lucky ☆ star 20

The “Hare Hare Dance of Sweets.”

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You’ve heard the expression “dog days of summer”? We’re in the dog days of Lucky Star. Has there ever been so much animation resources tossed at something so not about anything? This episode’s forecast of Lucky Star is 50% Haruhi infomercial, 20% Azumanga clone, and 30% Seinfeld minus hilarity plus DFC.

Anyway, summer is sadly almost over! School is starting soon for some while the grind of office life continues for others. How did everyone spend their summer? Hopefully more productive than Konata! Though between her gaming, manga reading, Haruhi-watching, cosplay cafe waitressing (sounds a lot like Nagi from Hayate), she has gotten more done than Tsukasa, who probably just slept away half the summer. Of course, neither beats Kagami, who will be a busybody to her grave. But I hope everyone, from Nashville to Norway, Bonaire to Zimbabwe, Chicago to Czechoslovakia, had a great summer.

Shooting Stars

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You know how if you went somewhere like Michigan Tech where it’s completely devoid of hawt girls, any girl suddenly becomes much, much hawter, even before alcohol? Well, after staring at the DFC All-Stars of Lucky Star, Haruhi looks disproportionately well endowed. She looks like she is auditioning for a spot in the next Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball game. Needless to say, I can’t wait for Mikuru’s upcoming commercial…

(I’m convinced that Kyoto tossed Haruhi fanservice into this episode when they realized that WOWZERS so episode is low wattage even for a Lucky Star episode.)

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Good thing or bad thing that the highlight of the episode was a Haruhi infomerical? You know what? That doesn’t matter. I have a sudden craving for some soda in a can right now.

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A sugar-induced cavity is fine too.

And, no, I don’t know why Tsukasa was reminded of sweets after watching extremely healthy girl Haruhi. I’d thought Tsukasa was jealous because (1) Haruhi is ever more popular than Lucky Star (2) Haruhi uses a bra about 14 cup sizes larger (3) Haruhi’s on a tropical beach.

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I’m in despair because I can’t get the toy that I want! In a related story, I still don’t own a Wii.

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Pretty cool scene. It’s kinda rare to see so many distinctly drawn characters in the same scene, so props to Kyoto for putting in the extra effort.

(And notice the balsamic vinegar fan that Tsukasa has.)

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Oh man, reminds me of Boom Boom Rocket. Now that is a simple, riveting game. I ended up getting it for XBLA, and I’m a bit disappointed that EA didn’t include more songs or songs that weren’t just techno remixes of classical music and didn’t include a feature to create tracks based off of songs on the hard drive.

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In terms of pimping on Haruhi series… that’s a Char… uh… whatever that green thing is, it’s wearing the Char helmet. Nowadays, the Char helmet is nowhere as cool as the Optimus Prime helmet or the second head for a Ganman.

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And I also notice a Kiddy Grade poster in the back. Oh man, when does that sequel drop? The original Kiddy Grade wasn’t that bad– yeah, the nobles vs. commoner thing was lame (and still is lame, yahearme Louise and Saito?)– but there was a good blend of mecha and fanservice. Until, well, the nonsensical final arc.

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The arrow reminds me of the glowing hockey puck that Fox used to use for NHL games, back when, you know, we still had an NHL.

(And, no, I don’t know if I actually get “Versus” nor do I care to find out. The last hockey game I watched was on Hockey Night in Canada when I was in Toronto… and that was years ago.)

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“If you get a large amount of what you want, you lose interest.”

Interesting. I think part of the enjoyment of wanting something is the anticipation of getting it (like me and a Wii), and part of the dissatisfaction of owning something is the tinge of buyer’s remorse (probably end up playing Halo 3, Boom Boom Rocket, and Blue Dragon more than I’d play the Wii). Also interesting is that it means you’re probably better off making 13 episodes and having more seasons of 13 than 26 episodes… especially if you’re planning 26 episodes of a series that’s an infomercial for a 13 episode series.

(Or does it mean that because I want a lot of violent Sonozaki twincest that after receiving it I’ll lose interest? Mmm…)

(Or does it mean that because I enjoyed Kagami in stockings that…)

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“… seven… eight… nine! Nine honeys! Ah ha ha!”

(It’s less fun without my Transylvania accent.)

(Andohbytheway, enjoyed Tsukasa’s and Yukata’s duel “o_o” expressions. It’s in Dolby Stereo!)

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Is there any other manga (probably hundreds but whatever) out there about getting into Toudai other than Love Hina? You gotta get the feeling that thousands of little boys are reading that going, “I’m a dumb, ugly loser, but if I try hard, I can get into the most prestigious college and have hawt women fight over me!”

