Love is blind but apathy is myopic
I haven’t done an editorial in a while I know, but as so often happens inspiration fails to materialise until a flood of vague ideas appear and begin to take some sort of shape. What you are reading is the third rewrite in what was intended to be a more general waffle but turned into an appraisal of Lucky Star instead. It was a productive train journey in the end - I recommend taking your laptop with you on days out too.
Yep, I STILL haven’t finished that essay I was working on at the time of writing
My opinion has always been that in order to become an anime fan with a broad appreciation of the medium, you need to exercise some degree of an open mind. It’s something I have to continually remind myself just in case ignorance sets in and denies me the enjoyment of discovering a hidden gem but at the same time the idea of forcing myself to like something just to be in line with everyone else goes against this blog’s ethos and feels wrong as hell.
There have been a number of comparisons drawn between Lucky Star and Haruhi Suzumiya, which coincidentally was also popular while my own feelings of it were somewhat mixed. Both series are of course from KyoAni (and feature catchy theme tunes that stick in your head like superglue) but in my own view while they cover similar ground they approach it from opposite directions so are polar opposites in a number of aspects. Both fall partly into (but do not limit themselves to) the high school comedy genre but Haruhi was ambitious, throwing in science fiction elements and in my opinion made out to be more clever than it actually was; LS drew from its 4-koma roots to offer a short sketch type of structure in the slice-of-life vein, superficially being very simple but containing more substance than it first appeared to have.
As much as I enjoyed Haruhi, I never understood how it could be revolutionary outside its genre boundaries; it was sharp, refreshing and inventive and its production values were high but I still couldn’t find a reason to jump onto the bandwagon and declare it to be one that will be remembered years down the line. LS in contrast never tried to be clever; it became profound seemingly by accident. It looked simple and cartoony and didn’t make any effort to be enduring - if anything, it took pride in being transient and strightforward.
I can’t place either show in my top ten lists but I appreciated them nonetheless. In both cases though, I started watching each a number of weeks after the torrents went online in order to distance myself from the tidal wave of rabid fan hype that can so often ruin enjoyment; at the same time, the blogosphere was going mad over them too when they were first released. The anime bloggers I read are an intelligent and discerning bunch so there had to be some merit in these shows, yet I couldn’t get excited over them - a feeling that was a little baffling when people whose viewing experience, insight and reviewing skills exceeded my own were so visibly enthusiastic.
I’ve never considered Haruhi to be any more than an inventive sci-fi comedy that was blown out of all proportion; a rewatch didn’t change my stance much either. Lucky Star was a different matter altogether though. It was hard going initially, since I felt a bit uncomfortable with something that had LS’s aesthetic and in addition the viewing experience was almost frustrating. That is to say, it felt like a guilty pleasure since it was fun to watch but made me annoyed at myself for finding it fun. My credentials as a ‘serious’ fan were beginning to crumble; that’s how it felt, anyway.
What the hell?!
My reservations with LS are not actually centred around the accusation that it’s a moe show now that I’ve actually sat down with a beer or three and watched some of it; unfortunately the very definition of moe is fraught with hair-splitting and circular arguments that prove nothing beyond the fact that people like to be right about things. For simplicity’s sake then my definition of moe is roughly this: “the presence of irritating cute characters who the viewer is supposed to feel affection for due to their inherent cutesiness, used by writers when more worthwhile attributes are absent”. It’s as much dependent on the viewer’s reaction as the material itself I suppose, but my definition is geared to the idea that it’s A Bad Thing – an alternative definition if your views are different to mine would be “the presence of endearingly cute characters who the viewer is supposed to feel affection for due to their inherent cutesiness so no other redeeming features are needed”. Yeah, I’m cynical.
While Haruhi tried to poke fun at moe by actually BEING moe and became the very thing it was parodying (i.e. something rather annoying) in the process, LS takes on the guise of a moe show while actually being something else under the surface; placing things into a context that offers something more than simple eye candy. Again, similar ground, opposite approach. Interestingly, the moe traits I dislike so much - namely childlike dependence, kawaii-ness and so on are in evident in Kurau’s Christmas….and yet I found her to be really likable. Odd, but I digress.
