[Anime] Lucky ☆ Star

I'm a little surprised that there's no topic for this yet, but I'll have the honour of making it I guess!

Official site... or maybe this is it...

From the studio that gave you The Melancholy of something or other, and 4-koma style manga (of Azumanga fame) comes a new show in which... well, nothing happens. And not in a Seinfeld way either--they spend almost the whole first episode eating and talking about lunch.

But it's great! Somehow! The character design is really cute, the dialogue is funny and the whole atmosphere is very relaxing and nice. The opening song is awesome, too. Let's see what we got here, characters from the first episode...


The main character seems to be Konata, a blue-haired sporty girl who is also simultaneously a geek. She enjoys anime and games. She's pretty relaxed overall but gets kind of intense over some subjects (such as whether you should flip over a green pepper on a yakiniku grill). She is voiced by Aya Hirano, of Haruhi fame.


Her best friend is Tsukasa, a typical "healing type" anime character--soft-spoken and shy. The first episode doesn't give me any specific impression of what kind of person we're dealing with, other than that she's calm and mild-mannered. She doesn't seem to be particularly good at school or sports.


Tsukasa's twin sister Kagami seems to be a little bit more serious than the other girls. She is in a different class than the rest of the girls, but she eats lunch with them anyway, which prompts Konata to ask if she's a social outcast within her own class. She is the one that reacts the most violently to Konata's jabs.


Finally, Miyuki is the source of wisdom of the group. She's portrayed as being very smart and sweet, and clumsy which Konata just thinks is a "moe" element. She wears glasses, which according to Konata "attracts a certain type of fetishist", but Miyuki is just scared to put stuff into her eyes (I can relate to that!)

Here are some screenshots from the anime:



Oh yeah, the Lucky Channel thing... I'm not sure what that's all about, but apparently, an idol called Akira and some guy called Shiraishi answer fanmail. The first fanmail asks Akira a personal question, and she responds by becoming gloomy and violent... It's funny, but also completely unrelated to the show. S'all good!

If nothing else, you have to check out the OP of this anime, it's incredibly awesome:

YouTube Video

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by DarknessTear

The only buzz I've seen on this show is hate so I'm not too surprised there hasn't been a thread about it until now.

Well I mean, even before any episode aired it was basically an all-star show.

And yeah, what Taco said--people seemed to be expecting something completely different. As long as the show is subbed, I couldn't care less.

The subs are okay actually, as far as I can tell. It's nice that it's soft-subbed, I don't know if that's the norm in anime fansubbing nowadays (I haven't watched a show since Haruhi), but it's a nice touch anyway.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Qwarky

I don't see how anyone would actually hate the series when it's so uneventful to the point of being dull. Maybe the first ep was meant to be modest on purpose, but I get the feeling it was supposed to make me laugh more often than it actually did.

The constant talk about the little details of eating made me smile, though.

It puts me in a really mellow mood. I don't think it's supposed to be laugh out loud funny (although admittedly, Japanese people are really weird when it comes to humour). It just seems like a really relaxed, smooth atmosphere in which nothing really matters that much, and there are no real problems.

It's like... sitting on a terrace on a summer day with the setting sun in your face and a gentle breeze cooling your cheeks, eyes closed, drinking a beer. Yeah. Like that.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Magi

Its weird, because some of the komica's commentary indicated that Akira is quit different from the comic version. They said that Akira's personalities is being distorted (blacken in their words) in the anime version. Not sure how much of that is true. :< I kinda want to read the comic.

I've read a bit of it but I hate manga in general, so I can't really judge it. I didn't see much of a difference, though, which is one of the reasons I stopped reading (aside from not enjoying it very much).

Originally Posted by Magi

Doesn't the teacher have a weird accent? O.o

It's Kansai-ben. It's not a very heavy Kansai-ben dialect though, so it's not as obvious as someone like Osaka, or people from Lovely Complex.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Kairi Li

Well seeing as Konata KNOWS its her teacher, wouldn't she put on a more respective tone in what she says?

Yeah I think it's a mini-joke. Kinda like her putting on a "good front" for her teacher. I love how the teacher is using -_- smileys when she's scolding Konata, though, that stuff's hilarious. Also, Konata trying to shoot the boy as a price and complaining about the lack of romance had me laughing.

