Friday, June 08, 2007

Newtype in Lucky Star, and Vice Versa

In Lucky Star episode 8, Konata gets her postcard published in the June 2007 issue of Newtype (she says the May issue in the dialogue, but the June issue shows up in the animation). Some people have been wondering what, if anything, appears in the actual magazine. Here it is...

Konata's card is the one showing Akira abusing Shiraishi, if that isn't obvious. The scrawl on the card reads: "Akira-chan, hang in there! yay." Above the card, it says "Are you watching Lucky☆Star?," then prints Konata's message: "Akira-chan, I'm pleased to meet you. You always make Lucky☆Channel so much fun. I'm a huge fan of the always-cheerful Akira-chan☆ I'll be rooting for you from here on, so hang in there, OK!"

The purple caption under the card says: "Saitama Prefecture/Izumi Konata, age 17: We wish you'd be a little bit more considerate of Shiraishi-kun."

To the left of the card, the commentary reads: "Lucky☆Channel, the same within the TV program Lucky☆Star or on the radio. Your message of support for that super-idol with the powerful personality, Kogami Akira-san, has been received."

I suppose there's an aspect of gratuitous corporate self-promotion to having a Lucky Star character submit Lucky Channel fan mail to Newtype magazine (they're all Kadokawa-Shoten properties), but it's also pretty darn entertaining. The scene in the anime is funny on its own, with Konata joyfully showing off her work, getting depressed when Kagami says that she's amazed they published something like that, then cheering up again when Kagami struggles to put a more positive spin on her comments. The anime never shows what Konata's drawing looks like, and when you run across it in Newtype, it's completely hilarious.