Ask John: Is Lucky Star More Popular Than Suzumiya Haruhi?

Question:
My roomate recently told me that Lucky Star was a lot more popular in Japan then The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya was. Is this true? If it is, do you think that it means that they might later on down the road make a season 2 to Lucky Star?

Answer:
Comparing similar levels of popularity is always difficult, especially in the case of a foreigner trying to gauge popularity in a foreign country. My first instinct was to think that the popularity of Suzumiya Haruhi in 2006 and Lucky Star the following year were even in the Japanese fan community. However, on second thought I realized that there may be some validity to the observation that Lucky Star surpassed Suzumiya Haruhi in popularity. The Suzumiya Haruhi anime was a break-out smash hit. It built its fanbase largely from nothing, as many of its viewers may not have been familiar with the original novels. However, by 2007 Kyoto Animation’s otaku homage anime was well known and the massive existing fanbase of Suzumiya Haruhi was eagerly anticipating KyoAni’s follow-up production. Furthermore, Lucky Star had ten episodes more than Suzumiya Haruhi, meaning that Lucky Star literally had more time to nurture its fan following. Haruhiism may be fondly remembered for its spontaneous group street dancing in Akihabara; Lucky Star gave fans the slogan “Konata is my wife.” Both generated massive amounts of fan created doujinshi, music videos, original animation, and parodies. Both franchises spawned games, toys, and other collectibles. Suzumiya Haruhi became an internationally recognized anime character with unofficial sightings in Palestine and China. Lucky Star’s Konata and Kagami became frequently used unofficial sales pitch girls in otaku stores throughout Akihabara. Ultimately, the 2006 Suzumiya Haruhi anime will probably become referenced as the more historically significant of the two programs because it appeared first. Lucky Star remains popular, but its final anime installment, the OVA, was underwhelming and the most recent collected volume of Lucky Star manga is now over a year old.

Despite waning fervor over Lucky Star, a second TV anime series has to be deemed a possibility. Typically new installments in anime franchises appear within roughly a year of the previous release. For example, the Lucky Star OVA went on sale slightly over a year after the broadcast of the final TV episode. With the high number and turn-over of anime titles in Japan, all but hardcore viewers tend to forget about and lose interest in titles after about a year. So sequels have to strike while the iron is still hot. However, Kyoto Animation has proven exception to that rule by launching a new Suzumiya Haruhi broadcast three years after the first series. Kyoto Animation also successfully revived its Munto anime franchise after nearly four years of dormancy. Furthermore, there’s still a wealth of Lucky Star material to mine. I don’t know exactly how much of Kagami Yoshimizu’s Lucky Star manga was adapted by KyoAni’s animation, but I am certain that several of the six (so far) collected manga volumes have not been represented in the anime. Furthermore, a significant percentage of the content in the Lucky Star anime was original material developed by Kyoto Animation. Since there’s still manga unadapted, and KyoAni has proven itself able to seamlessly integrate its own original contributions to the story, there’s definitely still source material for further adaptation. Considering Kyoto Animation’s penchant for reviving older titles (which includes remaking Kanon four years after its first adaptation), the presence of additional Lucky Star material to be adapted, and the fact that the Lucky Star OVA is only about a year old, the Lucky Star anime franchise has to be considered still viable for a potential revival. However, if a revival occurs, it may be some time off because Kyoto Animation has already announced that its next production will be a second season of the K-On television series.