Final Impressions / First Impressions / Lucky Star

The cultural festival is finally upon us, and the entire school is busy busy in their preparations. “Mehhh, it’s suchhhh a drag,” sighs Konata, as Kagami provides her usual too-practical rebuttal: “this is how you’re facing the last festival of your high school days??” Elsewhere, Patricia gets word of the opening ceremony festivities, and gets an idea about something big…

Wow, narrative format for Lucky Star? This is gonna get weird… this episode was actually one coherent story. Well, kinda.

  • Since most of the people watching Lucky Star are anime / Japanese pop culture veterans, I’ll skip the background info for the cultural festival and just refer to this article.

    • What’s Konata’s class planning to do? Some random ideas are peppered on the board as Class Rep Shiraishi tallies up the votes. “fortune-telling booth” wins by a landslide, versus things like “bazaar,” “maze,” “haunted house,” and “the history and assembly of kiritansu,” with a lonely one vote from Miyuki. Wait, haven’t we seen something about fortune telling in a previous KyoAni production? More on this later.

    So what’s Patricia’s great idea? A cheer dance for the opening ceremony! Here’s the catch – she needs all her friends to participate. After some early uncertainty from Hiyori, Patricia’s sparkly eyes and ultimate moe voice wins her over; even little Yutaka wants to join in on the fun. Wait a sec… cheer dance? With all the girls? Opening (ceremony)? I think I know what’s coming, and depending on what side you’re on, could be epic win or epic fail…!

    Seems like Kagami’s class is doing a haunted house – how generic. But the thought of Kagami as some vengeful spirit works out quite well. Konata agrees!

    Back at the Izumi house, Yutaka is telling Konata about her plans to participate in the dance. Konata isn’t too high on the idea, as it’s quite physically demanding – but then an unexpected call comes from our favorite gaijin, who poses a simple question to Konata: “I have in my hand a ticket! Now, now, what ticket could it be?” (for those who can read kanji, the ticket has a very noticeable “Hirano Aya” written on it)
             Konata> eh… hm… GEH?! NO WAY!
             Patty> Heh heh, Gekisou was pretty sweet huh? Wouldn’t you like to have a passionate handshake with Haruhi herself?
             Konata> AHHHH YES YES YES!
             Patty> By the way, I have a small request…
             (after phone call)
             Konata> Yuu-chan… go make some great memories!!!

    The next day, Konata recruits the Hiiragis: Tsukasa was easy enough to win over with a simple “it’ll be fun to do it with everyone!” but Kagami took some extra grease. After using Kagami’s own “it’s our last school festival!” line against her to no avail, Konata shamelessly brings up Yutaka’s determination in spite of her frail body… with a blushed reluctance and a faint sigh of concession, Kagami agrees. Oh Mei-tan Kagami, you’re such a tsundere.

    Miyuki agrees after some light persuasion: “iyaa… we’re lacking in ‘volume’ so we you to join…” Guess what Konata is eyeing as she’s saying that? “Whooo, thanks boin- er… Miyuki-san!”

    So now the cast is almost fully assembled, but how about the actual dance? Apparently Patty is still having problems with the choreography and song selection…
             Kagami> WTF! You’re STILL working on it?
             Patty> I’m trying to pick the song and well… it just doesn’t have the same feel as Hare Hare…
             Kagami> Then you should’ve asked someone else for help!
             Patty> I don’t understand difficult Japanese~
             Kagami> WTFFF!!!! You better finish this TODAY !!!!
             Konata> Nee, Kagami… for someone who didn’t want to do this, you sure are into it…
             Kagami> …shut up

    Back to Konata’s class, where they seem to have gotten several of the decorations up around the room. Miyuki is working on her tarot card fortune telling, but what’s Tsukasa going to do? Miyuki suggests some fortune telling based on patterns and shapes, sorta like palm reading, or throwing a bunch of sticks on the ground and reading a fortune from that. Except Tsukasa does it with senbei, lol (as Miao would say, a focused Tsukasa is fine too).

    The next day at school, Patty is showing the girls what the song and dance looks like on her cell phone. Yea, it’s Motteke Sailor Fuku. Question is, what video are they watching? Who’s doing the dance? Is it Patty in her room with a webcam? Or are they watching anime versions of their anime selves? And who’s singing the song?

    Sounds like an appropriate time for Konata to insert her own version of dondake?

  • We saw this term used in an earlier episode where Tsukasa and Konata was talking about Santa Claus, and once again by Kagami in the same episode where Shiraishi picked up her handkerchief. There’s no real meaning besides “wtf” or “eh” or any other sentence filler you can think of – what we do know is that it’s the new “it” word in Japan. Check here for some background info.

    • After a little scene with Misao and Ayano, we cut to Patty’s class, where a bunch of their random classmates are talking about their menu items. Here’s some more crash course lessons in Japanese subculture…
             Boy A: What’s yakisoba being called in our café?
             Girl: “The Aromatic Breeze of Spring”
             Boy B: What’s this “Trickling Dew of the Sun?”
             Girl: That’s okonomiyaki!
             Boy A: Haha, what’s up with this menu, nobody will know what they’re ordering!
             Patty: Japanese culture is funny!

  • A bit creepy to have all the chars voiced by the same seiyuu… like a self-conversation in different vocal variations. Anyways, right after that we find out that their class is doing what they’re calling a “Zuka Café,” the zuka being short for “takarazuka,” a popular all-female musical theater troupe – the Takarazuka Revue breaks up into several smaller troupes such as the Flower, the Moon, and the Snow – Patty’s class is calling themselves the “Wind Troupe.” If you remember, back a few eps when we were first introduced to Hiyori, Patty mentioned Takarazuka as she saw the extravagant drawing of Minami and Yutaka. Well, I guess we know whose idea the Zuka Café was…

    • Later, we see a little scene of Miyuki and Minami practicing their moves. Meanwhile, Konata and Hiyori are playing spectator as they wonder who’s the S (top) and who’s the M (bottom) in the relationship…
             Kagami> Oi, shut up and practice.

    The cheerleading costumes have come in! Miyuki thinks they look great, but they’re a bit embarrassing to wear! Naturally, Konata sees such a statement in a positive light…

    So what do the parents think of their daughters’ cultural festival plans? Soujiro gets quite excited at the prospect of seeing ten high school girls dancing around in cheerleading outfits, Kagami and Tsukasa’s parents just reminisced about their own festival, while Yukari tells Miyuki that she only wants to hear the good fortunes from her class.

    Next day at practice, Kagami flexes some more of her tsundere muscles… this time, Konata and Misao are on the ball with pointing it out~

    Those two game-exclusive characters make another cameo at the school gates (those chars from the bookstore during the cosplay cafe ep). They’re trying to get in because word spread that Akira was going to have a performance today (!!) – unfortunately, the first day of the school festival is for rehearsals and students only, so the public isn’t allowed in!

    It’s a damn shame too, cuz they’re missing out on everyone’s outrageous costumes – Kagami is dressed up as a ghost, Konata is her full on God knows Yuki garb (complete with magic wand and a couple seconds of Yuki’s patented fortune telling). Not to mention Yutaka and Minami’s costumes are in full bloom too!

    And, for the first time, we have Akira who has finally found a way to break into the main show. But… Shiraishi is there with her. Awkward! They work on a live rendition of Lucky Channel with a spotty audience looking on – Akira is going to perform that song she did during the karaoke “live event.” The music plays and Akira gets her game face on… and gets cut off by Shiraishi two words in.
             Akira’s temper> boom.

    And that was it for that. Really, lol. Lucky Channel crashes and burns to its last breath. So it goes.

    But let’s get to the real meat here… people have always wondered what sort of steps to use in Hare Hare Yukai while the dance wasn’t on-screen – KyoAni answered that call with a full dance version on the DVD release; no need for that this time, as the girls rehearse the full dance with every butt-shake, pom-pom swish, and chi-chi yure thrown in for good measure. The choreography is good and everything is moving and whooshing and it’s all so colorful and ahhhh! Well, the shock of seeing such an awesome OP sequence wore off for me long ago, but it was still great fun to see them do the whole thing.