Although the characters of LS look like lolis, they behave in a natural fashion that belies their cutesy appearance; they take on the identifiers of the expected stereotypes at times but generally are just ordinary people who look like the meganekko, the tsundere, the geek and so on. This is a crucial difference which made me bored of watching Haruhi’s Asahina but made me follow the exploits of Konata and co with the same interest that I would with any other comedy-drama characters. That is not to say the cuteness of LS had no effect: I would have enjoyed it more had they looked less ‘cartoony’ and more like the realistic character designs that I personally prefer. Furthermore, it was seven years ago when I was in sixth form that I last set foot in a high school; my experience of cramming for exams and so on has still occured recently but the fact remains that I can’t completely relate to these characters since I haven’t worn a lame uniform and been to school since quite literally the last decade.
Nevertheless, Lucky Star was watchable beyond my initial expectations - there are aspects that I wasn’t too keen on but suffice to say its supposed ‘moeness’ wasn’t one of them. It also set the metaphorical wrecking ball to the Fourth Wall on numerous occasions which I found eternally clever and awesome on so many levels. To do that while taking on the appearance of a show that panders to the drooling otaku masses was the icing on the cake - it seemed to sell itself as a show that plays to the affections of the moe lovers…only to play to the affections of pretentious *serious* people like me too. Bonus!
In closing, I feel that I’ve won a small victory over my own prejudices, which is a small price to pay if it looks like I’ve become a moe fan or something (I haven’t, don’t worry). The upshot of all this? I’ll be giving Clannad a couple more episodes before making my mind up on it. You never know, after all…
Posted on October 21st, 2007 @ 9:49 pm
What credentials?
lol.
It’s always good to hear someone overcoming their preconceptions, in all seriousness. I wouldn’t let what people think of an anime affect how you perceive it either — those who are swayed by fan reaction are just as bad as those who are swayed by public opinion. It’s achievable through a large and unhealthy dose of narcissism, but it works.
Posted on October 22nd, 2007 @ 9:37 am
A little narcissism is a dangerous thing; before you know it, you’ll be staring into a pool all day.
I did like Lucky Star, but I always feel that breaking the Fourth Wall is a bit of a cheap shot. Surely, from the point of view of a ’serious’/'pretentious’ person, it’s better for a series to engage in a complex piece of subversion which requires a manual in semiotics to be untangled - thus demonstrating the skill of the untangler - rather than a moment of ‘This series knows it’s an anime series . . . ha ha.’
If the Fourth Wall is going to be broken, I like to see it done wholeheartedly and regularly throughout the series (Hayate the Combat Butler does this, I think).
The ‘when more worthwhile attributes are absent / so no other redeeming features are needed’ clause of your moe definition seems out of place - it relates to whether or not the moe content is carrying the show rather than what the moe content is. A similar clause might be inserted into definitions of fanservice, excessive violence, or for that matter even compelling writing and superb dialogue. But then as you say your definition is geared to the idea that moe is inherently bad.
I criticise, but to be honest this was mostly a very good appraisal of Lucky Star which I enjoyed reading.
Posted on October 22nd, 2007 @ 8:57 pm
@Owen: stubbornness works too in my experience!
Y’know, I was all geared up to write this article as reasons to dislike the show but I can’t over-emphasise how surprised I was that I enjoyed it. I’m currently over halfway through and it’s maintaining its quality - if anything it’s getting better. Certainly enough to warrant a second ‘retrospective’ review afterwards I think.
@IKnight: For me the breaking of the fourth wall is something that can be overdone - the novelty is in danger of wearing off after a while. In the context of the Lucky Channel though it seems to work fine for some reason. As for the whole moe thing, for a term that’s bandied around so much, it’s very open to interpretation: ask five fans for a definition and you’ll get five different answers! I find it to be detrimental when it’s the main ’selling point’ of a show (in the same way as excessive violence, fan service and so on are, as you rightly pointed out). In the case of LS it’s a superficial aspect which is easier to overlook when there’s so much else going on underneath. I’ll return to that issue in more detail on my final review though so thanks for your comments so far! (: