“Lucky Star” is sometimes billed as a sort of “second coming” of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya – due to the fact that the voice actor who played the main character (Haruhi) in Haruhi Suzumiya plays the main character (Konata) in Lucky Star. (Interestingly, this is true for both the Japanese and English version.) Also, a number of other voice actors from Haruhi show up again in Lucky Star.
However, the voice actors – while quite good! – are not, in and of themselves, enough to warrant the sort of buzz that Lucky Star has generated.
Instead, it’s best to look at what makes Lucky Star good on its own merits – that is, the fact that it is an absolutely hilarious show that deliberately pokes fun at all the common “tropes” in Anime, as well as anime fans and video game geeks themselves!
In a way, Lucky Star is a sort of “meta” anime – that is, an anime that is about anime. And that is the genius of it.
If you’re not yourself an anime fan in some small way, you won’t like Lucky Star. But if you’re reading this, chances are you are a fan of Anime. Which means you will instantly “get” Lucky Star.
The animation in Lucky Star is nice and colorful, but the character designs are deliberately simplified – so although all the main characters are girls, they don’t distract from what’s being said (except where it’s funny).
Of all the anime series I’ve reviewed, Lucky Star is the one that makes me laugh the most, and it is for this reason that I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys anime and doesn’t mind a little bit of gentle teasing!
