First Impressions / Lucky Star

Summer vacation is finally here! Let’s see what the girls are up to now.

To start off, Kuroi-sensei dishes out some thoughtful advice for her students regarding the upcoming vacation – turns out she just doesn’t want any more trouble, cuz it might cut into her break!

Konata keeps the ball rolling by commenting on Kuroi-sensei’s tendencies on that MMO they play. More online action to follow!

Summer festival time – and you know what that means… yukata! Each girl has her own unique color and design, complete with handbag. There’s some quip about how their obi (the big waist-strap) are tied…no idea what that’s about

Next, they meet Yui-neesan, that carefree yawning police girl in the OP. She’s really cute! Turns out she’s Konata’s friend – and she’s supposed to be on patrol, but cmon! There’s hot dogs to eat, icys to slurp on… and one of those shooting range things to play. Local police should have weapons training, so this pea shooter should be a piece of cake, right? In fact, Yui is so skilled, she does it…one handed…with a hot dog? It probably makes more…or less sense…whatever, it was cool

The girls continue their romp through the festival with such staples as cotton candy, colored drinks, and of course, goldfish scooping. Kagami shows off her skills! Later, Kuroi-sensei shows up and shows off her hot Caucasian body as Yui looks on in envy.

Back home, konakona is running through her virtual world (has anyone figured out which game she plays) when nanakon (Kuroi-sensei) logs online. After a brief exchange of words incomprehensible to me but surely of a borderline hilarious yet dangerously realistic nature, Konata is left speechless, wondering how nerdish her teacher is.

Next, Konata visits the Hiiragi house, as she greets Kagami at the door with a “chiwassu~!” last seen uttered by none other than the legendary Horie Yui-played Shirakawa Kotori from Da Capo, which brings back all the painful memories of watching one of the most awesome anime girls ever get tossed aside by that incestuous loser Jun-1. Anyways, the next scene involves Konata humming through an electric fan…something I’m sure all of us have done countless times.

Another Yui sighting as she visits Konata right as she’s doing her math homework. After a failed attempt to helped Konata, Yui relegates herself to playing her NDS (sounds like meteos or one of those puzzle games where you use the stylus) while Konata does her =_= face trying to do her homework.

Lastly, we’re back in Konata’s room, where she’s taking her 30 minute break from homework to go do log into her game and do some magic finding (while mutter-singing bouken deshou deshou… brilliant). So she’s happily clicking alon…omg! RARE DROPU! It’s the Sword of 1000 Truths! ::cue divine light and holy music:: Must tell everyone!

Lucky Channel Part 5! Akira seems to be back in her groove after an awkward showing last episode. Today’s postcard asks if Akira likes to play those online games as well. Akira goes reminiscent-mode as she starts spouting a bunch of MMO-speak, leaving Shiraishi once again hot and bothered. The segment closes with Akira hyperventilating over Shiraishi’s appearance in the actual show again…

Ending song: “Cha-La Head-Cha-La,” the original DRAGON BALL Z theme song. Konata snatches the mic back and does an epic version of this classic song. God, I wish I could see Hirano Aya’s expressions as she was recording this…

Preview

I totally dug this ep, perhaps more than any of the previous ones. Perhaps it was due to the new director (or not? Was this ever confirmed?) – while everything that happened was just like the previous episodes, this one seemed to have that extra bit of bounce to it, that spirit and vitality I felt might have been lacking from previous episodes. Whatever it is, I hope they keep it up! In terms of fluidity, it was definitely all over the place, but I’ve pretty much gotten used to that quirk about this show. Yui was a welcome (and very awesome!) addition to the cast, suggesting that the other characters in the OP might make their appearances soon.

Perhaps more apparent in this episode because of the yukatas, but I really love how the characters have different clothes on depending on what’s going on. It’s details like these that separate the great shows from the good ones…remember Pita Ten?

-jaalin

Omni’s note: This was amusing (especially if you’ve seen the commercial for Lucky star)

42 Comments

  10. Yes, new overall director (Takemoto Yasuhiro, director of FMP:TSR and :Fumoffu) and the episode itself was directed and storyboarded by Ishihara Tatsuya (overall director of SHnY). Next episode will be (or “was,” since it’s probably already done) storyboarded and directed by Takemoto, so we’ll see a good example of his style.

    I liked the episode, but no more than the last one. I even felt the pace might have been smoothed out a bit too much. Maybe I like Yamamoto’s weirdness. I don’t want to see KyoAni lose the guy who made the SHnY ED, episode 00, and the concert episode.

    hashihime
    Reply

  11. Hmmm… Did the animation style changed a bit or is it just me???

    Well, I enjoyed this episode a lot, even though its a RAW and I understand so little… Though, I totally laughed at the electric fan part since that’s what I always do whenever I go to a friend’s house… Hmmm, guess the fansub has a bit more work to do with the little MMO chat thing…

