[Categories: Anime Reviews]
It would appear that I’m still tsundere for Lucky Star
I was actually looking forward to a Lucky Star OAV. There, I said it. Not as much as a full second season, though: a one-off outing lacks that long build-up to sentimental attachment to the characters that the TV run offered but I’m not complaining or anything. It felt like a bonus episode and gave me that hate-to-love-it feeling all over again; I guess you do still need to watch the whole TV series to appreciate this fully, not to mention get used to its little quirks and unique charm.
Back on familiar ground
Kicking things off with Tsukasa looking for her cellphone and a portrayal of the uneventful life of Cherry the dog highlights the delightful iyashicomedy (copyleft pending) side of the show, which is one of my favourite things about the series and is also I think where the Marmite-like nature of the series comes from. Gags without punchlines, punchlines without gags, not knowing whether you should laugh or not (as for the latter point: as long as you watch this at home rather than in public, don’t worry about it) and so on. I’ve come to really appreciate the offbeat, reference-crammed comedy all the same, which has led me to think of Lucky Star as the anime equivalent of Spaced.
I mean this in the sense that both shows make use of name dropping and pop culture references with occasional forays into the surreal and require the audience to be quite clued-up on the same movies, comic books and TV shows that the characters are. I was quite impressed that some of them allude to older productions such as Fist of the North Star in between more recent ones like Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei, Sgt Frog and, inevitably, Haruhi Suzumiya because referencing contemporary shows makes the gags age badly years down the line. I don’t see this as a problem though: Lucky Star is after all a bubblegum series that doesn’t set out to be a lasting classic. Chew on it, enjoy it in its own time and place, then move onto something else. Don’t misunderstand me here; I think of LS as throwaway entertainment in the most complimentary sense.
The character attachment was all done in the series; as soon as you see Cherry wake up and watch the characters walk in and out of the house, it’s reintroductions rather than introductions. The pressures and expectations that came with the beginning of a series are absent here so it’s able to jump straight in and expect the audience to keep up; those who hated the series wouldn’t go near this in the first place anyway.
That’s what I love most about Lucky Star. The reason why it’s the victim of misconceptions is that it dares to do different and go its own way, within a market and set genres that are otherwise samey and conformist; it throws the gags at you, apparently unconcerned whether you get them or not (the reference-dropping brand of comedy is hit-and-miss at the best of times, so that approach is probably the best one to begin with). Shows that are perceived as otaku-fodder always seem to me to be constantly aware of how they have to placate their audience and I end up getting a feeling that they’re visibly trying very hard to connect with the viewers and avoid their wrath on 2Ch.
Maybe I’m wrong and LS is doing this too, but I don’t think it worries itself about that as much as similar series - that is, I honestly believe it is less fan-aware, which I respect it for. The way in which the OAV gives an outwardly weak and irrelevant introduction with the daily life of a family pet for instance might have viewers scratching their heads but it is unafraid to kick up a cloud of bemusement that hovers over the fandom in the same way that the Chocolate Cornet Sketch did.
Can a leek be used as an offensive weapon?!
This aspect might explain why a simple and straightforward series that should be taken at face value rather than over-analysed to be enjoyed has now produced four lengthy posts from me; this isn’t a series whose subject matter on its own really needs in-depth explanations. I’m not going to set out why I laughed so hard at Kagami’s dream of being a Hatsune Miku Cinderella (complete with the leeks) at the hands of a Fairy Godmother Konata and the outburst that had Tsukasa running out of the room, for instance; just take it from me that it’s hilarious. Granted, I had to look up some of the gags to get them but that’s my own fault for not being nerdy enough I guess.
If there’s one aspect of the OAV that fell flat for me, it was the online RPG side of things. Since I’m not a gamer the terminology went completely over my head so apart from recognising a superficial resemblence to .Hack/SIGN (which I haven’t even watched to the end) I didn’t get anything out of it at all. I did however love the way in which the comic store guy popped up in the game to try to sell stuff to Konata; the man’s tenacity is admirable. I laughed long and hard at that part.
The show’s high but deceptive production values really shine through at times like this
In between the gags it was just fun to rejoin the four of them and watch them go about their daily lives; that’s still something you either appreciate or you don’t but as I’m sure you’re aware I have a strange appreciation for the trivial and uneventful. In the case of LS the drawn-out sequences where you wait for a joke that doesn’t appear often serves as breathing-space in between its more manic moments, so watching the girls play volleyball or spend ages finding their way back to the camp on a field trip keeps the mix of sketches varied.
Ironically Lucky Channel is funnier in live-action
So then, did I like the OAV than the series? sadly not - purely down to the fact that the proportion of gags I understood over the ones I didn’t just happened to be a bit smaller. There was still much to enjoy here though so I still found myself admiring its unique approach, against my better judgement or otherwise. Damn it, Lucky Star has done it again.
