Thoughts on Lucky Star (Episode 8)

At the International Comic-Con for 2008 in San Diego, I caught episode eight of Lucky Star.

The first thing I noticed is that none of the voices were anything like what I’d expected based on seeing screenshots from the series. The theme song definitely wasn’t what I was expecting. It must be one of those songs that grows on you over time, because only a single viewing of the opening left a lot to be desired. Most of all, Konata’s voice took me off guard. I expected a voice closer to Yui Horie (Sarara, Bottle Fairy; Sylvia, Ground Defense Force! Mao-chan).

The episode was comprised of a number of parts: a school sports festival, standing in line for lunch, buying comics, and then music practice and working on homework with the twins.

Humor included recurring jokes (such as with Konata’s father being dragged off after photographing female students, with his “I thought my daughter was competing next!” line), and pause jokes. I don’t know what the proper term for the latter is, but this is when something is said, then something else is said, then there’s a pause where nothing is said, and finally the punchline is said. The latter method works when used in moderation, but in this one episode, it was way over-used, and lost its effect right away. I’ve never read the comic, so I don’t know if this is the common style used for punchlines there.

Last year I saw an episode of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and it didn’t interest me, but I’ve decided to pick up the series and see if I can’t find out what all the hype was about. Maybe I’ll check out Lucky Star next year, after I’ve forgotten the episode I saw at the Comic-Con.

One thing I find interesting about the anime showing at Comic-Con is that everything is in Japanese (with English subtitles). I’m suprised they don’t have anything showing in English, even if in a separate room. I guess with limited space, they want to pull in the otaku crowd above all else.