Overview

Little Busters! and its adaptation Little Busters! Ecstasy featured some of the most memorable characters in all of Key's releases. A heroine of Ecstasy was Saya, a popular, attractive, but dim-witted girl. Like her companions Kanata and Sasami, Key dedicated an image single to her.

Body

Created specially for this single, "Saya's Sleepy Requiem" captures Saya's dreamy character with its wandering verse, elating chorus, and synthy backing track. While seiyuu can be out of their depth on vocal singles, Kazane is competent enough and doesn't seem to have any problems bringing plenty of humanity to the lyrics. It's right up there with "raison" as the best in the character single series.

"Saya's Song" is anything but an exclusive to this single. It was originally featured in the original album Love Song and was later covered by Lia for the Ecstasy soundtrack. Kazane nevertheless brings a new character to the song with her gentle but dreamy voice. It's a welcome addition to the single.

There are also three remixes of "Saya's Sleepy Requiem" from external arrangers. While vocoders would normally seem out-of-place on a Key release, the Electro Sphere remix is surprisingly enjoyable here. Muzikservant's remix is a typical fast-paced club remix, while Groovetune's version is about as weird and repetitive as his contributions to the OTSU albums.

Summary

Through a combination of charming performances and solid arrangement, both "Saya's Sleepy Requiem" and "Saya's Song" prove enjoyable and fitting here. It's a little sparing on content and features some hit-and-miss remixes, but is nevertheless recommended for fans of the game.