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Konata: Okay, let's do this!
Miyuki: Sure, let's go!
Tsukasa: N'gah!
Kagami: Quit screwing around and start!
The intro to every episode for the first half of the anime

Imagine Azumanga Daioh meets Seinfeld, on even more barbiturates with a fair helping of Otaku bait.

Lucky Star is a Slice of Life manga by Kagami Yoshimizu, mainly focusing on four high school girls: Konata Izumi, an Otaku Surrogate whose knowledge of Japanese pop culture is truly staggering; her sarcastic and down-to-earth best friend Kagami Hiiragi; Kagami's meeker and more Book Dumb twin sister Tsukasa Hiiragi; and the wealthy and intelligent Miyuki Takara. Lucky Star is more or less a series about nothing in particular, focusing more on the characters' everyday lives and the ordinary conversations they have than any overarching plot, though the anime also utilizes a lot of Shout Outs and references to Otaku culture. Notable for being the largest example of the Puni Plush style and its rather eccentric fanbase.

The manga began serialization in Comptiq in 2003, and went on hiatus in 2014 until it came back to serialization in 2022, moving to the magazine Mitaina!. Kyoto Animation used the manga as the basis for a highly successful anime series in 2007, which got acquired for American distribution by Bandai Entertainment, and dubbed by Bang Zoom! Entertainment with around the same casting as Haruhi Suzumiya... or some of the in-jokes would not be translatable at all. Most of the Otaku references were in fact KyoAni's own additions (the original manga was mainly a by-the-book Slice of Life), in order to cash in on the merchandising of anime in general, mainly from Haruhi. It worked; Lucky Star was one of the studio's most marketable shows, with many CDs and video games being made even 3 years after the anime ended. A stage musical adaptation was green-lit in 2011.

There have been several spin-off manga series:

  • Lucky Star Pocket Travelers was later created and features the four main characters for no discernible reason whatsoever shrunk down to a few inches tall. Cue hilarity.
  • Boo Boo Kagaboo is a parody made by the creator of Nyoron Churuya-san in which Kagami is a Super-Deformed pig. It was licensed by BANDAI, but they later cancelled its release.
  • Miyakawa-ke no Kuufuku ("The Miyakawa Family's Hunger") was created in 2008, written and illustrated by Kagami Yoshimizu himself. The series stars Hikage and Hinata Miyakawa, two minor characters from the manga (who also briefly show up in the anime) who have money troubles and thus have trouble keeping food in the house. Hinata, however, is an avid otaku, and her impulse-buying tendencies only worsen their money troubles, much to Hikage's chagrin. An ONA adaptation was produced by Ordet in 2013 for the Spring season.
  • Lucky Star: Konata's Thirties began serialization in 2023 and follows the four main characters in their adulthood.

The anime was originally available on Crunchyroll, until the licence expired in August 2014 and it was removed along with Nichijou. As of 2023, it's become available again.

Not to be confused with the 1929 film Lucky Star, the 1950s series The Complete Adventures of Lucky Starr, a 1983 song by Madonna, a Paper Mario item, one of the "Chinatown bus" lines operating between Boston and New York City, or anything else named as such.


This series provides examples of:

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    A-F 
  • Actor Allusion:
    • In the anime, Konata is a huge fan of Haruhi Suzumiya, owning tons of merchandise and later even cosplaying as Haruhi for her job at a Cosplay Café. Both characters are voiced by Aya Hirano in Japanese and Wendee Lee in the English dub. In Episode 24, Konata is even bribed by Patty with a ticket for a handshake with the voice actress for Haruhi, thus resulting in Aya Hirano as Konata enthusing about meeting Aya Hirano "in person" for her work on The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.
    • In Episode 23, Konata buys a character Image Song for Galaxy Angel Rune's Kahlua, who is voiced by Aya Hirano, due to feeling "somehow connected" to it. She then convinces Kagami to buy a Powerpuff Girls Z album, where Kagami's voice actress Emiri Katou voices Hyper Blossom.
    • In episode 8, Konata jokingly tells Kagami that "a girl should be elegant"; this is the catchphrase of Lumiere from Kiddy Grade, Aya Hirano's first major role.
    • Konata's musings about "that show where a guy's pets come back to life as girls" are a reference to Angel Tales, where Hirano played one of her earliest roles as Momo The Monkey.
    • In Episode 12, at Comiket, characters played by Tomokazu "Kyon" Sugita and Tomokazu "Sousuke" Seki manage to fight a Mundane Made Awesome battle to sell a customer unsold merchandise... of their own respective characters.
    • Daisuke Ono As Himself and Akira Kogami in Episode 20 lampshade their previous roles in the KyoAni adaptation of AIR: Ono Daisuke as Yukito Kunisaki/the crow Sora and Hiromi Konno as Potato, Kano Kirishima's dog.
      Akira: You're not a crow today.
      Daisuke: And you're not a dog today.
      Akira: Picco picco.
    • Minami behaves a lot like Yuki Nagato from Haruhi. Both characters are voiced by Minori Chihara in Japanese and Michelle Ruff in English.
    • Anytime any guest VAs turn up in Lucky Star, it's almost certain that the next episode preview will be voice-overed by whatever character they're famous for. Example: Kyon and Yuki previewing Episode 17, or the cast of Sgt. Frog previewing Episode 13, after their VAs turned up in the anime, In the English dub of that same episode, Vic Mignogna apparently reprised his role as Keroro (and is the only ADV cast member from the show to do so; he couldn't keep his role in the Funimation dub).
  • Adam Westing: Daisuke Ono and Yūko Gotō both voice parodies of themselves in the Lucky Channel segments (Ono is portrayed as a super-suave Bishōnen who looks down on Shiraishi for not being as successful in voice acting, while Goto is portrayed as a hardcore delinquent biker). Unfortunately, the show only plays with this using famous Japanese actors, so the English dub invariably loses a lot in translation (even though Bandai tries to maintain a pairing of their original Japanese voice actors with dubbers).
  • Adaptation Expansion:
    • Although Conversational Troping is the main feature of this series, Shout Outs are very rare in the manga — twice with Mari Mite, once with Azumanga Daioh, and once with Gundam — and the latter was published in a Gundam magazine. The anime adds many more Shout Outs in comparison.
    • There are also quite a few segments that are anime-only, such as the Class Trip to Kyoto in episode 21, Konata's deceased mother Kanata remembering her life alongside Soujiro while visiting her family as a ghost in episode 22, and pretty much the entirety of episode 24.
  • Alertness Blink: Konata has several in a row during the infamous chocolate cornet conversation, whenever she notices the chocolate about to spill out of the other end of her cornet.
  • Angry Cheek Puff: Yutaka rants to her cousin, Konata, while puffing out her cheeks and with little puffs of steam coming off of her, distressed by the fact that everyone kept referring to her as "small" (which she is) "adorable" or "cute", as she was a high-school student now! She's also red with fury and waving her fists in the air as she goes on about it.
  • Animal Motifs: Discussed when Konata wonders what kind of animals the characters would be, and she, Kagami, Tsukasa and Yutaka give their thoughts on the subject based on everyone's personalities. The designations are as follows: Konata is a fox, Tsukasa is a dog, Kagami is a rabbit, Miyuki is a sheep (though Konata thinks a cow would be more fitting because of her assets), Yui is a leopard, Yutaka is a squirrel, and Minami is a hawk. The manga goes on to designate more: Hiyori is a tanuki, Kuroi is a cat, Misao is a monkey, Ayano is a ferret, and Yukari is a bear.
  • Animated Actors: The cast of Lucky Channel, one is an aspiring anime actor, the other is a fading starlet whose upbeat persona conceals a moody, selfish, cynical side when she stops remembering/caring that she's meant to be acting.
    • In the final episode, they nearly break character outside of the segment.
  • Anime Accent Absence: Although Patricia is stated to be an exchange student rather than someone who has lived in the country for several years, she speaks Japanese just as well as the other girls and with just a slight trace of a foreign accent. Lampshaded in the last non-omake episode, when she claims to 'not know those hard Nippon words.' And is subsequently told that she has 'been speaking fluently until now'.
    • In the manga, the author mentions that Patricia is only fluent on Japanese relevant to her hobbies.
    • The writers for the English dub realized that the joke wouldn't work in English, since Patricia and Kagami are both fluent, so they replaced it with Patricia saying, "I can't hear you! La la la la~"
  • Animeland: Patty, being an Occidental Otaku, essentially views Japan as this due to all the anime and manga she's consumed. The other otaku characters do very little to discourage this.
  • Apathetic Clerk: Upon hearing that Konata has gotten a part-time job just so she can buy more Quo cards, Kagami and Tsukasa discuss what kind of job would even suit her. They imagine her as a bookstore cashier, where she ignores customers in favor of her manga and gets prizes from the merchandise, a convenience store cashier, where she speaks quickly and slurs her words to get things over with, and then a fast food cashier and family restaurant waitress, where her deadpan expression would cause problems. When Konata tells them she's a waitress at a Cosplay Café, they agree it suits her perfectly.
  • Art Evolution:
    • Lampshaded in the omake of the manga's second volume, when mangaka Yoshimizu tries to draw the first strip again.
    • Early in the manga, Konata did not yet have her trademark "lazy," half-closed eyes.
  • Artistic Age: The main characters are teenagers in high school, but you'd be forgiven for thinking they're supposed to be in elementary school due to the Puni Plush art style making them look younger than they are. In-Universe, Konata and Yutaka in particular are often mistaken for elementary schoolers due to being so short.
  • Art Shift:
    • While the anime normally has a bright color palette and fairly simple shading, the occasional serious moments (such as Kagami's fight with Matsuri and Kanata visiting her family as a ghost) will be accompanied by darker colors and more realistic shading that's typical of Kyoto Animation's other works.
    • The Initial D parody in Episode 6 renders the cars in obvious 3D, as well as showing two nameless male characters in Initial D's art style.
    • Anime Tenchou and his coworkers at the Animate store are all drawn very differently from the rest of the cast in a sketchy art style reminiscent of mecha anime and manga from the 90s, as Anime Tenchou himself was created several years before Lucky Star began and was designed by Kazuhiko Shimamoto.
