1 No, you're not the only one.  Although homage wasn't the word I used.

I watched two episodes and was disappointed.  Apparently it changes for the better shortly after that, but I've never gotten back to it.

2 Around ep04, to be exact.

Konata-as-Yomi works for me; Tsukasa-as-Osaka not so much.  She's nowhere near Osaka's level of "other/own-worldliness." 

Unfortunately, other than my Chiyo-clone, there's no Chiyo-chan analogue.

3 Kagami is more the Yomi type; they're both the straight man...uhmm, girl.  Though comparisons are kind of a reach in any case.

And if you think something's a reference, it probably is.  They come thick and fast, and most escape me.

4 What about OP and the Lucky Channel?

5 Whimsy in spades in this show. Kagami is the tsundere / tsukkomi.  She's level headed most of the time. It's only when Konata starts pushing her buttons that the tsun-tsun side comes out.

And I just remembered a post I've been meaning to right for ages. Argh... so late... gotta work in the morning...

6 Well, I for one enjoyed the entire series.  

7

What about OP and the Lucky Channel?

The OP is high energy, frenetic. The lyrics seem damned close to incoherent. I'm not sure what the person who did the subtitles was thinking; usually we get a translation in the subtitles in odd-numbered episodes and romaji of the Japanese on even-numbered episodes, but as of the first three episodes it's just the translation for all of them. A bit disappointing; I wanted to see the romaji of it.

It's a pretty good OP, not the best ever but much better than average. It does attract the eye and it does introduce the main character and give us some idea of what the show will be like visually. On the other hand, it doesn't give us any idea what the characters are like, and how they interact with one another.

So IMHO it isn't as good as the OP to Petite Princess Yucie, which for instance features an image of Yucie and Glenda bickering.

The Lucky Channel is... strange. Akira (was that her name?) seems cut straight out of Jekyl-and-Hyde territory. Minoru, as her hapless victim, is funny. I don't know if that joke can be sustained for 24 episodes.

In fact, I'm not sure if any of the jokes can be sustained that long. It's obvious that one of the running gags is Konata needling Kagami, with Kagami trying to get Konata back and succeeding, once in a while.

Will calls Kagami a tsundere, but that's not accurate. The right word is okorinbou. And Konata seems to know exactly where to goose Kagami to get a reaction from her. I'm not sure I'm going to enjoy 24 episodes of that -- though it's been OK so far.

That's the real question: if they're not going to tell a story, then just what are they going to do for 24 episodes that doesn't get stale? I guess I'll find out.

8

As to the ED, this is "Yuki reading a book" territory. But it's forgivable; no one expects much from EDs. (There have been pleasant surprises, such as Ninja Nonsense.)

Is it going to be the same for the entire season? The continuing adventures of the karaoke four? That's another joke that I'm not sure will work that long.

9 I suspect they wanted to run karaoke for the whole season and then Shiraishi came along and took off with it. Last 10 episodes or so are all live-action Shiraishi. He is the guy who's playing himself in the Lucky Channel in ep.1. BTW, did you catch Akira asking him if he's going to appear in the main show? Poor wretch, she's having it so hard. Shiraishi also played Taniguchi in Haruhi, and his friend's seyuu, Ono, appears as himself too.

10 Dey ask for English lyrics only, dey get English lyrics only. ;p

You've seen tsuntsun Kagami; deredere Kagami doesn't show up until later (and not really strongly or anything, until pretty late in the show).

I don't think anything they're doing could really have held up for 24 episodes - Lucky Channel tried and didn't, really. But about halfway through, they introduce a few more characters, and that gives them more of a dynamic to play with. There's a Chiyo-like in Yutaka (not smart like Chiyo, but it's not like Chiyo was ever smart like Chiyo), along with a couple of her classmates, and a couple of Kagami's friends.

I enjoyed the ED... well, okay, not when I was actually working on it (that's a LOT MORE work than a normal ED). Instead of a part of the show where you hit the "next chapter" button, they've managed to toss in some obscure music and funny jokes, and it's good overall. Again, about halfway through the series they drop that and go with Shiraishi the manic dancer, which is not an improvement but will take me less time to do. ;p

You will appreciate the OP much more when the show's over.

