When I watched the first episode of Lucky Star I criticized it as being unfunny and boring. Twenty-four episodes of watching later, I still think it’s unfunny and boring -BUT- only about half of the time.

Lucky Star was a hit and miss show throughout its entirety. Some scenes, admittedly, made me laugh, while others made me sit back in frustration and wonder what I just wasted 6 minutes and 13 seconds of my life on.

But ultimately, did I regret watching Lucky Star? No, not at all. I’ve watched anime for much less. But that being said, it’s not exactly going to land itself in my top 10 anime list.

The problem I had with Lucky Star is that abandoned all elements that ANY series should have, those being plot and character development. Lucky Star started as an anime that did nothing but follow the lives of a bunch of high school girls as they went through their daily business, and that’s exactly how it ended. The characters remained unchanged as well. Konata is still an otaku with no sense of direction or meaning in her life, Kagami is still your classic tsundere and continues to hide her genuine emotions behind a veil of awkward hostility, Tsukasa is still as airheaded and naive as she started and Miyuki is still afraid of dentists. I could continue for the entire cast, but the point is that Lucky Star ended exactly where it began.

And it’s not as if 4-koma anime all share the same fate. Azumanga Daioh did a great job in keeping the random skit comedy feel that the manga had, but at the same time we got to see the characters subtly change over the course of their three high school years.

It ended up being three things that sustained me throughout the duration of Lucky Star. One being the interaction between Konata and Kagami, I loved the dynamic between these two. The standard fare between these two is: Konata baits Kagami by doing something over the top stupid, Kagami lectures Konata on her behavior, Konata notes that Kagami has similar tendencies, *tsuntsun*. And despite being played out over and over and over again, I never tired of it. A lot of people got yuri undertones between these two, but for once I’m going to have to disagree, they’re just really good friends, and it was heartwarming to see them getting together so well.

The second is Misao. OIIIIIIIIIIIII HIIIIIIRAGIIIIIIIIII!

I don’t need to justify this with an explanation, she’s just awesome. Every scene that she was in was made of instant win.

But on that note, I found KyoAni’s decision to introduce so much of the cast well past the halfway point. The show would have been much better if there had been the character variety it had at the end from the outset. It would have at least saved it from being known as the “Food Animu” for those first uh…10 weeks.

And of course how could I forget Lucky Channel, almost a show on its own. These short segments often made me laugh more than the main episode, mostly due to the hilarity of Shiraishi Minoru. It was funny seeing the animosity between Shiraishi and Akira build up throughout the series and then suddenly explode at the end. Many lulz were had.

Oh, and sleeves. You can’t forget about the sleeves.

And what Lucky Star 24 post would be complete without a mention of the full version of Motteke Seifuku. Hare Hare Yukai it was not, but it was certainly a well choreographed dance. While I don’t see why KyoAni feels it’s ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to put a dance in every one of their anime ever since doing Haruhi, but I just can’t complain when I see pseudo-lolis prancing around in cheerleading outfits. Good show KyoAni, good show.

When all is said and done, I will admit, I enjoyed Lucky Star. It was a guilty pleasure, yes, but I did have fun watching it. Sure it came off as little more than a Haruhi commercial at times and some of the jokes were so tangential and off key that only the most cultured of otaku would understand, but it did a decent job entertaining me these past 24 weeks.

However, after 24 long episodes, roughly nine and a half hours of Lucky Star, the question still remains…

Which side is the head?

~ Shirukii ~

Oh god, a part of me died while watching this. The mixture of fail and win is too much for my mind to process.

I could only bear to watch it once so far, but managed to catch references from:

As well as some memes like yaranaika and “How do I shot web?”.

Enjoy watching your AIDS!

~ Shirukii ~

Da Capo? In my food animu? It’s more likely than you think.

Considering my natural propensity to fanboy over everything, I’ve been pretty harsh on Lucky Star thus far. But episode 15 was winnage, and then some, for the Da Capo montage they threw together. Being a rabid fan of the series, despite its reputation as generic harem #9001, this has been the highlight of the entire season for me so far (or at least ties with WA WA WA WASUREMONO).

In my boredom, I scoured the intarwebs to find the CGs that the episode parodied and gathered them in a neat side by side comparison for your viewing pleasure:

From the top, the characters being portrayed are: Asakura Nemu, Shirakawa Kotori, Yoshino Sakura and Mizukoshi Moe.

Please take note that Nemu got twice the amount of CG parodies compared to the three others. Die in a fire Kotori :3

~ Shirukii ~

Kagami loev yaoi!

