Lucky Star - Episode 24 (FINAL) Discussion / Poll

[Psycho Power J]

Overall, I'd say the whole thing left me with and "Eh, it's okay" feeling. Having only 24 episodes for this kind of genre just isn't enough. There need to be more to make it a truly great series. And I have to say, for being one of the first character besides the main four to be introduced, Ayano sure didn't get a lot of attention. She never gets beyond being the nice background character.

[Anh_Minh]

I was quite satisfied with that ending episode (even if I could have done without the Shiraishi ED, or the damn clone voices). It felt like a good-bye.

Like they were desperately trying to hold on to the moment, but no matter what they did, the time to part edged closer and closer. Inexorably.



And I don't know what LS was shooting for, or if it achieved it, but, all in all, I appreciated it more (even more) than AzuDa. It felt more energetic and had more of the kind of absurd I like.

[Ascaloth]

Watched the final episode. And I was in the midst of writing a really long discourse on Lucky Star and why I liked it so much, when I thought, "Wait, with this kind of length, it will easily be a RIUVA post..."

And so that's that. My thoughts on Lucky Star will be for the blogosphere, and it'll be up soon.

Just a thought; specifically about Kona-chan channeling Yuki. Was that Chihara Minori, or was it Aya-chan showing off more of her voice talents?

[Kyuusai]

Originally Posted by Zero Shinohara

But, looking through another perspective, the ending fit the series quite nicely. Why? Well, aside from episode 22, there have been rare moments in L*S in which you would actually ponder about the dramatic context of a scene. In my opinion, a stronger blow would have been dealt to us, fans, if they had actually performed the complete dance at the beginning of the festival. If that had been the last scene in the series, wouldn't you feel a bit empty? I'm sure I would. Now that the cheerleading would be over, they would be separated and each would leave for their own class to deal with their specific activities. All of our beloved characters wouldn't "end together", and I think that would be a little sad. I'm sure I mentioned this before, but I am eternally grateful that Lucky*Star didn't end like Azumanga Daioh, where all I felt at the end was that I was left behind and everyone else kept on with their lives. At least we have a "few more months", in the Anime's timeline, in which they can all enjoy High School together.

I have to agree with all your statements here. No matter how the dance scene came across, using it to end with the girls all together was really the only reasonable and right choice. My main objections to it aren't necessarily the ending sceneitself, but the clear expectation of dramatic impact that it holds, and the lead-up to it.

And on a different note, I have to add...

Many may not have caught just how hilarious Patty's statement that she couldn't understand Japanese was.

The idea itself is good and it was pulled off with great humor, but especially because of the way she expressed it. You see, she said it in a way that would only come naturally to a Japanese speaker who is intentionally mispronouncing it .

Spoiler for For the boring explanation of Patty's hilarity:

All the details of this can be niggled with and argued about, but I wanted to cover all the bases.

If an ignorant foreigner with proper pronunciation had said it, it likely would have been
難しい日本語分かりません
"muzukashii nihongo wakarimasen"
Which is the polite form of "I don't understand difficult Japanese." This is a "canned phrase" that most any one learning Japanese as a second language picks up from a list of phrases intended to defend oneself with.

Instead, Patty says
難しい日本語分からない
"mutsukashii nippongo wakaranai"
She uses the less common reading of the kanji in 難しい, the word for "difficult" (which an ignorant beginner would likely not know), she uses a less common reading of the 日本語, the kanji used for the word "Japanese" (using the wrong reading of which is a rudimentary mistake, but a mistake made by some one familiar with these basic kanji--although it wasn't technically a mistake in thisi case, just completely unlike an actual ignorant gaijin), and she tops it off with the plain form of the verb (which generally isn't used much by beginners, because they learn the polite form first).

That's a very long, boring explanation of something that was absolutely hilarious in the second-and-a-half it was said in.

[Alesiopdv]

Jumping the shark? Lucky Star? Seriously?

To make my point clear Ill refer to this list:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main.LongRunners

Who could possible get bored with Married With Children, The Simpsons, South Park or Detective Conan? Naruto and One Piece go on and go on and go on and go oon (Like the freaking battery bunny).

