Concept (7)

There isn't much of a concept to this anime other than the general idea of unusually young-looking high schoolers having fun. I've watched anime like this before, and I was aware of the Haruhi references, so naturally it appealed to me.

Beginning (5)

To be honest, I found the first few episodes of the anime rather boring. I remember I tried to watch the first episode in 2022 or 2023, but I gave up halfway through because even compared to other slice of life shows, nothing seemed to be happening. Of course, now I understand that the beginning was slow to introduce the characters, and it's only natural that the more characters were introduced, the more fun the show became, but that doesn't make the start any less boring. It felt like what Miyuki would write, not bad, but not interesting.

Atmosphere (7.5)

The world is our own, but it's presented in a pleasant light. There were a few exciting scenes at events, like Comiket and that Haruhi Suzumiya concert, but they were disappointingly brief. At least there was enough to tell me the characters lived in the real world, and weren't isolated in the bubble of their school.

I enjoyed all the otaku talk and references, but this would probably be a terrible first exposure to anime and the culture overall. Lucky Star is like a time capsule of the late 2000s, viewed from the lens of someone like Konata, or perhaps Patricia Martin, who probably did assume everyone in Japan had the same interests as Konata. It was a very comfy watch.

Characters (8)

The characters don't really "develop" at all, and that's okay. My impression was that Konata and Kagami were the "main" characters, although that might just be my bias, as they were my favourite characters. I didn't dislike anyone, but Tsukasa and Miyuki just seemed plainer, and weren't particularly relatable compared to Konata and Kagami. There was a strong cast of side characters. With the exception of maybe Kagami, nobody is at all serious. You can see where Konata gets her personality from, and even her primary teacher acts likes a high schooler, spending all night on MMOs.

Although we didn't get to see them as much as the older students, I liked the first years just as much as the others. Patricia Martin was the funniest character, and Yutaka was adorable. The one character I didn't like was Minami, because she somehow has a dirty mind without being (overtly) into yuri, like some of the others are.

The Lucky Channel bits were basically focused on Kogami Akira and Shiraishi Minoru. Somehow, they never got old, and I felt their relationship, with Akira becoming increasingly antagonistic and perfectly two-faced, involved the most serious character and story development throughout the anime.

Story (6.5)

Obviously, there isn't much of a story going on, and you can more or less watch the episodes in a random order without getting lost. Time goes on at a reasonable pace, and over the anime we start seeing our main cast thinking more about what they'll do after finishing high school, even if Konata isn't very serious about it. The introduction of the new first years injected life into the anime, and ensured that the pace never slowed down too much. All the special events seemed quite realistic for high schoolers to attend, like going to Comiket, or going on a school trip, and these were frequent enough to stave off boredom.

Audio (8)

The OP is obviously legendary, and I have to appreciate every ED being different. I didn't care much for the first half of them, the karaoke EDs, but I loved listening to the adventures of Shiraishi Minoru. The background audio is serviceable, and I liked the characters' voices.

Visuals (7)

The childish art style is very cute, and stands out in a good way among Kyoto Animation's contemporary roster. The visuals do everything they need to, but given the nature of Lucky Star, that isn't very much, so I can't give a very high rating. The backgrounds are nothing to write home about, and I'm sure they maximised the amount of time spent in the classrooms to avoid needing to draw new backgrounds.

Satisfaction (8)

As expected, there was no build-up to the end, the last episodes, thanks to the first years, were the best in the series. The last episode did tie things up nicely by showing how the cheerleading OP came to be. All the characters stayed true to themselves to the end. Konata only joined in to get tickets a Haruhi Suzumiya event from Patty, and most of the others were convinced by Konata and peer pressure. Of course, Kagami didn't really care about the routine, but participated wholeheartedly and sort of led the project just to be nice.

I'm sure there's enough material to make new seasons, but there's no need for it. The benefit of having hardly any plot is that there's no rush to the end, and I'm not really left waiting for more when I finish the last episode. My one complaint is that I wish more episodes included the second half of the cast. By the time the new first years were introduced, there was only a third of the anime left. It would've been great if they were introduced around episode 8-11 instead.

Enjoyment (7.5)

This wasn't a fast watch, but when it got going in the middle, I got really into it. I'll definitely remember the show fondly, but mainly because of the cultural environment of the late 2000s it thrived in. Ultimately, there's nothing deep or special going on here, at least for me.

Total (74)

Very good