Lucky Star - Episode 04 Discussion / Poll

[Onniguru]

Originally Posted by MakubeX2

Highlights of Ep 4 :-

Konata's Room.

To Heart, Haruhi and FMP Reference.

Lots and lots of closeup. Including one of Kagami crying.

First appearance of Konata's mom, Kanata.

Balant advertising of Comptiq. Again. Even in Lucky Channel. At least Akira change her outfit.

Those weren't the only references.

In one of Konata's excuses to her sensai, she met a girl (Aya from KANON) who had just stolen Takoyaki [sic? sic means mispelling] and she, Konata (ie: Kion), helped her escape in the same way Kion helped her escape in KANON.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Onniguru

Those weren't the only references.

In one of Konata's excuses to her sensai, she met a girl (Aya from KANON) who had just stolen Takoyaki [sic? sic means mispelling] and she, Konata (ie: Kion), helped her escape in the same way Kion helped her escape in KANON.

Don't you mean Ayu and not Aya. Man the day I thought I'd be correcting somone on Kanon. Damn I'm getting soft.

[Fixen]

Finally saw episode 4.

I have to say...none of the subbing groups got it perfectly. WinD is the only one with the highly demanded translator footnotes, EnA is the only one with real high quality h.264 (they flat out missed some references), and a.f.k. is the only one that managed to integrate the jokes into the dialogue. If they work together we can really have something going.

Kagami crying wasn't as awesome as I thought it would be. And neither was Konata mentioning about her mom. I half-expected something a bit more serious, but that would probably ruin the show. I have too many fanfic ideas about this going on right now, and it's ruining my head.

Miyuki's still not funny, and neither are Akira and Lucky Channel. LC's getting progressively boring...
1) Hyperactive greeting "Oha-lucky!"
2) Introduce Shirashi.
3) Shirashi screws up something.
4) Akira gets pissed.
5) Shirashi hurriedly apologizes.
6) Akira gets psycho-pissed and shows her dark side.
7) Music, she blushes, says goodbye.
8) Lucky Channel board comes up, they bicker around a little bit more in confusion.
9) ???????
10) Profit? Not!

Lucky Star will continue to get a 9/10 tops as long as Lucky Channel stays unfunny. >_<

I have a question: What's Konata's economic status? She seems very casual in dressing, and I get the sense that she lives in an apartment with her dad, but I'm not sure. She does have a flat screen LCD monitor and lots of otaku merchandise, though.

[Risaa]

Originally Posted by Onniguru

Those weren't the only references.

In one of Konata's excuses to her sensai, she met a girl (Aya from KANON) who had just stolen Takoyaki [sic? sic means mispelling] and she, Konata (ie: Kion), helped her escape in the same way Kion helped her escape in KANON.

It kind of saddens me that everywhere I go, people are still so stuck on Haruhi that they see references to it that don't exist (or perhaps only exist in their mind, I should say), and now, making mistakes that have to do with Haruhi when what they're trying to say has *nothing* to do with it. (Like something my apartment-mate said to me when I made him watch Lucky*Star. I mentioned that it has a really cute OP and he immediately replied, "well yeah, that's because they copied off of Haruhi".)

... I think you meant "Yuuichi", as he's the lead male in Kanon who helps Ayu escape with taiyaki (takoyaki is a different food - just remember "tako" means octopus and you're set ).

In the Lucky*Star episode, when Kona was making excuses for being late to class, I totally missed her explanations. I was too mesmerized by her hands. XD

Originally Posted by Fixen-san

I have a question: What's Konata's economic status? She seems very casual in dressing, and I get the sense that she lives in an apartment with her dad, but I'm not sure. She does have a flat screen LCD monitor and lots of otaku merchandise, though.

Personally, I think she's loaded. She looks like an average middle-class citizen, but she and her dad are able to afford all sorts of anime+manga goodies (remember that To Heart cosplay seiraa fuku?). I get the feeling that she is very well-off and might even be living in a richer community with a bigger house if she didn't spend all her money on anime.... But I could be wrong.

[Vexx]

Kona & Dad just have different priorities.... "looking right" or "living in right locale" is lower on the scale than the latest gear or hobby goody. The dad works out of the house (a writer or translator something or other) and tends to loaf around in yukata and unshaven. Kona *can* dress well but likes to be comfortable.

