First Impressions / Lucky Star

Derived Wisdom, Scene by Scene

“Omake”
When buying snacks with included toy, it’s common sense to always shake the box to check what’s inside, or you’ll never get what you want, no matter how much money you have.

Boxes that give trading cards must be marked specially to distinguish between the boxes with rare cards and those without.

Goddamn expert collectors hog all the rare stuff.

“Entrapment”
Mainstream media makes money by featuring Akihabara and the pitiful otaku lifestyle. Lose-lose situation for those targeted.

Otaku guys look for otaku girls as their counterpart, but the vice versa rarely happens. Considerations for the future?

“Pesticide”
Legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi once caught a fly with his chopsticks. Later to be reenacted by Mr. Miyagi and bastardized by Daniel-san.

Why the hell would you catch a nasty insect with eating utensils…

To prevent a bloodsucking mosquito from escaping, flex the muscle it’s draining from.
Soujiro: You are already dead.
Konata: You are already bit!

“Self-Evident”
Galge and dating sims only work if all the girls are attracted to the guy.

Galge and dating sims only work if all the charming and cute girls are single.

“Distant”
Restaurants featured on television shows are always too far to be visited


“Parental Approval”
In elementary and middle school, summer homework came in the form of art projects that parents “helped” with. On a related note, Tsukasa won an art competition with something her dad made… “dad was pleased!”

“Splurt Spurt”
Apparently Haruhi has been hard at work in the past year…

“Epiphany”
It’s difficult to do all of the summer homework at once, so it’s better to space it out.
Konata: I’ll be over once a week to copy
Kagami: …

“Seasonal Habits”
To not want to leave an air conditioned room during the summer is to not want to leave the kotatsu in the winter. If you’re getting up, go run some errands for everybody else.

“Elderly Wisdom”
Yutaka: Can I ask a question?
Konata: Sure, with three nee-sans here we can definitely help you.
Yutaka: What kind of present do I get for someone who just started dating?
Kagami: ………….
Tsukasa: …………….
Konata: Ah… just check online! Here, use my computer!

“Scoop”
Minami and Yutaka are now on a first name basis. BIG STEP

“Yutaka’s Yukata”
Is damn cute. So is everyone else’s. Ahh the colors!!

I read this in Memoirs of a Geisha: The sleeves of kimino are made large as to draw attention to the slenderness of the arm. Unfortunately, this also means that it’s impossible to raise your hand above your shoulder, as the sleeve falling down would be something like a skirt being flipped up. Konata gonna have a hard time holding on in the train…

Tsukasa> NANJYAKORYAA!? (“what the hell!!”)

“Rich People”
Miyuki’s mom serves everyone the proverbial musk melon.

Minami’s house has a proverbial large white dog. Chiyo-chan nowhere in sight.

“Tamaya”
Wasn’t uttered once. I’m kind of surprised. Instead, we learn that the sponsor of each big firework is announced when it’s launched, which kind of spoils the festive atmosphere.

Mosquito bites happen when you are outdoors during the summer. Be prepared!

“Lucky Channel 20”
Shiraishi is out on his excursion to the Mt. Fuji forest. Replacing him – suave-as-ever Ono Daisuke, better known as “your face is too close” Itsuki. Live feed from the forest – Shiraishi, you there? Shiraishi? SHIRAISHI???

Shiraishi Minoru ED

ED: 「お婿ルンバ」 (Omuko Rumba) by 白石稔 (Shiraishi Minoru)

Shiraishi in a schoolgirl-print shirt, blond wig, and pom poms (similar to the ones in the OP) doing some ridiculous impromptu cha-cha dance while Fukuhara Kaori tries to follow his steps. Zoom out to show a couple walking by in the background, trying hard to ignore those “damn kids” while completely oblivious to the fact that they have just been immortalized in a production their children are shamelessly watching late into the night.

Preview


Thoughts

A pretty normal episode with some deeper-than-usual conversation. Well, at least the topics were a bit deeper. I can’t help but admit that I’ve been guilty of doing or thinking several of the things they talk about.

Another major Haruhi reference! The infomercial continues, and it’s every bit as well done as the previous transgressions. If anything, this was the most blatant one of them all, and it comes in the wake of the announcement that CLANNAD will indeed be taking the Fall 2007 slot, leaving Haruhi 2 for a later date. My heart is torn, but my mind is telling me that by taking their time, we’ll ultimately be given a better product than if it had been rushed for a Fall release.

Ono Daisuke’s unexpected appearance had me laughing for reals, which is somewhat of a rarity in Lucky Star. He’s wearing a white suit that looks a lot like the one he wore for Gekisou, and together with the rose in hand, looks every bit as smooth in his Lucky Star form as he ever has.