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When Konata is wondering about how all the girls in harem settings are uber yet don’t have boyfriends, it’s simple: they killed them all. Look at the Sonozakis. How long does a normal guy last around one of those, let around two?!? It takes someone with the testicular fortitude of a Maebara to stay alive for a week. It’s usually their endurance level that sets them apart from the rest.

(Still, it all goes back to fantasy. Just like how every frickin’ Toriyama-styled anime features spunky schoolkids going off on an epic journey to power up, every frickin’ harem setting is about mackin’ on girls waaaaaaay above one’s societal strata.)

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New frontrunner for “Most Likely To Be Shizuru’ed in 2007” award. Yes, it’s a mark of a great character if the name can be verbed.

(And I just used the noun “verb” as a verb. Will the universe collapse into itself once I hit “publish”? That would be pretty cool.)

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LOL @ Itsuki who finally make it onto the show. I’ll believe Itsuki as the pretty boy casanova type right after I start believing that Joey Harrington is a viable NFL quarterback (sorry Atlanta fans). Man, I was hoping Itsuki would show up in like leather and chains like a typical patron of Police Academy’s Blue Oyster Bar. That would have been the right thing to do.

(With Itsuki’s appearance, only Mikuru hasn’t shown up yet.)

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Oh man, Taniguchi just doesn’t run out of ideas. He just keeps going and going and going. Unstoppable. The best part is either his wig, the fact that random people were walking behind, how Kaori Fukuhara (“a Tsukasa is fine too”) can’t seem to keep up with him, or how the crew is cracking up in the background. I’m convinced that Kyoto just buys Taniguchi a bottle of sake and then tell him, “Work thy magic!”

16 Responses to “lucky ☆ star 20”

  1. Yes, Kiddy Grade ftw!

  2. Oh man, does Shirashi rock or what.

  3. But!, But!, Haruhi had 14 episodes
    Although most likely I was supposed to reference that guy in Lucky Channel to Itsuki, since they were mentioning things about air I was just thinking hey, thats Yukito sitting next to Akira. I found their little referencing smirks at each other to be amusing.
    Oh and finally everyone finds out about Miyuki’s and …..green hair chick’s friendship.
    Was Haruhi really THAT big?

  4. I don’t remember Oharuhi-sama being that big!
    Must be … ah crap I keep scrolling up to pic 2, jason what have you done?!

    Also, yay Kagamin! Girl knows how to dress up when Konata comes around… yup…

  5. Oh man, just something about the mental iamge of the Count counting off his LS harem and then laughing his “Ah ah ah ah!” laugh…
    .
    I about peed myself laughing.

  6. hahahahhahaha…

    This page rocks :D Funny stuff.

  7. I am pretty sure you’ll have a Shiraishigasm over Lucky Channel 21.

  8. I guess I have to consider this a spoiler

    WELCOME TO IDAHO!!!!

    if you kno what I mean XD

  9. The funny aspect of the Haruhi product placement was that they hardly to modify her fraggle face to make it fit.
    Taniguchi funny? Not before my other brain cell commits suicide.

  10. Is it just me or do the girls look older in this episode? Especially Kagami. She spent half the episode with the crossed legs. All the characters seem to have become more extreme versions of themselves. Konata got more lazy. Kagami got more hardworking. Tsukasa got more clueless. Miyuki got more scared of the dentist. And as they get ready to enter the world, dadadadada~~~, an entirely new group with similar characteristics start out in highschool. Maybe some lonely tiny little writer in Kyoto is trying to add some deeper meaning to the show, even if it is just highschool life?

  11. >> an entirely new group with similar characteristics start out in highschool. Maybe some lonely tiny little writer in Kyoto is trying to add some deeper meaning to the show, even if it is just highschool life?

    Yutaka and friends were introduced in the fourth volume of the manga, way before the anime was even in Kyoto Animation’s plannings.

  12. Oh dear lord. I am still in tears after episode 21’s ending.

    Go watch. It is epic. EPIC. EP. IC.

  13. Too much haruhi this week…

  14. Gawd, Haruhi is so hot.

    Just proves what you say, why make 26 episodes of Lucky Star, when they could be animating more full-motion healthy girl Haruhi?

  15. Not enough LOL Fang Sensei this week.

  16. I SAW this ep in Japan at about 2AM on channel 22…..heh…I fell off my futon with the Haruhi Commercial.
    My understanding of the language is limited so I mised most of thye nonvisual in-jokes, but I got a lot of it…I will degfinately start watching it when I can :)

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