Search - Lucky Star, Vol. 3 Limited Edition on DVD

As always, impressive...

Paul Tolin | 10/11/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As with my previous review, I will not be discussing the show itself. There are plenty of other resources one can use to know what the show is about. My review is of this particular product.

Lucky Star Vol. 3 LE

I held off on my review of this volume, to let the "newly bought item" excitement wear off. I wanted to give my utmost honesty without any bias due to the excitement of just having bought it and/or received it.

Firstly, I'd like to talk about the disc itself. As always it comes with the Dolby Digital Audio for both the English and Japanese tracks; it has subtitles for dialog or signs. I'm sad to say that I have not yet explored the extras in the disc, so the next sentence is simply an assumption based on the previous two volumes. It will contain two "Key Scenes" galleries - these are slide shows of screens shots taken from various episodes within the disc, accompanied by amusing captions (presumably by Minoru Shiraishi).

The other extras are equivalent to Vol. 2, and they are:

Tsukasa Character CD
Phys. Ed. uniform-print shirt

The character CD is, as always, a mixed bag - you'll either like it or not. The shirt is very comfortable, and a lot more "wearable" in public for the male demographic.

Overall, it's hard to justify buying this over the standard edition. I still give it my highest recommendation, because if you're considering buying the Limited over the Standard Edition, you simply should not pass this up! If you never considered buying the LE, there isn't much to miss. Somewhere down the road, I'm sure you'll be able to separately purchase the CDs (though I cannot say the same about the shirts), if you feel like you want them.

Two thumbs up. Bring on the fourth volume!"

More of a good thing

J. A. Skowron | 10/06/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Lucky Star saga continues in very much the same fashion, so if you've read my review on volume two or any of the other reviewers then simply go read those and all that applies here. There, I'm done...

...Were it so easy. Actually, the third DVD is mostly more of the same which isn't necessarily a bad thing if you loved the first two discs. If you're new to Lucky Star, then you could simply jump into any one of the first three discs and still get the basic idea (though, it is best to start with the first DVD).

There are a couple stand out moments. Most memorable in my mind is the introduction of the employees of the local manga shop Animate. Over the top would be the simplest way of describing these stereotypical action anime characters, as explosions and special effect illuminate the screen in there attempts (and failure) to sell the heroine Konota all that they have to offer. While it's somewhat embarrassing to watch it's also very amusing, like watching your friend do karaoke while drunk.

Next up is what our girl Konota has been looking forward to this whole time, the comic convention Comiket! While I've only been to a few cons myself and none of them as massive as say Comicon (or the real life Comiket), I was able to relate to the crowd and sheer hysteria that's usually present at conventions of this nature. And once again, the eccentric Animate gang returns with there over exaggerated brand of humor, and if you happen to know the career history of the voice actors portraying these characters it's exceptionally hilarious.

That's something else I'd like to expand on; the casting for the english voice over. As mentioned in my other review, many of the jokes make reference to other animes but some of them actually refer to the voice actors previous work. In the english translation they made sure to stay true to this. For example Konota is voiced by Aya Hirano in the original Japanese, who also voices Haruhi Suzumiya in the anime The Meloncaly of Haruhi Suzumiya (another recommended anime, especially if you love Lucky Star cause they reference it a lot). In the english dub Bandai made sure to cast Wendee Lee as the voice of Konota, who also dubbed the before mentioned Haruhi. It's the finer details like this that really show that the creators (and the American licenser) truly care for there work. Ok, that's enough of that (sorry, I'm a voice over nerd).

One more detail that stands out is the foreshadowing of characters that will be introduced in later episodes (were you wondering who all those other girls were in the intro song?). As much as I adore the main cast, it's once these new arrivals hit the seine that Lucky Star goes from a simple shooting star to a blazing comet.

So, to reiterate what's already been iterated, if you enjoyed the first two chances are you'll find just as much to enjoy the third time. If you haven't heard of Lucky Star then read some reviews or hop on wikipedia and see if it'll fit your fancy. If you're new to anime all together you might get some laughs, but you may be better starting off elsewhere (might I suggest Ah! My Goddess or Cowboy Bebop).
Bye-ni


Once again, if I have offended any grammar aficionado with my poor linguistic skills then I apologize. I are dumb."

Still The Otaku Comedy

L. B. Bryant | Astoria, OR | 09/12/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Lucky Star continues to earn its reputation for stellar comedy. The silly in jokes that only a small handful of audience members are going to get give this series a good replay value as you're always going to find something new that you either didn't notice before or didn't get before. While casual anime fans will be lost in the tall grass with this series, otaku have their new comedy.
"