Animedia’s 2009 poll ranks the anime characters of 2009 in several categories. Some interesting ones to note:
Sheryl Nome (Macross Frontier) - #1 sexiest, #1 most beautiful
Ranka Lee (Macross Frontier) - #3 most pure (Can also mean cheerful)
Haramura Nodoka (Saki) - #4 sexiest (How is a Mahjong player with a stuffed animal sexy? Stupid hormonal, moé-loving otaku with boob fetishes...)
Akiyama Mio (K-ON!) - #5 sexiest (Er, I thought K-ON! was a moéblob anime?), #2 cutest, #2 beautiful, #5 most heroic (It can also translate to “brave”, “gallant”, “manly”; and how exactly is Mio-the-scaredy-cat heroic? Unless you’re basing it on her conquering her stage fright?), #5 MVP, #4
Hirasawa Yui (K-ON!) - #1 cutest (You didn’t get Saimoe, but at least you won this one, Yui!), #2 most foolish (can also be “useless” or “idiotic” ), #2 most HOT (And by “hot”, the poll literally writes the word “HOT” in English. I’m thinking it has to do with spirit rather than appearances.), #1 most pure, #2 MVP, #2
Hirasawa Ui (K-ON!) - #3 most heroic (The caption says something like “Kawaii onee-chan no tame ni –insert three kanji here - datta Ui-chan”, which means something like Ui-chan something something something for her cute older sister.)
Nakano Azusa (K-ON!) - #3 cutest
Hayasaki Hayate (Hayate no Gotoku) - #5 most heroic
Sanzen’in Nagi (Hayate no Gotoku) - #1 most selfish (How the bloody hell did she beat Haruhi by almost two thousand votes?)
Katsura Hinagiku (Hayate no Gotoku) - #4 cutest
Madara/“Nyanko-sensei” (Natsume Yuujinchou) - #5 cutest
(And I don’t know if I should clap for him being the highest-ranking male character on that list)
Rita Hawkeye (Full Metal Alchemist) - #5 most beautiful
Roy Mustang (Full Metal Alchemist) - #5 coolest
Edward Elric (Full Metal Alchemist) - #3 most HOT, #1 MVP, #2 strongest (AKA #2 most GAR since that list is pretty much all-male), #2 smartest
Italia (Axis Powers Hetalia) - #1 most foolish (Italy beat Yui for Most Foolish by 205 votes, lawl), #5 most pure (Pasta! Pasta!)
Aisaka Taiga (Toradora!) - #5 most selfish (A measly 1,670 votes compared to Nagi’s 7,311. Saimoe really doesn’t matter anymore, eh?)
Suzumiya Haruhi (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu) - #2 most selfish, #2 most pure (Well...that is debatable once you bring up Mikuru and then compare her to the other characters on the list like Italy and Yui. Yeah, after seeing this, I think “cheerful” is probably the closest translation.)
Nagato Yuki (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu) - #3 coolest (Hell yeah.), #1 gloomiest (How the hell did she beat Zetsubou-sensei by 869 votes? She’s a dandere, not an emo!), #3 smartest (Is Edward really smarter than Nagato? O_o)
Sebastian Michaelis (Kuroshitsuji) - #4 smartest (Demon butler FTW!)
Itoshiki Nozomu (Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei) - #2 gloomiest (You got that right.)
Edogawa Conan/Kudo Shinichi (Detective Conan) - #1 smartest (Now this guy, I can understand ranking higher than Nagato.)
Hanato Kobato (Kobato.) - #3
Tieria Erde (Mobile Suit Gundam 00) - #3 most beautiful (Rofl I can’t tell if whether if this is a joke, a sad example of how effective traps are – in the prequel drama CD, which had a parodic storyline that included homosexual teachers and delinquents, Tieria pretended to be a girl – or if people like beautiful men, but he beat Hawkeye for some strange reason.)

Where is Yoko Littner? BiriBiri? Index? Horo?

ENOZ from Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi is going to release a mini album on Feb 24th.
It includes God knows..., Lost my music, First Good-bye, and a few songs. These are arranged? And a few are new? There is no information of that yet.
Additionally, theme song of Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi will release on same day and the soundtrack CD on Jan 27 2010

Source: [link]

In the new Naruto chapter, the Itachi from the previous one turned out to be an illusion, and Sasuke unveils his ultimate Susanoo summon.

On the other hand, Danzo easily fights it, and in the end, Tobi realizes that he is using a forbidden technique, even forbidden to the Uchiha clan – Izanagi. Come off it, it’s starting to sound like “here’s Goku, then Seiyan Goku, then super seiyan…”

[link]

In happier news, K-ON! 44 is out with a pigtailed Tsumugi and Azusa with her hair down on the cover.

Tsumugi reveals herself to be Kushieda Minori’s opposite – she gets high off of scaring people. So, that’s why she was able to scare Forehead-tan...

And basically, Azusa and Tsumugi give a bit of fluff, and, to those reading the comic with their yuri goggles on, a lot of fanservice.

It’s great and stuff, but seriously, give us some Mio, please~

Especially after skipping that Romeo and Julier chapter. Kakifly, that was cruel...

Okay. Now on to the part that shows my epic laziness. That's right. A repost of my previous Journal entry except with stuff added to it. Prepare to have your eyes assaulted.

Edit: Found the rest of the Budokan videos. =w= If you want to search for a certain link I mention, just press ctrl + f and type in the number of the link (assigned by the order I post them) in parenthesis. For example, the first link (part 1) would be (1), the second link (Kyodain) would be (2), and so on.

Edit #2: I found out that Peanutbutter883 of Youtube is steadily uploading the Budokan videos. Probably, by the time I’ve published this journal or at least sometime soon, he’ll be done doing so. Furthermore, Tokyo Toshokan has a torrent link of the Lucky Star Budokan for those who want it: [link]

Aim for Budokan!

And no, this is not a post about K-ON!. It's actually about Lucky Star.

