Shiraishi Minoru just gained like 100 GAR points for his jaw-dropping performance in this episode’s Lucky Channel.

And it’s not just Shiraishi that’s back in top form. Lucky Star 21 more than makes up for all the slow episodes recently with humor that nearly had me literally rolling on the floor laughing.

Furthermore, we get some great field trips and summertime glee this week on Lucky Star. If you’ve ever been to Kyoto then you’ll surely appreciate this episode.

The gang visits Kiyomizu-dera and Kinkaku-ji this time around. When I last visited Japan, both those places were utterly swarmed with school kids. In fact, in early summer before the school summer break starts, at most of the historical sites all you can see is a vast sea of yellow hat wearing grade schoolers, followed by the inevitable flash photography and jubilant peace signs of junior high and high school students.

I still cannot decide whether this was incredibly funny or really disturbing.

Given his interests, one wonders just what manner of embarrassing material he’s got on that computer. Then again…probably better off not asking…

A psychologically traumatized Tsukasa is fine too.

Mr. Izumi: “I still win at life.”

Yet another inexplicably neglected hottie. Why the heck is her husband never around?

“lolwut?”

Ugh, how many times has this happened to me? Like Tsukasa I’ve tried to just go to bed and arise early…that is just wanton foolishness. Why would you ever leave the land of slumber to do something tedious and bothersome like homework? The seduction of REM is too immense!

I’ll also completely forget that I actively responded to someone’s question while I was supposedly “awake.” But then, many people have this problem. I have a friend who once threw his alarm clock violently against the wall and then went back to sleep, only to wake up later and wonder why it was in a million pieces all over the floor.

Sleep gets what sleep wants.

Hey, I have a great idea for a blog post!

Err…what was it again? Oh well, I’ll just get one of my flunkies to write something for me instead.

Man, I do this all the time! I cannot count the number of times I’ve had some great idea for a program I’m working on, or more recently, for something on the blog, and by the time I get somewhere where I can write it down it’s gone. The worst is when you’re driving and you think of something, but you just know you’re going to forget by the time you get to wherever you’re going.

Ugh! This happens to me constantly, too. I do it with things that are arguably more important such as assignment due dates, rent notices, phone numbers, medical allergies, etc. But those don’t frustrate me nearly as much as when I think of something hilarious and then forget to write it down.

Why it’s Kyoto Station! One of the coolest buildings in Kyoto, and considering the thousands of famous temples and shrines in Kyoto that’s really saying something. The architecture in this city is just amazing, and the station is no exception. Gargantuan staircases, massive skylights, even a garden at the top floor. It’s really an interesting place. They have some good restaurants on the upper floors as well.

deer liek loli

Oh man, this is exactly what I talking about when I wrote about how aggressive the deer at Miyajima were!

I’ve never hung around the petting zoo park at Nara, but I hear that the deer there are much the same.

Never leave home without it.

DS Lite…Konata wins so much.

OK, I admit it. I laughed at these terrible jokes. Especially the “zannen-zaka” one.

But then, I’m a sucker for oyaji gyagu (literally, “old man jokes”, mainly consisting of awful puns). When you study another language, you’re aware of the silimarities between different words and phrases even more so than native speakers, since you’re trying to remember everything and keep track of which word means what. I like learning puns like this because it helps mentally clarify similar sound but different meaning words.

Puns are also handy because they’re easy jokes to remember, yet as a gaijin you can get tremedous mileage out of them. If a Japanese person told a joke like that, the reaction would much like the screenshot above. If a gaijin tells the same joke, however, people crack up because they don’t expect that kind of thing from a non-native speaker.

One of my favorites, because I often get asked the classic “Hey can you eat nattou?” question, is to respond, “Nattou no aji wa chotto…nattoku shinai ne.” (I can’t deal with the flavor of nattou.)

There’s almost always a moment of stunned silence, and then usually everyone gets a good laugh out of it. It’s a nice way to break the ice in an awkward situation.

As expected of KyoAni, their representation of Kiyomizu looks pretty much exactly as it does in real life. Of course, since this is their home turf it would be more surprising if it wasn’t accurate.

One of the most incredible things about Kiyomizu-dera is the fact that throughout the whole structure there isn’t a single nail! Everything is pieced together through an intricate interlacing tapestry of wood. Quite impressive.

“Sasuga ni kore wa wakannai na.”

So can Konata actually tell the omikuji apart or did she just get lucky?

Also, how come we never get to see Tsukasa’s love fortune? What does this mean? OH SHI-!

“Kagami! Wasuremono! Wasuremono!”

Oh man, yet another subject I just blogged about. I was in Kyoto a couple months ago and didn’t see any Lucky Star stuff on the ema, but then, I wouldn’t put it past the otaku who don’t want to make a pilgrimmage all the way to Washinomiya to to try something like that.

What’s this? Somebody left Kagami a note?

OH SHI-!!!

And millions of otaku across the world hold their collective breaths and hope that it’s not what it looks like.

LOL @ Tsukasa actually saying “Kasha!” out loud, as well as her 0_0 expression.

I’ve heard that scholars still debate over whether Yoshimasa just ran out of money, or whether he just never intended to coat it with silver to begin with.

Sadly, I asked myself the exact same thing the first time I visited Kyoto.

I certainly wouldn’t mind checking out the Temple of the Ruby Pavilion, if there was one.

Yet another Washinomiya reference.

And the moment of truth! Millions of otaku across the world clutch their dakimakura to their chests and cross their fingers!

Never mind, false alarm…

Millions of otaku across the world take a huge collective sigh of relief, the force of which will probably spawn another huge hurricane off the Gulf of Mexico, and then try to decide whether they want to celebrate or hunt down that guy and punch him in the nose.

A pissed Kagamin is fine too.

This caption sponsored by Kurogane.

Forget the Haruhi adverts! KyoAni decides to cut out the middleman and just pimp themselves directly.

Once again I have to ask…why the hell is she still single?

Server maintenance? OH SHI-!

NOO! I hate when this happens too! I haven’t played any MMOs in a couple years, but back when I was into FFXI there was nothing more aggravating than updates and server downtime.

;_;

Poor Kuroi-sensei…that extra sniffle just got me, you really do feel awful for her.

All right, and now for the part you’ve all been waiting for…

BAN-KAI!!

Forget show biz, Shiraishi should become the new CEO of Microsoft. He’d fit right in.

See? He’s even got Ballmer’s monkey dance down.

Holy Moses on a flaming stick, this week’s Lucky Channel had me in absolute stitches. Just when I was getting bored with endless Shiraishi mock show tunes, he returns from his journey in the wilderness and completely dominates everyone and everything. Even Akira-sama is terrified!

Oh yes, Lucky Channel is definitely back.

The Shiraishi EDs have been getting pretty tired lately. Fortunately, this one was salvaged pretty well by the bluescreen footage, and of course by Kaorin.

Best moment - Kaori hammering him right him the teeth.