If you’ve read the blogposts on Lucky Star on another blog, you’d probably noticed that many people were disappointed with Lucky Star. In my opinion, it’s only because this is a 4 koma manga-anime adaptation done by KYOANI. Therefore, people were misleaded to thinking that that there would be plenty of really crazy stuff like what you see on Haruhi. I, for one, found it to be good entertainment since I expected an Azumanga Daioh sort of thing. What makes it better is that the jokes in this episode is something we can relate to. For example:

Why didn’t you join the athletics club when you run very fast?

Because if I join the club, I wouldn’t be able to watch anime at golden time.

They even sight examples such as

when there is one last piece of meat left

and the cleaner takes it away when nobody’s touching it, after which you exclaim “Hey, I haven’t finished yet!” Oh, and the 1st part of the show touches on eating food.

But don’t fret if you really need anime references, there’s Street Fighter 2 reference in this one!

Konata “I saw Tsukasa getting harassed by a weird foreigner and engaged in battle with him, beating him up and finishing him off with a senpuu kyaku.”

Kagami “Why do you keep saying stuff about games!?”

What we also have in this ep is a short “Lucky Channel” segment. I’ll just post screens of it, but it’s quite humorous.

All I need now are speech bubbles.

And to top it all of, the 4 main characters go for karaoke. You only see the door and credits, but the conversation make me chuckle a little.

Yeah, and that’s it for my 1st impression of Lucky Star. I’d like to say that I’ll keep following this series to the very end.

PS: Aya-chan really nailed Konata’s voice. In fact, I could never have guessed it was her if I had not known beforehand!

PS#2: KyoAni pulled off another Hare Hare Yukai on us. The OP rocks!

Last minute PS: Apparently, this anime is still getting famous because of it’s OP, ironic…

Yeah, again. Just when I stopped hearing the 1st one!

muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuUUUuuuuuUUUUuuUU

This CM’s ingenius! I’m gonna turn this into my phone alarm now.

MuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

The spring of CLANNAD! Yes, the famous Key game gets the KyoAni treatment and there’s a commercial already released online.

Check it!

And now for a shot and an animated .gif, the latter instantly bringing this into my watch list.

I haven’t played the game, but this sure is caught my interest. Mainly because:

1. The legendary KyoAni is doing this series.
2. It’s based on a Key game, so I expect a good plot that’ll make me shed at least 1 tear.
3. I heard it has plenty of quirky characters. Tomoyo even got a sequel all for herself!

It’s going to come out October, though, so we’ll have to do with other stuff for now. Maybe KyoAni’s upcoming Lucky Star will keep me entertained.

PS: The song in the trailer’s now stuck in my head, and I like it.

Ok, scrap the previous theory! From what I’ve read and seen, the episodes are going to be in recap format for each of the girls! That’s right, RECAP MODE! This means there’s only stuff that can be seen in the 1st series, so I don’t recommend watching this if you’ve already watched the 1st season. At least…not yet. Since there’s about 6 episodes that’ll be done in recap mode, there’s still room for more episodes, which may have contain a surprise. Other than that, the recap episodes come with a special OP each for each featured girl! You can watch it on Youtube, or you could go to this page and get em!(There’re Raws, though.)

Oh, BTW(spoilers!):

Asa-senpai FTW!

I’ve got the 1st ep of Manabi Straight, but right now I’m still taking screenshots and working out how to do this 1st impression thing. So I’ll leave you all this animated .gif as a teaser:

Ok, let’s get it on!(Why did I think of that?O_O) I’ve just watched Shuffle! Memories Ep1 and finally got a grip on what on earth this new season’s about. Click “read more” to see my 1st attempt at a 1st impression thing.

As you’d probably have read in some other blog, this new season features a new OP but still has the same ED. This new OP is more happy-sounding and is nice in a few ways but I don’t see myself listening to it over and over, though this kind of music isn’t really my type.

Anyway, this episode is a recap of what happened in the 1st season, with the protagonist, Tsuchimi Rin (土見　稟) doing the descriptions of the other characters.* From the narration, and the huge span of time I spent watching the 1st season(NO, MY LIFE!!! T-T) , I can safely assume that the next episode is going to start off the story from after a few episodes of the 1st season. If you don’t get what I mean, here’s a diagram (Please note that this is but an assumption based on what I observed):

TIMELINE

[SEASON 2 episode 1]

————————————————————->Rest of episode 2

[1st few episodes of 1st season]

What I’m trying to state is that this episode was created to give a rough overview of what happened so that people who are new to Shuffle! would be able to understand what what the #### is going on without having to see the 1st season and without Studio WOW having having churn out episodes that people who watched the 1st season have to bear with. |drinks some water|

Well, I loved the 1st season, so I think I’ll be at least satisfied with this new season. It’s still to early to say that, though, so I’ll just keep watching it.