    Afterwards, a short sequence involving that calm feeling you get when everything looks like it will work out alright. And it’s on to the actual performance – Shiraishi is the MC as usual, with the girls backstage waiting for the curtain to raise. They’re pretty nervous, until the odd sound of “mi-mi-miracle-minorun-run” echoes through the speakers as Shiraishi is introducing the group. Ah, tension relaxed.

    The girls look forward with confident faces, their eyes focused and legs no longer shaking. The curtain raises and the bright lights of the stage shine through…

    Shiraishi Minoru ED

    ED: 「愛はブーメラン」 (Ai wa Bumeran) by 白石稔 (Shiraishi Minoru)

    Shiraishi ends the season with what might be his best song – !


    Thoughts

    You know that feeling you get at the end of a Final Fantasy? That long, melancholic yet satisfying moment that slowly washes out like the tide as the credits scroll and the music dramatically brings to an end your epic journey?

    None of that here! It was too happy, too triumphant, and too spectacular of a finish to even begin to feel sad that it’s all over. Save that for next Sunday, when I get that awkward feeling that something is missing from my day.

    So where to begin? This episode was distinct from the others as it followed more of a coherent chronology – while there was still some jumping around, all the events fell into a logical order. It was definitely a different feel and I quite like it – if I were to point out one thing that Lucky Star could have done better, this would probably be it. Azumanga was great in that it took a bunch of 4koma comics and wove them together into a single episode, something that Lucky Star never managed to pull off with too much success (nor really tried to) until this final episode. As hashihime pointed out in the comments, the mangaka had a direct hand in writing this episode, a rather nice touch when you think about all the KyoAni-injected material that has dominated the series.

    Besides the outstanding animation quality, the vibrant colors, and that sweet orchestral Motteke instrumental at the end, one thing that made this finale a particular good one was the fact that almost everything was covered, quite an achievement when considering just how many characters and how many personalities Lucky Star has introduced along the way. Every character got to show off some part of themselves that have made us come to love them over the months, from Kagami’s tsundereness to Tsukasa’s helplessness, from Misao’s “keep it real” attitude to Patty’s crazy gaijin assumptions. Even those two random game characters showed up, not to mention Akira finally got her appearance in the main show … when it didn’t matter anymore. What made her character so great wasn’t just the whole bipolar thing… it was the irony of it all. And who could forget that dance at the end? We all knew there would eventually be some full version, and with Patty’s insistence of a cheer dance from the outset, we knew it was coming at the end of the episode. Whether you liked Lucky Star for the cute animation, the sheer moeness, the friendship of the characters, the endless references, the crazy opening dance, or just the whole “hey, I do that too!” aspect of it, there was something for everybody in this episode.

    In other words, this episode fell into the trap of “trying to do too much” in a finale, and somehow ended up pulling it off quite triumphantly. Wish everything could end this well…

    And how about Lucky Star as a whole show? Most of my episode to episode thoughts have been covered in previous entries, and to sum them up would be to say something like how it went from ‘not as good as Haruhi’ to being an incredible show in its own right; targeted to a specific audience but with an appeal that deliberately reaches out much further. There is no plot to speak of (though there were two very specific moments of character development involving an argument between the Hiiragi sisters and another one involving Konata’s mother) nor were there many laugh out loud moments (similarly, there are examples of lol moments peppered throughout the show) – but that really wasn’t the point, and the production team never did anything to suggest that it would or should be. Much of the early criticism were a result of the show going in a different direction than what people expected or hoped (but can you honestly say the direction it took was no good?), later criticism stemmed from the referencing, especially to Haruhi material, to which I point out that it really made very little difference – it was just there as fluff to add that additional bit of excitement, not to mention that all the references made up a very small part of the entire show. However, these references were the easiest form of Lucky Star “humor” to pick up on, the easiest to screencap, and the easiest for people who don’t watch the show to criticize, being one aspect of Lucky Star that doesn’t require experience in the show to really understand. The referencing helped make Lucky Star more enjoyable than it already was, but for a casual detractor to come in and make the statement that “Lucky Star is only about references” is plain ignorance. As for those who follow Lucky Star every week and still think that (lookin at you kaioshin), well… hope you enjoyed the rest of the show.

    But no, debunking criticism doesn’t make a show good. But as I mentioned above, even though Lucky Star is aimed at a target audience, there are many, many different things to like about it. Ultimately, it’s the fact that all these different things were done so well and seamlessly integrated that makes Lucky Star a resounding success, worthy of mention as its own show and not just “the one with all the haruhi references” or “the kyoani azumanga” or whatever else was being echoed.

    It was a wonderful ride that started off slow but quickly picked up and kept up the pace all the way through. Along the way we met characters that each had their own flavor and own way of doing things, but somehow fit so well with each other. And if you took the time to watch, to listen, and to just enjoy their company, you might just have a little fun and go about your day with a little more cheer. I’m glad I did, and I hope you did too!


    -jaalin


    Thanks for reading and thanks for participating in the comments – you’ve all been great! Special thanks goes out to mewmew, who provided me with translations and explanations throughout the season, couldn’t have done it without him. Lucky Star is the first series I’ve blogged from start to finish, and I’m happy that I did – it’s brought out some of my best and definitely gave me the motivation to keep going on. As Omni hasn’t released his fall preview yet, I only have a very basic idea what may seem interesting to blog next season, but you can bet I’ll definitely give any comedies and 4koma adaptations a serious look.

    159 Comments

    7. great episode i am hoping now for a 2nd season , i dont know i just dont want to miss each weeek lucky star
      seem i have to rewatch all first
      cant explain my feeling now its so sad but its was so indescribable
      i just dont want it end konataaaa~~

      lucky
      Reply

    18. Favorite anime ever?

      *bursts out laughing*

      – No plot or development. All characters are 2-dimensional

      – Not funny. I’ve never laughed during a single episode. I’ve only smirked and smiled occasionally.

      Calling Lucky Star your favorite anime is like eating a jar of sugar then saying it’s your favorite meal because how sweet is it.

      Anonymous
      Reply

    19. This is what I have to say about Lucky Star:

      It’s a fun show to watch, but there’s nothing to say about it other than pointing out which references were used. There’s rarely a standout episode; most of them have been “as expected,” so the show’s extreme popularity in Japan could probably be attributed to it being a “comfort show” for its intended audience.

      Sounds familiar?

      Anon
      Reply

    20. Lucky Star has gone from pretty good to being possibly the best slice of life anime ever. Every second oozes perfection, from the gripping suspense to the overbearing guilt, from the precise fanservice to the impeccably timed BGM. LS is the zenith in the evolving formula of slice of life anime, and has set a new standard which all subsequent shows will be compared to.

      sage
      Reply

    23. why are you bagging me for naming my “favorite” anime? did i say it was the best? did i say it had to be your favorite?

      hayate and lucky star definitely share many similarities, but then again so does gundam seed and gundam seed destiny. and yet there is such a vast difference. it’s a matter of subtlety, of balance, of purpose, one which lucky star excels at and hayate exploits superficially.

      jaalin
      Reply

    25. It is when a “slice of life” anime exceeds expectations that either the world is ending, or the show has zero expectations whatsoever. “Exceeding expectations” is relative.

      The whole premise of Lucky Star was to creep into one’s life so that you feel like you knew these people as if they were your own friends. For those who are more paranoid, you could say it taps into the hidden part of humans that just loves watching what other people do and seeing how they think and listening to what they say. I don’t know if you “people watch”, but I do, I admit it, and that is why I somehow got sucked into this show, week after week.

      Hearing it in English is going to be painful, if only because Americans girls don’t seem to worry about all of the things that these girls worry about — and since the creators won’t be responding to recent events, it will all seem somewhat stale. But Lucky Star, to me, felt like a success. Like all successful animes, I will be feeling a sense of withdrawal until next week comes… I only hope that there comes something to fill that void.

