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Lucky Star #1
Lucky Star 1
From the studio that brought you The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya!
When eating a chocolate cornet which end do you begin with, the top or the bottom? Which side is the top and which is the bottom? For that matter, what is a chocolate cornet? The proper way to eat pastries is only one of the many every day occurrences explored by the girls of Ms. Kuroi's class. Meet Konata, an athletic and intelligent girl too dedicated to her favorite primetime animes to excel in anything but otaku culture; Miyuki, the cute, bespectacled living example of Moe with an encyclopedic knowledge of all subjects; Kagami, the bitter-sweet, tough but shy sister; Tsukasa, a kind but air-headed klutz. Witness this study in the human condition as our heroines explore the unexplored in questioning the ordinary!
When eating a chocolate cornet which end do you begin with, the top or the bottom? Which side is the top and which is the bottom? For that matter, what is a chocolate cornet? The proper way to eat pastries is only one of the many every day occurrences explored by the girls of Ms. Kuroi's class. Meet Konata, an athletic and intelligent girl too dedicated to her favorite primetime animes to excel in anything but otaku culture; Miyuki, the cute, bespectacled living example of Moe with an encyclopedic knowledge of all subjects; Kagami, the bitter-sweet, tough but shy sister; Tsukasa, a kind but air-headed klutz. Witness this study in the human condition as our heroines explore the unexplored in questioning the ordinary!
149 pages, Paperback
First published January 8, 2005
53 people are currently reading
989 people want to read
About the author
Kagami Yoshimizu
31 books37 followersKagami Yoshimizu (美水かがみ Yoshimizu Kagami) is a Japanese manga author from Satte, Saitama, Japan. He is perhaps best known as the creator of a four-panel comic strip Lucky ☆ Star which has been serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Comptiq magazine since January 2004. He is also credited for creating Comptiq's mascot character Comp-chan (コンプちゃん Konpu-chan?).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
October 29, 2010
Detailing the plot for this series is a little difficult, as there's really no huge story to unwind or events to expect. The series follows a group of high school girls, all of whom have wonderfully distinct personalities. The most notable of the group is Konata, one of the main characters of the series. She's 100% otaku through & through, having been raised from an early age in an otaku-rich environment.
I'd heard so much hype from various fans of the series that I figured that it was time to pick up the series to check it out. I loved the 4 panel format of the series. If you are going to make a gag series, it is better to use a brief format in order to keep from overwhelming the audience. I also loved the artwork- it's incredibly cute & makes many of the actions of the group pretty endearing.
The only negative thing I will really say about the series is that I wasn't able to finish the volume in one sitting. While I enjoyed & appreciated the humor in the series, after a while the slapstick & humor sort of grated on me. This is something I'd recommend to people, but it isn't something that I recommend downing in one gulp. The series was initially intended to be read as a weekly strip, so stretching the book out over a few days is recommended. (Then you can go back & read it all in one gulp!)
I'm going to be collecting the rest of the series, but I recommend that if you aren't familiar with the series then you should probably read it in the store before making a final decision
I'd heard so much hype from various fans of the series that I figured that it was time to pick up the series to check it out. I loved the 4 panel format of the series. If you are going to make a gag series, it is better to use a brief format in order to keep from overwhelming the audience. I also loved the artwork- it's incredibly cute & makes many of the actions of the group pretty endearing.
The only negative thing I will really say about the series is that I wasn't able to finish the volume in one sitting. While I enjoyed & appreciated the humor in the series, after a while the slapstick & humor sort of grated on me. This is something I'd recommend to people, but it isn't something that I recommend downing in one gulp. The series was initially intended to be read as a weekly strip, so stretching the book out over a few days is recommended. (Then you can go back & read it all in one gulp!)
I'm going to be collecting the rest of the series, but I recommend that if you aren't familiar with the series then you should probably read it in the store before making a final decision
December 19, 2017
Decided to go for a re-read of this series! Even though it has been years since I read it, and even longer since I saw the anime, a lot of things were still familiar to me. :) But I still had fun reading this one, it was great to see the girls again! The art is a bit wonky at times, but I believe that gets better with each volume.
