Yesterday I watched the first episode of Lucky Star, and I liked it. It wasn’t anything groundbreaking or amazing, as we’ve seen the character archetypes and the concept of the show before, and probably in shows that did both better. Yet it was good fun and, despite a couple of transition problems, I felt the episode did well what it was apparently supposed to do: Show people talking about everyday, unimportant things (a.k.a slice of life, Nothing Happens. 
). I can stand people just talking for whole shows(after all, I like .hack//SIGN), so just talking about food for the first couple of minutes worked great for me. I mean, I could easily see myself doing the same thing.
I see the humor in Lucky Star when I realize that I do the same things the characters here do: have silly conversations about nothing in particular. And while that wasn’t the only type of humor shown in the first episode, it definitely was the majority overall, and I can see why people wouldn’t care for/hate that type of humor. After all, not everyone takes pleasure in the mundane. While I understood many of the criticisms that people have lobbed against the first episode, I’m surprised at how excessive it quickly got (e.g. 1/24 episodes = entire show, or KyoAni’s strange monopoly on moe) and strangely annoyed that the bashing got that far or that serious (lol serious business). I thought that first impressions weren’t everything, or something like that… 
One can wonder where all this vitriol I’ve seen from other bloggers has come from. I’d like to think that the reason for the hate is more than, “KyoAni sucks for making this”, but for most of the bashing, that seems to be where most of the negative comments are stemming from. This seems very strange to me, as KyoAni has been known by many as producing good adaptations, so I can’t see why one episode rubs people off the wrong way. I could only assume that the hypemobile had an integral role here.
When I first started seeing ads and posts about Lucky Star before the season began, I believe the iconic ad was the picture of Haruhi pointing in one direction and Konata pointing in another. Comparisons would become inevitable because of that, and I think we started getting pumped up because of what we saw as potential. I mean, it is Kyoto animation, who did nice jobs on FMP: Fumoffu, Air and Haruhi (and though I haven’t seen Kanon, apparently it still applies there). So since they seem to keep on churning out stuff with nice gimmicks that was enjoyed by many (the Lucky Star OP and trailer obviously is a great example), weren’t we misguided as to what the show would be about? Because of KyoAni’s reputation, did we even know what the show was about, or did we even care?
But I think many screwed up in thinking that Lucky Star might possibly be the second coming of Haruhi. So we were wrong, and who likes being wrong? Not only that, but what premiered was something very different from what we’ve seen from KyoAni, and this adding to not fulfilling expectations that weren’t really known in the first place seems to have made people sore. What else could cause such flaming with the first episode of Lucky Star? Out of 24. It doesn’t make sense to me.
One argument bugged me a bit more than others, and that was apparently KyoAni’s so called “reliance” on moe. I can’t understand it. I’m sure having Kanon, this and Clannad in the near future might bug some, but it’s not like three similar works typify what a company does. Besides, it’s been done before by other companies, and even in Haruhi, KyoAni mocked the reliance on it. While moe might be a draw to watch Lucky Star, it certainly doesn’t seem to be the important part of the series (1/24 again, so who knows?). To me, it’s what they do that matters, and for the moment our main foursome are living life, which is what I think we’ve all experienced at some point or another. 
And I think for better or for worse, episode one has taught us to not focus on hype so much. :3
Edit: On a side note, this is awesome:
TheBigN
nomadotto
dm00
Yesterday’s pizza could have had the best toppings, and today’s may not be to your liking, but it’s still a goddamn pizza.
Maybe people should stop whining about the toppings and order from a new place.
So, what do you think about the Lucky Channel? Although a humorous segment on its own, it seemed not attached to the main show, and its style of comedy was very different. It was done before, with Rocky and Bullwinkle for one, but it seemed to me like it wasn’t working here.
Yes, another rational opinion for once. ‘ray.
I loved the Jekyll/Hyde personality of what’s-her-name in Lucky Channel, thought it was a pretty nice touch since I didn’t expect her to go berserk halfway. Though it’s going to get old if the same thing happens week after week, but I might be wrong.
ROFL at the MJ Lucky Star xD
Lucky Channel seemed random when it started, but if it remains funny while not relying on the same tactic over and over again, it should work well. :3
You seem to have wrote pretty much what I did, but in a less confusing manner. I don’t really find Lucky Star funny beyond smirking, but I find it a great slice of life show.
I’m a late joiner as well. I was somewhat disappointed with this seasons releases but I found that this series was quite good. I mean everyone likes the op but even without the crazy op the series is quite enjoyable. Like the guy before me mentioned its a great “slice of life” as much of the comedy featured is something we can relate to.
The wave of disappointment on Lucky Star was so obvious it was going to happen it was practically blinding, when all you had to go by was a popular animation company and the main char going muuu~ in the ad, the expectation of hijinks and big laughs was so freaking high, that the subtle comedy in Lucky Star was unappreciated and people didn’t really get it. That’s why it’s never good to jump on the bandwagon blindly.
TokiDoki: That’s what I think it’s about. It’s less of the “lol we’ve had these conversations/better one before”, but more of a “I can so see myself doing this with my friends” sort of thing. It’s chilling. Hanging out. It doesn’t have to be more than that, or live up to our standards as to what it should be.
LazyMcChan: I agree that it’s never good to bandwagon without paying attention or without assuming that it’s going to live up to (even unfounded) expecations. Things never turn out the way you want, and there will still be some detractors regardless of how “good” a show is. Take Haruhi for example.