I finally remembered last night that I saw a small magazine pin-up about a Lucky Star live event in March of last year. I promptly forgot about it during the summer.

Now...videos from March 29, 2009 are coming back to haunt you, via this epically long and crack-filled journal.

And it’s because I’m mad that no one posted it on Youtube, as far as I can tell, except for maybe about three videos. Hey, give us weaboos American otakus some love as well!

I actually had to resort to a Chinese video hosting site to find some of these videos. I can read a little, tiny, miniscule amount of Japanese (i.e. hiragana, katakana, and a few characters of kanji), but with Chinese, I pretty much relied on Google Translate. Anyways.

[link] (1)

Part one: the beginning of the event. Behind the scenes, Konno Hiromi and Shiraishi Minoru act as MCs, and announce two pairs of characters: Akira and Minoru, and Konata and Kagami.

Of course, when the stage lights up, Shiraishi greets the audience with the standard “domo” and Konno puts on her Akira voice to shout out “oha lucky”.

Akira’s seiyu’s theme is red (As in, “aka” for Akira, maybe? Oh hey, I just realized that her last name, “Kogami”, means “godling”. Ah ha ha. She can’t even be a full god. Okay, I’ll shut up now.), and Shiraishi is white (His name has the kanji for white, “shiro”, in it). The fans each have a red or white sign to show their support. Haha.

And the first song is:

[link] (2)

Lucky☆Star in Budokan - Uchū Tetsujin Kyōdain (Live)!

(Yes, I know that the first link actually has this song in it, but I just wanted to post this link as well, since it has just the song in it and because it’s one of the few Youtube videos I’ve found)

First of all, Hirano's actually improved her live singing (even if she’s just doing a Konata karaoke), so clap clap clap for her. She’s wearing a blue jacket to represent Konata, I suppose, and she has a ponytail (lawl). She messes up at the beginning of the song (I think), but she recovers well. She starts early again at around 1:00 (on the Youtube video), but that might be intentional since that actually happened in the karaoke track with Konata. The special parts are however, are:

1. For some strange reason, she's standing on a very high platform with like, no room to do anything at all except stand. This is emphasized when, at the first interlude, Hirano screams, "IT'S SCARY!" (0:57; KOWAII YO~~~ OTL)

2. She starts eating a choco cornet. In the middle of the song. While that's pretty damn cool...I think it's also a little disgusting. Seriously. She's singing with her mouth full. It's quite hilarious to watch though.

3. She also takes out eyedrops from her pocket, and uses them to fake crying in the middle of the song. From the other pocket, she takes out a handkerchief to wipe away the “tears” of manry joy – “Onii-chaaan~ Arigatou!”

After that, she strikes a pose and ends gracefully. Well, as gracefully as you can after faking a fit of tearful admiration, but anyways.

Ne Tou Ge De Reset! (Found in the first link)

And holy crap, is Fukuhara Kaori dancing? Yes she is. Wow. The style reminds me a little of Miracle Encore.

Unfortunately, she doesn’t sing in Tsukasa’s voice. But fortunately, her regular singing voice isn’t bad. Well, it’s very unprofessional actually, but I didn’t really expect her to be a blazing star. Her voice breaks often – maybe she’s nervous. She mostly walks around, waving to the very large audience.

And I also learned that the stereotype is true: most guys really don’t care if they can’t sing for shet, as long the person in question is moe. The audience was cheering for her.

Next song is Dondake Fanfare.

[link] (3)

(Okay, basically, I found the full version of Budokan only after I started posting the individual videos, so yeah...I’m just too lazy to re-write my journal)

And wow, Hirano has charisma. The fans were practically screaming for her. With this, I must admit, Hirano really can pull off Konata's voice live. I've heard her do a quick "CHA LA HEAD CHA LA" in a video of an anime convention, but a full four minute song? Impressive. Hirano's risen a bit in my eyes. Though, it's not Konata's voice on the dot methinks. It's more like...somewhat between Konata's and Haruhi-chan's. Ah ha, Hirano, you need to expand your voice range a bit more. But seriously, it can’t be that hard to sing live as Konata – it’s not her real voice, Konata doesn’t have a large range, and any bad singing can really be written off as Konata being an otaku with a tendency to scream and shout in karaoke. Hirano’s singing is very fun to listen to. But towards the end, you could tell that the yelling in the beginning is taking its toll on her. She starts to lose breath control slightly. Still, she hangs on and does well overall.

In the last minute of the video, two people come out to introduce Hirano (unnecessary, in my opinion - what kind of otaku would drag themselves to Budokan without knowing who Konata was?). I'm assuming they're the MCs. And of course, they are Akira and Shiraishi. They announce that "Sister Wars" (Tsukasa's second chara song) is next at the end.

(See first link, at around 17:45)

Still no Tsukasa voice Though it’s improved, so good job. She lost a bit of that shakiness. A bit. She skips over some parts when she’s lost breath...or maybe forgotten the lyrics? Erm. At the “hai hai” part of the song, she lets the audience sing that. xD That tactic is nice sometimes, but don’t overdo it, Fukuhara.

Her ending pose is...the Mikuru Beam? ROFLMAO!

After the song, the MCs comment on Tsukasa’s image color (which explains the skirt she’s wearing). Konno and Fukuhara get into a slight confusion about what the color is (her skirt is both yellow and orange), but it gets resolved.

Yutaka’s turn! Minimum Tempo!

(Link 1, about 23:05)

Hasegawa Shizuka, I’m surprised to see, can almost sing in Yutaka’s voice. Almost. It’s close, but not quite. I’ll still applaud her – she did much better than Fukuhara. I’d say a B+ probably. She’s very close. And I mean very close because towards the end of the song, she falters and has to pause in the middle of singing for a while. Of course, the crowd cheers on the tearful Hasegawa. Poor girl. She barely manages to choke out the last line.