May 10, 2018
I own two copies of this volume. The first, I purchased in 2012 (or maybe early 2013), a used copy (the book's been out of print for years), from either Amazon or eBay, for a price perhaps a little higher than MSRP (too lazy to go back in my order histories for either site in order to confirm), and I read it probably a few months after the copy arrived in the mail. I was unimpressed. In my faulty memory, the cause for my disinterest was an overabundance of strictly "Japanese" references I did not "get" as an American reader. But I think that's more a quality of the anime adaptation, which I still have yet to watch. Re-reading the volume more recently, I remember my real issue then (as it kinda-sorta is now) was that the comic strips were not ever "laugh-out-loud funny," opting instead for a less explicit sense of humor, requesting the reader to grow to care about the arguably-one-dimensional characters rather than expect any profound/visceral guffaws.
My second copy was a consequence of having purchased a "lot" of six volumes from eBay recently. The purchase contained volumes one, two, three, five, six, and seven (omitting four). Individual volumes were priced unreasonably high (some around $40), especially for manga of this caliber, and it was with some luck that I found six volumes together for about $33. Ignoring Volume One (which I already owned), I imagined it thus as five books each for a little over $6, whereas several volumes went for at least 4x that amount when listed alone by other eBay sellers. I was torn. Did I want to spend $33 on six books, knowing I didn't care too much for one of them, which I already owned, sitting somewhere on my bookshelf, and could I risk passing up the chance to gather these books for a brilliantly low price, in bulk? The reason I went through with the purchase, by the way, was that I was getting deeper into the Haruhi Suzumiya light novels, adapted into an anime television series by studio Kyoto Animation, the same studio who did the Lucky Star anime (released between seasons one and two of Haruhi), and I desired to watch more KyoAni productions, after reading their source materials, for meme reasons. This is also why I've recently purchased the College and High School volumes of K-On!, after having owned the core four original volumes of that series for almost six years.
Anyway, Lucky Star is a "yonkoma" (otherwise "4-koma," a four-paneled comic strip) manga, and like many of its ilk it focuses mainly on slices of its characters' lives, structured loosely around somewhat weak jokes not unlike the sort one would find in the newspaper "funny pages." There are ups and downs to the jokes among the comic strips, but they float around a comfortable middle ground; none are really uproariously funny, but neither are any outright shit.
Only three really stood out to the degree that I can remember them out of the hundreds of others: the first such strip is the first in the volume altogether, showcasing the athletic prowess of lead character Konata, the set-up being a question of why she doesn't try out for any sports clubs despite her impressive physical abilities, the punchline being that she'd thus be unable to catch late afternoon anime on TV, the significance within the series being the core introduction of Konata as an "otaku," but the significance I've attached "without" the series is author Yoshimizu's apparent slip from this initial characterization of a major character, quickly moving from "athletic-yet-obsessed-with-2D" to a character who is more or less too "dumb" to succeed in school, to much ridicule from her friend Kagami, yet allowing her to get along very well with Kagami's sister Tsukasa, nicely fitting Konata within the dynamic of the three main characters (the fourth, Miyuki, is more or less a non-entity), but then Yoshimizu starts calling more reference to Konata's physical abilities, as if trying in vain to inform his readers that, yes, he did remember how Konata was originally characterized; the second strip of note is about juvenile criminals' actions seem to surprise their close acquaintances, who go on the local news professing their disbelief that So-and-So could have done such a thing [the joke is that Kagami feels she'd easily believe it if Konata were to commit a crime], but it stuck out to me that even the Japanese have the "he a good boy he dindu nuffin" thing; the third occurs near the end of this volume, with the first three panels showing various characters refer to Kagami by her surname, "Hiiragi" (or otherwise "Hiiragi-san" or "Hiiragi-chan"), the joke in panel four being that she spends too much time in Tsukasa/Konata/Miyuki's class, a humorous comment on her prominence throughout the rest of the book, that a character from a different classroom seemed previously to be shoehorned into the dynamics of Konata and Tsukasa, finagling, as it were, a way to preserve Kagami's presence among the cast while allowing the students to be shown attending school (Konata was initially friends with Tsukasa, and they met Miyuki through their shared classes, with Kagami introduced to Konata through her familial relation to Tsukasa - all these relations were assumed to have been formed before page one of the manga) - the joke is then that Yoshimizu realizes the silliness of having placed Kagami in a different class, yet having her always visit her sister and friends during breaks and things.
