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Asperger’s Anime Blogger: Looking at Lucky Star the Aspie Way

Posted by newgeekphilosopher 4 June 2008 17 Comments

Since blissmo already covered the first episode of Kaiba, I considered reviewing the second one, but alas this would be Kaiba overload for this week, and besides, I only have the fansubs of four of the episodes, and I have to review each one wisely as not to run out of them. But let’s take a look back at Lucky Star.

Heterochromia said:

Every once in awhile, you can find some interesting things in the blogosphere, such as newgeekphilosopher’s take on Asperger’s and anime blogging. I didn’t know much about Asperger’s before and think that these kinds of people have much more of a reason to blog because they provide another perspective on the things.

So I’ve decided to take a note from this and instead of just giving people run of the mill Anime reviews in poor attempts at philosophy, I’ve recognised that blogging Anime the Asperger’s way has become a bit of an opportunity for me, since, after all, it’s a unique way of looking at Anime you don’t see very often.

So my new column at Yukan Blog will be “Asperger’s Anime Blogger”, instead of just “newgeekphilosopher takes on *this*”. I’ll be still covering Geek Philosophy at my home blog, but I might as well be giving Yukan Blog readers something different.

Konata’s vision of the male ideal Dentist Appointment is one of the many amusing imaginative sequences in Lucky Star. This one is also one of the funniest. Konata has a weird idea of what men like, but she’s not far off the Otaku demographic.

Lucky Star is problematic to analyse for an Asperger’s Blogger, because if you blink you’ll miss important dialogue which, funnily enough, the series is fundamentally bolted to. It’s like Clerks for Anime fans. Only the Japanese have a very different style of humor to the West, and instead of jokes about Star Wars Vs. LOTR in Clerks II, you get lots and lots of Japanese manga and Anime references. Aspies often like obscure references, and being one, I’d know. It was disturbing to see how many of these references I picked up on, which would otherwise baffle my friends and family if they ever sat down with me to watch this. Which isn’t bloody likely, because I like to watch Anime alone unless it’s a Miyazaki film.

The series covers everything from how to eat a chocolate coronet properly to studying. The characters, though unrealistically rendered otaku-bait girls designed to be pined over by moe fans, have personalities that are quite entertaining. Konata and Miyuki are my favorites out of the four main characters because I have problems telling two girls with purple hair apart. Being a twin myself, I can only imagine that many of my long-time friends made the same mistake with me and my brother back in primary school.

Konata’s teachings about how to win contest drawings reflect her obsessive female-otaku characteristics. But at least she knows how to play the system, making her more developed than just plain moe-bait.

All in all it’s a good series so far, and I’m yet to even get to the good parts apparently. If I enjoyed the early episodes then the later episodes should be a treat.

17 Comments »

issa-sa said:

“If I enjoyed the early episodes then the later episodes should be a treat.”
That much should be true, I’ve yet to hear anyone who said they loved this show at first, then hated it at the end (the opposite has occurred more frequently though)

# 4 June 2008 at 4:19 am

blissmo said:

Hmm, I didn’t like the first episode LOL!

# 4 June 2008 at 4:22 am

newgeekphilosopher (author) said:

I don’t get what the big dislike of the first episode was, I enjoyed it! Why does nobody else like the first episode?

# 4 June 2008 at 4:26 am

blissmo said:

I think it’s just ‘cos I just didn’t get the first half lols

# 4 June 2008 at 5:15 am

Kenaii said:

I also liked the first episode. <3
The reason, i believe, that people does not like the first episode is because it has pretty odd humor, talking about a choco coronet.

# 4 June 2008 at 6:35 am

Makoto said:

Lucky Star, to me, was just some overly hyped up show by the “higher ups”,aka those self-proclaimed “pro” otaku who can easily brainwash the average noob into thinking that 2+2 = 5.

For me, the anime was so-so at best.Episode 1-4 didn’t leave any favorable impression on me at all.However,after changing directors if I’m nor mistaken,things turned out for the better somehow and by the end of the series I was a happy viewer.I think if one actually reads more 4 panel type manga,like Lucky Star is,its plain to see that its really nothing overly commendable other than the heavy obscure otaku references.Also,I know alot of people who just watch this because “the characters are cute”,rather than actually noticing the majority of these references.

# 4 June 2008 at 6:42 am

jp_zer0 said:

I’m not sure I follow the need to review past anime “the aspie way”

# 4 June 2008 at 6:43 am

animemiz said:

It’s a very cracky series.. my friends loved it. I watched it and was like.. wow… On a side note, the opening is so hard to sing.. because it goes so fast.. but of this series. I loved the endings where Konata was at the karoke and then that small skit at the end with the commentators. Lots of fangirl references.. make this a much loved series.

# 4 June 2008 at 7:50 am

TokiDoki said:

Ive always wondered is that a reference to gurren lagann, the drills and space ship in bg

# 4 June 2008 at 7:50 am

newgeekphilosopher (author) said:

@Kenaii: I suppose I liked the weird humor, in a way the whole chocolate coronet thing is a metaphor for the way you look at life. Thing is it probably isn’t meant to be seen as a metaphor at all, but it’s easily used as one.

@Makoto: I actually found it quite interesting as satire of the otaku counter-culture.

@jp_zero: I’m just trying a different approach to this, as for past Anime this is the first time I’ve actually dealt with Lucky Star on a level above trying to justify a connection between it and Umberto Eco’s “Model Reader” theory. That and reviewing Anime the “Aspie” way is a lot more fun that making a convoluted argument that Lucky Star is a groundbreaking intellectual work of Art.

# 4 June 2008 at 8:43 am

otou-san said:

@jp_zero the concise answer would be “because everyone’s talked about lucky star ad nauseum every other way possible.” Why not something else that doesn’t cover the same old “lucky star is teh suck” ground?

Anyway, Lucky Star gets a bad rap when it is indeed funny at times. Yes, it is incapable of existing on its own, in a world without Haruhi and other anime and manga, but I never saw a huge problem with that. Try to watch it independent of the hype that everyone hated so much.

TokiDoki, I assumed so, but I’m not certain GL was old enough to make the reference. Anyway, who among us hasn’t sat in the dentist chair with the urge to yell “COME ON DOC, PIERCE THE HEAVENS WITH YOUR DRILL!!”

OK, me… but I really should go to the dentist more than I do.

# 4 June 2008 at 5:11 pm