Lucky☆Star Rating and Review

Series: Lucky☆Star
Animation Studio: Kyoto Animation
Original Run: 24 Episodes + 1 OVA
English Licensor: Kadokawa Pictures/Bandai Entertainment
Adaptation of: Kagami Yoshimizu's manga "Lucky☆Star"

Summary: We all know that friends are great and hanging out with them is a blast. Sure, most of us have friends that have similar tastes while others have friends who are the complete opposite of them. "Lucky Star" focuses on a group of four friends going through high school, and they are all different in their own unique way. The main character of the group is young Konata Izumi, a major anime/game fan (otaku) who moves at her own pace. Opposite of her is Kagami Hiiragi, who often yells and objects to Konata's crazy ideas and comments. Next to Kagami is her younger twin sister, Tsukasa, who isn't anything like her older sister. She's quite the shy, and clumsy airhead. And finally rounding off the group is the smart, gentle and ladylike, Miyuki Takara.

The story follows the girls as they go through high school in the everyday life. They address questions that people may often find themselves wondering about like, "If we were animals, what would we be?" But the series does cover a lot in the stereotypical life of a "otaku". Konata is referred to as an "otaku" which is a label used for people who are obsessed with anime/manga/games. Thus, many fans may recognize several popular anime/manga/short novel references scattered throughout the series. The series actually moves forward mostly because of this hobby of hers as the rest of her friends are swept up into her pace. As the series goes on, more characters are added to the scene like fellow classmates and relatives.

This series is pretty interesting, as it contains a wide range of puns and references to other series. And at the end of each episode, a segment known as "Lucky Channel" would come out and add to the laughs. However, because of all the references and cultural jokes, I would not recommend "Lucky Star" to a first time anime watcher. It is funny and pretty clever, so check it out after taking a peek at several other series.

A.I.'s Rating: 8.9/10

A.I.'s Review:  This was a series that I decided to watch due to its popularity. I took it for a spin and it turned out to be very witty and unique. The anime and game references always had me saying, "Hey I recognize that." The story itself was random as it is just everyday life but what really made this series was Konata. This girl reminded me of so many of my friends I couldn't help but to chuckle at her slacking off from homework to play a RPG (role-playing game). Konata's other three friends were also strong characters as they each had their own unique personalities that mixed well with Konata's. I lowered the score only because of the fact that I felt bored at times with the series, but many would disagree with me.

This series has fans all over the world and many "otaku" find Konata easy to relate to. I consider myself to be an otaku but I'm not really into games nor am I constantly seeing the world as an anime or a game. But, on another note, this series is a memorable one. The small side episodes of "Lucky Channel" made me crack up as the host, Akira, is a bipolar TV personality. But overall I would only recommend this series to someone whose watched many popular animes (ie. "Code Geass", "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya", "Full Metal Panic!", etc.). That's it for this week and I'll post 2 more animes next time.