People who don’t know about Shuffle and want to know more, keep reading. Those who know alot about Shuffle already, don’t bother reading the rest or check out the last section for the purpose of the *)

Since I’m kinda lazy, I’m going to try and describe each main character in 3 sentances or less! OSU!

Tsuchimi Rin(土見　稟): The male protagonist, which every harem anime needs. As often found in harem anime, the male protagonist is indecisive and thus tempts me to rip out my hair at certain moments.** However, he is one of the best harem anime male protagonist(I’ll shorten it to HAMP…HAHAHA XD) in my own opinion since he’s not whiny or boring or anything like that.

Fuyou Kaede(芙蓉　楓): Everyone, the psychotic bitch perfect housewife character is back!*** Rin’s childhood friend and personal wife maid cook… you know what, forget it! Anyway, she stays in the same house as Rin (IT’S NOT WHAT YOU THINK, PEOPLE!) and is considered the school “princess”.

Lisianthus(リシアンサス)(aka.Sia): The genki (and academically challenged) Goddess is back with her chair!(OUCH!>_&lt She’s the princess of the God relm and a potential bride for Rin. Anger her and she’ll wack you with her mother’s skill, the OSHIKARI CHAIR(I made the name up, but it’s true. ^^;)(*4)

Nerine(ネリネ): The demon relm’s princess and 2nd potential bride for Rin. She’s polite and gentle but will not hesitate to blast people who insult Rin with her uber magic!(*5)

Primula(プリムラ): Of course, let’s not forget the Loli character. Doesn’t show much emotion initially, but that’s cos she doesn’t know how to express them. I can’t reveal much, many spoilers.

Shigure Asa(時雨亜沙): Lastly, we have my personal favorite, Shocking Shigure! Very jolly(do people still use this word?), talented in all aspects(I think) and not boring at all IMO. Teases Rin ALOT (You’ll know what I mean) and has the trademark greeting: *Slaps back* HELLO, Rin-chan!

Phew, now on to the special section I’ve thought up for my blog posts:

TRIVIA!

* The seiyuu who did Rin,Sugita Tomokazu(杉田　智和), also does Kyon from Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu.

**Yes, indecisiveness is always a trait of HAMPs. The only HAMP I can think of as an exception is Tomosaka Kenji from Lamune, which I think I’ll review soon.

***If you are absolutely clueless about the Shuffle! storyline, please PLEASE ignore the crossed out words.It’s for the best, Really!(*6)

*4 Oshikariお叱り=Scolding

side note:I’m not a Japanese expert since I self-teach myself, so don’t bug me for any translations for anything under the sun.

*5 Navel, the company that produced the game the anime is based on, produced 2 other games in the Shuffle! franchise. 1 of them is Tick! Tack! which is a sequel for the Nerine ending, while

*6 the other game is Really? Really!, based on the Kaede ending.

And that is all I have to type about for this post. Next time, I’ll keep posts for 1st impressions as short as possible and with some pictures.(I’m feeling too lazy to take some screenshots.&^^

The 1st few anime this 2007 have started! But apparently, none of them have undergone any fansubbing yet. ^^; In this situation, I’ve decided to resort to this “strategy”, watching the RAWS and then watching the fansubs once their out! For this season, I’ve picked out 2 anime I’ll 100% watch. They are:

SHUFFLE! Memories - Cos’ I like the 1st series(Asa senpai, FTW) and I wonder how this remake/recap/i-dunno-what will turn out.(extra note: I’m also attempting to play Really? Really!, but that’s a different story.)

and…

Gaukuen Utopia Manabi Straight! - No, I’m not a loli-pedo-fin. -_- But I am fond of simple school comedy type anime/manga. That and the artwork’s adorable! ^w^ Furthermore, from what I’ve seen in the previews, the animation’s really good! The studio producing this is Ufoable and they produced Coyote Ragtime Show(haven’t watched it though).

I may try watching the other series, but only when I feel it’s worth checking out.