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Little Busters! (リトルバスターズ!, Ritoru Basutāzu!?) is a Japanese visual novel developed by Key which was originally released rated for everyone as a limited edition version on July 27, 2007 playable on the PC as a DVD; a regular edition, also rated for everyone, followed on September 28, 2007. Little Busters! is Key's sixth game, along with other titles such as Kanon, Air, and Clannad. Despite the first two releases of Little Busters! having a rating for everyone, there were still some suggestive computer graphics that provided fan service shots. An adult version of the game entitled Little Busters! Ecstasy was released on July 25, 2008, unlike Kanon and Air, which were first released with adult content and then had later versions with such content removed. The title Little Busters! comes from a group of friends in the story named the Little Busters which the main protagonist, Riki Naoe, has been a member of since childhood.
The gameplay in Little Busters! follows a plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the six female main characters. There are additional minigames added into the gameplay, such as sequences that resemble fighting games, or baseball games, which serve to give the characters experience, obtain accessories to use during battle, and improve their statistics. The game had an extended developmental staff which incorporated new members to the roles of art director, scenario writer, and to work on the game's soundtrack.
Before the game's release, a four-panel comic strip manga inspired from the story, drawn by Japanese artist Yūya Sasagiri, started serialization in the bishōjo magazine Dengeki G's Magazine on January 30, 2006, published by ASCII Media Works. In the same issue of Dengeki G's Magazine, a series of illustrated short stories began serialization and concluded on January 30, 2007 with twelve chapters. A second manga is serialized in ASCII Media Works' other magazine Dengeki G's Festival! Comic starting in November 2007, and a third manga began serialization in Kadokawa Shoten's magazine Comp Ace in March 2008. An Internet radio show began in June 2008 hosted by the voice actors of Rin and Kyousuke Natsume from the visual novel.
