Miyakawa-ke no Kuufuku

Miyakawa-ke no Kuufuku is a nice little side-story for Lucky Star fans. It's not the season two that many have been hoping for—though, the OP would suggest otherwise—but there's no reason you wouldn't enjoy it if you enjoyed Lucky Star.

Despite not still being produced by KyoAni, Miyakawa-ke retains the overall feel of Lucky Star, most likely due to the number of returning staff members: Yamamoto Yutaka is the director, having previously directed the first four episodes of Lucky Star, of which he did a fine job, episode one's infamous first half notwithstanding. Rest assured, you won't be sitting through five minutes of meandering food discussions ... here. The visuals, too, are on point, featuring the light but vibrant color palette you've come to expect from the franchise, and the same kinds of adorable character designs that are consistently well drawn.

However, even with the shorter episode lengths, this show tends to follow a slower pace. While Lucky Star was more reliant on nonstop punchline set-ups, Miyakawa-ke instead uses more focused linear plot structures. That's not to say there aren't any punchlines at all, but each episode typically deals with a single scenario or idea for its whole duration, rather than being comprised of disconnected instances.

Oddly enough, the Miyakawa sisters are the only two returning characters who ended up being portrayed by new seiyuu for this series; you might have forgotten that they did actually have two brief appearances in Lucky Star, though their roles were so small that it hardly matters. Hikage's new seiyuu, in particular, is an unusual one, this being her first and only role. Her non-anime-sounding voice gives Hikage a unique charm, so it's a shame that she hasn't done any more voice work since.

Hikage is also by far the more likable of the two sisters. She's a lot more perceptive and cynical than your typical nine-year-old, no doubt a result of the harsh state of poverty that she lives in. Miyuk-...er, I mean, Hinata, on the other hand, is mainly there to create problems for her little sister—these problems being the main sources for the show's gags. Her incompetence may get frustrating, as she continues to make the same selfish decisions over and over throughout the whole show, only redeeming herself on occasion. But, to be fair, the entire premise banks on her acting in this way. Hikage wouldn't be so endearing if she didn't have to constantly struggle due to her older sister's lack of self control and bad spending habits.

You'll find that the premise of Miyakawa-ke is very simple—perhaps too simple. As it is, there's not a whole lot of variety to the series. With that in mind, the show's length really works to its advantage—any longer and the creators might have run out of new ways to tell the same jokes.

Maybe that's why the ending is so satisfying, despite the fact that not all of the source material could be covered. It stops before getting old, and ends things on a pretty good note. If Lucky Star left you wanting more, you owe it to yourself to give this small series a shot; certain cameos will probably make you smile. However, if you're not amused by the first episode, you probably shouldn't bother to continue.

I just read all other reviews. Most reviews were saying that they were disappointed and blah blah like being a lucky star spin off or something like it.... Each episode were only of 4 minutes and they must've expect something big...

Well, In my view I like this anime. Pretty funfull to watch. I liked the ending song and the story too.

Very good to watch just 4 minutes per episode and you wont regret watching it either....

I personally loved this anime; I cannot understand why some reviewers gave it souch a low score, but I will not discuss about taste in anime...; I could wax lyrical about it, but since each episode lasts less than 5 minutes it is a simpler thing to do to watch it than to read all I could write about it [and more enjoyable, too!]. I watched Lucky Star before, but enjoyed this anime on its own. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes real settings [not those unrealistic well-off situations where the conversation between the characters is about how much they will expend, rather ... than how much they CAN expend and on what to do it!]. Enough said! For the record: I signed on to MAL solely to leave my support for this anime and its style/genre [plus the ED theme!].

Miyakawa-ke no Kuufuku is a spin-off of the original Lucky Star series, which was a 4-koma style manga, which was wonderfully turned into a slice of life comedy revolving around a certain friend group.
Lucky Star is one of the most enjoyable animes I've watched. It's funny, there's no serious plot, and it has a great replay value. The best thing about it was how recyclable it was. Take any situation, any every day idea, and give it to these girls. Miyakawa-ke no Kuufuku does the same thing, except with Hikage and Hinata Miyakawa, two sisters living in poverty dreaming of meat and manga.
While not as ... entertaining as the origin series itself, Miyakawa-ke no Kuufuku offers about 30 minutes of living with the Miyakawa family. If you enjoyed the original series, give this one a try.

Spoiler-free.

I thought Lucky Star is underrated until I watched this.

Miyakawa-ke no Kuufuku is a spin-off of the great Lucky Star. Now, it's time to review it in an animated form.

The spin-off follows the Miyakawa sisters: Hinata, the elder one & otaku, and Hikage, the elementary student. Because Hinata wastes much money on the weeb shit of hers, the Miyakawas are poor. That's the only joke. Or is it?

