Lucky Star - Episode 14 Discussion / Poll

[AVPlaya]

Originally Posted by Konata-chan

I think Shiraishi Minoru being a horrible singer adds to the humor, and while I am gonna miss the karaoke, I look forward as to what song Shiraishi will mess- I mean sing that week. I really do hope that even with all humor aside, Shiraishi will turn out to be a great seiyuu and not only just being known as Wawawa-san.

Ai, I like Shiraishi... I enjoy rooting for underdogs and this is one poor underdog seiyuu who became famous only because one line. He's now bad-ass and envy of all male seiyuu's I'm sure. I think I got overtly critical because I want, no, I NEED more ancient or obscure karaoke ED so I can look them up and...

Wait a minute, I think I just found out why L*S's so damn popular. I've been otaku-nized!

I was at the SOS Brigade concert and as much as I am a fan of Aya Hirano, she can't sing too well either on live concerts. She sounds the same too in the Youtube live concert videos. Please don't hurt me, you guys.

I thought she did very well in her HEYX3 performance of God Bless, but I'll take your word for it. Was her normal speaking voice still that of a 5 yrs old loli? That is the most amazing part of Ms. Hirano to me.

[AlphaDragoon]

Aya's Konata >>> Aya's Haruhi, if you ask me. She just seems to cut loose and have fun with being totally off-the-wall wacky and otaku.

[Xiaolang]

Originally Posted by Konata-chan

I was at the SOS Brigade concert and as much as I am a fan of Aya Hirano, she can't sing too well either on live concerts. She sounds the same too in the Youtube live concert videos. Please don't hurt me, you guys.

I was also at the concert, but I have to strongly disagree, given the situation that she, Minori and Yuuko were unwittingly placed. If it wasn't for the major screwup the audio-visual director and personnel, plus the awkward and poor translation job by the female translator, the whole thing would've gone much more smoothly. It was very difficult to enjoy "God Knows..." when Aya sings the song 1 second ahead of what was blasting from the speakers, because of a time delay between her teleprompter and the actual song.

I will say though that she's not the best Japanese singer ever, but for a voice actor who sings, she totally reminds me of Megumi Hayashibara when she was younger.

[Mirrinus]

Originally Posted by AlphaDragoon

Aya's Konata >>> Aya's Haruhi, if you ask me. She just seems to cut loose and have fun with being totally off-the-wall wacky and otaku.

I too am enjoying Aya's Konata more than her Haruhi, which is really saying something, coming from me. I absolutely love the range of her voice in various circumstances, like when she's teasing Kagami, or monologuing to herself about ramen. I think Konata is closer to her real voice, and it sounds a bit more natural, I guess.

[arias]

Originally Posted by AlphaDragoon

Watched the RAW...I demand Yutaka to be a core member of the cast. Cuteness like that NEEDS to be seen.

I actually didn't find Yutaka to be as cute as I thought she would be. Konata is still teh awesome for me ; B One thing I found curious was that the first morning Yutaka wakes up in their home, she actually says something like.. "Oh yes, this is KonaTO-oneh chan's home".. Konato?

[AVPlaya]

Originally Posted by Mirrinus

I too am enjoying Aya's Konata more than her Haruhi, which is really saying something, coming from me. I absolutely love the range of her voice in various circumstances, like when she's teasing Kagami, or monologuing to herself about ramen. I think Konata is closer to her real voice, and it sounds a bit more natural, I guess.

I also concur. Haruhi Aya is more of a straight acting job; her Haruhi sounded similar to her other characters, even ones supposedly feminine, like REIRA in NANA. My wife, when first heard Haruhi, immediately pointed out that her seiyuu was the same actress as REIRA. But both my wife and myself are still amazed that Konata is played by Aya. I think THAT is true voice acting. Her Kona ED songs are probably my favorite piece of voice acting, like, ever.

[Harry McKenzie]

RE: Aya's real voice.

Since I heard her introduce her character in the DS game Luminous Arc, I started to think Konata's voice is actually closer to Aya's real voice than her other characters. But it also seems a little strange that most of her characters would sound more similar to Haruhi though... if that is what her voice really sounds like... so confused!

Anyway, have a listen http://www.mmv.co.jp/special/game/ds/Luminous/
her character is the second on the list: ルーシャ。 (click the little speaker icon next to 平野綾）

And back on topic.... another ED that gave me goosebumps.. Shiraishi's Hare Hare Yukai was just D: to me.

[Konata-chan]

Originally Posted by AVPlaya

Was her normal speaking voice still that of a 5 yrs old loli? That is the most amazing part of Ms. Hirano to me.

I wonder sometimes if the voice that I heard out of the panel really is the voice of Hirano-san. Gotou-san sounds high pitched too, only Chihara-san was only the one really considered to be "normal pitched". Out of all the three though, Gotou-san's the prettiest! Bonus points to her telling everyone that her favorite character was Kaede from Shuffle! At least in AX, a majority of the fans (not the ones just going to the exhibit halls) know who she is.