She berates herself for being stupid on the stage, but of course Konno and Shiraishi comfort her.

(At this point, please note that I have a paranoid side. I think it results from me being an obsessive otaku. Anyways, again, right then, I started to suspect that the crying act, even though it seemed genuine, was fake. Really, I am that heartless and paranoid sometimes. Or maybe it’s just a result of KyoAni’s Endless Eight trolling – I’m pretty much suspicious of every other thing they do.)

Next is something Aster predicted would come when she was discussing the concert with me the other day.

That’s right, the ultimate moé image song of the Saimoe queen, Hiiragi Kagami’s 100% Nai Nai Nai. Unfortunately, the link cuts off partway (around 30 seconds) into the song (don’t these video editors have any sense at all?) so, it continues in part two of the Budokan videos:

[link] (4)

(Basically, the song starts in the first link at 29:10 and then continues at this link)

A purple corset-like dress. Pretty.

And thus far, Hirano’s song is the only one who has fully satisfied me. Well, Hasegawa’s was good, too, if you count being extremely moé as successful, but anyways. Katou can’t really sing either. Okay, I know that they’re not professional singers and that they’re only voice actresses, but these days, don’t they undergo dancing and singing training? Or am I just reading too much Bakugan?

(Well then again, the heroine of Bakugan can’t sing for her life xD)

But, evidently the audience likes her enough to start cheering at her command (Which another person tries to do, I think, but since that’s in a later video, I’ll come back to that). Like the others, she improves towards the end. The audience cheering for her might have given her confidence, I don’t know.

At the MC talk part in the end, I can draw either one of two conclusions: 1. Katou is a very talkative person, as she pretty much bowls over the other two with her torrent of words, while previously, Konno and Shiraishi talked pretty equally with the others. 2. She’s really nervous and talking a lot as a result (which is something I do at times). But she stops quickly so I guess she’s just replying thoroughly. Screw my theories, then...

AND FINALLY, ONE OF MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS SHOWS UP WITH ONE OF MY FAVORITE SONGS: Tamura Hiyori, Mousou Machine! (Link 4, 4:35)

A spotted (you know, those leopard pattern things) hat (I think it’s a fedora), a black plaid skirt and black vest with elbow-length basic black gloves and black boots, and some red ornaments throughout. Eh, I think, rather than a character color, they went for a theme – it looks very artsy. But back to the main point. Holy crap, she’s just as hyper as her character. Her singing is pretty okay – normally, I’d consider it mediocre, but compared to the performances, I really do have to give her a B. But for effort...probably an A++. Even when she runs out of breath, she tries her best, and she goes through the spoken parts of the song, which didn’t happen in COOL EDITION (and yes, I know, Aster, that she had a really good excuse, but I’m just saying, it’s nice). But gawd she looks like she’s having a blast (which she states in the beginning and, you’ll see in later videos, throughout the concert). What’s ironic is that Wikipedia states that “although she started out voicing young female characters, she has recently been typecast as deep-voiced women of experience with mostly calm manners”. Well, Wiki, you’re wrong (aren’t you always?). And as for voice, it sounds like she’s singing in her regular voice, but the good news is that her regular voice is similar to Hiyori’s voice. Shimizu Kaori, I’m definitely keeping an eye on you. Hyper seiyu is awesome seiyu.

The crowd jumps and cheers madly for her. It’s very easy to do so, it seems, in a song with so much energy and a singer who voices a character that screams at herself (If I were there, I probably wouldn’t screamed myself hoarse and attempted to fly). But it seems that took its toll, and since Shimizu is not a professional singer like Hirano, she’s forced to cut some of her longer notes short. Still, a good effort, so I applaud you, Shimizu.

Konno comments on Shimizu’s multiple yells and jumps, and Shiraishi announces the next singer to be...hm, he mentions, “Houkouha”. And you know what that means. YESSSSS YOMI Kusakabe Misao: Sugeendatte Va! (Still link 4, a bit after 9:50)

She’s wearing the Ryoo sailor uniform, ah ha. Well, she’s a sign bearer for the show and kind of an MC, so I guess that outfit will have to do. xD

But a mike stand? Kind of boring. Ah, whatever, she can sing in her Misao voice, so I don’t care. MISAO VOICE LURVE<3

Later into the song, she detaches the mike and finally walks around. She ends with a Mikuru-beam style pose as well (what is with Asians and the peace sign? OTL)

I really wanted to see a Yomi and Kensuke/Kazuki skit, but ah well. Mizuhara Kaoru instead chose to say “Inugami Sukekiyo desu” in a ghostly voice.

(In Episode 6, Konata wears a Sukekiyo-kun mask. Sukekiyo-kun is a mascot of a website with games on it, and later, Konata scares Tsukasa by saying "Inugami Family" and doing the pose from the poster of Kon Ichikawa's film "The Inugami Family".)

She then says one line in her regular voice, and then it’s back to Misao. She evidently supports white, much to Akira’s displeasure.

But then we get one moment of fanservice where Mizuhara grips her head, groans, and then says “Kagura...”

Now if only Shiraishi had jumped in and Chihara came out... -Tears of frustration stream down face-

Speaking of Chihara.

[link] (5)

Damatto Yasumi Jikan. A pretty green dress for Minami. (: But ah, Chihara-sama, why are you singing the song in a pitch slightly higher than you're supposed to be using? Eh, whatever. She sang it well, so I guess it doesn't matter. The last two minutes include the MCs. What I find interesting is at around 6:05 (a little after 21 minutes in link four), Shiraishi addresses the seiyu as "Minori". Eh? First name terms?

But anyways, they return backstage to start Misao’s second song (CHIHARA YOU HAVE TO COME BACK, OKAY? KAGURA MUST BE WITH YOMI. SHE HAS TO! -Bawls-), that one random string of nonsense and Engrish that KyoAni loves to overuse micro Krafty datte Valator AD++ (Around 21:30 in link 4).

3-second rule FTW! It hasn’t failed me yet! (Yeah I know, I’m disgusting, but hey, I’m Asian...food is food...it’ll all be the same in the stomach...I’m cheap like that...the list goes on.)

Lol, when she said “akiramerou”, I thought of Yomi with her “akiramete”...argh. I suck at Japanese and fail at life. xD

But really, I prefer her songs. She’s not an attention whore like Hirano - she pretty much sticks to the mike stand and lets her voice do the work. And she’s not a moéblob like Fukuhara - she matches her character well. I guess, like Hirano, she has the advantage of being able to sing in a different voice, but again, still, it’s all good. She starts losing breath control and cracking up a little bit as a result, but she recovers quickly.

And the last bit of fanservice: In her Misao voice and style of speech, she screams, “Don’t call me your sister!” (Instead of “watashi no ane to yobunai”, she says a “yobuda!” at the end) and runs off the stage.

YOMIYOMIYOMIYOMI

And almost immediately, we get Cosplay no Kokoroe started.

Sasaki...Nozomi...Nozomu...er. I really don't know what her name is anymore. The kanji reads as "Nozomu", but she writes her name in hiragana as "Nozomi". Ah well, let's go with the hiragana. Sasaki does okay, but she’s very shaky at times. I can only assume that she’s either a pretty suckish singer or she’s really nervous. I’m leaning towards the latter, since she constantly makes the audience yell for her...or maybe she like generating attention like some of the other seiyus. Anyways, I guess that makes the tiara she’s wearing fitting – a right little princess. Gosh, this ranks right up there (or maybe right “down” there) with Fukuhara’s performance. She kind of botches her last line (her “kokoroe” is really squeaky) but she at least manages a passable thank you (or, I should say, “sankyuu” ) at the end.

Konno then freaks her out by appearing in a red jumpsuit, glasses, and pigtails. Wow, she looks exactly like a P.E. teacher. Ah, the MC part is cut off so it continues in part 3:

[link] (6)

Kuroi Nanako and Narumi Yui in Kekkon Nante sa Pappaya-!

Ah right, the poor souls don’t have solo albums. Eh, I really don’t like this song...I much rather prefer Tekireiki over this...but anyways, here we go. 1:33.

A yellow and green dress for Yui and Kuroi respectively – wait, shouldn’t it be the other way around for hair color? Ooh. Well, whatever. As I’ve heard, Lucky Star is Nishihara Saori’s (Yui) first and only anime role, and I haven’t heard of any major Konomi Maeda roles apart from being Kuroi-sensei.

But seriously, when they put their hands together in the song, all I could think was, “The Kuroi x Yui fans are gonna go nuts”. Konomi accidentally misses the mike a couple of times while moving around, so you can’t hear her voice for few instances, but other than that, they’re pretty good. Their overdone choreography made me crack up, because it just fits the, er, booze-induced nature of the song. I changed my mind about this song after I saw this spectacle.

Shiraishi of course provides the announcer-parts from the song live while the two women skip around and scatter confetti all over the stage. Hope no one trips. Anyways, the silly formality (lawl, an oxymoron) of it is refreshing compared to the moé.

Sadly for Konno, both are “shiro-gumi” – the white group. Aw...red’s my favorite color!

And it appears that what they were throwing around before were sakura petals. Ah ha. xD

Both of their regular voices are their character’s voices, so that’s a cool bit to watch. Peronally, I think Konomi’s voice is cooler, but it’s also interesting that Nisihihara has such a youthful sounding voice.

And this time, Akira announces the next performer to be on her side, for once – Izumi Soujirou, Onna wa Yome to Musume Dake! (7:26)

Seriously, who the heck was Hirakazu Hiromatsu’s costume designer? He looks like an old dad...oh. Maybe that’s it? Eh.

God I feel like he’s an embarrassing uncle or something (even though both my uncles are younger than my parents). Well, it seems that the adults overall can hold their own in singing, since he sings well. It’s a pretty boring song though...

Just one thing to note is that one line where he squeals, “Moe~~~~”. It’s really, really, really disturbing to see a middle-aged man say that, not to mention the voice and tone he used.

Konno calls him “otou-san”, ha ha...I think it would have been better if Hirano came out to MC for that song...anywas, ignoring my fangirl urges, and both Shiraishi and Konno scream “kakkoi” (cool).

Haikei Combi desu!

Haikei Houdai Yariho-dai with both Misao and Ayano!

Mizuhara Kaoru and Aizawa Mai in the Ryoo outfit. Ah ha<3

I really wonder what would’ve happened if Goto Yuko had voiced Ayano in the anime rather than the drama CD. There would’ve been quite an epic cast, eh? Still, she’s Gotouther, so she’ll come regardless.

Moving on, before the song starts, the two come on stage.

Misao: <i?Doushio, doushio, doushio, doushio...
What do I do now, etc.
Aah, Aya-Ayano, hito ga- hito ga-
Aah, Aya-Ayano, people are- people are-

…and that’s about all I can translate off the top of my head. I could probably get down their entire conversation if I tried, but…it’s night and I’m lazy tired.

Aizawa Mai can pull off her Ayano voice in conversation, but her singing voice is a little weak. She gets better though, and her calm face and headband…ah, a RL Ayano…

I can’t help but love this performance, because when the two stand next to each other during the “hai hai hai” part and raise their hands, you notice that Mizuhara is a lot taller. Misao’s only supposed to be an inch taller than Ayano. Ah ha ha ha<3

The two do a rather cute duet thing with moving the same way or else mirroring the other. It’s so cuuuute. When Aizawa starts moving away, Mizuhara squeaks and runs after her. Oh god, the moé is making me melt. They pull off a rather good act of cute background characters being frightened to death at being in front of a large crowd. It’s very entertaining.

When they go up the staircase, they do so holding hands. Okay, now I’m meeeelting, I’m meeeelting... -Dissolves into a puddle of fangirl bliss-

Near the end, the two converse again, though it’s too quick for me to catch…something about Misao being happy about the two of them…something, Ayano replies with something about the Haikei Combination, and Misao agrees.

They end with “Domo! Haikei Combi deshita!”

And ROFL, the two call Shiraishi “shishou” (master).

Just then…

Konno: But, what about here? -Waves at the two-

Mizuhara: Ah! Um…aidoru…aidoru no shishou Akira-sama~

(…iDOLM@STER AKIRA-SAMA?! WHUT. -SHOT-)

Funny, Mizuhara addresses herself as “boku” when she says “what about me?” Hm, either she’s a tomboy or she really is into Misao’s character…but Misao addresses herself as “watashi”, I think, and Mizuhara was using her regular voice too. Argh. Whatever.

Later, when Konno is trying to get attention (“matte- matte- matte- matte- ”/“wait-wait-wait-wait- ") she had to scream to finally do so.

Misao, Ayano, Audience: -Cheering-
Konno Yandere Akira: MATTE! (HOLD ON!)
Everyone: -Shuts up immediately-
Audience: -Scattered laughs-
Misao: Ah, your v-voice is…

She goes on to claim that Akagumi is the very best, and that team Akagumi’s Izumi Kanata is to perform Shiawase Negai Kanata Kara. Or is it “Negau”? I think it’s negau…the inclusion of the “u” hiragana must make it so…even though it’s normally read as “negai”…even Konno announced it as “negau”…ooh, that means half the anime lyrics sites are wrong.

Shimamoto Sumi, actual name Koshikawa Sumi. She’s supposed to be a veteran seiyu, and I believe she was around 54 years of age at the time of the concert. Notable roles include the titular character Nausicaä from the Miyazaki film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Ishizu from Yu-Gi-Oh, and the list goes on. She’s wearing a white dress like Kanata, but…she really can’t sing. I kind of don’t blame her, since she’s getting on a little in age (not everyone can be Madonna). She hit a good portion of the notes, but overall…er, I was sorely tempted to just skip over this entire part. I persevered (somehow). With Kuroi and Yui, I was converted, but with this…yeah, now I’m totally convinced to keep Kanata’s album on the bottom of my Lucky Star playlist.

And Akira says, this person is on Akagumi. Oh lord. I might just have to give up the red side, even though I’m completely biased towards that color.

Lol, then Shimamoto brings up the fact that she’s wearing a white dress, and the audience goes, “oooh”. Konno assures her that it’s completely fine.

After Shimamoto leaves, the MCs have a conversation – talking too fast, can’t really tell – that sounds like a typical Akira-Shiraishi spat, and then Konno announces something about eating some snacks. God, stop talking so fast. D:

They keep talking about food, and then kanji appear…oh. It’s intermission, ha ha. When the show starts again, the stage grows dark and then…

-Theme song-

Lucky Channel!

…and the audience howls with laughter as the spotlight falls on Shiraishi in his gakuran (school uniform) lying prostrate in front of Akira sitting at the desk in her overlarge uniform.

Akira: Aaaaa-aaaaah.
(Audience member: AKIRA-SAMA~)
Shiraishi: -Lifts head up from his literal OTL- Um…um…Akira-sama…

xD;;;

The highly funny skit continues in Budokan video part 4:

[link] (7)

Basically, Akira’s in a near yandere mood and Shiraishi is being her dog as always. Shiraishi later gets a chance to take the stage, with the stage yelling phrases such as “Ganbare, Shiraishi!”. And then…

“ONE TWO THREE FOUR SCORPION!”

._.

The audience again howls with laughter as the stage blacks out.

Shiraishi slips up by accidentally calling her “Konno-san”, but then corrects himself. Fast-forwarding, they finally introduce a guest, Takemoto Yasuhiro, the director of Lucky Star from episode 5 onwards (and Full Metal Panic Second Raid, Fumoffu, and the second season of Haruhi). At 5:46, he has a “big present”, which is:

Ah! Endou Aya is on that one big screen behind them! It’s like that one Hollywood Bowl orchestra event I went to where Julia Andrews was supposed to show up, didn’t, and instead sent a video of herself. I see. I really need some subs, but my guess is that she’s talking about her absence and the concert. She mentions the title, “anata no tame dakara” and makes a crack about it, and so on. When she says “bye-nii”…

Akira: That’s wrong!
Shiraishi: Yeah, that’s wrong.
Akira: THAT’S WROOOOOONG!

ur doin it wrong miyuki according to akira lol

Finally, a little after 15:00, he leaves. FINALLY. Whatever they talked about might have been important, but I’m going to go ahead and be an obnoxious American and say “No subs = highly IRRELEVANT to my interests”.

15:35
Shiraishi: Bye-nii!
……
…nyoron~
Akira: Ah.
Audience: -Laughs-

The next guests are the Izumi-ke! Or, the Izumi family! Hirano, Shimamoto, and Hirakazu. Ah ha…Hirano is quite young compared to the other two…they might really be a family like that xD

And for some reason, something that Shimamoto says got censored (17:17; "Ore wa xxx-" ). Oh wait, he gets censored three times in a row at 17:25 as well. I’m extremely curious.

As for Shimamoto.

Akira: And you, Mother?
Shimamoto: I’m very – ah, I forgot Kanata’s voice.
-Laughter-
(Now) Shimamoto: -Uses her Kanata voice-

Ah ha, seeing “Konata” talk to her “dad” is hilarious. What a wonderful family.

Akira then asks Kanata how she eats a choco cornet – she eats it pretty much the way Miyuki does. Tear off some of the small end, dip it in the cream, and eat. Shiraishi even says that it was Miyuki’s method. As for Soujirou…I can’t understand him, dammit. Hirano talks about the cornet in her Kyodain song, and that it had actually fallen from her pocket when she came out onto the stage. To help, the video shows the clip with a star over the cornet to help you see it. It’s wonderful – the cornet appears to have fallen from under her jacket – maybe even under her shirt? Or worse – no, I won’t even go there. Well, that explains why she looked down and laughed at the beginning of the song.