The most common misconception about Miyakawa-ke is that there is only one joke. Well, it's not even a comedy in the first place (check genres), but okay. In reality, the anime often transforms 'the only joke' ... and does experiments with humour, which I find quite imaginative. It wouldn't have worked if Miyakawa-ke was full-length, however, every episode is about 5 minutes in total.

The story is non-existent, as expected, and that's not bad at all. Lucky Star is relaxing for that reason. But Miyakawa-ke is more dynamic and fast-paced—this is no surprise because it's a five-minute anime. Then why 2 for a story, you ask? I noticed the progression.

By 'progression', I meant characters. In the earlier episodes, Hinata tends to waste her money solely on otaku things, which makes her mildly unlikeable. However, as the series progresses, she really starts caring for Hikage's happiness, resulting in heartwarming moments of her acting as if she was the mother in the Miyakawa family. Speaking of Hikage, yes, she is the *main* main heroine, at least it feels that way. She is mature, which is highly realistic for a child raised in a poor family but reveals her childish identity in some actions.

The side characters are well-developed for a short anime.

The visuals are great, pure moe attitude. OP is surprisingly better than Lucky Star's one and is catchy. ED is ironically sad and fun in its own way, it's good. The voice acting is also gorgeous for a moe anime.

To sum up, this anime is good. It's average in the beginning and has its own flaws, compared to Lucky Star, but improves as the episodes go. It's refreshing and cute, sometimes actually sad, a few times unlikable, yet is enjoyable overall.

Watching this, don't expect another Lucky Star. Yes, the art style is the same, however, the topics in humour and dialogues are different. If you still want another Lucky Star, no wonder you'll end up disappointed. Miyakawa-ke no Kuufuku is neither a sequel nor a side story, it's a spin-off.

Thank you for reading my review.

I adore it! Obviously our perspectives are probably different.
But, I don't think some people understand or appreciate how great/fun this short show is! Well, I don't even understand it myself very well... Yet, this is what I think. Like the lyrics of the Ending song "we are not miserable - we are just poor"... Well myself and this review it is "I can't logically tell you why I give this show a 8/10 - but I can simply FEEL it to be a good show"!

The show is 8/10 because it does well in what it presents. Personally I enjoyed it a lot, so ... I think it is a 9/10 but that is the extreme bias of my review showing. For another person it may be a 7/10 or a 6/10, but I refuse to admit this show is anywhere at or below a 3/10...unless you say it's too short.

9 for story not because it has a great, complex, thrilling, etc. plot but because it is simple and keeps to itself all the way through. It is a slice of life of two sisters, a 4th grader and an older sister. The 4th grader is too concerned about the finances of their small impoverished family because the older sister is an otaku who can't control their spending well. Contrary to some people, I don't think the older sister is terrible, her actions are unnecessarily expensive but it is true that both sisters love each other very much, and to me that makes this show heartwarming. In my opinion, a lot of animes which are said to be "wholesome" are not very wholesome but rather cute or something that is a little superficial or degrading. However, Miyakawa-ke no Kuufuku is truly a wholesome anime! The main character, the little sister, is great not only because she is a moe cute anime girl but also because she is actually smart for her age and attempts to be responsible for the sake of her family's lifestyle. Since the show is a slice of life, she reminds me of some kids who could or already do exist like her. She is a realistically depicted person (as far as anime goes) because they are a human, she may be an intelligent child but she is also still a child.

8 for Art because I like lucky star's art style. Some scenes are slightly too stale (as in the frame stays the same while the audio keeps on playing) for a little too long. But other parts are well enough animated and are consistent with the show. I like the designs of the characters too.
7 for Sound. I chose 7 arbitrarily since I guess if I was more objective (whatever that could entail to) then both art and sound would be 5 or a 6. But since I think both the art and sound compliment each other well and fit into the story of the anime and since it is a Lucky Star spinoff, I think the sound is A-o'Kay! Anyways, the biggest complaint from other views is probably related to the voices from the main cast's voice actresses. As far as I can tell, those two people have mostly only voice acted for this show. I don't know much else...but what I do know is that I actually like these voices. They are probably not great in industry standards, but since I don't understand Japanese very well and I prefer more unique voice performances, I think the two VA's did a good job. I think both the VA's also did a good job at capturing the characters of the show, perhaps other VA's could have done a better job but that better job would've been more generic I bet. So, the main cast's voices actually suit their characters nicely as they sound a little more realistic yet cartoony and charming enough for a lighthearted show with moments of some sadness, mainly from the light-stomachs of the sisters.

