Lucky Star (らき☆すた, Raki☆Suta) is a 2007 television anime series based on Kagami Yoshimizu’s manga series. The series was produced by studio Kyoto Animation, and the staff credits include directors Yutaka Yamamoto & Yasuhiro Takemoto, writer Touko Machida, character designer Yukiko Horiguchi, and music composed by Satoru Kōsaki. The series was first aired in Japan on April 2007 during its Spring 2007 season, and published by Kadokawa Pictures.
Note: This post has been updated in August 2023 to reflect the current blog layout and some minor tweaks to the original write-up.
Background:
“What’s the best way to east dessert? Do twins really have a psychic connection? What kind of guys are into moe girls? These are the kinds of questions that float through the inquisitive mind of anime super-fan Konata Izumi. When she’s not lost in her favorite manga or logging hours in one of her online games, she’s debating the mysteries of the universe with the best friends a girl could ask for. And while they might not share Konata’s refined eye for anime tropes and trivia, she doesn’t hold it against them. After all, Miyuki Takara is a precious moe dream girl, and twin sisters Tsukasa and Kagami are always there when she needs a helping hand or a notebook to copy homework from (even if Kagami insists on being totally tsundere about it). At the end of the day, Konata could look far and wide, but she’d never find a better group of girls to get her through the horrors of high school!”
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, October 2018.
Back when anime was well-known but not as large as it was currently, Kyoto Animation was pretty much on a roll with anime adaptations of Key visual novel titles (CLANNAD, Air, Kanon) and adaptations of source material from novels and manga (Haruhi Suzumiya, Full Metal Panic! FUMOFFU) and then there’s Lucky Star which also has an interesting history of its own. The show was initially directed by Yutaka Yamamoto before he was fired because the studio felt that he’s wasn’t doing a good job at handling the series. He was eventually replaced by the late Yasuhiro Takemoto (who sadly passed away in the KyoAni 2019 Arson attack) from episode 5 onwards.
Lucky Star was once distributed by Bandai Entertainment and Beez Entertainment for the United Kingdom, Ireland, United States & Canada territories, however, those releases eventually discontinued and the license went back into limbo for many years. Funimation eventually bought the rights to a bunch of Kadokawa titles, which included Bandai rescues like Lucky Star, and allowed Anime Limited to distribute on their behalf for the United Kingdom & Ireland.
However, licensing issues began in April 2019 caused by Funimation acquiring UK distributor Manga Entertainment and thus Lucky Star went out of print along with every single Funimation sub-license that Anime Limited had with them (including The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Season 1). Therefore, this Blu-ray set is no longer in print so good luck finding copies for the show in this region.
Regular Edition & On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 29th October 2018
As I mentioned earlier, Lucky Star did receive a collector’s edition release from Anime Limited however that has since been out of print prior to the licensing expiration. What I have instead is the standard edition which contains the same discs.
The standard edition release for Lucky Star contains the entire series (24 episodes) across three Blu-ray discs with a bonus DVD disc for extra on-disc bonus features. All four discs were encoded and authored by Funimation. The audio options available include the main Japanese language with English subtitles and the Bang Zoom! Entertainment English dub commissioned by Bandai Entertainment. The white subtitles are locked during playback and the Blu-ray discs are playable on both Regions A & B Blu-ray players. The bonus DVD NTSC disc is has unlockable white subtitles and is also compatible with Regions 1 & 2 DVD players.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English Dolby TrueHD 2.0 Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Upscale format 16:9 aspect ratio |
| Region | A B |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | Yes |
| Discs | 3 BD-50s |
DVD Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English Dolby Digital 2.0 Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 |
| Video | Standard Definition in NTSC format 16:9 aspect ratio |
| Region | 1 2 |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 1 |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 3:
- OVA: “JK”
- Lucky Racer: Checker Flag in Akibahara & Lucky Racer Highlight
- Radio Kansai’s Public Recording of “New Lucky Channel”
- On-Screen Text Reference Guide
- U.S. Trailer
- Funimation Trailers
DVD On-Disc Extra Features:
- Key Scenes Gallery #1-12
- Opening with Lyrics
- Promo Clip
- The Adventures of Minoru Shiraishi
- English Voice Cast Interview Part 1
- English Voice Cast Interview Part 2
- English Voice Cast Interview Part 3
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Lucky Star was available to own on Blu-ray & DVD from Anime Limited, but the rights have expired and reverted back to Funimation. Since then, there’s been no word on a UK re-release. It was available in United States & Canada by Funimation if you own a Region A & B Blu-ray player.
The Normanic Vault 
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