Kagami's family seems to be doing remarkably well considering dad is a Shinto priest (I guess he has one of the more popular shrines).

I have no idea what Miyuki's people do but they seem to have a large family bankroll compared to the others (earrings and vacation reference).

ep 4 signals the end of my Lucky Channel enjoyment. 4 eps pretty much covers it (I did love Shiraishi's muttered remarks to Akira throughout the segment)... but 20 more episodes of this are going to get *really* old unless they mix it up some other way.

Lots of nice L*S sketches in this ep. I love to listen to sensei talk with her kansai-ben growls, coupled with her knowledge of games and anime references. They should have spent a few more cents on Kagami-tears for maximum "awwwwwww" effect. I think one of my favorite camera angle shots of Kona is any full-body shot from the rear with that lionsmane of hair she has.

This episode was like a subversive Tsukasa-focused ep with all her undertone lines.

They did kind of fly by Kona's backstory Mom bit, instead focusing on Kagami's reaction to "Dad let me watch while he played games" sequence. Perhaps we'll get the full-bore treatment when the twins finally see pics of Mom

(9/10 .... -1 for underspending on Kagami-tears and L*C-should-change-or-stop-now; still prefering EnA subs for compromise in xlation and choice of font/colors)

[Narumi]

Originally Posted by Fixen

(they flat out missed some references)

To which ones are you specificially referring to?

[Vexx]

Fixen is a translator.. so it'd be interesting to see what he spotted that didn't survive the translation. I haven't had a chance to "listen check" a.f.k. (actually I stopped bothering they have such different ideas on the subject) and am d/ling EnA to see how they did this time.

[Fixen]

Originally Posted by Narumi

To which ones are you specificially referring to?

Crayon Shin-Chan, which a.f.k. managed to integrate into the dialog. Maybe just that one, since ep4 isn't that big of a culture fest like ep3's ponytail day. Seriously, if EnA can include footnotes, then they'd be complete. I have no idea what they could be referring to with Tsukasa's whole talk about throat and nasal infections, and no group made any note of it, so I suppose there really is nothing to it.

Originally Posted by Vexx

Fixen is a translator.. so it'd be interesting to see what he spotted that didn't survive the translation. I haven't had a chance to "listen check" a.f.k. (actually I stopped bothering they have such different ideas on the subject) and am d/ling EnA to see how they did this time.

I'm not that far up the food chain, as I do Chinese-English stuff. I know what EnA missed because I have too much time and I watched subs from everyone minus LC.

Learning Japanese shouldn't be that hard in college...I have all the kanji in, and all the katakana pronounciations.

Originally Posted by Vexx

Kona & Dad just have different priorities.... "looking right" or "living in right locale" is lower on the scale than the latest gear or hobby goody. The dad works out of the house (a writer or translator something or other) and tends to loaf around in yukata and unshaven. Kona *can* dress well but likes to be comfortable.

Kagami's family seems to be doing remarkably well considering dad is a Shinto priest (I guess he has one of the more popular shrines).

I have no idea what Miyuki's people do but they seem to have a large family bankroll compared to the others (earrings and vacation reference).

Okay, come on out...where are you hiding your translations?

So it looks like they all are pretty well off...that's really rare. XD

Konata: Massive amounts of otaku stuff
Twins: Big shrine in the living room, and they dress quite well
Miyuki: I think we see her house behind her mom in the OP. It looks like it can eat both Konata's and the twins' and still have room for a bathtub.

[Kaioshin Sama]

What was it that Kagami was supposed to be crying about again? I completely missed the touch off point.

[Fixen]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin_Sama

What was it that Kagami was supposed to be crying about again? I completely missed the touch off point.

Weight gain. Off pocky, of course. She was mentioned to be on a diet in episode 3.

Thought Question #2: Konata doesn't seem too sentimental about her mom. It would have been an interesting plot point if she actually has that side of her.

[Vexx]

I painfully work my way page by page through sections that visually interest me. I've only been learning the language in my spare time over the last couple of years. I was doing some Yotsuba translations but his choice of font for background muttering always gives me a headache. Lucky*Star looks more translatable and is interesting because of the cultural subtexts and implicit references. There's scans out there of the "missing Yotsuba volumes" so I'm reading those to compare against my guesses for now.