    • An extreme example of this is when Hiyori falls, and, in an attempt to protect her hand, does a dramatic action roll, changing her appearance to that of a rather manly-looking, highly shaded character, invoking the art style of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
    • The anime will randomly show transition artwork of highly-detailed characters, completely different from those of the regular show. This is pretty funny when they actually are sitting next to the Puni Plush characters themselves.
    • In Episode 21, Konata yells at Shiraishi (who didn't make it onto the tour bus and is frantically running after it) to say "Maetel" in reference to Galaxy Express 999, and immediately afterward her face changes to the series' creator Leiji Matsumoto's distinctive art style.
    • The Mobile Newtype strips of the manga manage to make the characters even more Puni Plush.
    • The Manga's chapter eye-catches are the characters with the Puni Plush toned down considerably, with more detailed characters to the point of Fanservice.
  • As Himself: In addition to Minoru Shiraishi, all five of the Haruhi Suzumiya stars make cameos as themselves in the anime: Daisuke Ono and Yūko Gotō on Lucky Channel (albeit rather exaggerated versions of themselves), Minori Chihara and Tomokazu Sugita at Comiket, and Aya Hirano at the concert.
  • Aside Glance: More frequently, it happens when Konata makes a jab at Kagami.
  • Author Avatar: A spherical cat. It may not be very apparent in the anime, but that's the way Yoshimizu drew himself in the manga omakes.
  • Aww Choo: Miyuki sneezes incredibly gently, as opposed to Konata whose sneezes are very loud and exaggerated.
  • Barbie Doll Anatomy: Taken a step further, in that the girls don't even seem to have buttcracks
  • Beach Episode: Episode 6 of the anime serves as this, with the main characters going to the beach and staying overnight at a nearby hotel while chaperoned by Nanako and Yui.
  • Beergasm:
    • Nanako does this in episode 6 of the anime, imitating Misato Katsuragi's famous beergasm almost frame-for-frame.
    • Akira does this offscreen in the Lucky Channel segment of episode 16. It's not entirely clear whether she drank anything alcoholic or not, given that she's only 14 years old, but she seems slightly drunk afterwards.
  • Bland-Name Product: "Poppy" instead of Pocky, on the vol.2 manga cover.
  • Blue with Shock: This seems to be one of the standard reactions to nearly everything; many questions and situations throughout the series are reacted to with rage or dread. One example is by Hiyori when Yutaka innocently asked her a ... compromising question.
  • Bondage Is Bad: In episode 1, Konata blames the confinement crimes that have been happening in town, one incident lasting for two months, on dating sims. Kagami tells her that that's just her perspective.
  • Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick:
    • Tsukasa is talking with Konata on the phone about something "cute," "stout," "rotund," and that it "looks like a froggie," then cheerfully says "yeah, depleted uranium, that's cool!"
    • In episode 24, when they run out of masking tape, Misao says that she'll go buy some. Then she gets told to also buy markers, blades for the cutter, boxes, Playboy, and glue.
  • Bribing Your Way to Victory: In the MMORPG that Konata et. al. play in the OVA, Kuroi-Sensei and Konata both have items that they could only get by buying periphery merchandise.
  • Brick Joke:
    • In the 143rd chapter of the manga, Konata comes to a conclusion to which end of a chocolate cornet is the head, referring to the discussion she had with Tsukasa in the very first episode. Tsukasa points out that it was two years ago.
    • There's another one in manga volumes 6 & 7. In one strip in vol. 6, Konata's graduation prank of putting a love letter in Kagami's desk fails due to Kagami not going anywhere near her desk after the graduation ceremony. In vol. 7, Kou finds it in what is now her desk, and Love Letter Lunacy ensues until Konata happens to mention her graduation prank to Kagami.
    • Early in the anime, Konata decides to give Kagami the nickname Kyou-channote , and Kagami decides that her nickname should be Kagami-sama (Kagami the Great), until Konata abuses it and she asks to just be addressed normally. In Episode 23, Konata uses that nickname again, well after the episode that joke was made in.
  • Bust-Contrast Duo: Played for Laughs: Huge Schoolgirl Minami is flat as a frying pan and has a bad case of A-Cup Angst. Her best friend Yutaka is tiny and also flat-chested. However, Yutaka still has good chances of filling out a bit, which causes Minami no end of (well-hidden) pain. Yutaka, in turn, admires tall girls like Minami, hitting her pet peeve for all it's worth.
  • Butt-Monkey: Tsukasa flips between this and the Woobie depending on your sympathy. Konata and even Kagami certainly don't have much issue with pointing out much less academic, athletic and skilled she is.
  • Button Mashing: Konata claims that her skill in running comes from visualizing herself playing Track & Field while using the typical button mashing, including the famous coin and ruler tricks. She demonstrates this while she runs a real footrace during the sports festival.
  • The Cameo: The Miyakawa sisters make a few cameos in the anime, and in return, the main girls make a few cameos of their own in "The Miyakawa Family's Hunger".
  • Celebrity Paradox:
    • In the anime, not only is Konata a huge fan of Haruhi Suzumiya (which was also adapted to anime by Kyoto Animation), but she's also a fan of Aya Hirano...who not only voices Haruhi, but Konata herself as well.
    • In one segment of Lucky Channel, Anime Tenchou mentions the names of several characters from various anime and games and asks Akira how she feels about them; all of them are voiced by Akira's voice actress, Hiromi Konno. Akira just responds with confusion over who those characters are.
  • Cheated Angle: When a character faces a different direction even slightly, their hairstyle gets mirror-flipped. A prominent example is Akira's hair in episode 16's Lucky Channel segment.
  • The Chikan: In the manga, Yutaka tells Minami no one would attempt to grope her on the subway. Minami, in turn, starts to wonder if it's because of her body.
  • Class Trip: The main characters' classes go on a class trip to Kyoto in episode 21 of the anime. Along with the typical Kyoto destinations, Konata insists on a visit to the Kyoto Animation studios.
  • Color Failure: Hiyori whites out and slowly dissolves away after staying up all night to beat a deadline.
  • Comedic Work, Serious Scene: While a comedic series, it does have a few moments of seriousness (though many of them are exclusive to the anime).
    • The group attends an Aya Hirano concert, but Konata can't see anything due to her already short stature plus the tall man in front of her blocking her view. Kagami switches places with Konata to let her see the stage, and Konata is in awe of Hirano's performance. Walking home, Konata is uncharacteristically quiet, which Kagami is quick to notice. The scene ends with Konata asking herself what the feeling she's having is.
    • During a class trip to Kyoto, Kagami gets a note from a boy in her class. She goes down to speak to him, thinking that he's going to confess his love to her, and is unsure how she'll respond. It turns out he just wants a keychain she bought, as he was too embarrassed to buy it himself in front of his friends. Kagami hands it over, but it's clear that she's upset by the whole thing.