11

I'm impressed you got your copy already, I though the DVD wasn't released until next tuesday? I'll have to wait until there's someone on e-bay or amazon who does cheap transatlantic shipping.

I'ill be interested to see how the dub works, since they have Wendee Lee (who did Haruhi) as Konata, and Sam Regal (who was Taniguichi) as Minoru. I wonder if they get all the voice actors from the english dub of Haruhi to do the relevant cameos?

Definitly think LS is a show that improves as it progresses, pretty much all my favourite episodes/scenes are in the latter half of ther series. Oh and Steven, think you'll find Kagami has similar views to you (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P803tOFmGOI)

Andy

12

The reports on this series intrigue me.  I'll have to check it out.

Per karaoke, I hate it.  Unfortunately, when in Japan there are times it's almost impossible to avoid.  I usually sleaze out by saying I don't know any Japanese songs (which doesn't really make any sense but people seem to buy it).  However, on occasions there are Enlgish songs on the menu and some "helpful" person will track them down: "Hey, you can sing this one!"  Once, the song they found was Procol Harum's "Whiter Shade of Pale."  Now, I'm a big Procol fan, and it's a great song, but it is incredibly difficult to sing.  Arghh....

13

Andy, it came in early. It was scheduled for May 8, but it's not uncommon for titles to come out before they're due. In fact, all the titles for May 8 that I was waiting for except one are already in. (Still waiting for the second volume of Tweeny Witches.)

Toren, I made a comment that Hirano's karaoke voiceover was really good. That's because she absolutely butchers the song. Hirano is a mediocre vocalist when she's trying to be serious (about half the Haruhi OP was flat) but the idea here is that Konata can't carry a tune in a bucket. Hirano does that well, by singing even worse than herself is capable of.

14

Andy, as to that video clip, it seems to be further proof that this series is loaded with references to other series, whether done by KyoAni or not. That particular one arguably was one of theirs, but I've already seen a reference to Becky from Pani Poni Dash.

They changed the art just enough so they couldn't be sued, though. Man, that series sucked. But the character is iconic nonetheless.

15

Oh yes, the Haruhi references/promos get really OTT towards the end   as well as the Cosplay cafe where Konata does the ED dance, the girls go the the Haruhi live event

Re Pani Poni, I initially really liked it (the second dvd is especially funny), but it really tapers of to the end. It had potential but never went anywhere with it

Andy

16 Yeah, the show's -chock full- of references. Sure, plenty of other KyoAni series (tons of FMP, tons of Haruhi, plenty of Kanon), but it's hardly limited to that - the translation files I have here are packed full of references to old 70s comedians, sports figures, popular music, the whole nine yards. "What the heck do we do with Keroro's '-de arimasu'?"

For example, on this one screen of translation, there's a reference to Super Robot Wars and L-Gaim, Ashita no Joe, the Japanese version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire", and the significance of getting the second button from a guy's shirt after graduation...

Son of a gun, the ep 14 ED is full of Street Fighter special move instruction captions... with Shiraishi singing Hare Hare Yukai. I suggest you'll probably like Hirano's singing better...

17

There is one series I've seen which has an even higher concentration of references to other series: Cosplay Complex. That was an OVA and it only ran 3 eps. I think part of the reason was the sheer density of references meant they were going to run out. (Also, it wasn't top notch; really pretty stupid, actually.)

Lucky Star doesn't seem to have as many per unit screen time, but since it ran 8 times longer, it'll be interesting to see if they managed to reach a higher total.

18 I simply ignored them, mostly. The show is good enough without references (a point lost on many bloggers). The only reference I googled was Attack No.1.

19 I'll agree there. I missed all sorts of references when going through it the first time. Just different when it's something I'm working on versus something I'm watching for fun - I don't have to worry about how to handle "-de arimasu" as a hobby! ;p

20

Avatar, you know why it's the second button?  Because that is the one closest to the heart.  Awww...ain't that sweeeeeet!

L-Gaim?  Whoa...I'm having flashbacks....