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| Konata & Kanata Izumi: Could they be ... one & the same?. |
Lucky Star Theory: The Konata/Kanata Connection
by
Jay Agan
Lucky Star is an anime series I had sworn off getting due to what I thought originally to be a cutsey kiddie show & nothing more. After having You Tubed it (And getting past the first four episodes.) I found it to be a delightful, satirical little sendup of otaku obsession & pop culture. Thus it now (Along with the OVA.) resides on my shelf.
Having seen it more than once over the past twelve months, something about the show occured to me & has had me up at nights (Of course I exaggerate.). After pondering it at some length, I've arrived at a "conclusion": Konata Izumi & her alledgedly deceased mother, Kanata, may actually be one & the same person.
One could only wonder. Did Kanata Izumi really die when Konata was very young? Was there even a real Konata to begin with? Is it out of some shame/guilt over not having successfully given birth or an inability to bear a child that Kanata took on an alternate personae & "became" that child herself? Sure there are "flashback" scenes in the show, but that could be nothing more than illustration of what's going on inside Ko/anatas' mind.
1. First the obvious: As revealed in episode 10 of the series, both Konata & Kanata (With the exception of the mole/beuty mark under her left eye, supposedly inherited from her dad. Tattoo or permanently affixed prosthetic of some kind?) are physically exactly the same.
The person in question should be in her early thirties & thus should look "a lot" older. This is anime however. Not all "old people" have to look like Keel Lorenz.
2. Both she & her "dad" seem quite comfortable about playing adult video games ("Dating sims" etc.) together. Yes, we know what Mr. Izumi is & we have names for people like that (And I don't mean Bill, George or Clarence either!). Could it be it's because they're husband & wife not father & daughter that they have few qualms about this?
Mr. Izumi supposedly buys these games for his "underaged daughter" but she could also be buying them herself using her old ID.
Cousin Yui, the policewoman drops by from time to time. In ep. ten she sees Ko/anata playing a "questionable" game & either doesn't notice or lets it slide. Could she also be in on the charade? For that matter what about Yutaka? Yui doesn't seem to mind her little sister staying at the Izumi household in spite of Mr. Izumis' predilections, so why would she even worry about Ko/anatas' "dual" personality?
3. "Legendary Girl": It usually takes time for some legends to build. Could it be this "mythic" figure has been a fixture in anime & pop culture a lot longer than the "teen" Konata?
4. There's also the fact that in spite of her diversions/obsessions, non-spirit of "slack" & bad study habits she still gets passing grades in school. Yes, she certainly knows how to "work the system": Copying others (Usually Kagamis'.) homework, all night cramming before tests, blocking cram school solicitations with caller ID, etc. It could be she's been through it before & drawing from her earlier high school experience. Knowing what a pack rat she is in regard to her otaku interests it could be she refers to papers/work & text books from when she was a student years before.
5.Yes, Kanata does show up as a spirt in ep. twenty two. Keep in mind we're dealing with what may be a dual personality of some kind. It might be Ko/anatas' actual self trying to reassert itself.
I hope you enjoyed these little observations of mine & that they may have cleared up any confusion in regard to this series. If so, glad to have been of some help.
Article copyright © 6-30-2012 Jay Agan
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