Anyway, as is most important w/r/t slice-of-life moeshit, I have concluded as of the end of this volume that Kagami is Best Girl. Initially, I decided on Miyuki, having actually placed Kagami the lowest on my Power Ranking. Konata is what I would term "The Obvious Favorite," her otaku-isms appealing, obviously, to the otaku target demographic of this series. Indeed, I have always assumed Lucky Star to be Konata's series, where one would read the manga to get more of Konata, "literally /ourgirl/, one might say. I think, actually, that the anime might be more explicitly Konata-centric, but I do not know for sure; it is merely a strong impression I have gathered based on promotional images and /a/ shitposts. Between Miyuki and Tsukasa, it seems both are different breeds of "Ultra-Feminine Character," with Miyuki specifically holding positions in the niches of "Meganekko" (glasses girl), "Class Rep," "Mature-seeming Rich Girl" (as opposed to the haughtier "Ojou-sama" archetype), and "Clumsy Girl," whereas Tsukasa more simply falls under "Dumb in a Cute Way" and what I would call "Wife-in-Training" (an excellence in household activity, as befitting the Traditionalist role of a wife). I've always had a thing for Meganekko and Class Reps, with both colliding when I'd finally read NISIOISIN's Kizumonogatari and "got" the love for Hanekawa, so Miyuki stood higher than Tsukasa, though I could not deny Tsukasa's ditziness nor the way she wears her ribbon in her hair, thus eking her over her twin sister, whom I had previously dismissed due to her cuntiness in contrast with her cutesy twintail hairdo. The issue with Kagami, I guess, is that she checks most of the boxes for the "Perfect Tsundere" archetype, yet without a male protagonist unto whom she might deliver her "tsuntsun" rage and "deredere" affection. Konata did not make for an adequate stand-in, despite her commonalities with the male otaku upon whom many male protagonists are generally based (and thus on whom tsundere are meant to "tsuntsun" and "deredere"). But ultimately I could not deny the combination of bitchiness and twintails. The only real problem is that the paneling of most strips frames each character from the waist up, and thus one cannot see too well the length of Kagami's socks, and they don't reach too close to her skirt to really qualify her for true "Class S" zettai ryouiki (Rin Tohsaka is still, and will forever be, the greatest female character in all of Japanese 2D Entertainment-Culture).
Postscript: Clearly, I care too much about 2D and the analyses thereof, to a degree that I feel less inclined to think too critically about Real Art, to a further degree that I even dismiss the Potential Concrete-ness of characters in Real Literature in favor of psychic masturbation over the quality of Prose. With Prose being absent in manga, I have no choice, I would say, but to think a little more of Character ("Vibe" is still a greater focus, even without guidance by Prose), and thus I am more inclined to pigeonhole 2Dqts into archetypes and niches and praise their construction accordingly, knowing full well how "weird" it is, and, worse, how "plebeian."
My second copy was a consequence of having purchased a "lot" of six volumes from eBay recently. The purchase contained volumes one, two, three, five, six, and seven (omitting four). Individual volumes were priced unreasonably high (some around $40), especially for manga of this caliber, and it was with some luck that I found six volumes together for about $33. Ignoring Volume One (which I already owned), I imagined it thus as five books each for a little over $6, whereas several volumes went for at least 4x that amount when listed alone by other eBay sellers. I was torn. Did I want to spend $33 on six books, knowing I didn't care too much for one of them, which I already owned, sitting somewhere on my bookshelf, and could I risk passing up the chance to gather these books for a brilliantly low price, in bulk? The reason I went through with the purchase, by the way, was that I was getting deeper into the Haruhi Suzumiya light novels, adapted into an anime television series by studio Kyoto Animation, the same studio who did the Lucky Star anime (released between seasons one and two of Haruhi), and I desired to watch more KyoAni productions, after reading their source materials, for meme reasons. This is also why I've recently purchased the College and High School volumes of K-On!, after having owned the core four original volumes of that series for almost six years.
Anyway, Lucky Star is a "yonkoma" (otherwise "4-koma," a four-paneled comic strip) manga, and like many of its ilk it focuses mainly on slices of its characters' lives, structured loosely around somewhat weak jokes not unlike the sort one would find in the newspaper "funny pages." There are ups and downs to the jokes among the comic strips, but they float around a comfortable middle ground; none are really uproariously funny, but neither are any outright shit.
