Lucky Star probably offers the best glimpse into the state of the anime industry in 2007. The series proved to be different from the start, in part due to rather lengthy conversations (the first episode spends half the time focusing on discussions of how to eat a certain dessert. ). However, what caught the attention was how it celebrated and blatantly referred to the anime culture of that time (as well as mocked the genres that since then were already being over-exploited).
In short, Lucky Star represents an important piece in the history of anime, since it contains the trends that marked the year 2007 and that to date have been quite changed, for better or for worse. Its current value is more like a nostalgia series that recalls the best moments of that year.
Recounts of life ... to another level
Thanks to the success of the Azumanga Daioh series, anime in the 2000s took a trend towards producing series of the life-telling genre. No conflict, no trouble from the modern era, no romantic subplots. For its part, Lucky Star only featured one group, often cute girls, hanging out. This series went so far as to feature so few conflicts that some episodes focused entirely on conversations about common fears and anime fans.
Furthermore, the characters were immediately identifiable to viewers. Many internet memes had their origins in Lucky Star. Its protagonist, Konata, became an icon on the image forums like 2chan and 4chan for good reason: she was exactly the nerdy and "troll" girl that fans met. identified. His comments were awkward and he always said what he had in mind at the time, played MMO games and attended Comiket with the intention of getting as many perverted doujinshi as he could. In a sense, it was the precursor to similar characters that came later.
While there were several series before and after that used the formula of cute girls doing cute things, Lucky Star satirized this, which for many fans of the genre actually meant a break. While the constant parodies and critiques of over-exploited genres and plots back then would not be understandable to current fans, in reality they were quite relevant at the time.
The references
The Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu series clearly had an impact on the development of Lucky Star. Recalling the included references is now even more apparent. Both Haruhi and Konata share the same voice actress, Aya Hirano, they both have dance sequences that became memes and, to top it off, Konata even does a cosplay of Haruhi herself. But this is not all.
Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu became an icon of the 2000s series, which helped to increase the popularity of the moe genre and, consequently, also that of the series that parodied it. To highlight, moe is a term that has been pretty much bastardized in recent years, but it essentially came up to describe a style of lovable characters who act vulnerable and sweet.
Lucky Star was built through his parodies of the moe genre. Most of the time he focuses on Konata referencing an over-exploited anime plot while his friends and the characters in the background also gave their arguments (or sometimes having arguments about it). One of the most relevant examples is the epilogue segment of the series titled “Lucky Channel”, in which two hosts once debated whether the character Kagami was a tsundere or not, based on modern and original definitions of the concept.
In addition to the discussions about over-exploited plots and genres of anime, Lucky Star frequently referenced other games and franchises, such as Ultraman, Initial D, Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon, and of course, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu. The series featured the characters practically re-doing the scenes from the aforementioned series and singing songs from those franchises, as well as reading manga from them or buying related merchandise.
The connections between Lucky Star and Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu don't end there, highlighting the fact that they were both made by Kyoto Animation, so the studio probably capitalized on the success of this latest series. With Kyoto Animation being one of the most influential studios in the industry since the 2000s, Lucky Star arguably served as an important part of its takeoff.
Source: CBR
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