Customer Reviews

Lucky Star, Vol. 1

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I put new in quotation marks because while it is new to me, the series has been around for quite a while already. Even before the manga & anime hit the US shores commercially, there was already a big fan base for this series.

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.

Lucky Star is pretty different from a lot of the manga out there. Instead of having a central plot or nail-biting predicaments, it's about the laid-back life of four high-school girls as they go about their lackadaisical lives. Much of the appeal lies in the quirky characters and their love for otaku things like anime, manga, and video games. (Otaku refers to someone obsessed with these things.) Otaku is usually used as a badge of self-pride, though sometimes it can be used as an insult, but, in the case of Lucky Star, it's shown more as easygoing humor.

The very first page starts with Konata showing off her amazing sports abilities, then insisting she can't join a sports team because she'll miss her anime shows. She's very matter-of-fact in this. It moves on to a semiheated discussion on how it's best to eat a choco-cornet. Which side is the starting side? Lucky Star revels in pointlessness and making humor out of pointlessness. The back of the first volume describes it as a "leisure" read, and that's a good way of putting it. It's an unworried, carefree, and relaxed series.

Someone wanting a plot probably won't find much use in this series. However, its success, and the success of the anime version, shows that many people find it charming. This seems to be especially true with people who consider themselves otaku. While otakudom is poked fun at, it's also shown as an important way of life. More than once, Konata's friends remark to her that if she put her concentration into studying instead of anime, manga, and video games, she'd really shine in school. That doesn't mean she listens, and even if her study habits aren't recommendable, they're relatable to many people.

Each page consists of eight panels neatly lined up. They're read downward, not sideways, and titles above each column make that easy to figure out. This is an unusual, though not unheard of, way to format a manga. While mostly in black and white, each volume gets a few colored pages mixed in there. The girls very much look like a stereotype of manga--huge eyes, unrealistic hair colors, and absolutely cartoony. They don't look like real girls at all, and this seems to be the point. They look like the very anime and manga characters they can be so into.


Lucky Star has been a fairly big name in manga and anime the last few years. It offers up otaku jokes and accessible light reading as it travels along with four high-school girls and all their foibles and high jinks.
-- Danica Davidson

Lucky Star reminds me of Azumanga Daioh. School girl life. Teachers and adults who are not anywhere as mature as they should be. Four panel comic stripe. Funny and mostly clean humor about daily life, with some adult jokes. Maybe not as funny as Azumanga Daioh, but it also has a hit anime out there, so it must be doing something right. If you have no idea what Azumanga Daioh means, you should check it out also. See Azumanga Daioh Volume 1 for details.

Laki suta is the pronunciation of Lucky Star in Japan.
It is a high school ladies stories.
There are no important things in the stories.
But it is well presented Japanese high school days.
People call a person without Mr. and Ms.
Instead of Mr. or Ms., chan or san are used after the name.

Best Regards.

This is the first manga I have ever bought/read and I have to say that it is really good. I watched the anime series before reading this and the manga is just as good. I have lost quite a lot of time because I'm too busy reading this. If you are thinking about buying a manga for the first time, or are simply looking for something a little bit different, I think this is as good a place as any to start. Now I'm finding myself looking for more manga to read. Can't wait for Volume 2 to be released. Also thanks Amazon for the very quick delivery.

This is one of the greatest yonkoma (4-panel) manga ever. Each strip is a delight to read with hillarious jokes related to school life and otaku culture. Being a huge fan of yonkoma manga I can highly recomend this title to any person who is a fan of yonkoma or slice of life comic strips.

Some other yonkoma titles released in America are: Azumanga Daioh, Neko Ramen, S.S. Astro, K-On!, Ichiroh!, and many others.

A friend introduced me to the LS anime; and I was excited to hear that the manga was finally going to be released stateside. The anime was constructed by 4-panel comic artwork; it's actually quite interesting to see what was pulled from the manga and what was extended for the anime. Book and video are two completely different forms of entertainment; I just don't comprehend how anyone can compare them... like novel-to-film, etcetera. You almost have to love both for their entertainment value; the 3D anime brings a 2D manga art form to life and expands on it; so "Yes", it could be considered 'better', however -- there's hidden gems still left in the manga, and the book is historical and your brain fills in the missing parts between the panels quite easily. I chuckled and laughed throughout the book; cannot wait for the next installments.

I loved the anime. Watched it all in 1 sitting. I really wish I could have said the same about the manga. In short, it did have the similar jokes, but just didn't deliver it in the same lovable quip like lightheartedness. The character interaction just didnt seem up to par. It makes me see why the anime was such a hit.

Maybe for me, it just didnt live up to the hype I expected. While the art is top quality and cute, that's about all it's got going for it. But I still recommend this for major fans because it's okay. But that's the worse part.

This is an ok manga I guess! Some of the jokes are a little mature for readers under 10 but otherwise it is ok for 11 and up! I gave this book to a 12 year old friend for her birthday and she loved it! The art is ok otherwise it is great!!

For my daughter, she liked it so much she finished the whole book in 1 day.