Lucky Star - Episode 15 Discussion / Poll

[Suzumiya Haruhi]

Konata's dad doing the henshin pose from Kamen Rider Super-1 made me like him even more. :P

[Risaa]

OK... when L*S is over, AVPlaya, you need to tell me what shows you'll be following so I can follow you and get more of your extremely awesome posts. x3! Again, frustrated I can't cookie you. I wonder if RL cookies will do?

Anime references (especially from popular anime) are nice, but I really dig the references that not everybody will get, especially non-anime references.

Originally Posted by AVPlaya

The question Hiiragi family tried to answer the first time was "What was the humble form of "??" (go)? and the answer was "??". I am kinda shocked that they missed it because even I know the answer. Perhaps we as gaijin tend to learn keigo before we learn normal Japanese, but I don't think "mairimasu!" was that rare, especially they all being mikos, shouldn't they know more keigos than normal folks?

I often suspect that what they teach in schools here is a little over-the-top on keigo and other polite-ness while a lot of casual speak is swept under the rug. It does worry me a bit - I know it's better to be overly polite (and get laughed at) than be rude (and be glared at), but it also distances yourself from people.

I learned short/casual form before learning keigo/humble, so I'm a lot more comfortable with it and tend to use it accidently in situations in which it'd be better to um, not. And it's just the opposite for my friend over at MIT - she had keigo/humble pounded into her since the very beginning, so she's pretty bad with casual form, but OK with keigo/humble.

(I'm jealous that she's so intelligent and basically has a career already planned out for her, but I think I'm happier being at a more "normal" level... for one thing, she's way too busy for online forums, often too busy just for chatting via AIM. )

[Calawain]

Enjoyable episode this week, a few of the references took me a second watching to get. And thanks to AVPlaya for the posting of the reference material, gave me many things to look for the second watch through of the show!

[Meophist]

"Potemkin" is also a character from the fighting game series "Guilty Gear", which I believe is somewhat popular in Japanese arcades. It's possible that Konata was dreaming about that.

[AVPlaya]

Originally Posted by vuori

At 07:52 when Tsukasa and Kagami are talking about Konata's homework, they stop for a while and the voice on TV seems to be saying "aa ha ha, Gurren-dan, wakatteru saa..". Am I imagining or is this a hitherto unknown G-L reference there?

According to some it was supposed to be the "Za Kurouza", but I didn't really hear "gurren" either.. plus there was a heck of a lot of shouting in G-L, that voice over didn't sound like it... I don't think it's an anime reference. Plus, the Hiiragi's don't really watch anime.

Originally Posted by Calawain

Enjoyable episode this week, a few of the references took me a second watching to get. And thanks to AVPlaya for the posting of the reference material, gave me many things to look for the second watch through of the show!

You're welcome! I've always enjoyed the 2nd or 3rd viewing more than the first one, especially after I get all the references and understood the hard-work going into each episode. They even bothered to get the hair style of the female host and the tie color of the male host right for the All-star quiz show. I'm very impressed.

Originally Posted by Meophist

"Potemkin" is also a character from the fighting game series "Guilty Gear", which I believe is somewhat popular in Japanese arcades. It's possible that Konata was dreaming about that.

Great find! If this is true, we may know more than J-otas! Congrads! I still like ocha mochi though... it's sounds much cuter.

Originally Posted by FlashCE

I love the Kyon/Yuki reference when Konata's dad asked her about her book and she said "Unique"

The books she's reading is the May 2007 Issue of "Gundam A" magazine. It's quite interesting because 1. They weren't allowed to make Gundam references on the show.. so this maybe a small jab? and 2. Gundam A is a maga of Gun-otas. Kona has not a single Gundam model... what's she doing reading it? Ota research?

Originally Posted by dahl_moon

I've always thought this was the Fanta parady. I guess the Fanta commercial itself was a parody of an earlier period; Kinbachi-sensei.

Given the history of Kinbachi, I'd say you're probably right.

Originally Posted by Risaa

OK... when L*S is over, AVPlaya, you need to tell me what shows you'll be following so I can follow you and get more of your extremely awesome posts. x3! Again, frustrated I can't cookie you. I wonder if RL cookies will do?