I gave 8 to characters and 9 to enjoyment. 10 I reserve for master-pieces. Like many reviewers or people in general, I haven't bothered checking up if there are 'proper' ways to review these shows. So, I give a 9 for my personal enjoyment since I think that's what mostly matters. To be more fair, the show I believe deserves an overall score of 8. For what it is, it accomplishes at depicting it's story well.

Hikage and Hinata are those two girls you saw a literal few times in Lucky Star when they were trying to get into the school festival (their longest scene) and when Hikage is asking Hinata when she is done with work. Then the original director of Lucky Star thought it'd be neat for them to get their own spin-off. The conception of this feels exactly like how Lucky Star would handle a spin-off. They chose characters you barely saw in the entire series. Let's look at it.

Hikage is always hungry, Hinata is a selfish douche- I mean, she always buys stuff for herself...no, yeah, I ... was right, she's a selfish douche. She doesn't care at all about her little sister starving most of the time and only buys things for herself. Why parental services haven't moved Hikage into a home where she isn't malnourished is beyond me. But, that's the whole dynamic. And everything that happens in-between will, more often than not, bring up Hikage's hunger. But, besides that, the rest of what you will find here isn't too repetitive and is pretty entertaining, given its short runtime. If it were a longer series, the writing would get stale pretty quickly. But, they knew what they were working with.

The voice acting is pretty solid. If you enjoyed the first four episodes of Lucky Star, you get a nice return to formula with Miyakawa-ke no Kuufuku since the original director helped with all of the shorts here. Pacing is pretty good, for the standard it takes heed from. Scenes will abruptly jump sometimes, as you would expect, but it's not a bad thing if you enjoyed Lucky Star, as it's about the same amount of jumping. Soundtrack is pretty nice to listen to. The original characters introduced are pretty welcoming, almost making the spin-off feel like its own anime altogether that simply shares the same universe as Lucky Star. What I consider a spin-off is when at least one primary character is involved in it. But, spin-offs can also be, well, spun off of a minor character as well. Or, hell, even characters you only saw once in the entirety of Lucky Star.

The same voice actors, who did these very minor characters, returned for this spin-off. The dedication here is just fantastic and is easily the biggest positive this anime gets, alongside the majority of the staff being from Lucky Star. Really, only Kyoto Animation is absent, but due to the simplicity of the art style, Ordet and Encourage Films did a stellar job of copying it. It was easy enough with the same art director as well. If somebody told you Kyoto Animation also came back, you wouldn't feel weird if you forgot it wasn't done by them.

Overall, take this one lightly. It's a spin-off done with limited resources, but amazingly, the majority of the Lucky Star crew came back for it besides Kyoto Animation, who are understandably busy with loads of anime that require loads more time to produce. And their absence isn't detrimental to the quality of Miyakawa-ke no Kuufuku at all. What you have here is a nice treat for hardcore Lucky Star fans that is short enough where you really shouldn't scoff it if you enjoyed Lucky Star a lot. The repetitive jokes and scenery will get a bit tiresome, but the new soundtrack and characters will compensate for that.

If you're not expecting a full-fledged series, you have something funny here. I'd love to see it continue, simply because a single half-hour isn't enough for it with the effort it received. I could say the same about Lucky Star, but that anime finished just fine and has a good amount of episodes, way more than any other anime ever gets these days. Twelve is about the maximum due to how much time is spent on the animation, so for this anime to even get a half-hour with its resources is astounding.

Miyakawa-ke no Kuufuku (2013)

For an addition to the Lucky Star series it is not bad but also not great. It does give a good opposite lifestyle of the Otaku from a less wealthy lifestyle without the freedom that the others have in the series.

It almost gives off a feel sorry for them vibe but with the Otaku sister being the reason the cause of the impoverished lifestyle that is difficult. It is however funny when it wants to be and a bit depressing when it needs to be.

Ultimately, it uses the same art as Lucky Stars main series which is actually really great. The ... characters do develop quite well considering the short episodes.

It is an enjoyable show but not on the level of the main series. The ED song is enjoyable with its developments also.

Worth a watch but a second season of Lucky Stars would have been better.

Don't go into this anime expecting much, its not Season 2 Lucky Star, if you do you are going to be disappointed. The Miyakawa Family's Hunger should be seen more as supplementary material to watch after you've completed a few episodes of Lucky Star, and for that I think it works pretty well and provides a nice side story completely disconnected from Lucky Star's main cast. The show isn't revolutionary and doesn't hold a candle to Lucky Star, however is a sweet and slightly sad look into two side characters who are pretty forgettable.

What I'm trying to get across is that if you're expecting something ... in the same league as Lucky Star then you'll be disappointed and not give it a fair shot, don't be led on by the score it's much more enjoyable than it's score may suggest.