    Tsukuyomi-chan
    Reply

  12. this ep was so random xD

    -konata complains about how kuroi sensei has an easy time hunting in the mmo-shes a wiz with AreaOfEffect skills, while konata plays as a tanker and has to attract mobs. lol.
    -Yui is clueless/boke in her own way. she wears a bonta-kun kamen (mask) during the omatsuri
    -Miyuki is unable to answer Konata’s question!!! (how did the blue-hawaii flavored syrup for shaved ice get its name?). to konata’s shock, tsukasa answers instead
    -Konata compares spending money rapidly in festivals to buying expensive doujin at comiket-you dont realize how much you spend until you have no more money…. D:
    -Konata believes that if they were in the world of an adult game, they would be experiencing a “romantic event” by now!! eep.
    -Kagami utters the infamous phrase “GETTO DAZE!” (equivalent to “gotta catch ’em all” in the american pokemon games) after getting a goldfish in the goldfish scooping booth
    -For some reason, Konata wanted to bring the guy helping out in the shooting game booth home. hmm…
    -Tsukasa keeps wondering about balsamic vinegar
    -Saber/Archer sighting!
    -Yui gives good advice to Konata-just BS your homework if you cant do it!
    -Konata ditches summer homework after finding a rare drop and celebrates with her clan

    Lucky Channel segment: Akira is a BIT more normal, and minoru more cheery. akira “pities” people playing MMOs, complaining about how it saps out so much time out of your life-all the while talking about how high-leveled ppl helped her by giving her equips. akira doesnt get angry until the “curtain falls” and discovers that her name is replaced by “yutaka” (konata’s cousin i think…with pink hair in the OP) in the “script” for lucky channel.

    @jyaalin: kuroi sensei was telling konata through the mmo to “do her hw” and “stop saying up all night,” which made konata uneasy. oh, and the girls are scared/curious about how konata’s dad knew how to tie the obi for a yukata (since tsukasa/kagami bought ones that are premade, while miyuki had storeclerks do it).

    mewmew
    Reply

  13. sry for double posting >.> but i missed an obvious reference.

    -konata humming/half singing “bouken desho desho” (haruhi OP) while she plays the MMO near the end of the episode.

    and i do agree..the characters look a BIT different…their arms/limbs look longer. but that’s just me

    mewmew
    Reply

  17. aqua:

    in MPC:
    view –> options –> playback/output –> directshow video, select “old renderer”

    it was probably on “overlay mixer,” which, if you see the asterix’d note at the bottom, says “saving images won’t work with these renderers”

    sometimes when jumping to full screen mode the picture will look a bit grainy, but let it run for a few seconds and it should smooth out.

    jaalin
    Reply

  22. Aya Hirano singing Dragon Ball’s OP = …. OMG!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!! !!!!! Seriously, I really REALLY wanna see Aya’s face when she’s recording the song. Never have an ED segment made me laugh sooooo hard!!! Can anyone rip that part out for me (mp3 would be more than enough!!)? Right after the Lucky Channel Segment, onegai shimasu!! I can’t get enough of the ED!!

    JCSlim
    Reply

  30. SWORD of 1000 Truths is the Sword from SOUTH PARK WOW :O.
    It’s the legendary sword that could kill the “one with no life”.
    It was a very amusing South Park episode.

    I think Konata is playing World of Warcraft.

    Airas
    Reply

  31. airas, i congratulate you for understanding the reference, but reprimand you for taking it literally

    as omni has informed me, the name of the sword is actually ‘laevatein‘, another reference to full metal panic

    jaalin
    Reply

  32. – There’s some quip about how their obi (the big waist-strap) are tied…no idea what that’s about

    The joke is partly about the cultural reference that a “traditional” Japanese girl raised in a traditional home would know how to tie the obi on their own. Looking at Miyuki, they assume she tied it herself, but she responds that it really is hard to do, so she had the ladies at the shop do it for her, and so on. Ultimately it comes around to Konata, of whom they ask if she also got it tied at the shop. Konata responds that her father tied it for her. Kagami and company figure that there was an incestuous undertone to the notion of a father fitting his daughter in a yukata.

    There’s a parallel between this scene and the omatsuri scene in Azumanga Daioh where Tomo-chan mentions a game she’d play with her father where they play a courtesan and a daimyo who is unraveling the obi repeatedly telling her not to worry about it (“yoi deha naika?”-gokkou, she called it).

    DeadMonkeys
    Reply

  33. Oh I see :O jaalin….
    And I was thinking I finally found something from Lucky Star :O.
    Laevatein is also the staff that Fenris Fenrir uses in Ragnarök (Manwha) (Korean Manga.
    Here it is from WIKI:
    The reincarnation of the Wolf God, Fenris has become a powerful warlock, and upon returning to life began searching the world for Balder, who had also been reborn as a mortal. Fenris wields many forgotten sorceries, as well as the magical demon-slaying staff Laevatein. Notably, she has the curious ability to copy any spell that strikes her. During her journey, she has come to care deeply for Chaos as well as her memory of Balder, and sees Iris Irine as both a friend and a rival for Chaos’s affections. But its probaly not that :O.

    Airas
    Reply

  36. Thanks to afk’s epic translation of this EP, Konata says something about MH2 at the preview for the next ep, which if you’re well versed in the MMO scene could mean Monster Hunter 2. Here’s the problem though, all Monster Hunter games are solely on the PS2 or PSP. But there is also a PC version that is in the works, called MH Frontier. MH Frontier is in still in the works and will be coming out on June 7th.

    I’m not entirely sure as to what Konata is actually playing, but considering Monster Hunter’s popularity in Japan, it’s very likely she plays MH.

    More info about MH: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_hunter

    Do note that some retard is trying to change the article with completely BS facts, if you see any mention of World of Warcraft there at the first paragraph, then the retard has stricken again, keep on refreshing it though, the page goes back to normal.

    takumi2k4
    Reply

  39. So that’s it, I’m officially the only person on the entire internet who disliked the fact that Chala-Head-Chala gets butchered and Sorega Ai Deshou gets the star treatment.

    Kaioshin_Sama
    Reply

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