    • Kagami and Tsukasa return home to find that they'd missed a message from their sister, Matsuri, asking them to buy ingredients so she could make paella. Eldest sister Inori tries to play reasonable peacemaker, suggesting they could make the dish the next night. Matsuri complains that she wanted to make the dish tonight and chastises Kagami and Tsukasa for forgetting, making Kagami storm out in a huff while declaring that she'll buy the ingredients. Inori chastises Matsuri, saying she could have handled it better. Matsuri quietly agrees.
  • Comic-Book Time: Konata's circle were first-years when the manga started in February 2004, and were promoted to the second year in May 2004 and the third in May 2005, fitting a real-time timeline— then they remained third-years until finally graduating in September 2008. And even after that there were still the odd strips where they're back in their high school uniforms for some reason.
    • Averted in the anime, where they are second-years for the first half and third-years for the second half.
  • Company Cameo: In one episode, the girls take a photo in front of Kyoto Animation's studio during a class trip.
  • Company Cross References: The anime makes plenty of references to other anime series produced by Kyoto Animation; most often to Haruhi Suzumiya, but other anime they've worked on such as Full Metal Panic!, Kanon and AIR are referenced as well.
  • Continuity Cameo: The anime has thrice showed the Miyakawa siblings (omake-only) in episodes 12, 16 and 24, and Hikaru Sakuraba (who was replaced by Shiraishi) in episode 24.
  • Continuity Nod: The manga acknowledged Shiraishi replaced Hikaru.
  • Conversational Troping: All the time, normally when Konata compares real life to anime.
  • Corner of Woe: Konata does this when lamenting the cable company's inability to install cable TV, and hence anime channels, in her suburb.
  • Cosplay Café: Konata works at a cosplay cafe as a part-time job, and it's later revealed that Patty works there as well. The other main characters visit Konata during her shift in episode 16 of the anime, where she cosplays as Haruhi Suzumiya and even acts like her when serving her friends.
  • Cringe Comedy: In episode 5, Narumi meets Kuroi. She thinks Kuroi is one of Konata's classmates, commenting on how endowed she is compared to Konata. After Kuroi says that she's actually her teacher, they have some small-talk conversation. Then the two forcibly laugh, but Narumi doesn't know why.
  • Crying Wolf: In episode 4, Konata gives two excuses to Ms. Kuroi for being late, one saying that she was helping a boy out (the boy in question was a member of her party in an MMO) and the second saying that she was hiding in a cafe with a girl who stole from a taiyaki stand (which is really just a Shout-Out to Kanon). Kuroi dismisses both excuses, especially since she could tell that the second excuse was really a reference. Later, Konata gets a summer cold and calls Kuroi asking for a sick leave, but Kuroi immediately declines the request while laughing. This is lampshaded in the next scene.
  • Cultural Cross-Reference:
    • Konata brings up Harry Potter in episode 2 when discussing what people consider "normal" books.
    • In episode 14's ending credits, Minoru Shiraishi yells "MIYAGI-SAAAAAAN!")
    • Konata may not know the lyrics to Saiyuki, but most Brits of a certain age will know it by heart.
  • Cultural Translation: The dub or the manga follows the Japanese text pretty closely (sometimes too closely), but sometimes have this, like translating normal people into "mundanes" in the manga.
  • Cute, but Cacophonic: Quite a number of the karaoke endings featuring Konata, but the mauling of the Dragon Ball Z theme suffers at her hands in the ending to Episode 5 is a particularly illustrative example.
  • Cute Clumsy Girl:
    • Miyuki spends so much time thinking about various subjects that she tends to space out, leading to clumsy moments. Konata mentions that Miyuki's clumsiness and air-headedness get her "Moe points".
    • The trope is discussed when Kagami asks Konata if she acts like one at her job at a Cosplay Café, like dropping her drinks (complete with demonstration), but Konata dismisses it as something cute in fiction but just annoying in real life.
  • Dancing Theme: The anime's opening shows the main characters dancing along to it. The dance is shown in full as a cheerleading routine in the final episode.
  • A Day in the Limelight:
    • Episode 19, the second half of which focuses on Hiyori Tamura almost exclusively.
    • Cranked up in the OVA, which starts with a chapter told from Minami's dog, Cherry's point of view.
  • Deadpan Door Shut: Inverted. As Kagami puts on her summer uniform, she remarks that someone always forgets the changeover from the winter uniforms. Then her twin sister Tsukasa, who's still wearing the winter uniform, opens the door to her room. Realizing that Kagami had changed to the summer uniform, she quietly backs out and closes the door behind her, while Kagami laments that the one who forgot is her own sister.
  • Deep-Immersion Gaming: In the OVA, Konata, Nanako and the Hiiragi twins all play a MMORPG together, and they're only shown as their RPG characters for the whole segment. Their characters are essentially just chibi versions of their real selves but wearing fantasy outfits.
  • Departmentof Redundancy Department: "Please don't joke when your joke doesn't sound like a joke."
  • Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: In episode 6, Tsukasa hums part of the anime's theme song while she's washing her hair.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?:
    • Go on. Read and analyze the lyrics to "Motteke Sailor Fuku." You will never be able to look at the series in the same way ever again.
    • In one episode:
      • Konata's attempts to eat her chocolate cornet in the first episode, with it spurting chocolate and her licking the end repeatedly...
      • Konata's demonstration of the tongue "push and shove" method of getting soft-serve ice cream to go into the cone.
    • Konata lying on her back and pretend-choking on falling Cherry Blossoms. The episode later included a parody on Da Capo.
    • While the characters are discussing fraternal and identical twins, Konata says "I guess all this talk about eggs and sausages and stuff got me hungry."
  • Doujinshi:
    • Konata doesn't draw doujinshi herself (since she's not a very good artist to begin with), but she regularly buys them and she recruits the Hiiragi twins to come with her to Comiket during one episode. At one point, Kagami spots a yaoi doujin of Gauron and Sousuke from Full Metal Panic!, and while curiosity gets the best of her, she decides that it's still "too intense" for her.
    • Hiyori is a doujinshi artist whose interests in both yuri and BL practically cause shipping goggles to be glued to her eyes, even when it comes to her own friends. And yes, she does sell her works at Comiket.
  • Dramatic Irony: Played for Laughs during a flashback to when Konata was just born, with Kanata hoping that her daughter won't inherit her short height or her husband Soujirou's Otaku personality. Unfortunately for Kanata, it's already been established that Konata ended up inheriting both of those traits.
  • Early-Bird Cameo:
    • The appearance of many of the extras (Kagami's classmates, Yutaka and her own classmates) at the opening sequence ever since the first episode. Namely, many people wondered what's with the emotionless green-haired girl performing her cheerleading routines along with the other characters before even having any idea of who Minami was.