A timer starts to go off as she elaborates, and it turns out that their appearance is, in fact, timed, so they leave.

Ah, Konno calls Hirano “Aya-chan”, fascinating. Anyways, the next guests are the Hiiragi shimai, or the Hiiragi sisters. Well, they really should’ve said the Hiiragi futago, since it’s just the twins. Katou and Fukuhara come out wearing identical outfits and hairstyles<3

Shiraishi announces a Quiz Corner, much to the despair of the Hiiragi seiyu. Seriously, the twins seem to overreact to that statement.

Katou: “NO QUIZ, NO QUIZ!” -Headdesk-
Fukuhara: “It can’t be!”

Shiraishi then calls “Emiri-chan” (Konno calls her that as well) as the first victim, I suppose, since she starts despairing again and Fukuhara gives her a “ganbatte”. Fukuhara calls her “Emiri”. Hm. Well, they fail at being twins – when they try to say something at the same time, they end up saying different things. Katou then answers a question correctly while Fukuhara doesn’t, prompting her to boast, “That’s why I’m the older sister, ne?” And Shiraishi assures Fukuhara that she isn’t stupid. Haha. Later, Fukuhara gets a question right (after much effort). Time is up after that, and then another pair shows up:

Kujira and Tachiki Fumihiko! The former, Matsumoto Wakako, I already knew – she voices Orochimaru from Naruto. In other words, she’s the person who voices all of those random background characters in the Lucky Star anime. -looks at wiki article- Ah, “kujira” for whale, or a hoarse and androgynous voice. I see. Tachiki I know for being Gendo Ikari from Evangelion – he also provides voices for over 60 extras for the anime. Ah ha, so the true “Haikei” appear.

Continues in part 5: [link] (8)

But sadly, I can’t really follow their conversation…they mentioned games…Konata, maybe?...the terms “dondake” and “tsundere”…

At 7:00, Shiraishi starts to alert them of time (he finally gets through to them at about 7:15), and Kushira asks for “30 more minutes”. Ah ha, if you’re going to be like Konata, then you’re going to talk forever and ever…so the MCs practically push and shove them off the stage.

Next is (8:40): GOTOUTHER-SAMA, SUGITA-TEN’IN (Clerk), AND ONO DAISUKE greeted with large cheers from the crowd.

Kyon in a clerk’s outfit and mask, Gotouther-sama herself with a motorcycle prop, and Ono in a white suit and pants. It turns out that Goto’s kaichou coat has the words “yoroshiku tomorrow” on the back. xD I want it!

When Ono Daisuke gets introduced, he calls for the fangirls scream, and they respond faithfully. Typical.

And Mr. Clerk has brought goodies from Animate, such as Lucky Star…sausage (o_o) and chocolate.

Ono and Konno then do a quick "Potato" cameo.

Also, Sugita’s T-shirt is commented on. Argh. The picture on his shirt…not...pretty…

When it’s time for them to leave, Akira screams her happiness and cheerfully waves them goodbye.

Akira: -Waving sleeve back and forth- Sayonaraaaa~

Goto takes her wooden sword and points it towards Shiraishi at Akira’s command so she can threaten him to tell the three to leave. ROFLWUT Goto you got tricked.

But instead of exiting, Ono and company go up to the big star at center stage for a last bit of glory, and he himself strikes a pose. As he finally leaves, he bids, “Minna-san…adieu~” He’s such a Koizumi.

The next guest comes out on screen as…eh?! Keroro?! I just watched that in Anime Club a few days ago! Oh wait, it’s just a commercial. Three…two…one…

-Keroro theme plays-

HOLY MOTHER OF ALL –

It’s someone in a Keroro suit. You’ve got to be kidding me, that’s weird.

Okay, the true guests come out a little bit later: Watanabe Kumiko (the voice of Keroro and also one of the female Animate workers in Lucky Star) and Sato Junichi (director of Keroro Gunso). They lead the crowd in the Keroro cheer.

They leave, with Akira gushing “Kawaii~” at the mascot the entire time. The ending theme plays and they’re about to wrap it up when

Manry voice: “JUST A MOMENT!”

OMG, is that Tomokazu Seki? Sousuke? Animate Manager?!

-Runs onto the stage- “THE ANIMATE MANAGER HAS ARRIVED!”

Yup, it’s him.

And he later knocks out Shiraishi with a manry (fake) punch. His antics drive the two to “OTL” and they try and get him to leave. Ah, if only Legendary Girl A showed up. Ooh, he got censored once, I wonder why. Ooh, twice. Thrice.

He then, before leaving, sings an acapella anime song and turning to leave –

I’m psychic.

“DENSETSU NO SHOUJO A!”

And he finally does leave.

Lucky Channel ends, and Akira exits…

But Shiraishi doesn’t. A few last dance moves, and he announces another intermission.

Some kanji shows up on the video – the only phrase I can get is “Internet”. So.

Part 6: [link] (9)

The show starts with a familiar tune, and Shiraishi coming out to be the MC. That’s right.

[link] (10)

Misoji Misaki. It's the same as usual. Her srsfaic and 3 finger pose is funny. But finally, Akira gets that live concert event she wanted! :3

Since Akira’s singing, Katou and Hirano come out to MC instead (see link 9). Eh? Katou and Hirano? Why not Katou and Fukuhara? Meh, the Konata-Kagami buddy pairing, I guess. They greet her with an “okaeri nasai”, which she of course replies to with “tadaima”. After some chatting, Katou announces that it’s Shiraishi’s turn!