      I can’t wait to watch it, raw, and with subs. I only hope that I’ll be able to sleep tonight.

      cbhl
      Reply

    27. I suppose the people that didn’t like Lucky Star similarly didn’t enjoy Azumanga Daioh. There is something to be said about the brand of style and humor that exists in LS, it’s not necessarily plot-driven, and makes no claims of being plot-driven, as is the case with Hayate. The source behind LS is a 4koma, so there’s no mistaking what LS presumes to be. For a slice-of-life anime, I want to say that it’s even better than Azumanga, in that Lucky Star knew its audience, and played directly to it. I’m a fan.

      Tetsuei
      Reply

    28. i thought lucky star was far more than just pointing out the references tho.
      i can actually relate to th characters, which helped with my enjoyment of the show.

      the fact that both konata *and* kagami said どんだけぇ～!! this episode cemented that. ^^

      gotta love the anonymous trolls. 　im still confused at why ppl expect LS to have plot development, its source is 4-koma for god’s sake. the only real plot development going on is that they get older (and just because a series has plot development doesnt automatically mean its good either).

      and lucky star’s catchphrase is to portray high school life in a fashion that is また～り. it’s supposed to be relaxed, in a way.

      i suppose its reassuring (in a way) that no matter how many trolls criticize the show, lucky star (and th cheerleading routine) have cemented its way into akihabara permanently. i can’t wait to see videos of ppl doing the routine on akihabara streets pop up in youtube and niconico….

      mewmew
      Reply

    29. Nyahhh.. It’s over 🙁
      Bye ni Lucky Star, I’ll miss this show..
      I enjoyed this show to the last part, will definitely get the Lucky Star PS2 game and the DVDs once it’s out in the US!

      Now and then.. forever..
      Lucky Star!!!

      mutio
      Reply

    30. @Rembr: How goes it. Well it looks like about the ending I was expecting. Haven’t seen the episode, but it looks just like what I would imagine. They appear to do the dance in the end too. However, I’ll continue to stand by my belief that Lucky Star is not the godly anime people like Sage above me make it out to be.

      Kaioshin_Sama
      Reply

    32. >> However, I’ll continue to stand by my belief that Lucky Star is not the godly anime people like Sage above me make it out to be.

      You just got trolled, it was a modified C&P from Jaalin’s opinion of School Days in his power rankin post.

      Sheba
      Reply

    33. >> My gripe with Lucky Star – what is the anime bringing to the table? Everything good about the anime is a result of the source material, not the anime itself.

      Shit, what doesn’t fall into that category? Ghibli works? (well even they did source material stuff too.)

      All anime brings money to the table of those who made it. And Kyoani is making a fortune off of this one. That doesn’t automatically indicate the quality of the anime, but they are doing something right.

      Rembr
      Reply

    34. btw kaio: sage and those 4ch anon ppl are just copy pasting what i said about other anime in the power rankings and subbing in lucky star, lol. oh well, let them have their fun… anything to raise the hits counter xD

      cbhl: great comment! i feel the same way

      jaalin
      Reply

    36. But how is Lucky Star any different from any other moe slice of life show? Why does it stand out from the rest that much? What’s so special about it? What has it accomplished that no other show of the genre could accomplish?

      Is it the characters? Are they completely original and well thought out? Does it add a new character archetype never seen before in this type of show? Does it at least add anything new to the old existing archetypes? Are they the new character models that all the other shows should use as a guideline in the future, or are they just a blatant ripoff from every other moe moe character ever?

      And the jokes. Are they well thought as well? Do they make you laugh or smile? Are they completely new and original jokes never used before in this genre? Are the jokes involving Haruhi references that fresh and funny? Are the other referential jokes funny or original as well? Is it something never seen in any other anime?

      Maybe it’s the so called chemistry between the characters. I think anyone that isn’t new to anime can see that many other shows of the genre have accomplished that as well.

      What is exactly original, new or exciting in Lucky Star? What makes it stand out that much from any other show in the genre? Nothing. That’s right, nothing. It is another generic and mediocre slice of life show, praised by blind KyoAni fanboys who never watched another show of the genre.

      Anonymouss
      Reply

    37. Nooooooo! I’m a little embarassed now. I got trollowned.

      Oh well, now that Lucky Star is over everything can go back to normal in the anime community until Clannad airs and the Kyoto Animation fanboys and 4Channers continue the epic struggle that defines 21st century anime. It’s so “fun” being an anime fan these days and getting caught in the crossfire. In all honesty, I have no team affiliation, I’m your Green Party, your Independent Senator, your friendly neighbourhood confused philosopher, and boy did Lucky Star give me stuff to talk about, even though it got a little overwhelming at times. The fact that I’m still standing and still able to remain an anime fan after all the things I’ve seen is a sweet victory for me.

      Kaioshin_Sama
      Reply

    39. And yet the anime is far more popular than the mediocrity, to the point where it’s contesting the peak.

      Who knows, man. It did something right. It’s producing the numbers. What can I say? It produced the results. That part can’t be challenged.

      What’s more mysterious is why some people need to go on and on about this. So it’s popular. Big deal. Some people see something you don’t. And vice versa. That’s life.

      Rembr
      Reply

    41. i gotta give these guys due credit, though… they sure know my work.

      Oh well, now that Lucky Star is over everything can go back to normal in the anime community until Clannad airs and the Kyoto Animation fanboys and 4Channers continue the epic struggle that defines 21st century anime.

      LOL nice nice nice

      jaalin
      Reply

    47. x,x do we really need to yet again start this “best anime ever” war? -.- eeep. if it keeps up, th comment section is going look like something in a 2chan thread, which is *not* pretty.

      @ th anon. who used *two* s’s.
      what you brought up can be considered against any anime, so i dont see your point.

      mewmew
      Reply

    48. HAHAHAHAHA AWESOME FULL DANCE!!!! I hope Haruhi season 2 is coming in october, but its Clannad right? And i doubt they’ll be doing any dancing…oh well Haruhi in winter, means watching it during christmas break, so its all good!

      Harouki
      Reply

    49. Everyone’s a critic. An opinion is just that. Opinion. You don’t have to agree with it, but acknowledge the fact that you’re on the home turf of the opposing team, and just walk away.

      Tetsuei
      Reply

    50. This was a great ending to a great show. When the series started, my hopes were not high. I thought this could be the show to fail and break KyoAni’s string. How wrong I was. The narrative aspect of this final episode is even more remarkable when you realize that this ep — and this ep alone — was actually written by the mangaka, according to the on-screen credits.

      As for the generally anonymous people who are putting the show down here, I will break my own rule of not being honest about what I think of some people’s opinions and say that I think the anonymous naysayers are fools who just don’t get it. Their senses of humor must be too blunt and childish for an adult (yes, adult) show like this. The references were just part of the humor: they were like frosting on a very good cake of the humor of everyday life. I didn’t get more than half of the references, but I still found every episode funny. Just because you don’t get the humor, doesn’t mean the humor isn’t there.

      Now, I’m not ranking this show in my top ten just yet, but I think it was an excellent anime. People are free to have other opinions, but when they come here and criticise the show to its fans, they deserve what they get.

      hashihime
      Reply

    51. wth is sage talking about? lucky star is one of those anime that you only see once in a while, it’s chances of becoming classic are slim but it’s still high up there as one of the best slice of life ever. there are people who can’t really comprehend why other people like lucky star even if the characters aren’t in-depth or if the jokes aren’t to their taste. that does not, however, make lucky star a bad anime and it is still worthy of being someones favorite anime.

      e-gas
      Reply

    55. Excuse me, but Lucky Star might have been alot, but it was no comedy for adults. It was a reasonably enjoyable contraption of moe and trivial humor. On occasion it was excellent, but there were also some lengths with tried my patience (how to eat chocolate hornets or how you get sleepy on a heated train). For a 4-koma conversion, it managed to be one of the best attempts (though I’d still pin Mahoraba as superior storywise).

      What remains is a good, but certainly not outstanding show which lived off the ballyhoo around the big names producing it. A 7.5 out of 10 from me, which is still pretty good.

      Mentar
      Reply

    57. Absolutely the #1 best anime of 2007! HANDS DOWN! Tsukasa is probably the best character out of all of them. FEAR THE MOENESS!!!! (yeah Akira for finally getting a part in the show!)