Wow, FMP yaoi, well played KyoAni, well played.

So Lucky Star has actually been pretty decent lately, there are still a lot of scenes that don’t come near to anything I would classify as funny, but the counterbalance of funny scenes is stacking up pretty well.

Awesome-kun is awesoooome

Most of the funny scenes seem to revolve around either Awesome-kun (kona’s dad), Kagami or Konata. Not that I hate Tsukasa or Miyuki, but they’re not that funny, or at least not to me.

And of course there’s Akira, her appearance via cardboard cutout was lulz. It would be hilarious to see Sebastian outrank her in character polls, but I’m pretty sure Akira would kill him off herself if that were to happen.

Seeing as I don’t usually do Lucky Star posts, you must be wondering wth the point of this random one is. Well, I bring you sad news (well, actually it’s only a rumor at this point) it seems that [a.f.k.] has dropped Lucky Star. But so far it’s just hearsay from forums and 4chan. Whether it’s true or just some idiot trying to start fansub drama is unknown at this point.

But even if it is true, all is not lost, as we know from Death Note, one fansub group’s death leads to the birth of two more in its place. Although the subs are a little less refined than afk (see above), they get the job done and anyone who made it through elementary school English should be able to piece together what they’re saying.

Fansub drama ftl. Apparently there was a rumor that it was going to be announced that L*S would be licensed at Anime Expo, so afk waited until that rumor cleared to release the subs. Blah.

Needs MOAR line separation.

~ Shirukii ~

Mikuru Beam? In MY Lucky Star!? It’s more likely than you think.

KyoAni…I understand you guys have a nice cash cow on your hands and want to milk it for all it’s worth, and there’s a certain beauty in subtle product placement, but this isn’t it!

Hare Hare Yukai as Konata’s ring tone and in Taiko Drum Master, Konata watching Haruhi instead of doing homework, and even copious amounts of Haruhi posters covering her room can pass as fair game.

This, however, is a little much. I watch Lucky Star because I want to hear four high school girls who look like elementary school kids talk about food.

Okay so I actually don’t know why I watch Lucky Star. But I’m sure being reminded that I’m a horrible person for not buying the Haruhi DVDs isn’t it.

On a less ranty note, Lucky Star has actually been pretty decent lately. It’s not laugh out loud funny, but it’s an amusing way to kill 22 minutes of my life.

And lol @ the ambitious (albeit futile) attempt at getting back to the roots of the word ‘tsundere’ and trying to coin a new term for its now common usage. And thankfully a.f.k. decided to leave the term untranslated this time, I’m more or less indifferent towards the localization, but tsundere != bipolar.

~ Shirukii ~

Or more fail, depending on which side of the Lucky Star debate you stand on.

Best LA rendition of Lucky Star’s OP I’ve seen to date. Pity that Kagamin and Miyuki were traps though…

Oh well, regardless, enjoy.

~ Shirukii ~

DFC wins.

I have to admit, this episode was pretty good. Whether it was the sheer amount of anime references, the 2ch reference or the gags in general, Lucky Star seems to be redeeming itself. It’s still not as funny as Seto no Hanayome or Hayate no Gotoku, but tolerable, at least. Although…with a change in directors next episode, who knows what will happen next.

Oh, and sleeveless Akira ftl T_T

~ Shirukii ~

Lucky Star

The amount of controversy surrounding this series is ridiculous. No sooner than it came out did multiple bloggers start attacking Lucky Star and its producer Kyoto Animation.

I did not like the first episode, it just didn’t live up to its “comedy” genre. However, I will admit that the second episode was slightly better, not by much, but it certainly was an improvement. I’ll stick with it for now, in hopes of gradual improvement, but will not hesitate to drop it if it becomes repetitive. (Or I may just skip to the Lucky Channel skit at the end of each episode, the only segment of Lucky Star that never fails to amuse me)

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS

As one of the people who have been inexplicably drawn to the Nanoha series since the beginning, I had high hopes for this show. While it was far from being a let down, I can’t yet say whether I would classify the latest addition to the series a success.

There’s been a slew of new characters added to the already large roster, and this is make or break point for StrikerS. What it needs to do is develop these characters to the fullest extent possible while not relegating past characters to background scenery, all the while maintaining a reasonably sensible plot. Not exactly an easy task, but it seems to be coming along well, and I’m sure they’ll do their best to maintain their loyal fans and attract new ones.

