In every group of characters, you’ll have people of different personalities and characteristics in order to create a good balance. In the anime Lucky Star, the character Takara Miyuki not only acts as the sweet and sincere one of the group, she’s also the very intelligent and beautiful one. That being said, I’d like to introduce one of the many “favorite” characters I have, Takara Miyuki.
Miyuki’s Basic Information
Age: 17
Birthday: October 25
Blood type: O
Height: 166 cm (5′ 5″)
Miyuki is a student at Ryoo Gakuen High School where she’s classmates with her friends Konata and Tsukasa. She’s very polite and well-mannered and is probably the smartest in her class. Her classmates usually rely on her for notes and help with class work. Konata even goes as far as to ask her any random question she may have. While Miyuki’s intelligence is definitely one of her good points, she sometimes does not take into consideration of other people’s interests. An example of this is during the school festival where she proposed to do a study on the history and construction of chest-drawers made from Empress Wood as the class project. Although the anime does not show this, no one in the class probably thought this was a good idea. Even Miyuki’s mother made fun of the idea.
While Miyuki may be smart, kind, polite, well-mannered, beautiful, etc, etc, etc, she’s not without her “flaws”. Miyuki tends to be a bit clumsy and forgetful. It’s not unnatural for her to accidentally turn off the lights when leaving a room when people are still inside or missing her bus stop while reading a book. She also has a terrible fear of the dentist. However, despite these facts being labeled as “flaws”, some people consider her clumsiness cute or attractive.
Miyuki’s Voice Actress
I thought I should dedicate a brief section to Miyuki’s seiyuu, Endou Aya. I think Endou Aya does a very good job in portraying Miyuki’s kind and intelligent personality. Although it may be a stereotypical role, I think there’s a certain charm that comes out through that particular style of speech that suits Miyuki’s character very nicely.
Along which all the other female students of Lucky Star, Miyuki has her own character album which of course is sung by Endou Aya. The two songs in this album are “Moe Yousotte Nan Desu Ka?” and “Tabun Kanari Futsuu no Kyuujitsu”. The first song has the sound of a retro 80’s song which is actually quite catchy. The second song sounds a bit more like a children’s song that grows on you after a while. Both songs in the album are really enjoyable and full of that cuteness Miyuki has.
My thoughts on this character
One of the main reasons why I consider Miyuki to be one of my favorite characters is because of the fact that she acts very mature for her age. She’s also very humble and never thinks ill of others. I guess you can say that a lot her traits contrast my very own and seeing such a genuine person (in an anime anyways) makes me reflect on my own self.
I sometimes think what it would be like to meet someone like Miyuki in real life and what it would be really like to talk and interact with a person like that. I think it would be interesting to see if there can really be a person with a pretty face and still have a genuine personality which is kind of rare these days.
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22 Comments
Miyuki’s a darling…
…but she’s not loli. o.o
Konata>Tsukasa>Kagami>Kanta>………..Konata’s Dad>Minami’s Dog>Miyuki.
kthx.
Cute doesn’t equal loli, would’ve put her as more of a onee-san type.. Wish she had a bit of an evil side though, like how Konata depicted her in her April Fool prank calls.
Yeah I’m the same with Jeff. Evil Miyuki FTW!
Maybe it’s because she’s always having that innocent looking face that the evil look somehow just leaves a bigger impression
17 is loli still. well barely though.
I like Miyuki too. Wish I could be like her more, sadly I’m a bit too much Tsukasa-mean and Konata-lazy. Meeting someone like her would be more than awesome, I’d claim them as my friend and give them absolutely no choice about the matter.
Not to mention she has pink hair. Fun~
Of all characters, Miyuki. orz
Oh well,I like how she puts her hand on her cheek and goes “o hazukashii nagara”.
@Crisu: I was under the impression that loli referred to girls under the age of consent… which in America is 18.
@l-lawliet: You’re welcome.
@Jet: I do like Miyuki’s “evil” side. I wish they showed more of that.
@Nekonron: It’s always fun to see a contrast of character (especially when it’s from the same character). So, it’s only natural to enjoy seeing an evil version of nice characters.
@Lss: My thoughts exactly.