      HERE’S HOPING FOR A SEASON 2!!!!!!!!!!! Lucky Star the College Years!!!

      Hudson
      Reply

    58. I’d also like to add one more thing. In a way I’m relieved Lucky Star is over, not because I’m some sort of sadistic jerk who enjoys seeing people feel down when a show they enjoyed ended (I know the feeling all to well, what it’s like to say goodbye to a show you’ve come to love. Saying goodbye to a great cast of characters is the hardest part), but because now I get two weeks of peace to watch my own favourite shows without any of them having to be compared to a Kyoto Animation show, with people making me feel like my show sucks. It’s really hard to enjoy anime anymore when you have a voice in the back of your head saying “Gee, I really like this, but people say it’s not good, because it’s not like “Blank” Kyoto Animation show, that kind of dampens things a little….dang”. Now imagine that for about a year, and well let’s just say I’ve been spending more time with American shows lately, but at least until Clannad I can get in some solid enjoyment of anime, before that echo returns in the back of my head. I just hope I can enjoy Gundam 00 without people cross comparing it with Clannad and bringing it down. It works both ways, and you can just as easily bring people down by overpraising something to make people who like other stuff feel like their enjoyment of a series is trivial and meaningless in the grand scheme of things, as you can by criticizing a series directly.

      Kaioshin_Sama
      Reply

    59. @Kaioshin
      That about sums up my feelings for the entirety of Lucky Star’s existence. I didn’t hate the show per se (and for a fact, I hyped it since I had followed the manga in Comptique) but the buzzing in my ear I got whenever I tried to watch anything else. For a very long while I couldn’t watch anything just because just watching other shows from the running season made me feel melancholic.

      Though now that’s it’s over, I’m not so sure I can even return to some shows. Though that little void that had formed is starting to fill up a bit. I’m at least becoming a lot less judgmental about things, to say the least. That’s probably why I won’t even take a risk in watching Clannad. Not that I hold KyoAni above any studio but for the mere fact I don’t want the buzzing from other people to return again.

      Likkun
      Reply

    60. lucky star isnt your gundam, bleach, death note, or code geass.
      until someone finds something like lucky star, where the characters get so ingrained into your head that you start to feel for them, in a snappy 4koma presentation, then i cant agree that this anime sucks.
      lucky star is lucky star.

      that said, go ahead and troll your next anime anonymous.

      marsdrivein
      Reply

    61. I’m going to call this my favorite anime of 2007 not because it’s done by kyoto animation. I’ve read some of the manga (that was really difficult since I don’t know much Japanese >_>) and own both of the Lucky Star DS games. However, I will say that Kyoto Animation and J.C. Staff are my 2 favorite animation studios. (Are you going to gather your Anon-Yamainu and kill me with your invisible guns now?) No one has any right to say anything about mine or anyone else’s preferences.

      What some of the anon’s posted aren’t critiques. They’re simply attacks aimed at the series because they have nothing better to do with their time.

      If you don’t have anything nice to say about the show, stfu, gtfo, go die in a fire. Don’t post that stuff on the comments of the summary of the last episode of the series with your hockey masks and your Anonymous name tags on.(“oh no, I don’t even want to leave my online screen name because someone might decide to chop my e-penis off.”)

      Dmo
      Reply

    62. I’m also glad that Lucky Star’s over. Despite it being one of my “quota anime” (a title I’ll watch amongst other, better titles), it was basically another moe blob anime series.

      I don’t have anything against “slice of life” shows, but they have to be more dimensional than this. The characters are all basically running gags and easy cannon-fodder for YouTube (Poop). When Tsukasa said “hunga~,” I immediately used Hun-Grrr from Transformers Generation 1 Season 3.

      Worst of all was the “Lucky Channel” segment of the series. Akira’s basically where Lindsay Lohan is late for Britney Spear’s haircut while Mel Gibson and Don Imus call each other bad names. And Shiraishi? I voted for him. I wanted him to sock Akira so hard her broken face would never appear again in front of the camera.

      Finally; it’s the shadow of Haruhi’s Melancholy. It was all over her p0n0s and couldn’t get enough of her “membersause.” If a show like that comes to the US and brings in the amount of money Fullmetal Alchemist did, then the terrorist had definitely won.

      Tyrenol
      Reply

    64. wow, lucky star was awesome, and for those who don’t really get it, their loss.
      lucky star is like the Seinfeld of anime; it’s a show about nothing. if you compare the two you’ll see what i mean. each episode circles around a certain topic, and they brilliantly branch out from that. and lastly, of course the all the characters can’t be original, but it’s not just with moe anime, almost no anime in the last few years has had true original archetypes.
      The good thing about the 4 koma is that you can rewatch episodes randomly!!!

      mootab
      Reply

    67. @MarsDrivein: Who’s to say one can’t feel that way about Gundam. The characters in Gundam very much get ingrained in my head. I’ve spent a lot more time with Amuro, Char and Kamille then I have with Konata, Kagami, Tsukasa and Miyuki, (both in terms of episode length and in terms of just plain time) so they have a long lasting impact on me. I feel like I’ve grown attached to them. It’s not only Lucky Star and Slice of Life that can do this for it’s characters, it’s been done by many different forms of media and will be done again. That said I think people should be looking forward to what’s next and not get to hung up on Lucky Star ending. Anime doesn’t stop and end with Kyoto Animation after all, there are many more fish in the sea. Go and catch them.

      Kaioshin_Sama
      Reply

    69. EPIC WIN and an epic ending to go with it. What more could you ask for?

      Well…personally I wouldn’t have minded one last karaoke box ED, but Shiraishi was fun, too. Thanks for the great season finale write-up.

      It was nice to see Akira make it to the actual show, and her fighting with Shiraishi was a nice change of pace. Makes me wish he had grown a pair earlier in the season so we could’ve gotten more of that dynamic. 😉

      0rion
      Reply

    72. @Kaioshin — Don’t worry, I’m just letting my inner beast out in response to the trollers. People just find different things funny. However, when they come to a post about a show I like and criticise its humor, their sense of humor is fair game. I certainly wouldn’t say you couldn’t get to know characters in a Gundam series, just that it is illegitimate for anyone to claim that you can’t get to know them in a series like this one. I really do think we got quite close to the characters, and for anyone to call them thin or stereotypical is just an error, in my opinion. Anyway, don’t let the fans get to you. What other people like or don’t like is immaterial, just grist for the mill. We definitely do not all have to agree. I mean, I’m one of about half a dozen people who like Touka Gettan.

      @Mentar — Yes, adult. The humor of the realities of everyday life, like choco-coronets and warm trains. Driven home by major-league moe, of course. And much as I loved the warm-hearted Mahoraba, this was stronger humor and a stronger portrayal of human beings, for me. I have no idea why other people liked this show, but in my case it has little to do with the names of the people who made it or starred in it. I love Hirano Aya, for example, but I definitely do not like all of her shows (Himawari leaps to mind). I don’t get Mushishi or ARIA, but I don’t put them down, even when their fans make me feel like an idiot for not admiring them. That having been said, I can definitely understand your 7.5, even while I’m giving this show a 9.

      hashihime
      Reply

    74. It was fun while it lasted.

      My heart will feel the pain, this old friend, same when Kanon 2006 and Suzumiya Haruhi and all the anime I’ve been watching ends. ;___;

      Kagami will live in my heart I tell you! >__

      Jusuchin
      Reply

    75. Why do people keep using the term end of an era? An era is something much more encompassing then a singular entity like Lucky Star and is generally regarded as something that takes place over a large period of time (In fact in record keeping an era is regarded as the longest possible measurement of one span of time). World War II was an era in history, The Sega vs. Nintendo Console Wars was an era in gaming, the Wayne Gretzky years of Hockey were an era in the NHL, The Beatles Live Tours were an era in music, this was just six months of a TV show. Something that is not bound to a specific point in time cannot be an era. Lucky Star is immortal in it’s media format and thus cannot be an era.

