the creativity.

The game's theme songs are also featured on this release. Rita's vocals are left unchanged on the opening theme "Little Busters!" — still as peppy and girly as the original. However, the instrumentals are completely redone — the pop-flavoured beats replaced by distorted synthpads and abstruse piano improvisations. But the resultant dichotomy of sounds sounds bizarre rather than inspiring — this isn't the way to do a cover. The softer nature of "Faraway" suits Iwashita's approach much more. This time, the deep beats, piano underlays, and backing vocals all complement Rita's vocals to create an understated but beautiful soundscape. The short closer samples some instrumental parts of this song backwards.

Summary

It's difficult to recommend Little Busters! Original Arrange Album -Semicrystalline-. While some arrangements have creative value, they tend to detract from the originals and lose the spirit of Key. Fans of minimalistic electronic music may find this one more enjoyable, but there are far better releases available on the wider market.