The animation/art is very lazy and the lines are jagged. Kyoto Animation has up to date animation but "Lucky Star" looked like there wasn't effort put in. The people in the background are usually grey keyholes, and sometimes have faces but aren't animated. The characters are, yes, in high school despite looking like they are eight. The palette is extremely pastel while the colours almost blend together. The only time the animation was astounding was in snippets of video games/manga/anime etc..
The characters are cliche and aren't developed. There's the perfectionist who gets high marks and is very Type A. There is the shy, clumsy girl who likes to cook. There is the glasses girl who is well mannered. And, the lazy girl who plays video games doesn't put effort into homework but gets above average marks. Stereotypical characters. The design on three of them are cute, but if one is looking for cute characters in anime he or she should watch anything by CLAMP (Card Captor Sakura, Chobits) or the queen of kawaii, Koge Donbo. (Di Gi Charat, Pita Ten) There needs to be substance to cute characters and CLAMP and Koge Donbo proves it.
The story, as mentioned before, is very plotless. Napolean Dynamite may have proven stories without a plot can be entertaining, but Lucky Star doesn't prove that theory. The first episode the characters are taking about how to eat food. First episodes usually aren't the greatest in the series, but when the writers start off with a boring story one can get a clear picture of how the lack of plot is present in this anime. Also, first episodes are meant to encourage viewers to keep watching not bore them. Usually scenes to shows are no more than two minutes to keep things moving, but "Lucky Star" is at a snail's pace. It's episodic (each episode is different and not chronologically) which suited the show and added to Anime since most is thematic. (Each episode is connected) and There are some jokes thrown in here and there as well as cameos to other anime/video games, but it doesn't save the storyline.
The random dancing in the opening is the only thing good about this anime. If the show were to be animated well the random dance would have been more enjoyable. The opening music killed the amusing random dancing. It sounded more like owl's hooting a rap but inhaled too much helium. Though, there is a middle part (the only real singing) that is interesting.
The actors suited their roles and fit their personalities. They even hired the same actress who did Haruhi in The Melconcholy of Haruhi Suzumiya as one of the characters, which fit the Haruhi cameo. They had high pitched cartoony voices for the appropriate roles which suited the show.
You must count your lucky stars while watching this anime in order to enjoy this anime. It's slice of life to the point where it's boring and leads nowhere. Watch the second episode (as mentioned the first is a disaster) to see if it amusing, which it isn’t. Lucky Star doesn't offer anything to the table and can be easily passed to save one minutes of being wasted watching this anime. It may have gotten better but who wants to waste 10 episodes to get to the good stuff?