(Of course, the aim of shows like Pokémon is to draw in a new audience all the time anyways... They don't really expect any regular fan to keep up with all the seasons they've shown - they expect old fans to move on and to draw in new fans. Only really DIE HARD fans of Pokémon would continue to watch it ne.)

Pokemon! Tengo que atraparlos! Pokemon! Mi amor es reaaalll!!

Its been 10 freaking years and Im STILL WATCHING Pokemon and I will be!!!

Really if one series is good why ended it? They can always come up with something new, they cna always strect time and say the 60 are actually the late 80, Superman and SPiderman have benn publishing from over half century, somebody really cares that Dick Grayson is 29 and Bruce Wayne on his mid-30??

NO! Its funny god damnit!!

No offenses but japanese people are very drmamatic, they love those gainax endings where everybody dies at the end, lose the love of his/her life to somebody else and once finish high school life is over. But actually life always goes on. Eterenal series are like some country house you have, you can always come back there becuase they are still airing and the house is always the same even when it looks different.

My complaint in school animes is that: they just have three years that flies by. If someone reads Mafalda, remember how may times she started and ended one school year?
My complaint in accion animes: you can kill this arc enemy but it will always be a new one around the corner. How many crisis the DCU has been trougth?

Okey, Im mad just because the anime producers always think the series on packages of 13-26, maybe 52 episodes instead of thinking on seasons of 21-22 per year and see how much it can hold on. Thats what kill Negima (first series scuks, second one no comments)
Code Geass seems to be the only exception so far.

[therationalpi]

I felt this was a good ending. It had a sense of closure, but it was still enough of the same that it didn't feel like a different show.

Having spent my highschool career focused on performing arts (Plays, Choir, and Band) I must say that the entire cheerleading thing kind of struck a chord for me. There was that sense that they got lost in the moment, so focused on doing something fun with people they cared about, that they didn't realize until the last moment that it would all be over with a flash, curtains rising, the cheers from the crowd, and the curtain falling again. Ending at the curtain rising seemed appropriate too. Really, the last thing you remember about a performance is the last dress rehearsal. When you are actually performing, you go on autopilot and let the rehearsal and preparation do it's work. I think that because it ended like how my highschool life ended, it really felt like a solid end.

Aside from this sense of closure, it felt like other episodes. Good Kona-Gami moments, Tsukasa's subtle comments, Miyuki's idea getting mocked by her mother, and the "2nd tier" characters all got their moments too. The characters are what made this show what it was, I'm glad this was not forgotten for the last episode.

The only serious gripe I have is the ED. Others have said it already, so I won't dwell too much on it, but it felt out of place.

I rolled on the floor laughing for the first Shiraishi ED, because it was totally unexpected. Once it became commonplace, it lost almost all of its charm.

[Fweakin]

Wow, where to start.

The final episode of Lucky Star was nearly everything I wanted it to be. This episode included my favourite elements of Lucky Star including -

• 'Breaking the fourth wall' - especially when voice actors or Haruhi are referenced
• Kagami and Konata arguing leading to eventual embarrassment on Kagami's behalf
• Hiyori and her yuri-flavoured fantasies (and actually coming into frution this time!!)
• Misao!! 'Nuff said
• The fact that the whole episode smacked of sentimentality - which I can be partial to

A few things I didn't like though

• I don't care for Akira's lackeys/groupies at all - why they were inserted into the last episode is well beyond me
• The Shiraishi ED's. I thought they'd at least have an ED with the principle cast this time round. It was quite a let down seeing the same old, tired ED sequence crop up.

All up gets a 9 from me.

[AVPlaya]

Okay I've broken down and watched the LAST EPISODE. I am a little emotional... the show has ended, and it ended beautifully, with the girls showing off their dance to everyone. I love the fact that the whole EP is centered on central theme or event for the first time! Hopefully this is the precursor to 2nd Season! It was really well done. Didn't get too emotional, but again, it's not their graduation day. Love the fact that Yoshimizu wrote it, that means he COULD WRITE THE SECOND SEASON WITH ANIME SPECIFIC STORIES. The implication for the second season from this episode is paramount!

