Quote:
Originally Posted by Vexx
Well... the scene actually comes from the source material. The 4-koma Lucky*Star devoted part of a chapter presenting essentially the same material. And every instance of referring to Kona's mom is from the 4-koma series. Even most of the "dad-Kona" scenes in the series come from the 4-koma (though specific product line mentions were usually added item).
So.... if there's a weakness in the presentation, it was there in the original material. I suspect KyoAni figured this late in the series was a good place for the sequence of mom-haunting because people were attached enough to Kona-dad and Konata and they'd seen dad's flashback of his life with his wife.
Myself, I was most fond of dad fondly recalling his time dating and being married to her - more than the later ghostly sequence itself.
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If there was a problem with that scene, it was the sudden, jarring scene transition that followed it, although I do realize that Lucky Star is arguably defined by sudden, jarring scene transitions (they really just loved throwing us in mid-conversation, hence "it reeeeaaaaallly stinks".) Lucky Star has always had a "random vignettes hastily sewn together" feel about it, and while I don't completely mind random vignettes, the "hastily sewn together" part really got to me, particular in sequences like this where there's a huge mismatch between the sentimentalism of the Kanata scene, and the flippancy of whatever immediately followed it. Arguably it would have been better if this scene was put right at the very end of the episode. It was the most memorable scene in the episode (arguably the series), why not give it the final word in the episode?
I disagree with
Kaioshin Sama's contention that the intent was to make us feel for Kanata in particular. The scene, I thought, intended to add another dimension to the Izumi family. We've seen how they live, all throughout the series; Kanata was, in a way, an embodiment of their (particularly Soujirou's) past. I didn't think there was too much more they could do. If they were to really dwell on establishing the nature of the relationship between wife and husband, mother and daughter, and do so constantly, throughout the series, the veiled attempt to ram sentimentalism down our throats would have become pretty transparent, particularly in a series like this, which is mostly facetious. No, I think one scene like this works well, but too many more becomes just that, "too many". What more could they do? Not much, really. Less is more. I just wish the series realized this in a few more instances than just this one.