You can never look too much into these things. Not when you consider the insane attention to detail that Kyoani displayed for some of these things. ;)

Yeah, I always thought KyoAni oversimplified (I'm not complaining - it looks cute) the characters and background in L*S, but that image really proved me false and gave me a completely new reason why L*S is epic.

I thought that was Shiraishi talking to Anizawa, making a reference to the alleged "rivalry" between Tomokazu Sugita and Tomokazu Seki, who's voicing Anizawa. I could be completely wrong though.

It really amazes me how much detail actually went into so many of the little things in the background. That aside, it opens up a whole new level of looking into an anime too much :heh:

Minami has a big white fluffy dog.

Though the reference is likely Chiyo-chan in some respects. I imagine that is one rich persons stereotype in Japan. Having enough outdoor space to own a large dog, and having it be a fluffy whte one (Great Pyrenees) as they are one of the larger breeds of dog.

Correct, that dog belongs to Minami, who is also Miyuki's neighbor.

I also saw the Zabi reference cited, so I took a look, to see if I could duplicate the effect in the subs. Overall, no, not really. There's ONE LINE that's the same, but I'd expect that line in any speech being delivered in militaristic-inspirational style.

It is a reference to real life, to a now infamous "prayer" left at the Washinomiya shrine. I thought it said "Konata is my wife" though.

Either way, Lucky*Star pays attention to its fans. :3

Oh? Not arguing the point, but I thought you were a Kagami fan?

Minami all the way. She gets no love.

Thank heavens (pun intended). Reading about Japanese history and its persecution of Christians... I mean, persecution is bad in any form, but I found it hard to blame the Tokugawa Shogunate for their stance on Christians, seeing what the missionaries were doing to other parts of the world at the time.

Hmm, much like here in the US I guess... I wonder if you looked at demographics if anime had broader or narrower appeal in the US, or if it were actually more popular per capita. Prolly not, although a LOT of the younger generation are getting into it. It seems that the ONLY Saturday morning cartoons nowadays are anime-based (although I guess Voltron, Transformers, Thundercats, etc. from my youth were all anime-based too...).

I know we have at least one regular poster here who did anime VA work for an English dub. :) She had a post about the particular series and she seemed to really get into it, tried to figure out the character and tried to personify the character as best she could. I've seen interviews with some of the English VAs for Cowboy Bebop and RahXephon. I guess Steven Jay Blum (I'm sure most people know that he's an awesome VA who pretty much makes any English dub worthwhile) isn't really a big anime fan, but he always seems to take a lot of pride in his work. The guys from Robotech - Shadow Chronicles are totally into the whole anime thing (Tony Oliver, Mark Hamhill even). They all seem passionate about their work too.

Yeah this is one major aspect where I greatly favor our American culture over Japanese culture, although it's nice to see that it's changing, albeit slowly. Of course, we still have quite a ways to go, as well... (especially getting equal representation in the technology industry damnit! ;)).

Ciao!

Wall of text makes my eyes burn, but I read anyways.

heh... get used to the "wall of text" type of post... it is very common on this forum as many of the posters are quite verbose.

I find it a bit disconcerting when someone responds to a text I wrote more than a week or two ago. :)

The Tokugawa Shogunate had legitimate concerns about the erosion of control (and culture) the missionaries and their converts represented. Granted the solution was horrifying -- but look at what was going on the rest of Asia and the world. For the standards of the time it was simply brutal and effective. The Spanish Inquisition, persecution and torture of "jews","gypsies","witches" in various parts of the Western World.

I'd argue the big mistake the missionaries made in Japan was they didn't convert the powerful first (like they did in most Western civilizations: convert the king and the rest are forced to follow). Converting the peasants first created a threatening situation.

I guess I'm in some crazy minority. I'm female and I'm in a healthy long-term relationship. The two of us watch it together. I'm not a teenager though...