Love Patti's perfect American "Opening Day", the Aya Hirano handshake ticket as bribery. Patti knows what makes an Akiba-kei tick, just as Konata really knows how to push Kagami's buttons. A Tsundere can't be forced, but ask them to help someone who really need help, they just jump right in. That's why I love them!

Love Kagami's Medium-miko costume from an old movie, and Konata's Yuki Predictions. The Yuri girls dressed like an an episode of Utena... but it's obvious the reference is the all-girl Takarazuka Revue. Moe Moe!

I know this is Hiromi's song, but why the hell would Akira shows up at a HS cultural festival and sing an ENKA song??? An Shirashi with eyes opened! You know, the sexual tension between Akira and Shiraishi is incredible; you expect them to lock lips at any time. I think SHE is really his true love. At least the anime Shiraishi.

I saw what I expected... the full Lucky Star dance.. oh I still got goose bumps... Soon to show up at an Otaku convention nearst you! Oh we have our first real panty shot too.

The ED... Shirasishi singing a Lum OP in The Haunted Forest of Fuji.. I guess he really did go there, but unfortunately he didn't kill himself. Oh well.

Of course, a perfect 10.

Originally Posted by Moridin

But now I have some questions. After they practise their performance they use two words: Dondake and Ikahodo. I looked up dondake and got an interesting story about a drag queen called Ikko in a show called Lincoln, and apparently that is his catch-phrase. The meaning of it is rougly "wtf?!"

Dondake and Ikahodo goes together. I believe it was a new recent catch phrase used by high school girls and gays in 新宿二丁目 (Shinjuku Nichoume, a famous gay area). It's like you've said, started by this drag queen cakked Ikko, and Ikahodo is the reply once someone said "dondake". In his new recent dorama プロポーズ大作戦, Yamapi used it quite a bit, and thus it was picked up by the HS girls. There's also some other famous celeb who uses it on TV too. This is newly minted slang it seemed.

Originally Posted by Kyuusai

Many may not have caught just how hilarious Patty's statement that she couldn't understand Japanese was.

Yes I heard that too.. You don't understand Japanese yet you know "Nippongo?" IT was LOL for me...

[Deathkillz]

oh noes...I wish shiraishi made up with akira for the perfect end
I guess what made the final part so touching was the reality of growing up (and coincidently we even have such a thread in the generals section ) - Its natural for kona and the others to be thinking about how they will miss being together as their friendship is stronger than steel, so this is translated into loneliness and i can imagine a crying fest afterwards -
pretty good final ep with all there right stuff which made LS good in the first place, yep we are all going to miss these crazy girls ^_^

and i just knew that they where going to use the OP for the cheerleading sequence

[Kaoru Chujo]

There is an old saying in the entertainment industry: "Always leave them wanting more." On that basis, LS was a great success, it appears.

I don't think this episode was trying to build to a "firecracker finish." It was written by the mangaka in the style of Lucky Star, despite having one thread running through the whole episode (the festival). The ending was a bit disorienting, but on reflection, I think it suited the nature of the show, and helped to give that "wanting more" feeling. The idea of showing the dance in the rehearsal rather than at the big event was a fascinating decision.

As for AzuDai, it's nice, but the humor and the reality were not at this level of interest or subtlety, for me. But I should look again, since it's from before I was really watching anime, and I have only seen a few episodes.

This episode was the first time I minded the generic background voices, which were a nice joke throughout the rest of the series, for me. There were two people doing them, a man (Fumihiko Tachiki) and a woman (Kujira), with the man doing the men's voices and the woman the women. But the deep womanly voice sounded funny as a girl to me in this ep.

And I'd like to mention the seiyuus for the sisters who came a day early. The younger was played by Kano Yui (Momoka in Sumomomo Momomo) and the elder was played by Takaguchi Yukiko, who did a fantastic job playing Sunako in the otherwise forgettable Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge.

Oh, and Ascaloth? I'm pretty sure that was Aya, but I had to listen a few times to get a hint of her voice under there.