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I loved the last episode, although I almost didn't like the Initial D reference since it was a bit over the top by Lucky Star standards. One of the charms of the show is its realism, and that just kinda went over the edge. Other than that, very funny stuff. Especially when

Spoiler:

Kagami complained that nobody hit on her because of Konata, and:

Konata's reaction to that. :3

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Yeah I've been pretty impressed with the goofy stuff the Japanese people have been coming up with for this show. There's also a pretty good NES remix of the main theme here:

YouTube Video

Though it's not as good as the Haruhi NES remix by the same guy. Not yet anyway, because the guy tends to improve his tracks as he updates them. (Though that version is clearly not as NES-accurate as the Lucky Star OP.) I like the video is a lot better than the Haruhi one though, since the animation is more variated.

If anyone wants it, I have a 64kbps rip of the full version of the OP. It's not that interesting, just more of the same basically.

I'm glad the show is really picking up in popularity like I predicted, not just because I love being right (:3) but also because if the popularity of the show is bad, we might not get fast high quality subs. Plus, there's some freakin' awesome fanart going around.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by zzeroparticle

I loved the hell out of that Initial D sequence. It nailed everything down perfectly, ranging from the Eurobeat, the dialogue, and the biggest lol of all:

Spoiler:

Fastest race EVER!!!

I agree that it was hilarious, I just think that in the context of the show it is a little out of place. I would have to go back to check, but I'm pretty sure this was the first parody sequence in the show. But yeah, it's super funny, really well done. My favourite part was actually those two blokes at the side of the road talking about "bureaking" and "dorifting". XD

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Sakabadger

Was anyone really expecting Lucky Star to tank? Pretty much every series that KyoAni has been the chief producer for has been popular, or at least fan-approved.

I doubt strato really cares about relative popularity when deciding what to work on, anyhow...

Well, I certainly wasn't expecting it to tank, I was expecting it to really take off in popularity after episode 3 or 4. But a lot of Western fans (actually, everybody that I talked to) complained about the show being 1) boring, 2) badly drawn, 3) unfunny, or a combination of the above.

Perhaps you're right about strato--but I know from personal experience it's very unsatisfying to work on something that just isn't taking off. Anyway, yaywoo success. ;3

Apparently the DVD of the show has already outsold Azumanga Daioh, just on preorders. I'm not sure what to think of that cause I do think Azumanga is the better show, but yeah--big stuff. (Not sure where I read that, so I can't really say if it was a reliable source.)

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Interestingly, I read that they changed director from episode 5 on, which is more or less the episode when the pace started picking up.

Honestly, I never really liked Lucky Channel. It's pretty funny, but it takes time away from the actual show which I enjoy a great deal more. And right from the start I could tell that they were going to do the same stupid joke over and over again, because Japanese "comedy" duos are like that.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Omnislash124

I don't get it...

But on another matter, did the official lyrics of the OP seem REALLY weird? I mean, the unofficial translation didn't make much sense, but the official ones make even less sense.

Yeah, those are the official lyrics as printed in the booklet. Japanese people, eh? The only way I can make sense of it is if there are a lot of puns/word jokes/references in it, which I don't particularly get.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

That's really good, I've never heard Tony Thai do anything half that good! It reminds me of the stuff that Chibi-Tech does. And there's even a NSF, thanks for the link!

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Dhsu

No prob. I'm actually surprised it wasn't Chibi-Tech, since this kind of thing seems to be his specialty. Although how did you find out it was by Tony Thai?

The NSF has "2007 Tony Thai" on the copyright tag. And yeah it totally sounds like Chibi-Tech! I thought he was the only one who could do speaking voices on the NES (although his talking NES voice stuff and NES tracks in general still sound a lot better in my opinion).

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by hikarub

I can't believe it took me 3-4 viewings of episode 8 to realize that most of the female characters (fellow students in the sports fest, female accidently locking keychains with another student) were actually voiced by obvious male voices!!

Made me LOL!!

Haha, I thought that was hilarious! They've done that once before when they did a parody of Pani Poni Dash. That's really one of the funniest little details they put into the show in my opinion.

Spoiler:

I wonder why Konata didn't help her dad (since he said that he "thought" his daughter was there, and she really was!). I guess she's kinda embarrassed by her dad, but the fact that she keeps bringing him up makes me think otherwise, so I guess it's something else.

Does this show really merit spoiler tags?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I really enjoyed episode 9, and I was especially amused by Konata's enthousiasm about the mail-in prices. That's exactly the way I am when I order stuff online. When it's a preorder, I even get 3 levels of excitement. First when I place the order, second when I get the email that it's been sent out, and third when it arrives!

FELIPE NO

That's awesome, thanks! And coming up--they're releasing a CD with all the karaoke/ED tracks! I'm stoked for that one, I was hoping they'd release that, each one of those are classic tracks.

Also, here's a super super interesting interview with Aya Hirano about Lucky Star. This is not "interesting" because I have a fanboy crush on her the size of Tokyo and take anything she says as liquid gold. Not at all.

Interview under the spoiler:

Spoiler:

Konata fans -- and Hirano Aya fans -- throughout the country, sorry to keep you waiting! It's time for Hirano Aya, who plays our heroine Konata.

Question: What were your feelings when you read the comic?
Hirano: "I hadn't really read 4koma comics, so when I first read it I was surprised. The characters were so individual, and it was full of things that really happen. I really enjoyed it. Before we started, I asked the director what the anime was going to be like, and he said: 'Just like the comic.' So I practised the voice while I read the comic. In 4koma, the stories change abruptly, and the characters' feelings change every time, so it's hard to get the flow of the characters' emotions. And the anime can cut suddenly to a new subject. Practicing with the manga was helpful in learning how to manage that. As for the character's voice, all the director said was: 'more sluggish,' and 'slower.' (laughs) He accepted the voice I came up with by intuition from the comic and the setup. I'm actually a bit like Konata in my leisure time.

Are there ways you are like Konata?
Hirano: "I love manga and can't stop talking about them. That's like Konata, I think. When people ask me what manga I like, they often don't know the ones I mention. Sometimes people have been shocked and said: 'That's so subculture.' But I've hardly played games at all. There are lots of scenes where Konata is playing net games, so you really have to say the terms she uses smoothly, but when I started I was like 'what's a net game?' (laughs) But at the last photo session for Comp H's magazine, they gave me a DS and a PSP to fool around with, and I've gotten into the PSP. Konata reads manga and plays net games all the time, and I read manga and play games, so it feels like there's some similarity. (laughs) Once when I was muttering about what manga I like now, my manager joked: 'You sound just like Konata.' (laughs)"

What do you think of Konata's father?
Hirano: "I love him. (laughs) Konata's relationship with her father is really something. Konata got her interests from her father, so their shared interests make for family harmony. (laughs) I think they will be interacting more from now on, and that will be fun. If he were my father, maybe I would have the same detailed knowledge of anime and games (laughs)."

What's the atmosphere like during recording?
Hirano: "The cast were pretty well all meeting for the first time, but before the recording, we said: 'We have to convey the feeling of classmates who are close friends and are together every day.' So we made a point of spending our breaks together, talking about this and that. Since I'm the youngest, they had to force me to use casual language. Now we're beginning to do more and more ad libs. (laughs) In places where there is no script but the characters are moving, it's like 'can we think of an ad lib for here?' And we're trying harder and harder things."

What were your feelings about the OP?
Hirano: "I loved the high-tension feeling of the OP, but since it's like the lead-off hitter, I was quite nervous. It was the first time I'd done a tune like that. And I wanted to sing in character, but we had only just begun recording. Seeing the broadcast really surprised me. It got you dancing."

You sing various songs as the ED.
Hirano: "Because we sing so many songs, and got so much material all at once, I was really flustered and thought: 'I'll never remember all this.' I couldn't even find the lyrics for some of the older songs. They gave us lyrics when we recorded, but I had practised at home just by listening and making my own notes. I made a lot of mistakes! (laughs) Then I was told: 'Since she's an otaku, Konata would sing the songs with all the same breathing and vibrato as the original. Please do it like that, Hirano-san.' It was really tough. I apologize to people who know anime songs. I hope it was okay. I.... (cries)"

What do think of one of this anime's special characters, Shiraishi Minoru?
Hirano: "I think I feel the same as the other cast members. We envy him for having a character modelled after him. It's really mortifying. (laughs) It would be fun to do characters with your own name. Shiraishi is Konata's classmate, but they don't have much to do with each other. We leave it to Akira to mess with him."