Only three really stood out to the degree that I can remember them out of the hundreds of others: the first such strip is the first in the volume altogether, showcasing the athletic prowess of lead character Konata, the set-up being a question of why she doesn't try out for any sports clubs despite her impressive physical abilities, the punchline being that she'd thus be unable to catch late afternoon anime on TV, the significance within the series being the core introduction of Konata as an "otaku," but the significance I've attached "without" the series is author Yoshimizu's apparent slip from this initial characterization of a major character, quickly moving from "athletic-yet-obsessed-with-2D" to a character who is more or less too "dumb" to succeed in school, to much ridicule from her friend Kagami, yet allowing her to get along very well with Kagami's sister Tsukasa, nicely fitting Konata within the dynamic of the three main characters (the fourth, Miyuki, is more or less a non-entity), but then Yoshimizu starts calling more reference to Konata's physical abilities, as if trying in vain to inform his readers that, yes, he did remember how Konata was originally characterized; the second strip of note is about juvenile criminals' actions seem to surprise their close acquaintances, who go on the local news professing their disbelief that So-and-So could have done such a thing [the joke is that Kagami feels she'd easily believe it if Konata were to commit a crime], but it stuck out to me that even the Japanese have the "he a good boy he dindu nuffin" thing; the third occurs near the end of this volume, with the first three panels showing various characters refer to Kagami by her surname, "Hiiragi" (or otherwise "Hiiragi-san" or "Hiiragi-chan"), the joke in panel four being that she spends too much time in Tsukasa/Konata/Miyuki's class, a humorous comment on her prominence throughout the rest of the book, that a character from a different classroom seemed previously to be shoehorned into the dynamics of Konata and Tsukasa, finagling, as it were, a way to preserve Kagami's presence among the cast while allowing the students to be shown attending school (Konata was initially friends with Tsukasa, and they met Miyuki through their shared classes, with Kagami introduced to Konata through her familial relation to Tsukasa - all these relations were assumed to have been formed before page one of the manga) - the joke is then that Yoshimizu realizes the silliness of having placed Kagami in a different class, yet having her always visit her sister and friends during breaks and things.
Anyway, as is most important w/r/t slice-of-life moeshit, I have concluded as of the end of this volume that Kagami is Best Girl. Initially, I decided on Miyuki, having actually placed Kagami the lowest on my Power Ranking. Konata is what I would term "The Obvious Favorite," her otaku-isms appealing, obviously, to the otaku target demographic of this series. Indeed, I have always assumed Lucky Star to be Konata's series, where one would read the manga to get more of Konata, "literally /ourgirl/, one might say. I think, actually, that the anime might be more explicitly Konata-centric, but I do not know for sure; it is merely a strong impression I have gathered based on promotional images and /a/ shitposts. Between Miyuki and Tsukasa, it seems both are different breeds of "Ultra-Feminine Character," with Miyuki specifically holding positions in the niches of "Meganekko" (glasses girl), "Class Rep," "Mature-seeming Rich Girl" (as opposed to the haughtier "Ojou-sama" archetype), and "Clumsy Girl," whereas Tsukasa more simply falls under "Dumb in a Cute Way" and what I would call "Wife-in-Training" (an excellence in household activity, as befitting the Traditionalist role of a wife). I've always had a thing for Meganekko and Class Reps, with both colliding when I'd finally read NISIOISIN's Kizumonogatari and "got" the love for Hanekawa, so Miyuki stood higher than Tsukasa, though I could not deny Tsukasa's ditziness nor the way she wears her ribbon in her hair, thus eking her over her twin sister, whom I had previously dismissed due to her cuntiness in contrast with her cutesy twintail hairdo. The issue with Kagami, I guess, is that she checks most of the boxes for the "Perfect Tsundere" archetype, yet without a male protagonist unto whom she might deliver her "tsuntsun" rage and "deredere" affection. Konata did not make for an adequate stand-in, despite her commonalities with the male otaku upon whom many male protagonists are generally based (and thus on whom tsundere are meant to "tsuntsun" and "deredere"). But ultimately I could not deny the combination of bitchiness and twintails. The only real problem is that the paneling of most strips frames each character from the waist up, and thus one cannot see too well the length of Kagami's socks, and they don't reach too close to her skirt to really qualify her for true "Class S" zettai ryouiki (Rin Tohsaka is still, and will forever be, the greatest female character in all of Japanese 2D Entertainment-Culture).