[link] (11)

This video shows Shiraishi singing "Ore wa Wasuremono", "Kaorin no Theme", and "Koi no Minoru Densetsu" (which is pretty much the only Shiraishi song I like). Nice outfit, though – black vest, pants, and tie with a white shirt. And he’s, er, carrying Nyamo (that one cat head). For Kaorin, he puts the cat down, and as he says “I promise you”, the screen behind him is showing the scene where he’s dressed up as a bride. Good timing. After that’s done, he takes off his tie, vest, and his dress shirt – he’s wearing a Lucky Star white tee under it. Pictured is a black-and-white sketch of Konata and Kagami from the 4koma. I WANT IT. Well, a staff member takes his stuff and after much suspense-building, the rock legend begins. The audience provides the background “mi-mi-miracle minorun-run” as they cheer for the abused assistant. Much to my surprise, he actually pulled off the scream.

Afterwards (about 26:06 in link 9), the MCs this time are Ayano and Misao, the latter who accidentally says “minorin”. Speaking of which, I want her back on stage already ;-;

Shiraishi picks Nyamo back up from the stage, Ayano and Misao comment on his manry sweat, and that they were moved to manry tears. The three then announce Konata and Patty’s duet.

[link] (12)

(27:45 in link 9) Cos It! Oh My Honey and Yuuchou Sentai Dajare Ranger. Hirano is wearing a light color (I think it's pink - the video quality's not the best) and Sasaki is wearing black. Anyways, I love the "iku wa yo" part - even though it's blatant sister-series marketing, Konata/Haruhi voice switching is win. Sasaki's voice is a bit weak again, but not bad.

For the Ranger song, win pose and laughs at the beginning xD

The last minute or so is interactions with each other as always, but instead of the Lucky Star MCs, Aizawa and Mizuhara appear again. I guess Akira and Shiraishi need a long break now. Sasaki says something about the "haikei" (background characters), lol....I WANT MY SUBS DAMMIT.

(Link 9 cuts off the song and continues in Budokan video 7: [link] (13) )

Now it’s time for the next duet. These two have had their rest. Now…

[link] (14)

Uchouten ga Tomaranai and Aimai Net Darling.

…

Just one word: jumpsuits?!

Okay, no, I need another phrase: flying kick.

God she really is a yandere. Ooh, ouch.

So next is:

[link] (15)

Kaeshite! Knee Socks and Motteke! Sailor Fuku. I couldn't find a video with just Kaeshite in it, so this will have to do. They're wearing the cheer outfits and head mikes for the Motteke dance later, but it fits this song as well. The song is so lacking without Miyuki~

Katou, of course, has to do all the background vocals like in the original song. Poor her - she sounds very out-of-breath the entire time, since she has to sing as well.

At the end, everyone's brought out. And I mean everyone. FK YES CHIHARA IN A CHEERLEADING OUTFIT.

In link 13, you can listen to Hirano asking the audience if they are cute at 22:48. xD God, you attention mongering person.

[link] (16)

Youtube link! Lucky☆Star in Budokan - Motteke! Sailor Fuku (Live)

1. STOP DOING CLOSE-UPS OF HIRANO. WE GET IT, SHE'S KONATA AND SUPPOSED TO BE THE LEAD. GIVE US SOME GODDAMN SHOTS OF OTHER PEOPLE. EVERYONE ELSE'S SHOTS ARE SHOTS WITH ANOTHER PERSON IN IT. NO ONE ELSE GETS A SOLO.

2. You know that high kick they do in the OP, where there's a split-second panchira (panty shot)? Here, the camera suddenly changes from front view to a shot of their backs. Very clever - they're only letting the people who actually came to the live event witness that...

(not that I'm some kind of voyeur who wants to see it, but I'm just saying, I think the camera change is interesting to note)

Very awesome. Good dance. If only Miyuki was there.

If you watch the link 13 version at a bit before 29:40, they separate into team red and team white.

Which continues here: [link] (17)

White: Kuroi, Yui, Misao, Ayano, Kagami (leader), Tsukasa

Red: Kanata, Soujirou, Patricia, Yutaka, Minami, Konata (leader)

Hm. Red is pretty strong with Konata and Minami there, but White has Kuroi and Misao and Kagami…argh.

Ultimately, after the fans raise their signs, white wins. Kagami is Saimoe winner for something, eh? (Personally, I <3 Yomi Misao~~~ )

The leaders say some comments, and they announce owari…or is it?

[link] (18)

(4:40 on link 17)

Perhaps the most epic of all. Kumikyoku Lucky Star LIVE. But I said perhaps. It's a little anti-climatic. No one really uses their character's voices or sings particularly well since it’s such a fast song and everyone’s kind of tired. Fukuhara didn't use her Tsukasa voice, but ah well...if she did I would be extremely impressed (since I haven’t heard her use it properly thus far). At that speed, a lot of things would become difficult, so I don’t blame her at all. In fact, for that speed, she actually did really well.

Patricia's voice actress, by the way, is Biribiri's sister! Well, that explains a lot. She's Misaka 1003, not the original, so that way she doesn't have to do a character song...arghghghghgh. Hirano appears from below to sing a quick Cos It duet with her.

Shiraishi sings Wasuremono, Kaorin, and Minorun Densetsu all in a row again. Poor him. His pitch was a bit off at the end, but it was good for such a taxing length of time.

When we get to Gravity, Misao and Ayano's voice actresses hold up a sign that explains why m.o.e.v. isn't there. Something about "de@th"...and Yui-nee-san.

Yutaka's voice actress...didn’t do as well as she did in the beginning. But her "-masuka" sounded funny. In both the good and bad way. She did okay.

Kanata's voice actress can't hit high notes, and completely drops the end of the song. Everyone stands behind her to guide the audience in cheering though. Ah well, at least she has support. OTL

Hirano makes a grand appearance for Dondake Fanfare as she jumps out onto the stage from the below-stage platform used often during the concert (Shiraishi clambered out of it during Wasuremono). Sadly, she's pretty much the best performer that's appeared thus far at that point in the video.