Originally Posted by AlphaDragoon

Aya's Konata >>> Aya's Haruhi, if you ask me. She just seems to cut loose and have fun with being totally off-the-wall wacky and otaku.

Most definitely. Konata's voice does add to her charm. Especially when she bothers Kagami, now that makes me gush all over, and I'm a girl!

[kenjiharima]

saw the raws waaa the 2 girls Minami and Yutaka make an apperance!!!

Damn the ending ever since minoru shiraishi dressed in drag on the radio and his pics where uploaded in the net he's getting popular and funnier everytime he shows up in L*S.

Seems 2days ending is a parody or Haruhi ending song, the Karate Kid training(He was screaming Miyagi) and the way the buttons are executed kinda reminds me of Virtua Fighter Arcade.

He's truly an underdog character among the girls that shinned.

[shiro83]

Just my thought:
Looks like Shiraishi will be performing each ending live action if this keeps up.

A trend is brewing...

[Kaioshin Sama]

This whole last page looks as if it belongs in the Voice Actor Appreciation discussion thread. As Vexx had said, this discussion is heading wildly off topic.

Though one thing I think is true is that Minoru will continue with the endings for the rest of the second half of this show and they will probably follow a set path of choices from Haruhi, Kanon, FMP!, and Air songs and probably for the last episode either the destined Haruhi II or Clannad opening to promote whichever show is next.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Kaioshin may be right about this belonging in VA appreciation (he's certainly right about those slobbery posts by fans on idols' blogs), but since we're here, I want to say that I now think Hirano Aya's normal voice is much, much lower, and that the genki high voice is put on for performance purposes. She slips easily from one to the other.

Take a look at the following videos, if you can (you may need a nicovideo.jp account　for the second one):

First is her interview on the NHK Anime Giga show. She starts with silly genki, then gradually, over the first few minutes of the 35-minute interview, settles into a more normal-seeming deeper voice that reveals a rather serious side. This is an excellent interview, maybe the best Aya interview I've seen.

Second is a short promo for last Saturday's Animelo show. The nicovideo comments include ones about how low her voice seems. She's being fairly artificial, but her voice is quite low.

As for Aya's singing, I agree that she is not that smooth or professional, and that she's more of a wannabe rocker than a real one. I liked the fact that she said in her blog about her performance at Animelo last week that she has a lot to work on. But I think she has something special in the spirit or expression department. As with her voice-acting, she manages to convey special feeling, to me. I think it's her own inner insecure, trying-hard self coming through. She sometimes reminds me of Judy Garland. And I think she does have a voice and the ability to improve it. I highly recommend both "First Goodbye" and her Manabi Straight character songs. I'm cross-posting now, but I have a piece about Animelo in my own blog.

Layla is still my favorite role of hers, but Konata is amazing, and her comic efforts in the karaoke EDs are a further revelation. If you look at my other blog piece, showing her little playlets involving Galaxy Angel 2 figures, you may get a hint of her natural humor, which seems to come out most when she's with Kano Yui of Sumomo mo Momo mo.

[Deathkillz]

you have got to be kidding me...Shiraishi doing tai chi while singing hare hare yukai at the same time balancing on some very sharp rocks above the raging sea...the guy is on crack! (and improvement on last time as it actually made me crack a smile...but heres hope this is the last O.O)

[arias]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

First is her interview on the NHK Anime Giga show. She starts with silly genki, then gradually, over the first few minutes of the 35-minute interview, settles into a more normal-seeming deeper voice that reveals a rather serious side. This is an excellent interview, maybe the best Aya interview I've seen.

Her voice is much more attractive when it's not in the shrill-genki mode, I thinks.

[Claies]

Okay...has AFK decided to release on Fridays now? Because if that's true then I don't have to check every 4 hours.

[archanfels]

Okay finally saw this and OMG is this episode good! Even Yui and Miyuki, characters I usually don't care much, are good in this one. There's just so much fun and love:

Fun:

- Kona remarks on Yui being a reckless driver and totally unaware of it;
- Kona's blood spit and spin action when find out she doesnt have enough reward points at an anime store (her misery followed by Kagami's comment: Your life is full of fun isnt it. Just perfect);
- Kona sees Yukata as a "walking moeness" and comments "if coupled w/ our Miyuki-san would be an amazing combo";
- Miyuki's mother so bored she talks to some random sales person on phone for an hour, making even Miyuki sweat drop;
- Mr. Izumi feels like a winner of life when seeing YuiKonaYutaka togather(Though it is clearly shown later the real winner of life is Mr. Hiiragi)(Also, Mr. Izumi's jealousy of the child stalker, while kinda funny, is a little over the line for me :P)
- Kona and Tsukasa agreeing on some dumb matter while Kagami tells Yutaka not to grow up like them;
- Yutaka got traumatized by a restroom going experience;
- Yui being her total dumb and crazy self in both present time and flashbacks, she is more entertaining in this episode than previous;
- Kona talks to Kagami about the pressuring of trying to set an example as the older sister, the latter simply replys: "huh?" So short, yet so perfectly funny!(Our Twin Tail Tsundere is on fire today!)
- Maybe just me, but the way Akira said "Final Answer!" made me LOL;
- While I don't like its non-LS-ness, the ending by itself is undeniably hilarious.