      Now Lucky Star can be construed to be part of an era, if you want to try and say the moe trend will last a very long time and then fade away, but otherwise the definition cannot be applied in any way. Concepts as opposed to entities are what constitute eras, so to avoid confusion, when I say the Wayne Gretzky era of Hockey, I don’t mean Wayne Gretzky himself was an era, but his participation in and dominance of the NHL was an era in hockey.

      Kaioshin_Sama
      Reply

    79. Hey jaalin, thanks for doing up the blog for LS. I appreciate it and I must say that you’ve definitely improved greatly from when you first started. ^_^

      Sucks that LS is over, but I’m definitely glad I watched it. Might’ve been a slice of life anime, but it was the slice of life that is very similiar to my own.

      Kageho
      Reply

    80. @Rembr: You realize when I said that I was joking right. Oh…… You joined AS. *Squeal Of Delight* We are gonna have some fun fun fun.

      @Tetusei: My life is neither Mundane, nor empty, Lucky Star is barely a drop in the water of my weakly routine. I’m very active all the time, always have something to do.

      @Jaalin: Wow, now I wish I could actually finish a series I blogged, I still haven’t followed one to the end. Although I’ve only been at it for about 3 months.

      Kaioshin_Sama
      Reply

    81. Well, that comment was more referring to myself, sorry for the misunderstanding. It certainly feels that way, since aside from Claymore, Lucky Star was the only series that I’ve religiously watched every week when released, as compared to other series that I’d let sit for a few weeks to build a backlog and then clear out on the weekend. Now that I don’t really have any compelling series to look forward to, it really does feel like mundane and boring, since I don’t really do much during the week except work. I really do experience my anime vicariously through blogs… sounds pathetic when I write it like that…

      Tetsuei
      Reply

    84. @Tetsuei: What are you interested in? Instead of looking forward, why not trying looking back. I have a virtual encyclopedia of knowledge on anime series reaching back as far as 1972 so maybe I can help. If you want my e-mail address I think it’s on my blog and you can ask me. If not it’s just my username with @hotmail.com at the end.

      Kaioshin_Sama
      Reply

    85. Kaioshin, well, it’s usually a case of me being dead tired after work that results in me not doing anything fun aside from maybe half an hour on the PS3, if I’m awake enough. I’ve been meaning to go back and rewatch Kino no Tabi, so I think that’ll keep me busy for a while, I suppose. Hopefully Haruhi season 2 or Code Geass season 2 will keep me going when they start airing, we’ll see.

      Tetsuei
      Reply

    86. I’m split on Lucky Star. It’s not a bad show. Impossibly over-hyped, but an entertaining experience nonetheless. Sort of like a Di Gi Charat – Don’t expect to much, check your brain at the door, and you’ll have fun.

      Here’s my problem though: While it’s not as bad as some say, it’s CERTAINLY not as good as others say. An entertaining experience? Sure. An all time classic of the slice-of-life genre? Sorry, but not quite.

      In a sense, the hype really hurts Lucky Star because, by calling it the best show or best comedy of the year, you compare it to other shows, that, quite frankly, are significantly better than Lucky Star. Shows like Gurren Lagann, Seto no Hanayome, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Potemayo…yet, somehow, Lucky Star is the best show of the season? It might be someone’s favorite show, but you must understand that it is not the best show.

      It’s kind of like how I believe Grave of the Fireflies is one of the all-time great animes, but I would not put it in my favorite anime list because I have other shows (FLCL, Azumanga Daioh, Yu Yu Hakusho) that appealed more to me. Lucky Star is an entertaining anime, not a great anime. Especially not when compared to the truly great shows that we have seen this year. I only wish that people would understand this difference before crowning Lucky Star, and in the process, continuing to over-hype it.

      Not Anonymous
      Reply

    87. @Not Anonymous: That’s why when a thread on Animesuki asked users to name the best anime series, I refused to acknowledge there was such a thing and instead submitted my personal favourite Zeta Gundam, but made it clear that it was just my favourite. I’m not one for claiming anything is the best ever or the worst ever, I just don’t see anyway anyone can come up with a set of criteria that will work for each and every genre of anime out there in determining good from bad. I prefer to leave the hyperbole for idle banter and keep my opinions on a show straight and to the point, while trying to avoid overexaggeration. I also like to really analyze things as people can probably tell.

      Kaioshin_Sama
      Reply

    88. Pretentious show that the majority of you faggots won’t even take a glance at it if it’s not made by KyoAni (the EA of anime business) and/or not overloaded with Moe bullshit.

      Tl;dr shit sux.

      anonymous
      Reply

    90. One thing I learn from Lucky Star is how pathetic and shallow some of you weeaboos can be. Formula for success mastered by KyoAni:

      1. Make everyone looks like they are 10-years old
      2. Insert catchy dance sequence at the OP or the ED
      3. Make the characters babble about the most mundane things ever
      4. Make Aya Hirano voice the main lead female character
      5. Reference everything Japan-related as often as possible because the weeaboos love it

      Voila! A pseudo slice-of-life show guaranteed to capture your audience. Instant success!

      anonymous
      Reply

    91. @Kaioshin: I think that arguing the merits of a show is very good, because it allows people to share their views on certain shows, and you might even find some good information in there. Even lurking on 4chan can help you learn more about anime and help you find shows you might like. What gets me is when we attach the labels of best ever, and then try to kill off the argument.

      It kinda kills me when arguments over Lucky Star begins, because there’s basically no one in the middle ground anymore. Probably because of all the hype, but arguments usually degenerate into “Lucky Star is the best/worst ever”, and those in the middle are left scratching their heads.

      My only real dislike of Lucky Star isn’t the show, it’s the fans/haters/trolls (on both sides) who have these foolish arguments. I don’t hate the show, I just wonder why both sides are so militant on their beliefs. Not the best, not the worst, but still okay. So why is it that I feel like I’m missing something when these flame wars break out?

      Not Anonymous
      Reply

    92. @Anonymous
      The reason you don’t like this show is either because:
      1-You are bad at Japanese and don’t understand the jokes.
      2-You are not a anime fan or at least not enough to call yourself an otaku.

      Especially #2 because to understand many of the jokes you must have watched many other anime series to understand the jokes – not just the ones that have been dubbed in other countries like Inuyasha.

      As it was commented before in one of the very early episodes, this show was aimned to KyoAnim fans and Haruhi fans. If you are not on the road and don’t like the show, too bad for you – you wasted hours with a smirk or fake smile on your face because you didn’t get the show.

      banzemanga
      Reply

    94. we’re here to talk about the show, why must you focus your efforts on those that frankly just don’t matter? you make the point of separating preference from fact, the subjective from the objective, and yet you are guilty of falling into the trap anyways. i don’t get it?

      yes, people like to throw words like “best” around, but without providing any sort of factual support to back up their argument, it’s obviously they are just referring to their “favorite.” by choosing to ignore this fundamental FACT and continuing to go down this dead end you are no better than the ones you condemn. why do you argue against an opinion? is all that prose just for show? what exactly are you doing to contribute to this discussion of LUCKY STAR?

      every popular show, regardless of why it’s popular, is going to have a polarization of love / hate. for one reason or another. you know this. we all know this. and yet, you still choose to walk down that path. why do you drama queens always need to find fault in something? in this case, it has nothing to do with the show. THE ACTUAL SHOW. it’s something YOU created, some shell of psychological, ethical, and otherwise plain delusional struggle of the lowest denominator in order to find some fault associated with the material.

      why do you have to be so angry? is your own opinion so weak that it is threatened by a random comment of no consequence to you? are you incapable of appreciating THE ACTUAL SHOW for what it has to offer its audiences?

      small, small people with small, small minds.

      locke
      Reply

    96. I’ll chime in for once. While not my favorite anime (that honor sits with the mundane To Heart), it’s one that I enjoyed. Definitely one for my collection, and it’ll probably sit in my library between the wonderful ARIA series and Mahoraba.

      Myssa Rei
      Reply

    97. @Not Anonymous – You should try to take “best” as “my favorite” so that it wont bother you. Even if there is some show that is better than lucky star, but, to some people Lucky Star is better than those anime you mentioned. Like me, I don’t like Gurren Lagann(I can’t stand watching mecha, sorry), Potemayo, Seto no Hanayome(I don’t know, I disliked it when I read the manga before, didn’t bother watching the anime adaptation) but, I do like Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and Seirei no Moribito as my favorite this year.