Posted on October 11th, 2008 @ 9:35 pm
I like that comparison between Lucky Star and Spaced - I’d never really made that connection in those terms, but I think you’re absolutely right (even though you’ve now left me pining for a never-gonna-happen series 3 of the latter). I love a good pop culture reference (and often baffle people I know with obscure cross-references to TV shows and the like in an attempt to pass them off as jokes - I’ve also picked up a nasty habit of shouting out “Zetsubou shita!” myself when things go wrong), and that probably goes a long way towards explaining why I love Lucky Star so much (and will be religiously picking up the R1 DVDs), although I think its observational comedy is probably equally (if not more) important to its unique brand and style.
Personally, I loved the MMORPG element of the OVA despite not being into that genre of gaming myself - Tsukasa’s inability to do basic things in the game was really funny, and the moment where she accidentally chose to start eating food in the middle of an intense battle was priceless and probably got the biggest laugh of the OVA out of me.
Although I’m now torn between Lucky Star and Hidamari Sketch as my preferred contemporary slice-of-life show these days, I won’t hear a bad thing said against the former.. I still think it’s a work of genius for its time.
Hannerss last blog post..Hidamari Sketch x365 - Episode 10
Posted on October 12th, 2008 @ 6:48 pm
I lost respect for Lucky Star since the end of the series, and forgot what it was about it that made me laugh and love it. I suppose that just reinforces your idea of Lucky Star being throw-a-way entertainment, but I’m happy I chose to look at it again.
I’m not a gamer, however, my friends play WoW, and I’ve forayed into it before so I really found the MMO part hilarious. I think I got most of the jokes, or the spoken ones, at least. It’s definately reliant on the “been there, done that” aspect.
Oh, and lastly, I concur with Lucky Channel being funnier RL. I was never an avid lover of it, and never found the RL Endings that funny, either but this one was awesome.
Posted on October 13th, 2008 @ 9:32 pm
@Hanners: I really, really, enjoy Spaced but like you I’m resigned to the fact that it’s over. It did leave opportunity for Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz though…
I didn’t realise that Tsukasa was randomly eating in the middle of the fight - odds on I’ll laugh myself silly the next time I watch it now. Hidamari Sketch has a certain laid-back charm to it and what’s more, it looks like the subs for x365 have resumed. Excellent! As much as I like LS though, I can wait for the R2 DVDs.
@Jayme: I’d pretty much forgotten why I made such a fuss over this show, but 35 minutes later it all came flooding back. The ‘been there, done that’ aspect is a big draw though - it helps the slice-of-life side of things immeasurably.
Lucky Channel never grabbed me as much as it ought to have done, but seeing the guy in live action with that outrageous suit and tie was absolute win. ^_^
Posted on October 14th, 2008 @ 10:03 am
>>Maybe I’m wrong and LS is doing this too, but I don’t think it worries itself about that as much as similar series - that is, I honestly believe it is less fan-aware, which I respect it for.
Conversely, it could be so fan-aware that it’s able to cunningly market itself to the otaku fanbase without appearing desperate to do so. I think this is probably the case, looking at Kyoto Animation’s record. They’re hardly a Production I.G or Studio 4C; they only spend money animating something if they know it’s going to sell to the otaku crowd, the only thing that seperates their shows from most generic tripe is that they actually follow up with the requisite effort to get it right.
I was surprised at how long it took for subs to appear for this, so I’m glad I watched it RAW (although I missed most of the RPG segment). I actually preferred the OVA to the TV series because the TV series tended to pad itself out a lot kore with the odd highlight. But, because this is an OVA they can avoid this and include only scenes that work and are funny.
Good post.
Posted on October 15th, 2008 @ 7:59 pm
@Washi: I do believe LS (and KyoAni in general) are indeed very tuned into what the fans will appreciate but what I didn’t really make clear is that I think that this gives them confidence to do things a bit differently to, say, their Key adaptations. The humour and storytelling approach in LS is very unusual, which runs the risk of falling flat and not selling. The great thing is, it doesn’t fall flat at all, but my respect comes from the creative team having the bottle to do it in the first place. I can see what you’re getting at though, so thanks for your kind words!
Posted on October 15th, 2008 @ 9:00 pm
Haha, actually the MMORPG section was pretty awesome, with noobyass Tsukasa sucking so bad even though she is a mage, and Konata mentioning they didn’t want Tsukasa as a healer. Also, having one in your static party going off and leveling up a ton on her own is familiar for any who have played and leveled up with friends.
I have to admit I was surprised at how good Lucky Channel was in live action. I hated the Lucky Channel in about 95% of the episodes, but I enjoyed this one.
Kabitzins last blog post..Nunnally Knows Where You Keep Pr0n
Posted on October 17th, 2008 @ 4:30 pm
@Kabitzin: sounds like there was a lot in the MMORPG segment that went completely over my head then - I felt a bit confused by it TBH. Lucky Channel is much better in live-action though; like you I didn’t find many of them funny in the series.
Posted on October 26th, 2008 @ 9:52 am
Seconded.