On that note, someone find me an Alter Fate! The rarity of a place that stocks it rivals that of the original holo Charizard (I couldn’t think of a better analogy, orz ._.)

Sola

As lolikit-kun has repeatedly said:

The beauty of this show is better than sex

This series is mysterious in its ability to draw me in. I sit there with little idea of why I like it, but quickly realize that it doesn’t matter and watch in blind faith anyways.

Perhaps it’s the awesome characters (minus Aono), or the vague yet promising plot, hell maybe it’s even the well above average animation quality. But there’s just something about it that makes it win. Then again, I might just be a soraphile.

Hayate no Gotoku

THIS, my friends, is comedy done right. I have laughed through the better part of every episode so far. Whether it be because the comedy is much more direct than Lucky Star’s subtle cultural references and self-referential parodies, or the fact that it has a Shana clone, but I find myself enjoying this much more than any of the other comedy series this season.

Although the dynamic between Hayate and Nagi is the least impressive of the ShanaX______ series of late, it’s probably meant to be that way. Without any deep underlying connections between the two characters, their relationship is made pure love/hate comedy. That, coupled with the numerous anime references, conscious acknowledgment of the show being an anime (one of my favourite, yet underused, techniques) and general slapstick makes this show an excellent way to waste away 22 minutes of your life in weekly segments.

Nagasarete Airantou

I -HATED- the first episode of this series, but the problem wasn’t in its execution, it was a mishandling of expectations on my part. I went into Nagasarete Airantou expecting a harem type series, and was greeted with copious amounts of fanservice and a a recursive plot instead, needless to say I was sorely disappointed.

But I decided to give it a second chance anyways, because apparently I’m masochistic. This time I went in with a blank mind, ready to accept anything that was thrown at me, knowing that plot is a non-issue. And to my surprise, I found it quite entertaining. It was mindless, fansercivey and the plot didn’t advance an inch, but, admittedly, it was funny. If this doesn’t sound appealing but you’re curious anyways, I’ll save you the trouble, here’s the general template to any episode:

i. Girls compete for the right to bed Ikuto
ii. Suzu protects Ikuto, using her breasts in some way or another
iii. Nosebleeds
iv. Plot reset
v. Acknowledgment of plot reset

Touka Gettan

I once thought YamiBou was confusing anime I would ever see in my entire life. How naive of me. I should write in to Webster Dictionary and demand they add “WTF” to their dictionaries and list Touka Gettan as a synonym.

I dare someone to try and come up with a coherent explanation of what exactly is going on in this series.

Hitohira

Only one episode of Hitohira has been subbed so far, and I’m much too lazy to raw any further ones, but so far it seems promising enough. The premise isn’t exactly what I would call original, shy girls have been done in anime before, Mugi just takes it to the extreme. But with a cast of potentially interesting characters, decent animation, and yuri undertones, I’ll stick with it for now.

Claymore

I picked this one up on a whim and I must say, it’s surprisingly good. It has a typical shounen-esque plotline with evil beings and their slayers roaming around in the world of humans. But so far it’s tackled some interesting morality issues and its plot is developing nicely.

It was the swords and the gore that initially caught my attention, but the way the show (intentionally or not) deals with human nature is interesting. Human tendencies of hypocrisy, fear of the unknown and the moral issues of euthanasia are among those dealt with in the first two episodes alone. While it’s nothing really new in anime, it’s a nice change of pace from shows like Nagasarete so I hope the show stays it’s course and doesn’t end up being a mindless hack and slash.

* * *

I haven’t gotten around to doing: Seto no Hanayome, due to lack of subs, El Cazador de la Bruja, because I’m not done Madlax, and Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku wo, because lolikit-kun and Hinano said it sucked, my tastes lie somewhat close to them, so I can’t imagine I’d like it either. I may give it a chance in the future if I get extremely bored.

And on a closing note, I will most likely be dropping Lucky Star from my blogging schedule and need a replacement. I’m leaning to Claymore as the best candidate, but wanted to give the readers a say in it. I’ll throw up a poll, the choices are rather limited though, since Soda is thinking of picking up Hayate no Gotoku, I’m left with Hitohira, Nagasarete Airantou, Seto no Hanayome and Claymore as possible choices. Or if you think there’s another series this season that I should do, specify in a comment and I might give it a look.

EDIT* Added Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann since a few people seem to be recommending it.

~ Shirukii ~

A KyoAni production that I am unable to blindly praise? And so the universe collapses.