Where in Japan has Shiraishi gone? Has Shiraishi really gone “unlucky channel” on us and met up with Itoshiki-sensei? Is Akira going to have to mount her own rescue operation? Probably not, he was prolly just off singing his song…

-jaalin

20 episodes in and I’m still having a hard time finding a good format for writing these Lucky Star summaries. I’ve gotten tons of help from mewmew in terms of getting most of the material in there, but the format still eludes me. How do you guys think the format has been so far? Any ways to improve it? Any suggestions are welcome!

61 Comments

  16. That’s what they’re hoping…. though at times it gets annoying to those of us fond of *LUCKY*STAR* (meaning the source 4-koma). I love SHnY but its been getting on my ragged nerve a bit.

    vexx
    Reply

  19. LOL LUCKY STAR IS SO FUNNY
    PRETENDING TO KNOW THE JAPANESE CULTURE MAKES ME MORE JAPANESE XD
    THE OP IS SO AWESOME I LUV IT EVEN THOUGH I DON’T UNDERSTAND THE FUCK THEY’RE SAYING
    LUCKY CHANNEL IS SO FUNNY AND COOL
    LOL ANIME AND VIDEO GAME REFERENCES MAKE IT GOOD
    YOU CAN EVER HAVE ENOUGH HARUHI. ^___^
    THE CHARACTERS ARE SO GREAT AND ORIGINAL. I WANNA MAKE THEM MY WAIFUS

    sage
    Reply

  20. If people thought this wasn’t blatant enough Haruhiism… well, there they go again. But man, that shot of everyone in yukata is cute. 😀

    And Shirashi dressed up like the girls in the OP: DO NOT WANT.

    Haesslich
    Reply

  28. Yutaka resting on Minami’s lap ftw. And I adore Hasegawa Shizuka’s voice as Yutaka. I think she’s getting better as the show goes on. Looks to me as if they have plans for her, now that she (Hasegawa) has graduated from high school: she and Aya and Minorin have a character song CD coming out in October. That puts her with the top two singers in the show.

    Jaalin: I like this format — explanatory snapshots followed by impressions. Personally, I’ve always liked point form rather than long discourses, and I think it works well for this show.

    hashihime
    Reply

  34. jaalin – Love the summaries! My favorite part is when you explain things that might be known to a Japanese person but not to anyone else (like the yukata note this ep). Other than that, just try and cover the high points so we’ll be interested in seeing it once the subs come out.
    Good luck and Thanks!

    kdp
    Reply

  35. since lucky star doesnt really have a linear plot and is made up of oh so many scenes, i actually like th format that is currently in use (and its pretty entertaining to read, too).

    i also liked th summary style (if you can call it that) back in ep. 18 altho i personally feel that takes longer to do…

    mewmew
    Reply

  37. The format works, a lot. And when it works, then there’s nothing to change. But I personally like it, it gives you some tidbits to hold you over until the subs come out.

    Heh, I wouldn’t be surprised if Itoshiki-sensei makes a cameo in L*S next week! Maybe we’ll see him hand Shiroishi some rope as they both start talking how they’re both in despair.

    takumi2k4
    Reply

  40. https://randomc.net/image/Lucky%20Star/Lucky%20Star%20-%2020%20-%20Large%2008.jpg
    https://randomc.net/image/Lucky%20Star/Lucky%20Star%20-%2020%20-%20Large%2009.jpg

    I wonder how many Haruhiists wish Haruhi was already that big during the original Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu series (or better yet, will be in Haruhi 2)?

    https://randomc.net/image/Lucky%20Star/Lucky%20Star%20-%2020%20-%20Large%2010.jpg

    Speaking of big, I sure wish at least one Softdrink maker would come up with those Liter sized cans (now that 2000mL PET bottles for softdrinks are commonplace) – the current 12oz/355mL aluminum can is now too small for me.