      There is no such thing as “best anime”, but we can agree that “it is one of the best anime”.

      Endz
      Reply

    98. @locke
      Soliciting posts like yours is one of the reasons why some of us like to troll Lucky Star fans. I don’t have any personal vendetta against the show to be honest with but it’s always fun to see how LS fanatics fumble for an excuse to defend their oh-so-precious show that turns out not to be as godly as they once thought. See banzemanga’s reply or the final review for one.

      anonymous
      Reply

    102. Well, as the trolls hide behind a mask of anonymity (and subsequently the Internet Dickwad Theory), I’ll step up to the plate and say that I could care less and I actually usually don’t bother to find out what studio produces an anime – if I like it, I like it. That’s just how I make my distinctions. I didn’t really care for the entire 12-is-the-new-17 style myself, and didn’t really watch the show until about 10 episodes in. The unassuming humor is what I found endearing, and not really having a plot-driven series is nice every once in a while, as a departure from the norm. That’s what really did it for me, it’s a series that you can actually pick up in the middle and not really miss much, because everything is detached, aside from the call back reference.

      Tetsuei
      Reply

    105. That’s some entertaining show. I really liked it for its cuteness and references. I have to say this anime is not the most original, but it was fun. Fun like all slice of life that I’ve watched in my life.
      NOW, what we have to watch? Gurren Lagann(the last two episodes).

      Maedhros
      Reply

    108. Well, once again Anonymous just makes a dickwad of himself 🙂 … Those of us who were fans of the manga would have watched this if it had been done by a couple of guys with crayons. Yeah, I had to cut through the stupid anime-only references (some of which were amusing) and the anime-only Lucky*Channel (which had its moments) to “Find the Lucky*Star I was Looking For” … but it is there. The somewhat plotless slice-of-life character studies that were so charming, a sort of Japanese Peanuts in a way.

      Character study works seem to be difficult for some viewers to comprehend – usually the short-attention-span variety. You can browse the posts and easily tag that type. They also usually have little clue about the culture behind the medium they claim to like.

      For more discerning viewers, if Lucky*Star had arrived -before- Azumanga Daioh or Ichigo Masimaro, it might have fared better in comparison but as it is, each series had a personalized brand of humor that means L*S will sit on the shelf next to my DVDs of AzuDa and I.M.

      I’ll miss L*S in the way that I miss other slice-of-life series. It would be nice to see some OVAs in a year or two once more 4-koma material accumulates. And I still have the manga, which is still in production, to enjoy for now.

      vexx
      Reply

    111. Vexx: Once upon a time I’d think that an OVA about a slice-of-life anime (after the initial screening of its series, I mean) wouldn’t be possible, but after the surprise from Ichigo Mashimaro (tickled me surprised there) and later the ARIA OVA (I mean, this is ARIA, for cripes sake, the show that a lot of people like but don’t seem to talk about) makes me think that there is a chance.

      Myssa Rei
      Reply

    112. This show was really the illigitimate child of Family Guy and Azumanga Daioh…I really liked this anime and it will be missed…

      However I do agree with the people who say that it’s ridiculous to call this one of the best anime ever…this anime makes you feel good and makes you laugh a little…but it’s nowhere as good as say Azumanga Daioh.

      I love this Anime to bits and I am sure other people do too but don’t let it cloud your judgement…

      Megaman0
      Reply

    113. Oh good lord! [sarcasm]Jaw-dropping, moe moe, underated, best slice of life anime ever is done…[/sarcasm] Very bad choice… [not sarcasm]Now just bring me Clannad and I’ll be happy as hell![/not sarcasm]

      Veeta
      Reply

    117. Well, I figured I’d post on the one blog I read alongside the show for the last episode. Thanks for blogging, jaalin, and I personally say that this is my favorite anime of 2007, if not of all time. Of course, I’m not a full-blown otaku, so what the heck. This was probably the best episode of the entire series. This definitely was a great ender for the anime, and although I would want a second season, the ending seemed to seal it off rather appropriately. Many good books leave you to imagine what happens beyond the ending, and even with something of a rather plot-less anime like Lucky Star, it still gave us something compelling, something for us to look over. I personally say that while a second season is viable, what with Yutaka and friends, KyoAni can still decide to just leave it as is and go on with new anime. Although to be honest, this is the first time I heard of KyoAni…And then I find that the majority of the anime I’ve watched was done by them -.-. Thanks again jaalin for blogging, mewmew for helping him, and Kaioshin and other debaters that showed me that being an otaku means more than just watching anime.

      OtakuYouth
      Reply

    118. I think the whole problem in these love/hate arguments is that the debaters are nitpicking too much. Just relax, this is for mass media entertainment not a political discussion forum. There is nothing at stake here. LET yourself fall into the trap the show is trying to weave for you and enjoy the moment. So what if the trap is a Haruhi or moe reference or is blatant advertising? Reminds me of the “Everyone Loves Bridget” gag. It only hurts you if you let it hurt you. If you find and enjoy enough of those moments more than hating them, you’ll realize you like the series. If not, then you don’t like the series. And that’s it, no one else should convince you otherwise.

      I’ll give a contribution. The scene in episode 22 where Misao calls Kagami and then forgets why. Big whoop right? That’s what some people see. What I saw was the nice detail of the loud noise over the cell phone shocking Kagami into breaking her Pocky stick just as she was about to bite into it. (moment #1) Then the dramatic pause followed by Misao’s, “what was it?” (moment #2) Then the “it was something very important…” (moment #3) Let these things amuse you if you can relate to them or have had them happen to yourself. That’s where I get my Lucky Star love from.

      I will respectfully read the comments made by both lovers and haters of Lucky Star and those in between, but why should I let that cloud my impressions of the series? To me, my own experience counts the most. And my own experience tells me that Lucky Star is my favorite series solely based on the number of times I’ve rewatched episodes or leaving them running in the background.

      P.S. I liked the last episode. But I feel some parts of the full dance have too many instances of repetitive movement to them which will make the live action attempts we’ll be seeing on YouTube soon look dull during those segments. And I just realized the bottle next to the radio was one of Pocari Sweat! Man I love this show!

      Trevor
      Reply

    119. Is done, the fifth Kyoto Animation project is over… Clannad is waiting around the corner.

      I’m really going to miss those girls; from Konata to Kagami, from Tsukasa to Miyuki, from Yutaka to Minami, and everyone else who gave life to Lucky Star. You can’t blame a series for take something from her and there, you can’t blame a studio for doing self-references from past productions when they’re executed effectively; you can’t blame Lucky Star for being a 4Koma. Everything has a reason to be that way… Raki Suta was the same.

      Who knows, maybe KyoAni has started something big right here. I’ll be watching over those guys.

      Sayonara Raki Suta. Sayonara Konata Izumi.

      Syaoran Li
      Reply

    120. The hater’s most probably don’t get all the jokes and their relation to real life. That’s what’s brilliant about it. And all the other positive aspects of Lucky Star that people have mentioned before, and how KyoAni managed to put them all together into one great package.
      Before you guys ramble on about how average Lucky Star really is, list how many anime series clearly top Lucky Star in the slice-of-life category, taking into account the above considerations. You guys wouldn’t be able to even remotely reasonably list more than 2.

      GrimaH
      Reply

    123. Lucky Star, I think, is the best show to date.
      To think I don’t have anything to look forward to next week is pretty depressing, but they wrapped up the whole series perfectly. Especially the full dance for the opening credit.

      ayaelf
      Reply

    124. Lucky Star was good when they focused on Konata, Kagami and Tsukasa. Maybe if it wasn’t for the cute character design, more people might be able to accept its flaws. I’m tired of people telling me “You just don’t get it”, everytime I don’t find something funny. Further, there wasn’t any adult humour in Lucky Star at all simply because adults don’t have the worries of school girls. The period after childhood is “youth”, not adulthood. Also much of the humour was about current fads like Konata’s father being suspect of a lolicon. I don’t think most old farts would be able to laugh about that even if they remembered their time at school – simply because it’s a completely different world today. At best 2chan or 4chan veterans find that stuff funny because they are fairly disconnected from common sense and the rest of reality. I wouldn’t mind so much, if they didn’t try to cram this crap into more and more shows each season as if they were trying to brain-wash you.