@Linya: Yeah, Miyuki is definitely not one of the most popular characters (from what I’ve seen) but, I like her anyways. Maybe it’s the fact that she’s not so popular is why I like her so much.
@Nemo_N: Yep! Miyuki ftw!
I’m kind of puzzled by why Miyuki is not more popular. She’s my favourite character in Lucky Star, and she seems like the sort to have legions of fans, but… everyone talks about Konata and Kagami more. I suppose it’s a matter of screentime.
The actual definition of “loli” is technically girls from age 9 to 14, at least as described in the Nabokov book (to be precise, “nymphet”). Generally the term is also used in the younger direction, but almost never in the older direction. Miyuki is definitely not a loli, since not only is she 17, she also has enough development to fall far outside any concept of the term.
Shokkeru: As always these words have multiple meanings :p
For me it means that an older girl looks like a child. So Shana, Nagi, Louise are all lolis. Etna is one as well.
So I wouldn´t say that Miyuki is a loli since she has to much of an “asset” with her breasts. Konata on the other hand is a pure loli and she gives of multiple remarks about how she´s in “demand”…
DKellis: Don´t have any facts, but from my point of view since the show is for otakus Miyuki is cute sure but she falls short from the tsundere Kagami or Konata. It just shows that the internet is stupid :p since it wants not a sweet caring girl who is honest but goes for girls who are less more “natural”(can´t find a good word for it).
lacus…
lacus…
lacus…
@DKellis: Yeah, you would think someone that full of “moe” would be really popular. I think she’s just overshadowed by Konata who shares the interests of the majority of otakus and Kagami who has the characteristics of a tsundere which is really popular these days.
You’re right about the term “loli” referring to girls more around the ages of 9 to 14 or to the lack of “development” in a woman. I thought I was safe assuming that Miyuki would count as a loli due to the fact that she is still under-aged despite her maturity. Of course it looks like I was wrong ^^;
@manga: Yeah when you compare a person like Miyuki to a person like Konata, it’s obvious how much of a difference there is in terms of “development”. I guess I was just fooled by the entire art style of the show.
Perhaps when people watch anime, they’re more inclined to find characters with abnormal personalities more interesting to watch… which in turn makes them more popular. However, when a “normal” character comes along, the contrast between them makes the normal character more insignificant and boring perhaps. That’s just my guess though ^^;
@rollchan: Meer… ^^
Shokkeru: Np with me since you´re right in one sense.
wikipedia is your friend and there under lolita we have what you said. Under 18 years of age and she is a loli. And that is the meaning over in japan if I understood the article correct.
Then when it transfered over here to the west it´s meaning changed to a woman with child like apperance. There are multiple occurings of this happening so it´s easy to get confused.
Miyuki was the big breasted moe girl and I´ve grown tired of them. And with Konata it´s like watchinga female version of myself so :p favorite girl of the four is Kagami.
They don´t look like they are 17 years old, I can completely agree with that.
This is a problem of semantic mutation. Common enough in cases of fandom terms.
The term “loli” is pretty obviously from “lolicon”, aka “lolita complex”, which in turn gets its name from Nabokov’s Lolita. In there, Humbert Humbert refers to “nymphets” who are in the aforementioned 9 to 14 age range, of whom the titular character (well, Dolores) was one at the beginning of the book. That is the “strictest” definition of “loli” I am aware of.
Popular culture being what it is, we now have the term “loli” misused to simply mean “girls under the age of consent”. In my view, this can only be reconciled if one uses it to mean girls who obviously look under the age of consent, rather than someone who may or may not be under that age, regardless of their actual age.
For several examples: take Kyon’s sister from Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, who is pretty clearly below the age of consent, and thus is clearly loli. Then we take, say, Konata from Lucky Star, who certainly looks younger than her age of seventeen, which is one below the age of consent but three above the classic definition of a nymphet. Here, I’d say that she looks loli, but is not loli.
Then we move back to Miyuki, who is definitely developed enough to perhaps pass for eighteen. I mean, I can’t really imagine her becoming more adult-like in the course of one year; perhaps she’ll become even more, shall we say, mature when she reaches her twenties, but right now she does not look young enough to qualify, in my view, as loli.
