Lucky Star

Comedy: Med/High (this is a comedy series no doubt, but as stretch says it takes some getting used to)

Action: None

Drama: Low

Sci-fi: low (only kanata's ghost)

Ecchi: low (some references in convo)

This is a series that needs a lot patience. and you've got to like conversation. because that is what this anime offers most of the time. Skip this show if you seriously cannot stand all conversation... if you just think you can handle it a little, do watch and you will not regret it.

A friend recommended this series to me, but warned me about its conversational style. At first i had some reservations about such an anime because i do love storylines, but soon the first episode interested me a little(the first 2 epis are not that exceptional compared to the rest of the series, so do bear with them). After going into the third, i am completely and irrevocabble hooked. If you can read fast enough (or if you can understand jap well) you will be smiling and laughing 70% of the time.

This anime has a lot of fan service. By that i do not mean ecchi scenes (lucky star almost has none) but instead it refers constantly to other animes. In fact what really got me going was at the end of the second episode (or is it the third?) konata sang the op from fmp fumoffu... A fumoffu fan like me is bound to be excited. Yeah, and the DVD store character is Gouda the Baka from akane maniax (kimi ga nozuomu eien ova). Really gave me a shock. The major plus in the series is konata's part time job the cosplay cafe (shall not spoil it here). Did i mention, references to Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu keeps appearing, maybe because they are produced by the same company and the seiyu for konata is the same for suzumiya haruhi.

The characters are lovable; no complains about the animation, art and music; the episodes are addicting, but the only complain is of course a lack of a very good plot, but bear in mind that this is a slice of life show, a light respite from normal hardcore drama and action, so a very high rent for me... had it just a bit more story and drama, it would have been a buy.

(All episodes watched--twice):

Some anime series take me a long time to watch because they are mediocre, and watching them is almost a chore; and, paradoxically, some anime series take me a long time because I love them, and I want to stretch the enjoyment out as long as possible, I consider each episode to be precious and I won't watch them unless I'm in an ideal mood. Such a show is Lucky Star.

I like this show! I went into the first episode of Lucky Star having very little idea what to expect, but found myself pleasantly surprised. The first thing to catch your eye is the lively and energetic OP sequence--it's a blast. At first Lucky Star didn't seem all that funny as the characters talked a lot but did very little; but somehow this technique works. Before long I was smiling, and there were a couple of good jokes before the episode was over. Lucky Star is almost entirely verbal comedy with no slapstick or fanservice. I believe it's based on a four-koma (frame) newspaper-style comic strip, which explains the many quick jokes in different settings. The majority are not LOL funny, but are reliably entertaining nevertheless. Having read a number of other reviews, some viewers couldn't stand the girls-talking-withou­t-any-real-plot motiff while others (like me) were delighted; ratings at AnimeNfo ranged from 2.5 to 9.7 out of 10. Episodes (sometimes) take a long time to watch as there's a lot of subtitles to be read (and my TV would crop part of them off!). It took me nearly 45 minutes to watch episode three (and I was using my PC so I didn't have to guess what the cropped subtitles spelled out). At first I got a little impatient as I had to invest more time and concentration than usual in exchange for my comedy, but in the end the return is well worth it. A fun feature of this show is that it sometimes parodies other anime series; a common subject is Haruhi Suzumiya, which makes sense since both shows are Kyoto Animation productions. HIRANO Aya stars in both, and it's hilarious to see her in one guise making fun of the other. The parody of a certain CGI-heavy series in episode six totally cracked me up. Likewise, the characters Konata runs into in a DVD store (episode ten?) were hilarious--I have no idea what show they are from, but they are animated in a radically different style. Lucky Star kind of reminds me of Azumanga Daioh, minus the slapstick that was fairly plentiful in that series. However, I'd say this show has a commendable style of it's own. For one thing, it caters to the otaku, and I think I now prefer it to Azumanga. The principal characters are four girls--the serious, responsible one, the brilliant but shy one, the ditzy one, and best of all, the otaku one. Blue-haired Izumi Konata, an anime and video game fanatic, was fun, especially her laziness and "May Sickness". I was surprised to be told that she's supposedly 17 years old; the characters look and behave more like middle-schoolers than high schoolers. Episode 12, in which Konata cons her friends into helping her shop at Comiket, was great. Another gem would be episode 16, in which her friends pay a visit to the MoHS-themed "cosplay cafe" where she works part-time (the voices doing the trailer for the next episode cracked me up yet again). Each episode concludes with a bit called "Lucky Channel", in which an uber kawaii host girl shows her true colors. Just thinking back about the last episode leaves me with a grin on my face. For awhile I would still feel a little mentally exhausted at the end of an episode, but this show steadily grew on me, getting easier to enjoy, and taking a lot less time to watch. In fact, in it's second half this has become my favorite comedy of the summer 2007 season. It's hard to resist the temptation to watch the next episode of Lucky Star rightaway, when I'm trying to keep pace with a number of other less attractive series. I wanted to stretch the enjoyment out as long as possible, because I didn't want this series to ever end! The final episode left me with a distinct sadness at saying goodbye to these loveable characters. This is one show which I'll definitely be rewatching, probably more than once. In fact, I already began rewatching it from the start, even though new episodes were still being released. Try it, maybe you'll like it!

A show which takes some getting used to--but when you do, lots of fun and very educational about life in Japan as well!

P.S: Lucky Star had the second most "threads" of any Spring 2007 anime series on 2Channel in Japan, and the third most posts of any spring anime at AnimeSuki here in the west!