[AVPlaya]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

And I'd like to mention the seiyuus for the sisters who came a day early. The younger was played by Kano Yui (Momoka in Sumomomo Momomo) and the elder was played by Takaguchi Yukiko, who did a fantastic job playing Sunako in the otherwise forgettable Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge.

It seemed that 3 manga character finally showed up with speaking parts - the two Miyakawa sisters and 桜庭ひかる (Sakuraba Hikaru), the teacher Akira and Shiraishi feared. I'm guessing Yoshimizu really wanted all this manga characters to contribute to the show.

Come on Yoshimizu-sensei! Do us proud and WRITE THE SECOND SEASON! The pace of the last episode is wonderful; the joke and the story line flowed perfectly! Like the oni-tta kao pun joke Konata made... it's funny and totally within context. Dude, you're a natural. Just go and write us another 24 episodes.

I think I'll start on my Ref posts ASAP, although many powerful and great donos have already explain some of the cool stuff.


EDIT: I can't stop watching the full dance. I'm going to miss this so much...

[shaoron]

so that's why konata agreed to join the cheerdance...

she was "bribed" to join by patty with a ticket to meet aya hirano!

wait... konata wants to meet aya hirano... <_< hmm....
that's like some grave conundrum...

konata then proceeds to "volunteers" the hiiragi sisters...


and.. and minoru's ring tone... O_o

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by AVPlaya

It seemed that 3 manga character finally showed up with speaking parts - the two Miyakawa sisters and 桜庭ひかる (Sakuraba Hikaru), the teacher Akira and Shiraishi feared. I'm guessing Yoshimizu really wanted all this manga characters to contribute to the show.

I really liked how Sakuraba-sensei first used "da" talking to Akira, then corrected herself to "desu." If I understand correctly, that made it seem as if she suddenly realized she should treat Akira as a guest rather than just another student, but only did so half-heartedly.

[jaziek]

That... was.. .the greatest... thing... i have... ever... seen... called me a fanboy and i dont care... BRING ON SEASON 2!!

[AVPlaya]

The syu-ta.com blog seemed to believe that Yutaka and Minami was cosplaying Takarazuka's prodction of Elizabeth, but I don't think so. The dresses they wore are not from the era, and none of the show photo I've found matches what they wore. I'm going to do through their shows and find out which Takarazuka show it came from. I'm going to out-ota the J-otas.

BTW, the expression "すげえかっこ" (SugeiKakko) Kagami said to Yutaka and Minami is one of admiration from girls to HOT GUYS. That's why the Yuri couple were shocked. It meant Kagami has the hots for Minami as a boy. Oh man the confusing relationships in L*S...

EDIT: Okay I found it. The source show for their material is Takarazaku's production of "パリの空よりも高く\ Fancy Dance". The show's other name means "Higher than the Sky of Paris"; which make sense because Yutaka's dress looked like a French Burlesque Dancer, while Minami's looked like a fancy Tux from turn of the century. The following are the source for their costumes:

Minami:


Yutaka:


Now that I've out-ota the J-otas, I can goto sleep now. I'll find a better picture of Yutaka's dress tomorrow; it's hard because that dress only showed up in the final big dance number.

[Sheba]

Watched it with subs. It's a fitting ending for the show, leaving a "The show is going to end but life have to go on" feeling in me.

Everyone who loved Lucky Star should seriously consider watching that series, which is like Lucky Star but with a better slice of life feel, better organized (scenes are less random, they follow a certain pattern all along an episode), where the 4-koma style is less evident (IMO a sign of better overall direction), a much more sound finale, and no Haruhi references.

To be fair, I doubt Haruhi light novels got even started.

But if J.C Staff wanted to put in-studio shout-outs in azudai, it'd be Excel Saga references with random cameos of Nabeshin and Pedro.

I still continue to stand on the side who thinks there were not THAT much Haruhi references, for they are only the tip of the iceberg of references in L*S, therefore easier to nitpick and criticize.

I think that L*S offers a bit of everything for everyone, the original 4koma material, pop culture references, mundane topics of the everyday life, a bit of drama, character study (1), etc...