Love:

- Yutaka/Minami combo, honestly I'm into neither "walking moeness" nor "ayanami clone" characters, but the combo is cute. Reminds you much of Chiyo/Sakaki;
- Kona is bored/lonely when Kagamin is not around, now that is <3!
- The whole graduation talk, from the tradition of asking for buttons to young Kagami in flashback, simply adorable.
- Tsukasa's voice. I'm probably like 14 episodes late, but after hearing Yutaka's voice I realize just how cute Tsukasa's voice is. Not to downrate Yutaka's seiyuu, I guess Tsukasa just got that perfect vibe for this type of character.

Other Ups:

- No animate dencho and gang(Though I highly doubt this will be the end of them), no I-so-dreaded mentioning/promoting of Haruhi season 2.


Overall, while I don't think it's perfect perfect, if any episode so far deserves the highest score from me, it'd be this one.

[bayoab]

Originally Posted by Claies

Okay...has AFK decided to release on Fridays now? Because if that's true then I don't have to check every 4 hours.

It's not a case of deciding on a day to release. It's a case of "when it's done..." and that depends on a number of things...

[Kaioshin Sama]

So I hear that as Minami, Chihara Minori shows off her amazing vocal range that made Yuki Nagato such a popular character....by playing Yuki again. Or was it that Yuki made Chihara Minori a popular Voice Actress in spite of her limited vocal range. Bleh. This really is the perfect fit though for disguising what I find to be an immense shortcoming of Chihara Minori as a voice actress, lack of passion. Playing oneself is the ideal role don't you think? Hell, Sugita Tomokazu sure was good at it in episode 12, it kind of reminded me of Kyon, Yuuichi, Hideki (Chobits) etc.

I'm sure some will argue otherwise, but after seeing Chihara Minori in 8 or so roles I think that Minami is probably her upper limit.

Okay switching to positive, looking forward to Yutaka, don't let me down this time Lucky Star.

[Vexx]

Ah well.. in Hollywood they call that "character acting". Need a particular character? Abe Vigoda, Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Burns & Gracie Allen, "half the crew that made up John Wayne's posse", ad infinitum.

Some people make a whole career out of playing one sort of role. In her case, it just happens to be a "Vulcan" type role: monotonic and monosyllabic but with micro-flourishes of sarcasm, desire, wit, etc.

I often joke that Asakawa Yuu can put more information into one grunt than many actresses can put into an over-emoted page of dialog.
In Minori's case, I think her Nagato role had the micro-flourishes (maybe you missed them or I read more than what was there), but the character Minami isn't quite the same so I'm interested in seeing if its just Nagato Act 2 or if she actually projects the Minami from the comic strip.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Ah well.. in Hollywood they call that "character acting". Need a particular character? Abe Vigoda, Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Burns & Gracie Allen, "half the crew that made up John Wayne's posse", ad infinitum.

Some people make a whole career out of playing one sort of role. In her case, it just happens to be a "Vulcan" type role: monotonic and monosyllabic but with micro-flourishes of sarcasm, desire, wit, etc.

I often joke that Asakawa Yuu can put more information into one grunt than many actresses can put into an over-emoted page of dialog.
In Minori's case, I think her Nagato role had the micro-flourishes (maybe you missed them or I read more than what was there), but the character Minami isn't quite the same so I'm interested in seeing if its just Nagato Act 2 or if she actually projects the Minami from the comic strip.

Don't forget Mr. T, Lawrence Tierny, Lee Marvin and all those Film Noir actors.

No I'm aware that Chihara Minori is a character actor and that's alright, but I think people are making a big mistake when they talk of her like she's a god given voice actress on account of Yuki and this should be evident in the fact that studios keep sticking her in similar monotone roles. As such I don't greet the notion of the VA of Yuki being in this series as Minami with any sort of fervor, surprise or grandure, just acceptance.

Certainly she was in the right place at the right time doing the right role with Haruhi and she did alright and that goes a long way, but if you want my opinion Minami is exactly what she should be doing and I don't think she's got the kind of future ahead of her that Aya Hirano has in the industry in spite of sharing in the popularity of Haruhi with her.

One question remains though....where exactly is Goto Yuko in all this? I'm almost certain she will be making an appearance given all the signs that Lucky Star is to be a touch and go reunion of the Haruhi cast and the memories of the series, but we may not even know where and when she appears. Be on the look out people for any exceptional high pitched helpless sounding voice in the next 5 or so episodes. If anyone thinks they've spotted her I'd appreciate the person letting everybody know.