Disc three of Lucky Star doesn't have as many clever anime references, but it features some more in-depth looks into Kagami's home, as well as a special Comiket episode.Certainly "Lucky Star" isn't the most exciting anime. Most of the episodes focus on the everyday lives of four high school kids who love Japanese anime and video games, with Konata as the leader of the girls.
But it is very funny. Just to get a sense of the humor in this disc, episode 9 focuses on the kids studying for a test. Konata typically goes back to her MMORPG in the middle of studying. She meets her teacher online on the same game, telling her to stop playing and study. Good grief, doesn't her teacher have anything better to do?
This disc is more notable for the part in episode 10 where Tsukasa and Kagami visit Konata's house. Konata's father is a writer who loves young girls, but for quite different reasons than what one might thing (yeah, he's not quite a pedophile). Even though Konata's mother died, Konata shows her friends a picture of her mother, who looks almost like young Konata! How could this be...?
So that's why Konata's father gets so inspired to write whenever he hangs around little girls. How weird...
Meanwhile, in the episode 11, Kagami gives her father some Christmas presents. Then Kagami's cousin, Yui comes in after spending a night on the town, drinking. Why is she drunk driving, even though she's a cop? And Yui's husband called her on her cell, so Yui's ready to drive back to her home. Oh dear...
The best episodes in this DVD, episode 12, is definitely worth watching. Konata, Kagami and Tsukasa had to Comiket. For anyone who doesn't know what this is, all the big manga and doujinshi artist arrive at the Ariake convention center to sell all their manga to fans. Manga fans flood inside the subway cars to head to Comiket. And of course, Konata gives Tsukasa and Kagami a floor plan and maps out the tables they have to visit on the map. She's sure an expert when it comes to anime and manga conventions. Of course, Tsukasa and Kagami get more than a little lost in their epic journey through the convention floor.
Konata's choices range from weird to bizarre. For example, Konata designates Kagami to a strange booth selling a hentai (pornographic) manga with men and chains. Kagami's freaked out at first, but she can't stop reading it! Boy, young girls and their manga these days...
The Lucky Channel segment at the end of the episodes isn't nearly as funny as it used to be, since we already know what to expect from the sultry Akira and her quirky co-host Minoru Shiraishi. However, Akira does manage to get into background in episode 12...as a cardboard cut-out.
I'm surprised at how much life Lucky Star still has, even though the anime really doesn't have much substance compared to other slice-of-life anime.
And The Adventures of Minoru Shiraishi extras are excellent in volume 3. The big spotlight of his film trip in Kyushu included a film clip in which Minoru is chasing desperately after his bus while two actresses talked about the food they ate.
I honestly have no idea how the group's film clips are going to come together on the last episodes of Lucky Star, but so far, their film shoot has been really funny. We'll have to wait and see how it turns out.
Image courtesy of wikipedia.org