    • In the show itself, Hiyori's first appearance (see Freeze-Frame Bonus below).
  • Early-Installment Weirdness:
    • While it took more than half of the anime for everyone else to crop up, the nigh-exclusive focus on the original four is this trope for the manga, which had already covered all of the same events in just three of its since ten volumes before the anime would begin.
    • The very first episode of the anime has a scene with Kagami yelling at Miyuki. This never happens again, especially since Miyuki is someone Kagami respects a lot more than Tsukasa or Konata.
  • Ending Theme: The endings for the first half of the series are the characters singing karaoke for the themes to other series. The second half consist of live-action a-cappella karaoke from Minoru (and in episode 16, Hiromi Konno)...
  • Entertainment Above Their Age: Downplayed; 17-year-old Otaku Konata is shown to enjoy H-Games, which are meant for mature audiences of 18 and older. It's frequently lampshaded by other characters how she's not quite old enough to be playing those games, and once Konata turns 18 she expresses excitement over being able to buy them herself (as opposed to just borrowing them from her dad, who's quite the otaku himself).
  • Evil Sounds Deep: While calling a character in this series "evil" may be pushing it, the trope is still in effect with Akira; she pretends to be a cute, cheerful girl with a high-pitched voice for the camera, but as soon as something angers or annoys her, she reverts to her borderline psychotic, abusive real self with a husky contralto.
  • Expressive Accessory: Tsukasa has her bow droop when she's sad and spike up when she's shocked.
  • Expy: Tsukasa is this to Akari Kamigishi from To Heart, which is lampshaded when Konata gives her Akari's school uniform in episode 4. This is even further lampshaded in Ep. 16 when, stopping by a bookstore in Akihabara to buy some manga for Konata, several otaku start taking pictures of her, forcing her to say, "I'm not Kamigishi." One even asks her to say "Hiroyuki-chan" to further fuel the whole thing.
  • Eye Scream: Hiyori tries out contact lenses, and fellow glasses-wearer Miyuki is interested... until a breeze blows dust in Hiyori's eyes.
  • Eyes Always Shut: Minoru Shiraishi, at least until after his breakdown.
  • Fan Convention: The first half of Episode 12 focuses on Konata, Kagami and Tsukasa going to Comiket. Konata takes it very seriously (which Kagami lampshades), having mapped out the best routes to navigate through the event and indicating which lines are crucial to get into before their copies of doujinshi sell out. Poor Tsukasa can't get any of the doujins Konata asked her to pick up since she gets hopelessly lost, and Kagami stumbles on an explicit Gauron/Sousuke doujin that's "too intense" for her.
  • Fanservice: The series is very well known for its sheer abundance of the nonsexual variety. However, there have been complaints that too much of it revolves around KyoAni and their associates. The other variety shows up occasionally, but even the requisite Furo Scene is rather clean.
  • Feminine Leg Swish: Konata, whom Kagami frequently criticizes for her immaturity, has an unique variant where she will not only swing her legs back and forth, but also side to side, lightly clapping her heels together while reading manga in her bed.
  • First-Name Basis: Most of the girls refer to each other with first names. Minami and Yutaka start off on a Last-Name Basis, but eventually switch to first names.
  • Five-Second Rule: Kagami's classmate, Misao, invokes the five second rule when she drops some cake on the floor and immediately eats it. However, when she later loses a meatball to the floor and mourns its "loss", Kagami smugly asks her about the five-second rule, and Misao admits that there are certain situations where it's not okay (like a sauce covered object like a meatball rolling on the floor).
  • Flanderization: The omake in the third volume played with this, trying to flanderize the characters, so Delicate and Sickly Yutaka would spit up blood as she speaks, The Quiet One Minami would only express herself by a piano, Tsundere Kagami would be more aggressive as she one-ups Konata, baseball fan Ms Kuroi would wear baseball suits to school and hits Book Dumb Konata with a baseball bat, The Ditz Tsukasa would have an over-the-top reaction to food, Yui who Drives Like Crazy would always come with a crashed car, and Miyuki would become Ms. Fanservice. They didn't do this to Konata since they thought she was already flanderized enough!
    • Also a bit of a minor case in the anime, as Kagami sounds angrier in the English dub.
  • Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Kagami is Responsible and Tsukasa is Foolish.
  • Four-Girl Ensemble: Konata is the sarcastic tomboy, Tsukasa is the sweet ditz, Kagami is the serious Smart Girl (although she shares this role with Miyuki), and Miyuki is the sexy one.
  • Four-Philosophy Ensemble:
    • Konata: the Apathetic. The otaku who lives in her own world, with a very questionable grasp on reality.
    • Kagami: the Cynic. The most serious and Brutally Honest among the girls, who prefers a logical approach.
    • Tsukasa: the Optimist. The adorable ditz who always has an optimistic outlook on life.
    • Miyuki: the Realist. Sweet and innocent as Tsukasa, but more grounded and sometimes overthinking about things.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble:
    • Konata: the Sanguine. Extroverted, eccentric and mischievous, and a huge cloudcuckoolander.
    • Kagami: the Choleric. Being a tsundere, she's brash and a bit egotistical, but ultimately good-natured.
    • Tsukasa; the Phlegmatic. Sweet, nonconfrontational, friendly and a bit shy.
    • Miyuki: the Melancholic. Kind, intelligent, polite and studious, and while she's sure not sad, she kinda tends to brood about things.
  • Fourth-Wall Mail Slot: In the Lucky Channel section of each episode, the hosts read and respond to fan mail.
  • Freeze-Frame Bonus:
    • Hiyori's first appearance in the anime is actually in episode 12, right before the Animate employees ask Konata what she thinks of their book.
    • In Episode 19, when Nanako hits Konata on the head to wake her up after falling Asleep in Class, still images of Akira and Kanata can be seen very briefly.
  • Freudian Slip: Hiyori Tamura (yuri fangirl) refers to herself as uke when discussing dodgeball positions before quickly correcting herself to "defender".
  • Frothy Mugs of Water: In the Lucky Channel of episode 16, we have seen Akira, supposedly a ninth grader, ordering some "brown stuff" in the karaoke. Although her drinking that was only a sound effect, its effects was unmistakeably alcoholic...
  • Funny Background Event: There are tons, but one funny event is in Episode 13, the Valentine episode. A few seconds before cutting to the main characters, we see one boy hand chocolates to another boy, who gets shocked-expression-lines. Later, we see them walking together and talking about it being the chocolate-hander's first time.
  • Funny Fan Voice: Both Konata and Tsukasa both breathe on an electric fan to make a funny voice on a hot summer day. Kagami calls them out on it, but Kagami's father mentions that she did the same thing earlier, much to her embarrassment.
  • Fun Size: The "Pocket Travelers" Spin-Off turns the four main girls into tiny versions and they have to figure out how to go back.
  • Furo Scene: With four teenage girls that manages to be more or less completely devoid of Fanservice or any lewd overtones. A first in the history of anime?