I can now keep on watching Seirei no Moribito (One of the best anime of the year 2007) and Higurashi Kai, hope for StrikerS last episodes to be subbed soon, anticipate Clannad, Shana 2 and Ghost Hound.


PS:

(1) before someone jump at my throat with "WTFZOMG EVA DID IT BEFORE AND BETTER! LURK MOAR! *insert internet rage here*", I know Eva is too a character study, but there were character studies way before eva, be it in visual or written medias. And every character studies does NOT have to be done in the same. fashion as Anno did.

[~Tsukuyomi]

Originally Posted by himemiya613

i dont think there will be a second season, if there was, the girls would have to be in universitiy/collage

And who say collage wouldn't be fun??? Heck, if that were to happen, I'd be happy to watch that... Hikkikimori Konata, Professor T. Miyuki, Housewife Tsukasa (cooking up something with Balsamic Vinegar), and Kagami (I can't imagine anything for her, but I bet any title for her will always be funny)...

[TougeSil80]

I loved the ending, a perfect 10. But the overall series gets an 8 for me. Maybe because I watched Azumanga first, I always compare this series to that. And while the jokes in LS is funny now, no one will get it 5 years from now. LS's scene transition is often very abrupt, it doesn't have the flow of Azu.

A lot of people are hoping for a second season, I would have to say no. I hope they leave the ending here. I would rather assume they all went to different college together than another series about them going to the same college where the jokes will be similar and they rehash the same stuff. Let KyoAni spent their time and budget on Clannad (and maybe Planatarian instead).

[WanderingKnight]

I still continue to stand on the side who thinks there were not THAT much Haruhi references, for they are only the tip of the iceberg of references in L*S, therefore easier to nitpick and criticize.

Oh, come on, there was at least one Haruhi reference per episode. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but let's be realistic here: there were a lot of Haruhi references--on the overall picture, they probably summed up about half of the total references. It's not bad, it's just a way of doing humor. It's not of my particular taste, so after the first episodes, the Haruhi jokes just started to bother me (I was a tad like "Not again!"). I got a bit happier from episode 17 onwards, since it seemed like the Haruhi references slowed down a bit (though we'd still see one or two per episode), and there was more manga material and more slice of life humor.

But if J.C Staff wanted to put in-studio shout-outs in azudai, it'd be Excel Saga references with random cameos of Nabeshin and Pedro.

I don't remember J.C. Staff doing so with Azumanga Daioh (and AzuDai came after Excel Saga), so I don't see the point here.

I think that L*S offers a bit of everything for everyone, the original 4koma material, pop culture references, mundane topics of the everyday life, a bit of drama, character study (1), etc...

Well, yes, of course, but I think AzuDai did it better (at least in my view, though it was somewhat missing the "pop culture references" when compared to LS). It was a more faithful adaptation overall (almost no anime-only scenes) and didn't have to resort to the quick, brutal reference resource to make you laugh. Also, in AzuDai there were less characters, which gave the show more chances of a better characterization. Some of the characters in LS (the girl with the orange hair comes to mind, I can't even remember her name which means she wasn't well characterized) are outright forgettable in my view, while in AzuDai you had five main characters extremely well-characterized. If anything, AzuDai is a perfect example of how comedy characters should be done.

There's also another thing, and it's that I was still in high school when I watched AzuDai, which is probably why it felt a bit closer to me. LS hasn't provided me with that sort of personal involvement with the series.

Once again, I'm not saying LS is bad. It's just that I didn't like it as much as AzuDai, and I'd really like to encourage people that liked this show but haven't watched the latter to do so, as they might be really interested.

[Skane]

Originally Posted by WanderingKnight

Oh, come on, there was at least one Haruhi reference per episode. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but let's be realistic here: there were a lot of Haruhi references--on the overall picture, they probably summed up about half of the total references. It's not bad, it's just a way of doing humor. It's not of my particular taste, so after the first episodes, the Haruhi jokes just started to bother me (I was a tad like "Not again!"). I got a bit happier from episode 17 onwards, since it seemed like the Haruhi references slowed down a bit (though we'd still see one or two per episode), and there was more manga material and more slice of life humor.~

Care to wager on that? I accept PayPal.

Cheers.