Out of all the things I expected Lucky Star to be, they all shared one thing in common: entertaining. WHAT HAPPENED!? I hope this episode is the exception and not the rule as to what the rest of Lucky Star will be like, I’m half heartedly praying it was an “Adventures of Asahina Mikuru 00″ joke. The episode got -one- stifled laugh out of me, and the rest had me writhing in pain. More than anything, at this point, Lucky Star is a blatant attempt to capitalize on the success of KyoAni’s other shows and hope no one notices it sucks.

Episode Rating: 6/10

I’ll be lenient with the ratings for now, since first impressions aren’t always a clear indication of what’s to come.

The episode starts out innocently enough with an otaku joke. Kona-chan tears apart the competition in the 200m dash and when asked by Tsukasa why she doesn’t join any clubs, Kona-chan says that she’d miss anime golden time.

Now as much as I’d like to continue summarizing at this point…there is literally no plot to summarize. The show is an amalgamation of completely random and disjoint scenes. One minute the characters are commenting on the results of the latest rank exam and the next they’re all visiting Kagami who has apparently gotten a cold. Then it’s back to the school setting where the girls are getting out of their physical exams, lamenting Miyuki’s superior moe and discussing the methodology of eating various foods…

…Regarding that last point, 6 minutes and 13 seconds. That is the amount of time I demand KyoAni compensate me for having to watch that tedious scene. I thought it was going to be a pretty short skit, but the food kept coming as the minutes rolled by. I was considering just skipping the whole ordeal, but I feared I would miss a hilarious punchline, but by the end of it I was 6 minutes older and still scratching my head as to exactly what the purpose of it all was.

Thoughts

Again, I really hope this was a joke episode because I can’t see myself watching another 23 episodes of this, or I see myself struggling through it for the sake of KyoAni loyalty.

Then again…I watched this raw so maybe all the funny was just lost in translation. I haven’t read any other blog posts about Lucky Star yet so maybe it was actually good, but I just didn’t understand any of it. And admittedly, after that eternal food eating scene, I more or less stopped -consciously- trying to understand the rest of it. I’ll probably revisit this post when subs are out.

There were, however, two scenes that I found pretty entertaining. The first, and probably most obvious, was the OP sequence.

Hellooooo Hare Hare Yukai spinoff. Okay, so it’s pretty obvious that KyoAni did this as a throwback to Haruhi’s now famous ED dance. I think it stacked up pretty well, the song isn’t as catchy and the dance doesn’t have that “simple but entrancing” appeal. But if you set your Hare Hare Yukai bias aside and look at it objectively, it was a damn good OP. However, I think KyoAni shot themselves in the foot here, by the end of the OP I was ready to see some classic KyoAni goodness, and the resulting mediocrity was made that much worse from the build up of the OP.

And this was the scene that had me cracking up, it was hilarious and I didn’t even understand half of it! I hope this char gets more screen time.

On the technical side of things, I’m a little confused. The style of animation is so different from KyoAni’s usual approach that I’m left unsure whether to praise of critique them. Most notably are the backgrounds, a far cry from the likes of Haruhi or Kanon level scenery. The characters themselves are quite well drawn and ridiculously cute, but it’s very uncharacteristic of KyoAni not to animate or fill in background characters (as seen above). I can only think that KyoAni is sticking to the style of the source material, and if that’s the case then they’ve done well adapting to the style.

A Street Fighter parody without hadouken spamming!? *facepalm*

On that note, as much as I seem displeased with KyoAni this time around, I can’t really fault them here. They have the reputation of sticking as close to the source material as possible, and that’s probably what they’re doing here. The problem with this approach is that their shows can then only be as good as the source material. In this case, they’re adapting a 4koma into a full length anime series, 4koma often rely on situational and niche humor. So I expect that some people, myself included, won’t really appreciate the funny, while the likes of avid 4channers may find it more humorous. Just a guess though *shrugs*

I really hope that either the episode is made 10x funnier by subs (a.f.k. ftw!) or that this episode was really a joke and the awesomeness starts next week. But for now, I deserve a medal or something for making it all the way through the episode.

Edit* Looks like I’m not the only one…

- Omni made it all the way through but was slightly disappointed
- lolikit made it through the OP and 30 seconds of the actual anime resulting in a violent rant on Haruhi and all things moe :3
- Hinano gave it seven minutes then bailed
- And don’t give jpmeyer any sharp objects for a week

Heart attack in a bowl

Pantsu

So much for “cute not pedo”

~ Shirukii ~