    G-L 
  • Generation Xerox: Konata looks almost like her mother's identical twin.
  • Generic Cuteness: In the manga, the "Tsundere ought to have pigtails" line was, if Kagami cut her pigtails, she would look "utterly forgettable." This explained why Kagami answered "Sorry that I look so boring!"
    • Could apply to the entire case since Kagami and Tsukasa are described as being "plain." Also, most would agree Ms. Kuroi seems to be much more attractive than Narumi, who has a husband, but have trouble finding a husband. This could be explain by 4 things: 1) Her standards are too high, 2) Her personality, 3) The fact that she spends most of her free time playing MMO RPG games, or 4) Her looks are due to Generic Cuteness.
  • Gift-Giving Gaffe:
    • For Kagami and Tsukasa's birthday, Konata gives them gifts related to cosplay with the intention of forcing them into it, with Kagami receiving Haruhi Suzumiya's Red Armband of Leadership and Tsukasa receiving Akari Kamigishi's uniform, much to her embarrassment and the anger of Kagami. This is put in contrast with Miyuki, who gives the twins a pair of matching earrings, a much more thoughtful gift that both of them enjoy.
    • This runs in the Izumi family, as a flashback shows Soujiro giving his now-deceased wife Kanata a Gundam model for her birthday, much to her embarassment.
  • Give Him a Normal Life: Of course Soujiro and Kanata were not superheroes, but Kanata said exactly that after she gave birth to Konata. She didn't want Konata to inherit her body and his personality— but, well, we know it turned out to be the opposite of what she wanted...
  • Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: In the opening theme, no less. This has spawned countless parodies. DADADADADA!
  • Giving Up the Ghost: Konata gives hers up after gaming for 3 days straight in episode 15. In the next scene, Miss Kuroi gives hers up after rushing to class so she wasn't late, then hurriedly telling the class to shift gears out of summer vacation and back to focusing on the start of the school year. She wasn't prepared herself.
    • Hiyori Tamura does this after pulling off an all-nighter to meet her manga submission deadline.
  • The Glomp: Konata imagines glomping a guy one episode.
  • Goldfish Scooping Game: In the aforementioned Festival Episode. Kagami apparently pampered and fed the goldfish so much it grew to an unusual size.
  • Go Out with a Smile: Kanata in the manga is shown to be bearing an angelically sweet smile as she went to heaven. And right after that...
    Soujirou: I wish I can also die this way.
    Konata: But what kind of death would come with a smile?
    Soujirou: From Moe?invoked
    Konata: It's not that you would have a good death anyway...
  • Gratuitous English: It's used straight sometimes, but more notable is the opening theme, which tends to keep a Gratuitous English-like tone and contents even when, as for most of the lines, it's in Japanese.
  • Greek Chorus: Akira and Minoru in Lucky Channel.
  • Hates Rich People: When Miyuki, who's wealthy, says her family went on an overseas trip, Kagami, usually the sensible one of the group, angrily calls her "Bougeois".
  • Hatsuyume: Miyuki points out that the list follows on with a fan, tobacco, and a blind man. Konata wonders who dreams about these sorts of things anyway, what sort of dream will include all these elements, and how many people remember what they dream about that clearly.
  • Heroism Incentive:
    • Konata's father offered her video game systems depending on the rank of school she got into.
    • Patricia pulls this tactic out when dealing with Konata as well. Konata had heard about Patricia's request to join her for the cheerleading routine in advance, and was going to politely turn her down. But before Konata can do so, Patricia informs her that she has a rare ticket to see Aya Hirano perform, and what was it that Konata was going to say?
  • Hostile Show Takeover: The opening theme for Miyakawa Ke no Kuufuku - as seen in the DVD release - starts to show the Lucky Star logo before Hikage runs in to cover it up.
  • Hot-Blooded: Anime Tenchou has to be put out with a hose, and even sets Shiraishi on fire.
    Shiraishi: This back of mine is burning red!
  • Human Hummingbird: Yui often greets with the one-arm mode.
  • Idiot Hair: Konata, although not an idiot by any definition of the word.
    • Akira too, and it'd be suicide to call her an idiot...
    • Yui has a very thin one.
  • I Know Mortal Kombat: Konata, played straight and then lampshaded in the same episode.
    • Although it's Street Fighter (Guile to be precise)
  • Image Song: Only 13 of the singles are actually called character songs, but many others qualify.
  • Inexplicably Identical Individuals: Voice of the cake restaurant waitress/Comiket vendor/Kyoto tour guide/etc. Sounds odd and a bit unnerving that all these people would have the same husky middle-aged woman's voice. You might recognize that voice as Orochimaru's seiyuu, Kujira. The dub does one better by having most of them be voiced by a male, though it isn't Steve Blum... but Derek Stephen Prince, who does Shino. And even better: at one point, you see six of the very same middle-aged woman at once!
  • invoked Indecisive Parody: It's sometimes hard to tell whether the series is a straight example or a parody of Moe in media aimed at Otaku; the mostly-female cast is often played up to be as appealing as possible to the otaku audience, but the concept of moe is also frequently lampshaded and the characters sometimes discuss how certain moe traits are cute in fiction but wouldn't be as appealing in real life.
  • Inherently Funny Words: "Barusamiko suu" (balsamic vinegar) is apparently this in Japanese.
  • Ink-Suit Actor: Minoru. Also, Daisuke Ono (better known as Itsuki Koizumi), who replaces him in Lucky Channel while he's off at Mt. Fuji to get water for Akira (and he is still present in the studio when Minoru snaps).
  • In Medias Res: The first episode of the anime is essentially as plotless as the rest, and it does very little to introduce the main characters.
  • Innocent Awkward Question: The innocent and sheltered Yutaka overhears the term "yaoi" somewhere and immediately runs to her fujoshi mangaka classmate Hiyori to ask "Hiyori-chan, what's 'yaoi'?" A completely mortified Hiyori manages only to stammer, "I w-wonder what definition you are looking for..."
  • Instant Cosplay Surprise: Konata and Kagami in the OVA dream sequence.
  • It Came from the Fridge: Whatever Tsukasa found that was so horrible it got censored
  • It's a Small World, After All: Said almost word for word in episode 15.
  • Jokers Love Junk Food: Inverted; despite being the sarcastic Straight Man most of the time, Kagami is the source of her own Weight Woe and suffers frequent jabs for it, as while she frequently chides Konata for her childish behavior involving games, anime, or her lackadaisical study habits, Kagami is almost always seen snacking on something when she has free time (usually Pocky). On one occasion, Konata offers her a bunch of chocolate wafer snacks she had, because she'd bought them to get the toy prize inside while caring nothing for the snack. Kagami chides her on that, saying "Leave it to you to pass up a perfectly good snack for a cheap toy."
  • Lame Pun Reaction: The tour guide (and Shiraishi) from episode 21 is really fond of puns. Everytime she utters one, the entire bus breaks into awkward silence as if thinking "Ugh, really?", aside from Minoru who consistently laughs his ass off.