Akira has put her hair down for Misoji Misaki, and is as dramatic as ever. Shiraishi joins her in running around the stage for "Aimai Net Darling". They pretty much yell out the lyrics as they horse around.

Hiyori's VA, thankfully, didn't completely botch Mousou Machine. Messed up during the beginning, and was mediocre at best, but phew. But seriously, her hair and outfit...she looks like a real-life Hirasawa Yui. No joke. What the heck happened to her previous outfit?

And for Miyuki's part, obviously, Endou Aya was absent. She's Sheryl effing Nome, what kind of a singer like that is going to be next to bleeding broken records like these people? The sign held up for this one is...er, "Miyuki-san wa"...Miyuki is...o...something...mi...I can't read kanji T-T But you receive a surprise as a bespectacled, pink-haired person comes onto stage...yes, it's Shiraishi of course, no surprise there.

Patricia's VA's singing improves for Ranger - still a bit shaky, but much, much better.

One thing I expected from the live event was "Kenka Yoho Jikan Da Yo" sung live. If Katou can pull that off, then I'll consider her worthy of praise (even though she voices Kagami, which constitutes authomatic win, and Maylene from Kuroshitsuji, who is a 1337 sniper, but anyways). While this isn't the actual song, dang...she can sing fast. She really did pull it off. Not bad, Katou, not bad. Really, she should’ve sung this song as well instead of people wasting so much time on Orochimaru and Keroro. T-T

Another sign, with "(kanji) wa Minami-chan De@th". Ah. Is "de@th" supposed to be the "death-desu" joke? xD

Chihara's (who also appeared from the trapdoor) singing is no problem, but she sang the song in a higher pitch than it was supposed to (again), so it came out a bit funny.

More signs! Knee Socks! Yay!

For the ending, everyone comes out and sings Motteke. Ah, what a blast!~

But Shiraishi, you can take off the Miyuki costume now. You're making me blind. (CANNOT UNSEE ARGGHGHGH)

[link] (19)

The above link shows that the DVD for the event came out on Christmas.

...can anybody give me a late present? T-T

Evidently, the event is called らき☆すた in 武道館 あなたのためだから. In other words, Lucky☆Star in Budokan: Because It's For You. Well, maybe. The last part is tricky to translate. "Anata no tame dakara". "Anata no tame" is something like "for you", but dakara is "because" or "therefore". So literally, it's "For You Because", but since this is English we're working with...Because For You? Therefore For You? For You Therefore? Argh. "Because it's for you" might not work since the sentence isn't really built that way, but that's the best way I can put it. So yeah.

Honestly, I want the DVD. Very badly.

Misao's voice actress = Yomi from Ga-Rei = EVEN MOAR WIN. Gosh, she even did her hair like Misao.

(See [link] for a live OVA of Misao, Shiraishi, Akira, and Takemoto (director). Well, it looks more like a video of an awards ceremony to me, but whatever. 3:03 has Shiraishi do his "Enjoy yourselves!" Taniguchi line. At 3:26, Mizuhara switches back to her regular voice. Evidently, she puts on a "sexy voice" for a second. Very amusing. At eight minutes, Akira sings "Misoji Misaki"...I think. Well, one of her enka songs anyways. At 14:10, part two, Kagami and Tsukasa's seiyu get awards. Katou gives a speech. Later, when Fukuhara goes up to the mic...she has to adjust it for height. xD And they wear miko outfits at 19:45. Please, someone puts some subs on, I want to understand. :C )

[link]

The Making of Budokan. Memorable parts include:

[] Shiraishi tripping and nearly falling due to slippery floors and his outfit
[] Hirano reading lines backstage with a flashlight
[] Konno Hiromi doing the same and calling the concert "Akira no tame dakara" (Because it's for Akira), not being able to pronounce a word with Shiraishi correcting her (Lucky Channel ftw), and then retorting with a "SHIRAISHI URUSAI" (shut up).
[] Yutaka's voice actress saying "Ganbariyasu" straight at the camera and going the wrong way backstage
[] Hiyori's VA posing for the camera and saying "Doushio, doushio...DOUSHIOOOO -Leaps into the air- ", "TANOSHII~ -Jumps at the camera- " (dang, she really is fit to be Hiyori’s seiyu) and then passing by and greeting Hirano on the stairs
[] Mizuhara sneaking around with a paper mask ("Sukekiyo desu"); saying something about a hamburger in her Misao voice...I think? It's "hanbaagu"...er, actually I think that's Hamburg. o_o By any rate, Aizawa Mai (Ayano) gets a speaking part as well. Later, while they go upstairs, they sing "Hamburg" as they do so.
[*] Actually, practically the only time during Budokan where Mizuhara doesn't use her Misao voice is the "Sukekiyo" part. Damn, she's good.
[] Fukuhara asking why a camera was around and realizing that there was going to be a "Making of Budokan" video
[] Katou and Fukuhara posing as twins
[] Yui and Kuroi’s seiyuu. Katou, by any rate, introduces them as the main “onee-san”s. Anyways, one of them trips and screams "YAMETE YO~" (STOP IT).
[] Ono Daisuke blocking the camera ("Yamedamae!"); saying his famed “Komatta mono desu” line
[] Goto Yuko in her Gotouther-sama outfit. “Onyanko desu<3”
[] Sugita Tomokazu, dressed as a clerk, commenting on Goto Yuko’s dialogue.


So anyways. On to another KyoAni creation. Or rather, a spin-off...

[link]

涼宮ハルヒたんの退屈. Suzumiya Haruhi-tan no Taikutsu. The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya-tan.

This video...needs no explanation.

But a few tips.

At the baseball scene where you see the batters hit home runs, you'll notice that one of them is wearing a mask. Later, you'll see the person without his mask.

_{Simply put it's Arakawa-san.}

At the beach when the wave rolls over the sand, pause just before the water obscures the ground. You'll see a demonic message there.

_{In other words, Asakura's not the only one allowed to say "Ja ne".}

I'll say it as well. See you later!