Lucky Star (manga)

] Furthermore, "the majority of the stores [in Akihabara] with special displays for "Lucky Star" have run out." Anime News Network has noted that the anime is "extremely otaku-centric". [cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/lucky-star/dvd-1|title="Lucky Star" DVD 1|publisher=Anime News Network|accessdate=2008-05-19]

The popularity of "Lucky Star" also brought many of its fans to the real life settings of the anime, beginning from April 2007.citeweb|url=http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20070725-00000925-san-soci|title="Lucky Star" otaku invade the oldest shrine in Kantō. The locals: It's a problem of security.|publisher=Sankei Shimbun|date=July 25 2007|accessdate=2007-07-31|language=Japanese] The August issue of the "Newtype" magazine ran a feature on the various locales which the anime is based on,citeweb|url=http://www.fnn-news.com/headlines/CONN00115143.html|title=Anime "Lucky Star" fans flock to the Washinomiya Shrine in Saitama. The characters even show up on prayer plaques|publisher=Fuji News Network|date=July 27 2007|accessdate=2007-07-31|language=Japanese] including Konata's home in Satte, Saitama, Tsukasa and Kagami's home in Washimiya, Saitama, and the school in Kasukabe, Saitama. The magazine also included directions on how to reach these places from the otaku hotspot Akihabara, which resulted in massive "pilgrimages" to these areas. The most widely reported consequence of this is in the Washinomiya Shrine of Washimiya, where the Hiiragi sisters work as miko in the anime. Various Japanese news media reported that the shrine became a place teeming with photographers trying to replicate scenes from the anime, cosplayers wandering around, and prayer plaques ridden with anime drawings and strange prayers like "Konata is my wife".citeweb|url=http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200709180058.html|title=Fans flock to real-life home of anime hero|publisher=Asahi Shimbun|date=September 18 2007|accessdate=2007-09-24] The locals were initially divided on the situation, with some suggesting that it is good for the shrine to have so many worshippers, and some being concerned about the town's security. This was satirized in the twenty-first episode of the anime. Despite the negative reaction by some of the locals, the Washinomiya Shrine hosted a "Lucky Star" event in December 2007, featuring special guests including the author Kagami Yoshimizu, and the voice actors Hiromi Konno, Emiri Katō, Kaori Fukuhara, and Minoru Shiraishi. The event attracted 3500 fans.citeweb|url=http://mainichi.jp/enta/mantan/graph/anime/20071202_02/|title="Lucky Star": Washinomiya Shrine attracts 3500 fans with "official visits"|publisher=Mainichi Shimbun|date=December 2 2007|accessdate=2007-12-02|language=Japanese] Subsequently, the Hiiragi family have been registered as official residents of Washimiya because of the anime's wild popularity. Other fictional characters who share this honor in Saitama are Astro Boy of Niza and "Crayon Shin-chan"'s family of Kasukabe.citeweb|url=http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/e-japan/saitama/news/20080229-OYT8T00869.htm|title="The family in Lucky Star becomes residents of Washimiya"|publisher=Yomiuri Shimbun|date=February 29 2008|accessdate=2008-03-01|language=Japanese] As of July 30 2008, sales of "Lucky Star" food and goods brought the town of Washimiya 42 million yen (about US$390,000) in income, described by "The Wall Street Journal" as a source of relief to the local economy reeling from Japan's economic slump in the past decade.citeweb|url= http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121737740486095275.html|title=Popular Cartoon Series Makes Japanese Shrine a Magnet for Fans| publisher=Wall Street Journal|date=2008-07-30|accessdate=2008-08-03]

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.lucky-ch.com/ "Lucky Star" official website] ja icon
** [http://www.lucky-ch.com/info/info_ova080728.html "Lucky Star" OVA official website] ja icon
* [http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~LS-DB/index.html "Lucky Star" DataBase] ja icon
* [http://www.kadokawa.co.jp/game/game/rakisuta/index01.html Kadokawa's website for the video games] ja icon
* [http://www.vridge.co.jp/homepage/contents/products/lucky_ps2/ "Lucky Star" PS2 visual novel website] ja icon
* [http://lucky-star.bandai-ent.com/ Official English anime website]
*ann anime|id=7222|title=Lucky Star