Oh RL cookie much better! I can't imagine I'll write something similar for another show... This show is unique in the way references are thrown around, and some of them on purpose to confuse the otaku. I mean, will I ever find another anime with a reference to dorama starring Kimura Takuya? I seriously doubt it. There's a LOT of real world reference to things only Japanese women or OL would be interested in... that's like complete opposite of otaku world. They do not know much about each other's culture. BUT this show builds a bridge... Just imagine the amount of otaku with a Joba in their hikkomori rooms now and you can feel the power of L*S.

(I'm jealous that she's so intelligent and basically has a career already planned out for her, but I think I'm happier being at a more "normal" level... for one thing, she's way too busy for online forums, often too busy just for chatting via AIM. )

Dont' be so jealous of your keigo spouting friend, Rissa-chan. Those are the people who will stay gaijin forever. The Japanese use keigo to keep distance between people - it was invented so the nobles can distinguish themselves from the lay folks. Most young people hated it and will never use it unless forced to, and some won't even use it at work. KyoAni is one of the companies where I'd imagine keigo is only used when there are visitors. You are actually more likely to learn real Japanese and be part of real Japanese groups... Secretly, Japanese love gaijins who won't use keigo a lot and they would forgive them easily anyway... notice in Japan no matter how bad your Japanese was they will always be very happy you're speaking it, same goes with keigo usage. In fact you pull them closer when you don't use it, but you won't know it until later. Just don't forget to use keigo in front of ELDERs, like old baba and jiji, or the very first time you meet someone, and you'll be fine.

[Risaa]

Originally Posted by AVPlaya

Just don't forget to use keigo in front of ELDERs, like old baba and jiji

Aah, so I should always use keigo to you? [*gets thrown away*] Waa!

It's funny how you'll get praised for saying a few mangled words, or even something as simple as "genki desu ka?" (I got praised twice for that one just because I used kanji for "genki" )... It can get annoying, but you'll be scurrying back to those who praise you after you spend a day with little kids who do nothing except insult and laugh at you for your pronunciation.

[Mirrinus]

Finally got around to watching this episode, and I must say, this is probably one of my favorites so far. It just felt really enjoyable from beginning to end. Sure, it was a bit more scattered than usual, but I really liked the portrayal of the girls at school in this one, from Konata looking for the nurse's office to the teacher being late to poor Kagami being separated from everyone else again.

And as for Lucky Channel, all I have to say is, after watching Hayate's Butler Network, LC is pure gold by comparison. I mean, Hayate's episode-end mini-show is far more repetitive, less funny, and basically sounds like an advertisement for the character singles. Give me Shiraishi and Akira any day.

[Calawain]

I would agree, I mean LC was really great at the beginning, and it's lost some of its appeal as the joke becomes more repetitive. However, it is better than a lot of other similar attempts in the past.

[WanderingKnight]

And I still say that LC is not the type of humor American people are accustomed to, and as such they have a harder time enjoying it

[Vexx]

Well... L*C (as a form of manzai) is basically: Abbott & Costello, Burns&Allen, Laurel & Hardy .... mingling familiar schticks with bits of new stuff.

1) They ran with the same gag for too many episodes... actually I'm suspecting they did it on purpose now just so they could lampoon the lampoon.
2) The recent shift in tenor has refreshed the segment.... purely in my opinion they should have done it a couple of episodes earlier.
3) I'm still hoping for an L*C segment that is live-action. I think it would be great to see the VAs hamming it up.

4) Whatever its goodness, I still view L*C as taking fundamental time budget away from the main segment. And watching how long it took to introduce even two of the other characters, it is very unlikely at this point we'll get more than half of the existing four volumes adapted to screen.
If they already plan on a second season, that might be less irritating but we already know Haruhi 2 is incoming.

[gaguri]

Frustrating episode. Not because it's bad. But because it could be so much more. Many moments that seemed to be very heartwarming, yet never truly shines and turns back to its usual comedy (which is never that hilarious). In that sense, not much different from the previous episodes. Still enjoying it for what it is though.