Finally, do you have a message for the viewers?
Hirano: "The cast members enjoy doing this show a lot. We will keep doing our best to communicate that feeling. Konata is a kind of character I've never done before, and I have to study a lot. I would be really happy if it's a show that remains popular. Thank you so much for your support in that. (laughs)"

Here's the link with a review of the interview (? must be a new thing): http://hashihime.blogspot.com/2007/0...interview.html
Just a little note: this is obviously an online interview as noted by the (笑)'s spotted throughout the interview. She doesn't really cry during the interview, that would be ridiculous.

I thought it was interesting that she mentioned the ad-libbing, it has been a trend in my life to like shows where ad-lib is frequent (Dr. Katz, Curb Your Enthousiasm, and so on).

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Haha, this episode had some great material, particularly the appearance of Akira in the show, not to mention the followup in Lucky Channel! I also really liked the new year/fortune telling sequence, and the karaoke section at the end was really fun (and somewhat sad if you know the song) this time too.

I thought from last episode that they would introduce that little girl into the cast this time but I'm glad they didn't, cause I think there are enough characters to go around.

Oh, does anyone know what the music is when Konata explains the map/strategy for KomiKet? Is it from Gunbuster like that theme that plays when Konata is being a militant otaku?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

HAHAHA They referenced their own opening song, that's pretty cheeky! And Akira has drills on her head, and the ED... Haha, we see the real Shiraishi, wawawa indeed! This episode was completely stuffed with hilarious references.

This episode was super good. Probably my favourite so far!

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Bigblah

I'm lost for words

I want the MP3 for that!

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I was so bored that I actually decided to try to mashup the Lucky Star OP and Shiraishi's hilarious song. Yeah. I should die in a fire, I know. Then I even got into Windows Movie Maker and about 8 hours later, this emerged:

YouTube Video

How ya doing, buddy?

Yeah I love that ED themes CD, a really clever and awesome release. It seems to me that Aya Hirano/Konata is the only one that actually practiced her songs. The others (especially Emiri Katou/Kagami) are really off and bad and it's freakin' hilarious.

I think the timing was just about right for a new character to join the ranks, and I'm glad that there's a "dry/mysterious" character too, since all the other girls are kinda squeaky, and Yui is like that too. Should keep the show interesting for a while.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by hikarub

Well, Konata's the only one there who regularly goes to karaoke so it's normal for her to be good at it (as good as Konata can get). Kagami and the rest aren't used to it so it sounds perfectly natural when they aren't as good.

Yeah it's totally in-character, so it's like... Extra good. I wonder if there even was a script? It doesn't sound like it at all, and since Aya Hirano said there's a lot of ad-libbing going on in the show, it's very likely that this was just completely free (except for the song choices, which I imagine were pre-determined... Probably!).

Originally Posted by hikarub

Minami's seiyu is Minori Chihara (Nagato Yuki)!! No wonder she sounds the same!! I guess she was the perfect choice.

Haha, I wanted to check if she was Minori Chihara, since she sounded so similar. Like half the cast from Haruhi makes a return in Lucky Star, it's almost like a seiyuu-fanservice show.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

The amount of Haruhi references was off the scale, or maybe I just noticed them more since I've been watching the DVDs (the limited edition box is awesome). Anyway, this episode was really great, and I'm hoping there'll be more Yukata and Minami, they're awesome.

I don't know what it is about the endings, but they crack me up, Shiraishi is hilarious.

It was really weird to see Aya Hirano and Konata in the same shot. Well, almost the same shot. Same scene!

EDIT: Oh yeah, I just remembered the "part of the scenery" joke, that was absolute gold.

FELIPE NO

I thought it was a nice touch to have "Akira" sing the actual ending too. I couldn't really tell if it was an original song or not, since it sounded really traditional, but sometimes they just write songs like that brand new.

Anyway, I didn't think they would show the cosplay cafe at all, so I was surprised! Especially since they were sent on some kind of wild goose chase, the first thing I thought was "they'll be stuck in Gamers so long that the cafe closes before they reach it". And then there was the indecipherable map, so I didn't think they would make it then too. I wonder if that was intentional? Anyway it threw me on a loop for a bit. It was really funny to see someone like Kagami who doesn't know the characters react to their behaviour.

The first half of the show was my favourite though, just them talking during lunch break about all kinds of things.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Because it was Gamers and she's wearing a little bunny in her hair, I thought it was a subtle reference to Digi Charat (she would be Rabi~En~Rose), but that bit with the kid doesn't seem to make much sense if that's what it is. So I guess I don't know!

Jam it back in, in the dark.