    Sailor Enlil
    Reply

  41. @Nemo_N: Same old as usual. Nothing really interesting or amusing has happened since the trip to Comiket. All it is at this point is a Kadokawa Shoten Ad, nothing more, nothing stands out about it anymore but that, it is it’s defining feature as a series and that’s how I will remember it when it’s over. It’s why I’m not blogging it anymore at this point and have chosen to do Sky Girls instead. For a while it seemed like the new characters like Yutaka had brought fresh material back to the show, but even the new characters personalities and quirks have worn thin over the course of 5 or so episodes. People call this the Seinfeld of Anime, but I found Seinfeld kept things fresh and interesting with each passing week, with all kinds of odd situations, Lucky Star doesn’t have those, Lucky Star has about 4 types of occurences per episode including Konata Galge Talk, Moe Moments, The Obligatory Kadokawa Ad and Japanese Culture Talk/Musings. By far the most interesting of these are the Cultural Talk/Galge Talk, but those are frequently outdone by the Ad’s which is eclipsed by the Moe moments, which is something that’s overdone anyway across the whole anime spectrum and then you have something called Lucky Channel sucking up a very valuable 3 minutes, which could be used by the show proper, with more Kadokawa Pushes, polls and now a guest appearance (Cause it’s not a Kyoani show unless they cram Daisuke Ono in there somehow) and the same Akira gimmick over and over. It’s just gotten to repetitive and predictable like a bad 80’s super robot show. Still better than Kanon though and my second favourite Kyoani series, I don’t know if that means much as there has yet to be a Kyoani show that totally convinces me of all the great things people say about the studio.

    Kaioshin_Sama
    Reply

  44. no, i don’t think haruhi is THAT packed. And if KyoAni’s listening, any fool would know that the same joke over and over again (and in front of the same audience, too) is tiring. Everytime i see these self promotions, i feel like i’m taking a really HUGE crap. it hurts but you just have to get through with it.

    iSteb
    Reply

  45. Kaioshin: I can’t really blame you for not liking the show. I’m actually amazed a lot of Americans actually like this show, seeing as it’s chock full of everyday Japanese life references and VA’s ‘しぐさ’ that are hard to gauge and appreciate without knowing those kind of subtleties in the casual Japanese language. But I suppose the fact that all the sugarcoat moe, cross-cultural references and understandable humor content alone are enough to have American viewership, it’s definitely easy to see why this show is such a huge hit in Japan.

    Anyways, carry on.

    But… Sky Girls? Are you cereal?

    Rembr
    Reply

  46. Akira-sama: So you aren’t a crow this time huh? (Ono Daisuke did Sora the crow in AIR)
    Ono: And you aren’t a dog. (Konno Hiromi, AKA Akira-sama, did Potato in AIR)
    Akira-sama: Piko~

    Maybe Sugita should be L-C’s guest next episode, better still, him and Ono in a double act. Or perhaps the only SOS-dan member yet to appear in LS, Gotou Yuuko (Mikuru).

    Best line of the day: NANJAKORYA~~

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

  48. Seriously, the Haruhi flash was barely a minute or two long. You can’t call that over-referencing, as most of the show still was about Konata and and her friends.

    As for the sudden increase of Haruhi’s cup size from a B to a C+, I think it’s a gag in itself, on how fans oversexualize characters that don’t have any overtly sexual traits just to fit with their worldview (a good example of this would be the Touhou project characters).

    Myssa Rei
    Reply

  51. I don’t blog Sky Girls yet, jeez people, I’m only taking over for Deathkillz since he needs to offload and I’m running light, plus it’s bound to pick up soon enough and I’m actually enjoying it whenever Karen isn’t on screen. Other than her I have no major issues with the show as of episode 4. It’s certainly more focused than the OVA at the moment.

    Kaioshin_Sama
    Reply

  52. can anyone tell me what is the first two manga that Kagamin was reading in Konata’s room when she was playing her console? I can recognise Blood+ and 2 or 3 Mirai Nikki.

    linkinstreet
    Reply

  57. “Akira-sama: So you aren’t a crow this time huh? (Ono Daisuke did Sora the crow in AIR)
    Ono: And you aren’t a dog. (Konno Hiromi, AKA Akira-sama, did Potato in AIR)”

    Oh! Dear ol’ Potato.

    Dear Kaioshin fellow: I agree that the “Seinfeld of Anime” is a poor description of Lucky Star. But look at it this way:

    A large and varied cast of high school girls discuss random topics and behaviors that often are true to real life.
    The regularity of school, home, and around-the-town activities allow greater focus on each member of the cast as they show their predictable, but familiar persoanlities that evoke “3-D” aquintances.
    Occaisional input from elder siblings, parents, teachers, and other supporting characters that allow us, the audience, to share with the experiences of the main cast as they progress thourgh their high school careers.

    Ignoring the half-minute of Haruhi promotion and maybe the hit-or-miss Lucky Channel show, Lucky Star is the spiritual successor to Azumanga Daioh, just with a very otaku spin.

    You may remember it as a shameless “Kadokawa Ad”, I’ll remember it for the fun group of friends who share with each other the ups and down of daily life.

    kadian1364
    Reply

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