Postscript: Clearly, I care too much about 2D and the analyses thereof, to a degree that I feel less inclined to think too critically about Real Art, to a further degree that I even dismiss the Potential Concrete-ness of characters in Real Literature in favor of psychic masturbation over the quality of Prose. With Prose being absent in manga, I have no choice, I would say, but to think a little more of Character ("Vibe" is still a greater focus, even without guidance by Prose), and thus I am more inclined to pigeonhole 2Dqts into archetypes and niches and praise their construction accordingly, knowing full well how "weird" it is, and, worse, how "plebeian."
September 22, 2025
I borrowed this manga from a library; even though some pages were missing, it was amazing. 😁
February 25, 2012
This is like the dessicated corpse of Azumanga with all the comedy, inventiveness and charm sucked out. I can see why it kept being recommended to me as an Azumanga fan - the same set of four-panel "stories" arranged in vague episodes, following a group of girls throughout high school, with a female otaku as the novelty character instead of a child prodigy in that role.
Unfortunately, the characters are unlikeable and difficult to care about, the art is really creepy - these are high school girls looking like six year olds, yet they are not entirely unsexualised - and just really not good, and worst of all, it's really not funny. It didn't raise even a faintly amused smile in me. I also really didn't like the moe character, her presentation creeped me out, although admittedly I pretty much never like moe characters, so YMMV. (I can't actually remember any of the character names, which probably says something about how attached I (failed to) become to the characters.)
Only my own stubbornness and a desire to find something to justify its inexplicable popularity got me to the end of the first volume.
Unfortunately, the characters are unlikeable and difficult to care about, the art is really creepy - these are high school girls looking like six year olds, yet they are not entirely unsexualised - and just really not good, and worst of all, it's really not funny. It didn't raise even a faintly amused smile in me. I also really didn't like the moe character, her presentation creeped me out, although admittedly I pretty much never like moe characters, so YMMV. (I can't actually remember any of the character names, which probably says something about how attached I (failed to) become to the characters.)
Only my own stubbornness and a desire to find something to justify its inexplicable popularity got me to the end of the first volume.
October 17, 2024
I decided to pick up an e-book copy of this volume after finishing the anime. This is one of the few times I must say the show is better. Well still an okay read the manga itself is exactly what I expected, no extra content of note that hasn't been animated. I was a little disappointed because I do consider myself a casual fan of the franchise but perhaps this is one series that I will only continue sparingly. Still worth a read but I would suggest only to die hard fans.
January 6, 2015
Well yeah i give five stars to Lucky Star because i really love this. This was the first manga i have read and my passion for animes and magas started with it.
I really love Konata , she's like me in some aspects.
(Sorry for my bad english , don't kill me guys okay? I'm portuguese :p )
I really love Konata , she's like me in some aspects.
(Sorry for my bad english , don't kill me guys okay? I'm portuguese :p )
September 22, 2010
Super funny! The random comics are going to blow your mind!{If you read it}
October 8, 2014
Azumanga's ugly cousin
March 14, 2020
Well, I can see why a lot of people MAY not like this manga. However, it is advertised as having "loose stories". I personally watched the anime first and then watched a review of the manga and the person I watched said they were very disappointed as, unlike some other manga, every story within this manga appears in the anime exactly the same. While I can partially agree with this statement, I can also disagree. Some panels that appear in this manga don't appear in the anime, and vice versa, which is really nice. Overall, I found the story funny, the art style was so refreshing and the stories were very easy to follow and the events happening were so normal yet interesting that is was very gripping and I personally wanted to just keep reading on to see what the next panel would be about. Another nice touch is that each section of four panel stripes has a title.
March 24, 2023
Pretty simplistic four Strip Comedy Manga.
It got famouse after the Anime droped, and I see why. The Charakters are charming, and the Humor is pretty nice. For a Story in a School Setting the Heros actually change a decent amount, and even gratuate, and go to College.
A bit of a Flaw is, the Pacing feels a bit slow for the first few Reading Hours, but its getting much better after the supporting Cast got introduced, and we are greeted by a whide variety of Girls whit different Personalitys.
It got famouse after the Anime droped, and I see why. The Charakters are charming, and the Humor is pretty nice. For a Story in a School Setting the Heros actually change a decent amount, and even gratuate, and go to College.
A bit of a Flaw is, the Pacing feels a bit slow for the first few Reading Hours, but its getting much better after the supporting Cast got introduced, and we are greeted by a whide variety of Girls whit different Personalitys.