And so I would argue that Miyuki does not count as a loli. She’s certainly incredibly moe, certainly the most moe of the four main girls (with the possible exception of Tsukasa), and definitely the one with the most moe traits. But she is not loli.
All the above is pretty much the only way I can justify the inexplicable shift in semantics from loli meaning the original “nymphet”, 9 to 14, to the current apparent trend of using the age of consent, which doesn’t really make sense, considering the point of the loli appeal is the youth; increasing the upper age limit to be older is completely contrary to this.
@manga: Thanks for understanding my situation. However, it was a mistake on my part to use the term “loli”. Although, it did start up some good conversation. ^^
And as for Miyuki being just another big breasted moe girl… that’s true but not a lot of them have pink-hair, glasses, brains, and manners all rolled into one package ^^;
@DKellis: Thank you for the informative comment. It was a failure on my part to use the term “loli” so loosely without resorting to reading up on the actual definition. From now on I’ll be sure to use the term correctly.
I didn’t have anything in particular against Miyuki, I found her character to be intelligent, good looking, and endearing. However, it is hard to shine in a show with such an amazing supporting cast that goes with the stellar main group. There were so many unique personalities and strong characters that for me, she sometimes got lost by the wayside. In just about any other show she would have been a star, so she is certainly deserving of dedicated post such as this.
M.T.L Calawain, I agree with your opinion. I have no issues with Miyuki. The problem with her isn’t whether or not she is an interesting character. People might get the impression that she is not in comparasion to the other characters. It would be interesting to see if her popularity would have changed, if she was in a different show. Frankly, she’s surrounded by too many interesting characters but I will always like her.
I think the problem is that the anime focuses too much on Konata and Kagami; and thus it leaves certain characters in the dark as far as definitive moments go… Miyuki and Ayano getting the worse of it; Ayano much more so. I did heard in later volumes of the manga she gets more moments. And what Raises her above a typical Curvy moe is her lady-like manners and intellegence… I like MiWiki’s explainations (Look out Wiki-tan; here comes Yuki-tan). I would be more upset if Konata and Kagami weren’t so good themselves.
The Artstyle is cute, and curve de-empathizing (if drawn in say Haruhi’s style, curves would be much more noticeable); hence the mistake of assuming most of the LS cast are lolis (Konata is stuck in a loli figure true, and the first year class is about to out grow it, save for Yutaka; who’s even more loli-like than Konata, and Patty, who has outgrown it a year or two back). Also note Miyuki often dresses more demure than showy.
And it’s nice to see someone other than me sing her praises (Yes I’m the infamous Miyuki fan StriderTuna from GameFaqs OT board); and while Konata is slightly ahead of Miyuki (She’s just that awesome); I’m more vocal about Miyuki due to all the people there who like to bash her. It was that even, which reignited my fanboy frevor. I’ve found a few other blogs like this; which make glad to see there’s other fans.
That whole evil thing is funny; though one has to wonder if she truly has it in her; though it might tie into her “fabled game-induced personality change” which has yet to be seen by most fans.
Other than her explanations; She does strike me as lady like; which more than makes up for the obvious fact Tsukasa and Yutaka severely out-Moe her. That and I dare say link hair and purple/blue eyes (which her glasses bring out) never looked better. The Sockings are a nice touch as well. Lady Miyuki makes lucky star a learning experience that’s enjoyable.
Sorry for my long post… but I just had to get this off my chest. Bravo, Shokkeru!
StriderTuna, I agree with you. The anime did focus pretty hard on Konata and Kagami which (not surprising) made them stand out a lot. Its obvious to see why they are the two most popular characters on this show. Its also pretty sad to know that Miyuki and Ayano, much more Ayano, didn’t get fully fleshed out as far as charater depth is concerned. Which made they’re lack of screen time, much more with poor Ayano again, look pretty bad. Frankly, I’m hoping for a second season, or some Ovas, so I can get to know more about them. If not, I can also get the manga series instead……… If I can find some translated versions that is, lol.
Miyuki is not loli. I believe it is one of her positive traits as well. She’s the only character who looks 17.
Miyuki is kawaii ^_^
I Love all the picture they’re awesome!!!