    M-R 
  • Medium Awareness: In the OVA's Lucky Channel, Akira points out the credits in the middle of the screen.
    • The series theme song is also hummed by Tsukasa during the Beach Episode, and the final scene of the anime is the girls performing the same cheerleader routine they did in the opening, to the theme song.
  • Medium Blending: In the OVA's fourth segment, during the volleyball game, a particularly complex sequence in which Kagami, Tsukasa, and an unnamed girl jump in the air has the aforementioned three replaced with CG versions of their character models, creating much more fluid movement. Other characters in the background (including Konata, Miyuki, and Misao) remain traditionally animated.
  • Medley: Behold, Kumikyoku Lucky Star Douga
  • Miko: Tsukasa, Kagami and their two older sisters. Pretty much inevitable given that their father is a Shinto priest.
  • Mistaken for Flirting: During a field trip to Kyoto, Kagami gets a note from a boy in her class, asking her to meet her outside their hotel at night. She assumes it's for a love confession and isn't certain what she'll do. It turns out, however, that he just wanted to ask if he could have the keychain she bought at the gift shop because he was too embarrassed to be seen buying it in front of their classmates. Kagami quietly hands it over, but it is clear that she was a little upset about the situation.
  • The "Mom" Voice: When Matsuri, Kagami and Tsukasa's older sister, unfairly tears into the twins for not picking up some ingredients she wanted for dinner, Kagami storms out of the house to grab the stuff. The eldest sister, Inori, looks at Matsuri and pulls a "Mom" voice, scolding the middle child by saying, "Well, you could have handled that better!" Matsuri can only shamefully agree.
  • Mood Whiplash: While Episode 22 is by far the most notable case of this, this actually happens quite often throughout the series. Konata herself seems to love invoking this trope (it's unclear, perhaps deliberately so, whether or not it's intentional on her part).
  • Motor Mouth: Kagami's image song.
  • Mukokuseki: The American girl in the cast is, of course, blue-eyed blonde.
  • Mundane Made Awesome: Anime Tenchou cranks this up.
    • Also Yui's driving and Hiyori's epic Slo Mo midair turnaround so her drawing hand doesn't sustain injury during a fall.
    • And the 24 style presentation of Sou, Yui and Yukata preparing for Konata's birthday.
  • N-Word Privileges: The word otaku is considered degrading in Japan, so in Japanese manga or anime, that word is avoided unless if it's an otaku (Konata, Hiyori etc.) who said it. However, the word is no longer considered degrading outside of Japan, and the Kadokawa-Bandai dub uses the word as much as needed.
  • Never Trust a Trailer: The pre-release trailer for the anime was a still shot of Konata's Cat Smile face and her voice actress going "muuUUuu" for thirty seconds. Whether this is playing it straight or a subversion depends on the viewer.
  • New Year, Same Class: Although poor Kagami gets stuck in a different class again.
  • Nice Character, Mean Actor: Akira Kogami, who acts as a cute Kawaiiko in character but is a cynical jerk off camera.
  • No Antagonist: There's no evil overlord here, although Konata would like to think of homework, and occasionally her teacher, as one.
  • Noblewoman's Laugh: Konata does this when she becomes hooked on Mari Mite and starts acting like a stereotypical Ojou.
  • No Communities Were Harmed: The shows takes place in clearly recognizable locales in Saitama, Kasukabe and Washinoya.
  • No Fourth Wall: Konata tends to make asides about Tsukasa to the audience.
  • No Hugging, No Kissing (This is the best way to describe the romance in this show, as confirmed by Word of God. The Les Yay are very subtle at best and any more than that is in the heads of the fanboys (or fangirls). The closest thing to hints of romance is the Lap Pillow scene between Yutaka and Minami. There's the tease confession scene between Kagami and a nameless boy, but considering Kagami's change in behavior after receiving the supposed "love letter" is safe to assume she was hesitant if accept the boy or reject him for Konata.
    • One of the more subtle examples is Kagami worrying that it would be problematic if her pet goldfish came back in human form as a wife beater, a reference to the anime Angel Tales.
  • No Theme Tune: The last episode starts out without the opening but all the girls perform it near the end.
  • Noodle Implements: In episode 5 Tsukasa is talking to Konata about something that "kinda looks like a frog." Depleted uranium is then mentioned. See Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick above.
  • Noodle Incident: Frequently we hear only the tail end of a humorous story, usually ending with "It stunk, didn't it?"
    • Episode 20 had a scene where Hiyori said "...but I got confused and I was stuck for 3 hours". Stuck where?
  • Odd Friendship: An unanimated strip in Volume 8 discussed why would Hiyori, "an otaku in every sense of the word," be friends with "honour students" Minami and Yutaka.
  • Oh, Crap!: Izumi Wakase's reaction to Hiyori when she spots her at Comiket.
    • The reaction of the people surrounding Patricia Martin as she talks about anime and manga.
    • When Soujirou walked out looking for toilet paper in Chapter 203 and gets spotted by Yutaka.
    • "Tamura-san! What's Yaoi?"
  • Older Than They Look: Puni Plush made every teen and adult to fall in this except Soujiro. And the extreme cases of this fell on the women around Soujiro: his late wife Kanata was 1.43m, his 17-18 year-old daughter Konata is 1.42m, and his live-in niece Yutaka is 1.38m.
  • "On the Next Episode of..." Catch-Phrase: "Look forward to it!"
  • One Head Taller: This is in no small part the reason that Hiyori ships Minami/Yutaka. Minami is 25cm taller than Yutaka.
  • One-Steve Limit: There are two characters with the name "Izumi": main character Konata Izumi and manga-only character Izumi Wakase. However, Konata's family name is written in kanji while Izumi's given name is in hiragana.
  • Only Six Faces: One strip lampshades this: Hiyori's uncle read the doujinshi she drew, and while he had no problem on the content, he complained about everyone looking the same. Then Hiyori asked Kou: "Isn't Tsurime Eyes and Tareme Eyes different enough already!?"
  • Orwellian Retcon: A minor example: Konata was originally portrayed as a cool Gamer Chick, but was soon changed into a down-to-earth, sort-of-pervy Otaku Surrogate. When the yonkoma were collected into volumes, Yoshimizu changed Konata's lines to make her image consistent. Because he only changed a few strips very early in the series and Yoshimizu discussed that in the omake, it is not as unpleasant.
  • Out of Focus: Miyuki slipped out throughout the anime's run (see the Character Sheet). In subsequent manga episodes (the anime only got up to Volume 4), the four main girls themselves have actually gone out, since they have graduated in 2008 and went to separate colleges, with only Konata and Misao going to the same school. The focus in 2010 has more been on a New Generation as well as health teacher Hikaru Sakuraba and school nurse Fuyuki Amahara (Hikaru only made a cameo appearance in the last TV episode of the anime).
  • Parental Hypocrisy: An example with a teacher rather than a parent. Kuroi Sensei plays the same online game as Konata, and has been into MMORPGs since before she was Konata's age, but she tells Konata off for doing that very thing, and uses in-game chat to remind her to do her homework.
  • Personality Blood Types: Discussed. Doesn't seem to be accurate at all, seeing Kagami and Tsukasa are of the same blood type...
  • Pervert Dad: Konata's father Soujirou is a lot more clingy with Konata than is probably healthy, though he tends to at least attempt to keep focus on Konata's classmates instead of his own daughter. He does like taking pictures, though...
  • Phenotype Stereotype: Patricia Martin, who has the orange (presumably intended to be reddish-blonde) hair and blue eyes compared to the rainbow spectrum that is the rest of the cast. She's also one of the taller cast members, as well as one of the bustiest.
    • Curiously enough, Kagami's classmate Ayano has hair a slighty darker shade of orange, and Kuroi-sensei is actually blonde and green-eyed.
  • Playful Cat Smile:
    • Konata and her cousin Yui both have one as their default expressions, fitting with their playful personalities.
    • Akira sports one whenever she's playing up her cutesy Genki Girl persona, but it disappears when she shows her true colors.
  • Playing Sick: Konata used this, among with others, to skip from school.
    • Which turned into a case of Crying Wolf when she did get sick.
  • Polar Opposite Twins: Kagami and Tsukasa.
  • Porn Stash:
    • Discussed like everything. Konata said her father does not peek into her communication records since he knew what happened when "people peep into his D: drive."
    • It's also made fun of in episode 10, where the Hiiragi twins sleep over at the Izumi residence: Kagami looks at Konata's closet, insinuating that this must be where she keeps hers. Konata responds that since she shares that stuff with her dad, he handles storage.
  • Product Placement: Works published by its publisher Kadokawa Shoten kept appearing in the series. The appearance of Animate and Gamers references was not coincidental; some of the series' strips were published in the in-store magazines of the said chains.
  • Puni Plush: Remember, they're 16, not 13 10.
    • The manga tends to have a picture of one of the characters chibified (or almost so) at the beginning and end of each chapter.
    • The manga's Mobile Newtype strips take Puni Plush up.
  • Punny Name: May not be deliberate on the mangaka's part, but Kanata's name means "there," vis-a-vis Konata's "here." This meaning is heavily used in merchandise related to Kanata.
  • Rage Breaking Point: After multiple Lucky Channels of being pushed around, Minoru finally snaps in episode 21 after Akira spits out the water he brought her and complains about how it's too warm, despite how he almost died trying to get it.
  • Random Events Plot: Being a Slice of Life series, there's no ongoing plot in the manga or the anime. While the anime's last episode puts most of its focus on the characters preparing for the school's cultural festival, most of the episodes before that have no particular focus and will often abruptly shift to subjects or situations that are completely different from the ones that preceded them.
  • Real-Place Background: Like many anime by Kyoto Animation, the series features a lot of real locations from various Tokyo neighborhoods. The most notable case is the use of the Washinomiya shrine for the Hiiragi shrine in the opening credits. It spawned a pilgrimage of fans who traveled to the shrine.
  • Reference Overdosed: The anime is so full of Shout Outs that they have their own page.
  • Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: The Hiiragi sisters Inori, Matsuri, Kagami and Tsukasa all have Shinto-related names, meaning "prayer," "festival," "mirror" and "priest" respectively. (The mirror's religious significance in Shinto is adequately explained by Kagami herself.) Justified, since their father is a Shinto priest.
  • Resort to Pouting: On one occasion, Konata tries to convince Miyuki to go to a "Festival" with her. Kagami arrives and pushes Konata down in her seat, warning Miyuki that the "Festival" is Comiket in Ariake. Konata pouts angrily at her desk, "I wasn't lying, though. I mean, a festival is a festival."
  • Retcon: In manga vol. 7, Patricia Martin is introduced as a new character, ignoring all of her previous appearances.
    • Patty had mostly been an Omake-only character before.
  • Returning the Handkerchief: Yutaka and Minami first met through this. However, as Minami was the more masculine one of the pair, this trope was inverted.
  • RPG Episode: While not exactly an episode, the OVA has a segment that focuses on Konata, Nanako and the Hiiragi twins playing an MMORPG together, where they're depicted as their game characters the whole time. Konata and Nanako often play that same RPG in the anime, but their screens are never actually shown as they play.
  • Running Gag:
    • Whenever Tsukasa gets to do an episode preview, she doesn't get to finish. She also has a tendency to lose her cellphone, as well as having a fixation on the word "balsamic vinegar" (which she seems to consider an Inherently Funny Word).
    • The "Doesn't it stink?" conversations.
    • Minami's concern over her lack of...um, growth.
    • The extra and background characters all being voiced by the same people (In Japanese, Kujira voices the female extras, and Fumihiko Tachiki voices the male extras; in the English dub, they're all voiced by Derek Stephen Prince), who use the same voice for all of them regardless of how old they're supposed to be.
    • Nearly all of Anime Tenchou's appearances focus on his attempts to get Konata, whom he reveres as "Legendary Girl A", to buy something from his store. Despite his and his coworkers' efforts, this will always fail.

