Lucky Star - Q & A

[CrowKenobi]

Originally Posted by Ratix

I just realised, they haven't explained who the Nagato cosplayer is..

Or who "Kyon" was...

[Mirificus]

Originally Posted by CrowKenobi

Or who "Kyon" was...

Kyon was just a "Kyon cosplayer" who happened to sound exactly like Tomokazu Sugita. Nothing more and nothing less.

[723]

Question: Why only 24 episodes if (as long as I have understand) they keep releasing volumes, and a very large part of the show is a kind of "filler"? How many volumes is going Kagami-sensei to do? Has the author revelaed her intentions about the manga??
I don't know if you have noticed, but I don't want L*S to end T-T. When I think that there are only 4 chapters left...

[Risaa]

It's not uncommon for anime series to start up in the middle of its manga run, and finish before the manga ends. Usually those have an open ending.

That's also why you get insanely long series with true filler episodes like Inu Yasha and Naruto -- they're trying to stick to the manga storyline but must keep producing pretty much meaningless episodes while waiting for the manga to catch up.

You can say L*S is all "filler", I suppose.... But I don't consider them filler episodes because they're what L*S is all about. There's no real plotline. I believe the show will end at 24 episodes because L*S has to end sometime, and 24 episodes seems to work well (whereas ending it in the se7enties may make the show boring and repetitive [[especially considering there's no plot]], in which case it would cost them more money than it's worth).

I also don't think anyone knows how many volumes Kagami-sensei will release. And... Did we ever figure out Kagami-sensei's gender? For some reason I think we decided male, but it could be my mind warping things.

[Vexx]

As far as I know, author Kagami's sex is still completely mysterious (at least to gaijin).

[AVPlaya]

Originally Posted by Vexx

As far as I know, author Kagami's sex is still completely mysterious (at least to gaijin).

Eh, you know just by looking fast at the your post without reading Rissa's question would raise many, many questions. "What is it about her ... sex.. that you need to know aboot?"

That's why I always insisted on using Yoshimizu.

From the many, many blogs and threads on this topic in at least 3 languages, I would say that there's an 80% probability that Yoshimizu is a dude. The main reason for me was that in the blurb about Lucky Star manga on Katsukabe KyoEi home page, it was mentioned that he was a member of the anime club. Being a member of the anime club in a high school is like a death sentence in term of social life... you can forget about getting a date. A girl, or rather, a fujoshi, would NEVER join such a club, for even today, fujoshi activity is done in utter secrecy, as you can tell by the way Hiroyi acted. Not even Kona, a die-hard, true-blue, out-and-proud, akiba-kei otaku-sama, joined such club. Yoshimizu, to me, is without a doubt a man. *sigh*

[Risaa]

Originally Posted by AVPlaya

Being a member of the anime club in a high school is like a death sentence in term of social life... you can forget about getting a date.

Hehe I'm glad I went to high school in the US then.
...o wait, maybe that's why I've never been on a date.

The club was *very* uneventful though, and I ended up quitting within the first month; it was full of egotistical snobs, not the geeky types I usually conspire with.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Risaa

Hehe I'm glad I went to high school in the US then.
...o wait, maybe that's why I've never been on a date.

The club was *very* uneventful though, and I ended up quitting within the first month; it was full of egotistical snobs, not the geeky types I usually conspire with.

I'd offer my older son as date material ... but I know him too well to inflict him on you

[723]

Thanks for the answers!! About the author sex... I found this website. If someone could translate some part of his/her biography, I am sure we can know it, finally.
PD: I said "her" because of Kagami's name, but since I don't know too much about japanese culture I may be mistaken. Gomene!

[Vexx]

The problem is that "Kagami" is somewhat of a unisex name like "Francis" or "Alex" or such. That coupled with no pics has some people scratching their heads.

My own bias is that I hope the author is female simply because its nice to see some balance - and I'm rather interested in watching Japan cope with their "gender role" evolution.

[Risaa]

I originally thought Kagami was female because "Kagami" is written in hiragana, but... who really knows except him/herself? It'd be nice to find out in some episode of L*S.