September 8, 2023
Lucky Star, the anime, is a childhood staple of mine. There’s no real plot or major storyline, but that was fine. In manga form, it’s just not as funny. It’s hard to tell if some of the panels are from the previous setting and it’s not super enjoyable to read.
I already bought the entire series, so I will read it, but wish I had done better research before buying these out-of-print manga.
I already bought the entire series, so I will read it, but wish I had done better research before buying these out-of-print manga.
May 1, 2019
It felt great rereading this for the first time in years. I still like the jokes, although a lot of them are lost on me due to translating errors, and still like the characters. Not the most perfect read but definitely worth it.
October 25, 2019
The Lucky Star anime was really big back when I started to get into manga and anime. This is a classic in its genre (moe slice-of-life), but sadly, it's not my genre anymore.
January 23, 2023
I have always loved lucky star and got all the volumes for the manga digitally on Amazon so I figured I would start reading them all and they are just as good as the anime.
March 7, 2023
When I'm not reading heavy non-fic I like to indulge in Lucky Star. I love these characters so much and will be reading the second volume soon.
March 9, 2023
This would work as anime but as a comic strip the comedy doesn't come thru
June 27, 2023
Pretty good manga. It feels a bit strange reading a manga like how this is set up with the four panel strips but I still love the content.
July 13, 2023
Such a fun and easy read! I loved the anime and love how this is comic strips compiled from Magazines.
March 13, 2024
Love this book! so cute and funny! one of the only slice of life books i actually love and return to!! <3
February 12, 2025
Cute and funny
October 9, 2016
Lucky Star is one of my favorite animes, but I can't really say it's one of my favorite mangas. The entire series is done in the 4-panel style, as is typical with gag manga. There is not much of a plot, and only some series of panels follow each other in terms of a story
Originally, Lucky Star was used as a "rest stop" manga, so it was just a couple pages that were supposed to make you laugh and give you a break from the longer chapters of other manga serialized in the same magazine, so reading this entire manga in one sitting is probably not the best idea. Also, there are a lot of Japanese cultural references in here, and there were a lot that even I didn't get, and I am an Asian Studies major and also studying Japanese. Be prepared to read a lot of the translator notes in the back of the book.
Originally, Lucky Star was used as a "rest stop" manga, so it was just a couple pages that were supposed to make you laugh and give you a break from the longer chapters of other manga serialized in the same magazine, so reading this entire manga in one sitting is probably not the best idea. Also, there are a lot of Japanese cultural references in here, and there were a lot that even I didn't get, and I am an Asian Studies major and also studying Japanese. Be prepared to read a lot of the translator notes in the back of the book.
March 8, 2018
This series is just an all around delight. Cute, intelligent and familiar characters in a digestible strip-style format. It's simply good and feel good. If you are a fan of Yotsuba!& then I definitely recommend this. A little more pop culture and Japanese culture jokes for older fans.
April 5, 2010
This manga is just odd. I'm wondering how the anime is now since reading this vol.1. The translator has left notes in the back of the book which are handy but I also find I don't agree with how they've translated certain words.
I sort of found it hard to keep reading the little snippits. I'm not entirely sure if they are really meant to follow a storyline or what..However, I feel like they aren't. Sometimes I didn't quite grasp what was trying to be said by the characters.
Storywise aside I rather enjoyed the simplistic artwork and found it rather cute. I've already purchased the Vol.2 when I purchased this one but I'm not so sure I'll read the rest unless I can borrow them from someone.
I feel like the translator was very vague with each small story..Some things made sense other times they just felt incomplete.
This misses out on 4 stars because of the way I feel about the translator. Oh well.
I sort of found it hard to keep reading the little snippits. I'm not entirely sure if they are really meant to follow a storyline or what..However, I feel like they aren't. Sometimes I didn't quite grasp what was trying to be said by the characters.
Storywise aside I rather enjoyed the simplistic artwork and found it rather cute. I've already purchased the Vol.2 when I purchased this one but I'm not so sure I'll read the rest unless I can borrow them from someone.
I feel like the translator was very vague with each small story..Some things made sense other times they just felt incomplete.
This misses out on 4 stars because of the way I feel about the translator. Oh well.
March 1, 2012
Having always been a fan of the anime series, I thought I'd give a try to the manga that started it all. Like K-On! and Azumanga Daioh, Lucky Star 1 is drawn in the four panel style ('yon koma') that is similar in nature to the daily comic strips that one would find in any newspaper State-side, except vertical.