    S-Y 
  • Sailor Fuku: The girls all wear them, and the opening theme song is even named after them.
  • School Festival: The final episode of the anime focuses on the lead-up to the school's cultural festival (the English dub refers to it as the "arts festival"). Aside from their classes all doing different projects, the main characters put together a cheerleading routine for the festival's opening ceremony, which is an expanded version of the dance the characters do in the opening credits.
  • Schoolgirl Series: One of the most successful series in this genre after Azumanga Daioh codified it. It focuses on four high school girls and their everyday lives, though there's also a lot of references to Otaku culture thanks to Konata.
  • Sci-Fi Ghetto: A variation is discussed in the second episode, when Konata brings up a poll to determine how many books the average Japanese citizen reads in a year - the poll specifically excludes manga, though no such restriction is placed on the comparable media of light novels and children's picture books. She goes on to wonder how people can say that illiteracy is increasingly common among young people, pointing out that blogs and web pages in general take up a major part of the average teen's free time, and they are as wordy, if not more.invoked
  • Seinfeldian Conversation: Essentially half the dialogue of the series is made up of talking about rather mundane things (like the first episode's famous "How do you eat chocolate cornets" conversation); the other half is Shout Outs. In fact, the trope was formerly named Chocolate Cornet.
  • The Shameless: Konata will talk all day long without reservation about her Otaku hobbies, including the erotic dating sims she plays. The only things that seem to phase her are people poking at her short stature or threatening to cut her off from being able to copy Kagami's homework.
  • Shout-Out: We have a special page for those.
  • Show Within a Show: Technically, Lucky Star is a show within the Lucky Channel universe, and the characters are just actors. Basically, Lucky Channel in Lucky Star (in-verse version), Lucky Channel is more "real" than Lucky Star (in-verse version), and both of them are part of Lucky Star (the actual show out-of verse).
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: The Genki Girl Yui and the Delicate and Sickly Yutaka, which is lampshaded by Konata in front of Yutaka when she remarks that one sibling "absorbs" attributes from the other. When Yutaka mentions that to Minami, Minami wonders if Miyuki absorbed something else from her, since the two were pretty close when growing up and often acted like siblings...
  • Sitcom Character Archetypes:, Konata is the Wisecracker, Kagami is the Square, Soujirou is the Dork, Tsukasa is the Goofball, and Miyuki is the Precocious.
  • Slice of Life: The series focuses on the daily lives of four high school girls, their friends, and their families...and that's about it. Conversations tend to be very Seinfeldian, with the girls discussing such things as the proper way to eat a chocolate cornet or what kind of animals they'd be. The anime also adds a lot of Shout Outs, which are largely thanks to Otaku Surrogate Konata.
  • Sophisticated as Hell: In episode 4, Kagami complains that she has regained her weight. Konata asks if that's a senryu poem, showing Kagami's complaint in traditional senryu format.
    It's my weight again!
    I gained it all back in, Like,
    the blink of an eye!
  • Sound-Effect Bleep:
    • Most names of anime, video games, or other media that isn't one of Kyoto Animation's own works (or, strangely enough, Sgt. Frog) are censored out with a comedic sound effect like a cowbell or tuba, due to copyright.
    • Played for laughs by Konata and her dad during their conversation about Gundam; the word "Gundam" itself is always bleeped out, along with the names of all the characters, but completely random words that aren't related to Gundam are also bleeped out, leading to some funny word parfait.
  • Speech-Centric Work: The series is very dialog-heavy; most scenes consist of the characters just sitting or standing around and talking about mundane subjects. The anime adds more Shout Outs, courtesy of Konata, but there's still a lot of talking.
  • Spin-Off: It has a few:
    • Lucky Racer, a live-action sports show organized by Minoru Shiraishi, where he races other fellow Lucky Star staff (and once with Misao's seiyu) in go-carts. Went to a second season.
    • A spin-off anime focusing on Hinata and Hikage called The Miyakawa Family's Hunger aired in Spring 2013. The first episode adapts the sisters' first sole comic pages from Lucky Star.
    • The manga-only "Pocket Travelers" spin-off, which has the main quatuor shrunken to Fun Size and trying to find a way to return to normal.
  • Stylistic Suck: Several of the songs the characters do covers of for the Ending Themes are deliberately subpar. Take, for example, Konata's Hollywood Tone-Deaf singing of "Cha-La-Head-Cha-La" from Dragon Ball Z or the theme from Monkey, to say nothing of Akira Kogami and Minoru Shiraishi's "take" on "Ai Wo Torimodose" from Fist of the North Star.
  • Sudden Video-Game Moment: Quite a few in the anime:
    • When Konata tells Kagami about how she rescued Tsukasa from a foreigner, she is depicted as a character in Street Fighter II, defeating an opponent who looks like Guile on Ryu's stage.
    • When Tsukasa asks Konata how she's so good at running, Konata says it's all about visualization. This cuts to Konata running in the style of the NES game Track & Field, and a closeup of a hand on the controller performing the famous coin and ruler tricks to win the game.
      Kagami: That's some old-school visualization you've got there.
    • Another episode features Konata and Nanako having an argument that soon cuts to a Super Robot Wars-style battle, with them piloting the Arbalest and Codarl respectively and arguing in the dialog boxes.
  • Surreal Theme Tune: The anime's opening theme, "Motteke! Sailor Fuku", is extremely upbeat and catchy, but the lyrics make almost no sense at all; there's plenty of Gratuitous English and some of the lyrics talk about uniforms, but aside from that the subject matter is very random and has little to do with the show itself. It's a prime example of a denpa song, which is fitting for the series' focus on Otaku culture.
  • Take Our Word for It:
    • Konata making a funny face during a staring contest in episode 2. Kagami, Tsukasa and Miyuki all burst out laughing when they see it and think it's hilarious, but Konata's face is never actually shown during that scene.
    • Nakatani smiling in manga vol. 7's Akira Nation special.
  • Two-Teacher School: More of a One Teacher School in the anime, as Kuroi is the only named teacher who regularly appears. Hikaru from the manga's Lucky Channel segments later ascended to be Kagami's homeroom teacher.
  • Understatement: In one strip in manga vol. 6, Minami's clothes are scuffed up, and when asked about it states that she "took a notable spill." In the next strip, the "notable spill" turns out to have been saving a little boy from being caught in a traffic accident.
  • Universal Group Reaction: Kagami and Tsukasa are trying to figure out where Konata is working for her part time job, dismissing several ideas out of hand. Konata finally tells them that she's working at a Cosplay Café, to which both sisters immediately think, "Oh, that's perfect for her."
  • Unspoken Retort: Konata and Kagami are discussing the rigorous academic requirements needed to get into their school. Konata expresses amazement that Kagami's sister, Tsukasa managed to get in, which Kagami can't refute. All poor Tsukasa can do upon overhearing this exchange is to angrily think to herself, "Damn you, Kona-chan."
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Konata and Kagami can be quite vicious to each other, although they'd probably happily donate every organ in their body to the other if the need arose.
  • Vocal Dissonance: Played for Laughs as far as minor extras and background characters go, as they are given much deeper and raspier voices than you'd expect from their looks (provided by Fumihiko Tachiki and Kujira in Japanese, in case you're curious). This leads to teenage girls and young women sounding like men, and teenage boys and young men sounding around forty-something.
  • Weddings in Japan: One discussion revolves around the religious complexity of a Miko wanting to have a Western-style wedding dress and ceremony.
  • Weight Woe: Kagami. Gaining a few kilograms was enough to bring her to tears.
  • What If the Baby Is Like Me: Played for Laughs: Konata is the perfect embodiment of every single trait her parents had that her mother hoped she wouldn't, and then some.
  • Wishful Projection: Discussed; when recounting how Konata first met Tsukasa, the former assumes a large foreigner is a violent kidnapper. In truth, he was simply asking Tsukasa for directions, and Tsuksa was flustered because she couldn't understand a word he said.
  • World of Technicolor Hair: Almost nobody has a normal hair color. It's lampshaded when Miyuki (who has pink hair) explains to Konata (blue), Tsukasa, and Kagami (both purple) why exposure to sunlight and seawater changes hair color. Most, if not all, characters with funky hair colors also have that as their eye color. As such, one may pretend that their hair is perceived in their world as being black/dark brown. This is completely ignored and lampshaded further in the dub, where Konata comments that Miyuki is like her mother "down to the last pink hair." Also in the dub, Misao (who actually has brown hair) calls Konata "Shorty McBlueHair" at one point when she asks if that's who wants to borrow the game Kagami is asking her to return.
  • You Are Already Dead: The original Trope Namer is given a Shout-Out by Soujirou during one skit where a mosquito lands on his arm and he flexes his muscles so that the mosquito is stuck.
    Soujirou: You are already dead.
  • You Remind Me of X: Konata's dad makes an, ah, disturbing comment regarding how similar she is to her mother.
    Soujirou: "But you know, you feel more and more like Kanata when I hold you. It makes my heart race!"
    Kanata and Konata: "Don't just blurt out risque statements!"
    • In the English dub, it becomes this:
    Soujirou: You know, when I hold you, it feels like I'm holding Kanata, and I really like it!
    Kanata and Konata: You shouldn't say creepy things like that! Ever!
  • Younger Than They Look: A pretty strange case: maybe because the teens around Yui have problems regarding height, when she first appeared in the Festival Episode, she took Konata's friends as her upperclassmen.
    • Miyuki, who is (physically and mentally) more mature than the rest of the characters, was often mistook as much older than they were. Lately, this has become rather embarrassing for her, especially when her mother Yukari is taken to be younger than Miyuki herself.

Konata: Senior Year, Class B?
Tsukasa, Miyuki: Miss Kuroi!
Kagami: Yeah, yeah...
The intro to every episode for the second half of the anime

 
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Kanata Izumi's Spooky Photo (Lucky Star)

Kanata Izumi, the deceased mom of Konata, joins in a photo her family is taking as a ghost. Their reaction is priceless

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Main / SpookyPhotographs

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