[ItsumoAnya]

*has a question* What day do the new episodes come out, and how long before they're subbed and ready for download?

I just got into L*S you see ^^;

[Risaa]

Originally Posted by ItsumoAnya

*has a question* What day do the new episodes come out, and how long before they're subbed and ready for download?

I just got into L*S you see ^^;

This has been answered numerous times... I just picked the first one Search provided me with.
http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost...51&postcount=4

Subs seem to come out randomly now. O_o Right now it seems one group releases subs within a week, another group will do it within two weeks, and the rest of the groups are either releasing them in bulk or are missing key fansub members and can't sub at all.

[Calawain]

Hopefully this is appropriate to ask, but I've always been curious. A show like LS seems to be pretty popular doujin wise, as I can see large amounts of it show in the image thread. In addition, in the show itself one of the funniest scenes was Kagami looking at the FMP doujin and Comiket.

My question, as a law student who studies some copyright law, is the law in Japan a lot more lax when it comes to using artists works to create your own? I believe that if you started publishing your own stories using Mickey Mouse and trying to sell it here in America it would earn you a quick lawsuit from the folks at Disney. It just seems like the law in Japan is more lax, is that a correct assumption?

[darksider]

Ooh, possibly wrong place, but good point there. Good enough to bring it to Ask John on animenation.net, I think. No irony intended and I honestly think so(or maybe answered already there? I don' know)

I don't think that the copyright law in Japan is so hugely different from the American or other ones (thogh there may be one or two big differences but I'm no expert after all). See, there's Tokyo Disneyland in Japan and those Disney guys can easily sue you if you 'steal' whatever thing from them.
Haven't you ever wondered why there's no Mickey Mouse doujin while they are popular enough in Japan too?

The issue is not the law itself I think , but it is in the adhibition/enforcement of the law. The situation in Japan concerning indie publication, fandom, so-called doujin works and others are extremely complicated here and there'd be no simple answer, I suppose. What if the copyright holder themselves encourage doujin works based on their works? Whose advertising what and who's to get money and who's cheating what and stealing their shares?


And I said somewhere before, that KyoAni will never use stuffs from Ghibli's works, and although it is partly because they're afraid of lawsuit, at the same time it is because, I think, they respect Ghibli and their works, and when Ghibli say they don't like their work used in other's stuff, they can never be against it. It's not just about the law, but more matter of moral, I think.

[Vexx]

As darksider says, the big boys don't steal from each other (at least not blatantly)... and the japanese industry has a 'fan-friendly' relationship with their consumers and their fat wallets... .unlike, say, Viacom, who went out of their way to alienate almost every fan group and website that loved Star Trek after they subsumed Paramount.

Given the yaoi/yuri fan-fantasy doujinshi that pervades the arena, the anime industry either views it as just part of the business or encourages it to amp up the fanbase.

I'd say it isn't more lax so much as just interpreted differently.
Obviously, IANAL blahblah, YMMV.

[Calawain]

That would make sense, I mean most doujin based on copyrighted characters serve to promote the original work I would think. The letter of the law and enforcement are two very different things, especially in the civil arena. If the copyright holders don't sue because it benefits them, then nobody gets in trouble for it. And if the community is entrenched enough, filing suits would be bad business.

And yeah I remember what Viacom did regarding Star Trek, it was pretty sad. Not to wander too off-topic, but American companies are highly protective of their copyrights in just about every way possible.

[Nemo_N]

One question to manga readers:

As of episode 23, how much of the manga has been covered? Is there enough material for say, a second season?

Thanks in advance.

[Vexx]

It kind of depends on how you define it.... in some cases, the original material ideas were used differently or expanded. I'd say that by the time a second season becomes possible (after Clannad, Haruhi 2, and possibly FMP), there will be plenty of material for another season. The question will be, was Lucky*Star a transient phenomenom or will it have enough staying power to wait that long?

*I* like it.... but I'm not on their survey list - it'll depend on the domestic fans and their willingness to buy merchandise.

[aorta]

The manga is still ongoing right?