I don't *think* there's any deeper thought to what Tsukasa was saying about infections (that's actually a somewhat common folksy idea in America as well) but it may belong in the same category as "stupid people don't catch colds" legend.

Kona's mother died when she was very young... most of what she knows comes from her dad's recollections. There's some really funny dad-Kona bits on that but I'm not spoiling them in case they animate it.

[Kaioshin Sama]

BALETED! I mean DELETED!

[bayoab]

I believe Tsukasa's thing isn't really a joke but more of a really wrong explanation. She basically says that you are more likely to get an infection through the method you breathe (which is completely untrue).

[Fixen]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin_Sama

Oh right I remember now, and then I commented that she has nothing to worry about being about as skinny as a 2 by 4 is wide.

Kona: "It's not like there's anybody you can show your swimsuit off to." XD

Spoiler for Sting at Azumanga:

I believe Tsukasa's thing isn't really a joke but more of a really wrong explanation. She basically says that you are more likely to get an infection through the method you breathe (which is completely untrue).

That's sooooo Azumanga.

[Vexx]

She probably reads "Tomo and Osaka's Big Book of Everything" for her factoids.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Fixen

Weight gain. Off pocky, of course. She was mentioned to be on a diet in episode 3.

Thought Question #2: Konata doesn't seem too sentimental about her mom. It would have been an interesting plot point if she actually has that side of her.

Oh right I remember now, and then I commented that she has nothing to worry about being about as skinny as a 2 by 4 is wide.

I have to say this about Lucky Channel. Kyoto Animation doesn't have all that much experience with original material and the one episode of Haruhi they wrote specifically for the anime they just panned themselves here. I'm wondering if maybe Lucky Channel is the best they can do on short notice and with about 3 minutes of time. That said it still feels very repetitive, like they can't think of anything to do with the segment.

I still think the all time best tacked on talk segments were those Science lessons that aired before each OVA of Gunbuster.

[Vexx]

The idea of L*C was pretty funny. It just has a fixed lifespan of funny (you can do these jokes and then you're done). If they bring in new characters (e.g. fire Akira and bring in another one for Shiraish to bounce off of) that would be one fix... or bring in a third and watch Akira and that one verbally snip each other to shreds while they pretend to be cute.

[Fixen]

Originally Posted by Vexx

The idea of L*C was pretty funny. It just has a fixed lifespan of funny (you can do these jokes and then you're done). If they bring in new characters (e.g. fire Akira and bring in another one for Shiraish to bounce off of) that would be one fix... or bring in a third and watch Akira and that one verbally snip each other to shreds while they pretend to be cute.

Am I the only one who thought "catfight" after reading your last sentence?

[Kyuusai]

Normally, I just watch Lucky Star and take it all in with calm enjoyment and then top it off with laugh-out-loud moments in Lucky Channel. Episode 4 differed, though, in that it was all hit or miss jokes, and it was Lucky Channel that I received cooly.

The armband and seifuku cosplay gift sequence had me doubled over laughing out loud, as did the "interview" sequence. The "cookie tasting" and "Haruhi watching" sequences, though, I didn't find so funny (although the sub timing did affect my interpretation. Without subs, or with afk's subs, I found them a bit funnier.)

Lucky Channel #4 goes from "Oh, look, Akira's flipping out and showing her true colors" to "Oh, I guess this is just what Akira does". I loved all the previous ones, but at this point it needs some new life.

I noticed the timing in this episode was far closer to the 4koma presentation. Most of the jokes divide up cleanly into four parts. While the original jokes being in 4koma can have a serious influence on the anime presentation (and while there's nothing wrong with the original timing), they CAN break out of the 1-2-3-4 presentation, and they had done so far more in previous episodes.

I eagerly anticipate the fifth episode. I really want to see Konata's dad.

[Vexx]

No... I thought that as I was writing it ("catfight"). I'm just glad they got the SHnY refs done and out of the way so the "sees Haruhi in everything" people can take drugs. They put them in such a way that someone who'd never heard of SHnY would just say "she's watching some anime, eh? that had some filler in it" and just figure she was torturing Kagami with an Brigade Chief armband since she's so bossy.