It’s a return to the whimsical side of things in the second to last episode of Lucky Star.

As touched as I was by the previous episode, it was refreshing and quite cathartic to see the gang back to their typical everyday humorous antics.

Haha, Kagami got totally pwned by Konata’s kanji intellisense. Konata’s probably never typed a school paper or a respectable e-mail on that thing in her whole life.

Whoa, double :3 :3

I hadn’t really thought about this until recently…but somehow I have a really hard time accepting the fact that Yui-neesan is supposed to be a cop. She really doesn’t fit the stereotype at all.

They don’t understand us!

Ahh yes, and the otaku band together!

Ahh, this has happened to me on many, many occasions. Sometimes in conversations you just can’t suppress the urge to make some TV or anime reference. Suffice to say, I’ve received many a perplexed stare from people by randomly saying, “Just as planned!” or something like that in the middle of an otherwise coherent conversation.

Sore da!

On the other hand, in the right company those references can come in really handy to quickly and succinctly sum something up that would have otherwise required a lengthy explanation.

I am totally guilty of this. While I do listen to a pretty wide variety of j-pop artists, a disproportional amount of my music library is composed of anisongs. Of course, I also have a lot of stuff by artists who almost exclusively write anime music, mostly Masuda Toshio, Kajiura Yuki, and Katsutoshi Kitagawa.

Poor Miyuki! I never tried xylitol gum while in Japan; I am however, an immense fan of hi-chew candy, though I don’t believe they bestow any nutritional benefits other than being tasty. I’m also a huge fan of the various sports drinks like Pocari Sweat and Aquarius.

Hiyori’s mortified expression here was pretty hilarious. Though if I had created yuri-themed doujinshi concerning my friends, I don’t think I’d exactly be swelling up with pride. That’s a whole new kind of awkward right there.

I love that they gave Misao and Patty more airtime with this episode; it just saddens me that the series is coming to a close, because it feels like there’s so much potential with developing some of the side characters.

Patty’s comments concerning the otaku being the pride of Japan’s culture had me in stitches. I do have to wonder what “moe” smells like. After spending some time in Akihabara I imagine it smells something like a combination between plastic wrap, maid cafes, and cigarette smoke.

Wouldn’t we all, Patty, wouldn’t we all.

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Seriously. Who wouldn’t want a maid, regardless of their housekeeping abilities, or lack thereof?

I don’t even need to say anything here; the pictures speak for themselves. This segment was definitely the highlight of the episode for me.

This is so true! It’s one of the classic polite brush-offs used by Japanese people when they aren’t really interested, along with “Kangaete okimasu” (literally the polite form for “I’ll think about it.”, also happens to be the polite form for “No.”).

My preferred line in this type of situation is, “It’s written down in my day planner.” The brilliance in this deft ploy is that I don’t actually own a day planner. I’m not even precisely sure what one looks like. However, it sounds sincere enough and fools the ignorant; sometimes I even pretend to write things down but in all reality I’m just scribbling with a pensive expression on my face…oh yeah, I take my laziness seriously.

A genki Kona-chan is definitely fine too.

Haha, twintails…so hard…to resist…the temptation…

Wow, they brought in a twist on the old “kusai” joke for the end of the series! Just when I was worried that it was starting to get old. Sasuga KyoAni!

I loved the rush to protect Yukata’s innocence; it’s like a similar experience I had while making a Pulp Fiction reference in a room full of kindergarteners. Yeah, I probably need therapy…

And you can’t help but chuckle at the D< expressions on Konata and Yui-neesan’s faces. Interestingly, for some reason Patty sure looks like she’s having fun.

Oh no! Remember kids, always back up those posts before you hit the publish button! You never know when the server gremlins will capriciously decide to eat your article instead of posting it.

;_;

Poor Kuroi-sensei. They really know how to hit her where it hurts. What’s next, her hard drive catches fire at the end of episode 24?

Lucky channel was such utter win! The furious wrath of Gotouza-sama brings the show back together. Brilliant.

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Finally Gotouza-sama makes her big Lucky Star debut, and what a debut it was. As the last major Haruhi cast member who hadn’t gotten a cameo, I was beginning to wonder where they were planning to squeeze her in.

By the way, I can’t help but admire this shot. The raked angle, the lighting, and the awesome low perspective are all just great.

After smacking some sense into Shiraishi and Akira, she gloriously rides off into the sunset.

I remember how at Anime Expo Gotou talked about her love for motorcycle riding, and a number of American fans who only knew her as “Mikuru’s voice actress” laughed because they thought she was joking.

Now they know better. Yuko Goto is serious business.