However, while it was entertaining in parts, I found overall the volume to be somewhat lacking. Granted there's not much that a writer can cram daily that's deep into four boxes, but overall a comic strip usually stands or falls based on either the character interaction or by the humor. Maybe it's because this is only the first volume, but I found the characters to be a bit underdeveloped to the point that some of the humor was falling flat to me.
Hopefully, the next volume will fill in that missing spark. Even the anime started a bit slow.
However, while it was entertaining in parts, I found overall the volume to be somewhat lacking. Granted there's not much that a writer can cram daily that's deep into four boxes, but overall a comic strip usually stands or falls based on either the character interaction or by the humor. Maybe it's because this is only the first volume, but I found the characters to be a bit underdeveloped to the point that some of the humor was falling flat to me.
Hopefully, the next volume will fill in that missing spark. Even the anime started a bit slow.
November 14, 2011
About as random as manga comes. The so-called "plot" varies from the main characters talking about pastries and how to eat them to manga and video games. Not much of a plot. But the main appeal of the whole series is that these are the type of random conversations you would have with your own friends. (Ever tried the conversations from Bleach with friends? Yeah, good luck with that.) Even from there, the characters are likable. Konata and her otaku tendencies. Kagami comes off as an unlikable character, but actually is a good friend. Miyuki is the definition of a walking computer. Smart, always has an answer, and oblivious to her surroundings. Tsukasa is just your average supporting character, and tries as hard as she can to help out. Surprisingly, she is a solid character, as is the rest of the cast. As a result, you get a great, albeit insane, manga series.
March 3, 2013
Well, honestly a cute little book. I did enjoy it.
The story, however, has no plot. It is a series of loosely tied 4-panel comics. There are four main characters though. Each one has their own unique personality. Konata is a girl with blue hair that is very althetic without really trying much. She never participates in sports though. Why? Because she does not want to miss her prime time anime shows.
Kagami and Tsukasa are both fraternal twins but completely different. While Kagami is studious, sarcastic, and down to earth, Tsukasa is very naive and not as bright as her sister.
Finally, there is Miyuki. Miyuki is very studious and naturally intelligent, but she is a very clumsy girl. She cuts herself while peeling, gets her bag stuck in the train doors, and trips over herself.
The story is about these four girls going through high school, and how they survive.
The story, however, has no plot. It is a series of loosely tied 4-panel comics. There are four main characters though. Each one has their own unique personality. Konata is a girl with blue hair that is very althetic without really trying much. She never participates in sports though. Why? Because she does not want to miss her prime time anime shows.
Kagami and Tsukasa are both fraternal twins but completely different. While Kagami is studious, sarcastic, and down to earth, Tsukasa is very naive and not as bright as her sister.
Finally, there is Miyuki. Miyuki is very studious and naturally intelligent, but she is a very clumsy girl. She cuts herself while peeling, gets her bag stuck in the train doors, and trips over herself.
The story is about these four girls going through high school, and how they survive.
January 19, 2017
This volume in particular has the Chocolate Cornet scene (if you ever watched the anime you would know!) the volumes are just a big pile of random comic strips, there's no real storyline to the manga or anime itself. You get to know the characters personally, their quirks and routines, the anime just animates it with a catchy theme song and the karaoke bits at the end. You also get to meet Akira at the ending--which I rarely saw in the manga (SUCH A SHAME TOO). It's a great manga to laze around and read fast but as far as stories go there really is none. Regardless I give it a 5-star review because I happen to like a big ball of random-ness :)
May 24, 2012
A cute, geeky, otaku-flavored 4-koma manga that has now become iconic in anime fandom. At points, I think I prefer the anime, but I still enjoyed reading the original. Naturally, my favorite part is Konata. She actually seems like more of an otaku in the manga than in the anime. It seems like KyoAni did a good job translating Yoshimizu's art into moving animation. I wonder in which volume do we "see" Konata's mom?
May 31, 2016
Lucky start ventures into the everyday lives of the students of Ms. Kuroi's class; specifically Konata, Miyuki, Kagami, and Tskukasa. All four girls having completely different personalities, yet they still managed to become the best of friends. For them, everyday is a new adventure as they explore new and exciting things while also staying true to themselves. There's never a dull moment in the lives of theses girls.
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