      Anyway, the biggest flaw of Lucky Star was that it predictably turned into crap everytime the “Lucky Channel” section appeared. As if this wasn’t bad enough they had to top that with intentionally bad, extremely childish (so much for adult), annoying live-action performances.

      Chris
      Reply

    125. >> I’m tired of people telling me “You just don’t get it”

      Alas I do seriously doubt that most people here got a lot of the content in the show. It’s impressive that the show is still this popular despite that fact.

      Rembr
      Reply

    126. @GrimaH: If life in Japan is really like how it’s portrayed in Lucky Star, with almost every cliche Japanese culture joke fit into it’s air time, then I think it’s worth a visit just for the fun of it. Seriously though, I can think of a number of series that I found to match Lucky Star in Slice-of-Life and making me think about it:

      Welcome To The NHK
      Black Jack
      Bartender
      PlanetES
      Mushishi

      That said, I’m not that big fan of the Slice of Life genre and I find that people tend to lord it over other genre’s as somehow superior and the be all end all genre, which I grow tired of as it’s not, no genre is better than any other. Seriously it’s like if a series comes out that takes a slice of life approach, people automatically list it above any other series from other genres (Literally as whenever I see a list of anime, even if it’s not a ranking, the SoL one is always at the top). That said I did manage to name 5 I found to be better than Lucky Star.

      Kaioshin_Sama
      Reply

    128. I am going to miss waiting for the next episode of this

      Great Anime, probably the best in my opinion…

      I really hope that this wont end there… OVA’s or at least another series…

      Re-watching the series is probably the only way for now…

      Omega
      Reply

    129. @Omega: Or you know you can watch something else. Why are so many people acting like there is nothing else to watch but Lucky Star and Kyoto Animation shows and that they are the only things that will ever be good in all of anime for all time. Get a grip people and find something else you like, there’s so much out there that I simply cannot believe that people are acting like there’s no future for anime. I’ve been fairly reserved up until now, but really and truly people are just being emo now. It’s not the end of the world, it’s not the end of anime, it’s just one show that’s over. Live with it and move on. I understand people can be upset, but whining and repeating things over and over enmasse isn’t helping and it’s just upsetting other people.

      Sorry for the outburst, but it’s just the same thing over and over and it’s getting ridiculous and irritating. I can’t even go on an anime related board at the moment because all I ever hear is people whining about how Lucky Star is over and there’s nothing else to do now. It’s in their sigs and avatars, it’s in all their posts, and it’s in completely unrelated topics. We get it now people, so find a way to cope.

      Kaioshin_Sama
      Reply

    131. kaioshin, in response to your list:
      NHK: too many ups and downs (mainly downs) and spotty animation
      black jack: i didnt know this is slice of life?
      bartender: incredible show, but not really an anime. more like pictures with narration
      planetes: didn’t watch past ep 4 so i cant vouch for this, but it’s a space drama so not exactly slice of life either
      mushishi: the only one in your list i would consider to be superior to lucky star – it had all the technical elements (animation, music, voice acting, etc) nailed and on top of that had masterful storytelling.

      to talk about whether or not the technical aspects should play into evaluating “how good” an anime is will take another several pages, so suffice to say that our definitions of “slice of life” and “better” are different. i’m not really one for agreeing to disagree, so i’ll just say that out of the list you gave, lucky star has them beat (mushishi excluded) just because of how easy it is to watch and enjoy, its versatility in addressing different moods (the kanata sequence in particular) while maintaining the lucky star feel, its overall high consistency in animation quality and attention to detail, and its broad appeal.

      sure, NHK might have been better at pulling apart the definition of otaku and portrayed it in an entertaining way, bartender might have been better insight into the human psyche, black jack might have had better drama, but overall, with all elements considered IN CONTEXT of the era, presentation, focus, audience, and anything else that goes into it, lucky star rises above.

      unfortunately, to make comparisons like this takes the discussion from a talk about preference to one about quality. frankly, everyone has their own definition of what quality is (with very little room for flexibility), and much of it has to do with the lens in which they viewed the show with, so it’s a much harder issue to tackle.

      as for your reply to omega, give me a fking break. how dense are you? how ignorant? time and time again you fail to understand that other people come from different backgrounds, have different experience with anime, have different throught processes than you. yes, there are other anime to watch. but that’s not what omega is talking about, is he? lucky star provided a very unique and eclectic mix of entertainment that’s not available anywhere else, so of course somebody is going to crave more, to the point where he’d rather rewatch and relive some of the glory rather than completely shift into something else. mind you, it might be a “better show” that he’s switching to, but that’s not what he wants at that moment, is it?

      it’s your immaturity, your unfounded stubbornness, and your own incompetence with comprehending online communication that have given you the reputation of some asshole who feels the need to trash lucky star week after week. your own opinion is yours and nobody can change that, but when your opinions are formed completely on the unrehearsed and mostly whimsical comments of a random passerby, this is where i call foul. read for context and read for comprehension. not for the literal comment, because the vast majority of people who comment on these threads rarely inject any sort of organized thought. are they at fault? no – they are just giving their 2 cents of what they are thinking at that moment.

      you, however, are guilty of failing to understand this fundamental aspect of popular communication, and online forums in general. not everyone thinks like you. that’s the whole point. not everyone’s statement carries the weight of preparation, of a college degree, or a well stated argument. does it lessen their opinion? if it’s an honest one, no. never. and until you realize these simple truths and get over yourself and your holy mission to convert everyone to the kaioshin school of narrow minded thought, you will always be seen as that asshole.

      good lucky.

      locke
      Reply

    132. @locke: I’ll be honest I really don’t get online communication at all, it’s reliance on one shot commentary and opposite extremes. Sometimes it really drives me nuts.

      Also I’d like to think I have one of the more broader levels of thought out there as I like to take into account things other than Studio A rocks my socks so I must drop a line and mention it, or person A is wrong about Lucky Star cause they “don’t get it”. I like to ponder and think about the bigger picture, that nobody else wants to. Is that entirely wrong and impossible to accept in online communication, that somebody wants to look at more than just the bare basics of something. I don’t think I’ve been narrow minded at all or what I could be doing to give that impression. And honestly as far as I can tell, people only seem to have one experience these days and that is Kyoto Animation series (everything else generally draws complaints or is ignore) and that is why I’m trying to hopefully show them a way to have another. If they don’t want to accept it then that’s always fine, but they’ll be missing out on the whole other 99.9% of anime series out there. I realize that my background is more 80’s and 90’s oriented, but the thing is I reached out and stepped into the 21st century and haven’t regretted it one bit, and I feel others wouldn’t if they reached out and tryed something different as well. And if that makes me an asshole, than so be it, but I think there are worse things a person can do than try and look at the bigger picture wherever possible.

      I also didn’t mean for that to be directed at Omega specifically. I typed the @Omega and then began to write, and forget I had added that. The second I clicked it I instantly realized I had just inadvertantly flamed a guy. Sorry Omega.

      Kaioshin_Sama
      Reply

    133. @Kaioshin_Sama: You have a point there, it becomes annoying sometimes when you see so many discussions about the same topics over and over, but there isn’t much to do about it. You must remember what happened when Death Note ended, right? I don’t how it was on the boards you visit, but I’ve seen and still do people complaining about how it ended and why it should have a new season and all this kind of stuff. The truth is that discussions about Death Note have decreased and that’s what’s going to happen to Lucky Star sooner or later.

      I read a lot of comments here and I can understand the people who are sad about its ending and I can also understand the ones who thought the show was not that great. Well, I can’t deny that I liked it and that it meant a lot to me, however, I’m not here to say why and try to persuade the others who don’t think the way I do, I just like it and I respect other people’s opinion. Being a Kyoto Animation anime has nothing to do it with it, at least in my case. I didn’t like much some of their anime, including Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu.

      @everyone: About this last episode, all I have to say is that I didn’t think it was too happy, in fact I found it quite sad near the end after they were done practicing their moves, I mean, no one felt sad with that instrumental Motteke! Sailor Fuku being played on the background? That was when I realized this was the last episode.

      hitaideji
      Reply

    134. @Locke: And as a follow-up, I cannot agree that Lucky Star had consistently high quality animation. I noticed a number of flubs where certain characters would change height, where the faces would look strange, and even one instance where Konata was facing slightly sideways and it looked like she had a monoeye in the centre of her head. Plus the animation style was mostly a pastel coloured style and not particularly detailed. I also don’t think it has as broad appeal as you think it does. It’s a very niche show that is meant to appeal to those interested in Japanse culture, Moe antics and Kyoto Animation references.

      Kaioshin_Sama
      Reply

    135. Omg re-watching the entire series i ended noticing some other anime references I didn’t before, one being episode 18 had a refrernce to Munto .__. Suzume with Ichiko running after her >->;;; But it sucks it ended T.T I love 4-koma animes.

      ChoboChan
      Reply

    136. @Kaioshin_Sama

      I do have other things to watch but its that Lucky Star is a good anime and kind of got high in importance over the others I’ve tried to watch… Also I think other than Haruhi Suzumiya, Lucky Star is really the only Kyoto animation anime I watch…

      Omega
      Reply

    142. >> That said, I’m not that big fan of the Slice of Life genre and I find that people tend to lord it over other genre’s as somehow superior and the be all end all genre, which I grow tired of as it’s not, no genre is better than any other. Seriously it’s like if a series comes out that takes a slice of life approach, people automatically list it above any other series from other genres (Literally as whenever I see a list of anime, even if it’s not a ranking, the SoL one is always at the top).

      Gimme a fcking break, you do the same with mecha/sci-fi anime genre. More epic this, better character development that, broader scope here; then moaning over the “unfair bias of people against mecha/sci-fi genre”. And not just in forums, but also in blogs, almost everywhere.

      So how are you different from those who favor slice-of-life over others?

      Excuse every anime fans to not fall on their knees in adoration in front of a mecha/sci fi anime as if it was the Second Coming.

      Sheba
      Reply

    145. Seeing this guy named “anonymous” posting made me laugh a lot, we got lot of guys like him on 4chan. They’re basically Gainax fanboys(I might be wrong, but I’m 90% positive I’m right) that hate KyoAni and Sunrise because they “sell” anime and don’t make it “for the fans” like Gainax… I used to deal with these guys everyday until I stopped posting on the anime channel… I got bored of talking the same thing to them everytime, they won’t listen so no need to waste your keyboard with guys like this. Just ignore them.

      Also, being a 4channer doesn’t make you cool at all, your way of thinking is not different in any means, you’re a fanboy too. You’re just on the other side, stop shaming 4chan, at least choose a nick for yourself.

      I beg for pardon for Jaalin to have to deal with some of our stupid users.

      Have a nice day.

      Another Anonymous
      Reply

    146. nice going jaalin, did great with the blogging. i personally luv it for presenting the everyday-ness (mundane-ness) of life around us. if its not Haruhi, its CSI or some rap artist people will talk abt thru out the day. sharing abt our fav anime OPs or EDs or scenes… spouting gibberish frm our fav movie or lamenting abt political campaigns cuz our fav anime time slots got taken up by campaign bulletins.
      not to forget, having fujoshi (rotten girls) for friends does have its perks… Lucky Star sure stirs up memories and yearnings. thanks guys, its been fun reading

      tonbo
      Reply

    147. hmm, interesting read from Another Anonymous, abt some other Anonymous, except – daa daaa daaaaa !!!!!

      Gainax never made anything for the sake of fans, despite ‘popular’ belief. just watch the Original ep 26 of EVANGELION. everything abt possibilities and different planes of existence threw most of the fans off. i call them no-brainers. pity all those who thot Gainax was it. but all the studios are just trying their best to tell stories, make things work out, make money. they are just making a living. thanks ‘Another Anonymous’. like the original ep 26, we just got to learn to relax and accept who we are and this is how things are. can’t please everyone.
      but thanks to EVA, we got the template for Yuki thru Rei, heh…

      tonbo
      Reply

    148. @Tonbo: Yeah Gainax is not a fan company, the Gurren-Lagann incident should attest to that, but personally if I had to deal with 2ch and it’s annoying demands for Moe Moe Moe and pressure to comprise my script in some way, I can’t say I wouldn’t have freaked out a little.

      Kaioshin_Sama
      Reply

    150. Who the fuck makes anime for the fans? It’s a business, and it should be carried like one. The only difference between Gainax, Sunrise and KyoAni is the level of shamelessness. Sure, Gainax sold Eva underwear, coffee mugs and anything that can fit at least a NERV logo. But Sunrise… Sunrise makes a second season out of EVERYTHING that has good ratings. Of course, that wouldn’t be bad if their second seasons didn’t suck so incredibly much, but they do. All they’re doing is ruining the good name of a series. Don’t even get me started with Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny. Using EXACTLY the same clips over and over on different backgrounds just to save a couple of bucks… that’s really thinking shit of their fans.

      KyoAni is… meh. They just went overboard with the Haruhi references in Lucky Star (which at some point were the only entertaining thing about the show) and use too much viral marketing.

      kyou
      Reply

    151. Nice show all in all. It’s my first comment on this show, as i didnt follow all the blogged episodes.

      I loved the references to all other KyoAni animes. I think its easier to reference your own shows than the competition for obvious copyright trouble. It helps if these shows were hits of course. Lucky Star still managed to create its own place and feel, for i dont believe i’ve seen quite a show like it before. (not that i’ve seen that much).

      Anyhow, its clearly Otaku targeted. But the constant 2d degree humor about otaku culture and the lack of fan service (exept if you like 12 yr old girls which i dont) make it go for another angle. As though talking to us as intelligent being rather than mindless anonymous sweating otaku pigs. Otaku seen under flattering light maybe.

      Well at least it felt good.

      Peysh
      Reply

    154. Jeez, from all I can say..Lucky Star…you’re the BEST of the BEST kawaii themed anime I’ve ever seen.. XD too bad it had to end like this.. XP did anyone of you feel somesort of itchy feeling inside your heart during the end of the show when Kona-tachi were about to perform? XDDD I really want to watch them dance or rather if they could extend this anime abit longer.. *It made me “rewind” the anime and watch the part where they were still practicing* lol. Lucky Star, I bow down to you!!! LOL

      Negimized
      Reply

    155. well, anonymous..don’t insult other ppl if u x like it. eating a jar of sugar n den saying it’s a favourite? dude, have you even ate a jar of sugar? do u know wat pleasure other people have while watching this anime? if you don’t, never mind. guess you would never. think of how you’d feel when your favourite anime is being insulted. different individuals have different likings and tat’s y, u’re not one with us because you x like wat we like.

      elissa
      Reply

    157. OH MY FUCKING GACKT!! (love u pam!)

      Lucky Star is plain L.O.V.E! I`ve loved it from the very beggining… and i will miss konata and Co. as if they were, actually, “MY FRIENDS” i mean… thats what lucky stargave me, that feeling of comfort and the desire of being there with all the girls! (MISAO, you are simply perfect! LOL) i dont really care if someone hated it for the haruhi or whatever references, because that was just a little bit of what lucky star was! oh gooood…. i dont want to stop watching it! pleaaasee: a second season!! Wait no, lucky star cant be beaten so a 2nd season will not make me happy…

      Lucky star was one of the best series in 2007 (for me it was the best “comedy”) and I will always have a place for it in my memories!!! T_T!! Farewell, konata, kagamin, tsukasa, miyuki, akira!!!!!, shiraishi, kuroi-sensei! kona-dad, misao, patty!!, hiyori, minami, yutaka, and all of you that i didnt remember now!

      hehehe, sorry for my english and my tooo loooong post!

      Sunohara!
      Reply

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