Good Luck Girl! The Complete Series

A smart-alecky paranormal sitcom airing on Japanese late-night TV, Good Luck Girl! centers on high-school teen-queen Ichiko Sakura, whose wealth, confidence, popularity, awesome breasts (earning her the nickname "Tits-chiko"), and chronic good luck create an imbalance of "happiness energy," which affects her district. To even things out, celestial deities send a female spirit of ill-fortune—a sarcastic, nose-picking "poverty god" named Momiji—to disrupt Ichiko's life and humble her. But Ichiko is actually more complex than she initially seems—displaying poor-little-rich-girl qualities and harboring trust issues rooted in her past—and she rises to the challenge of helping out struggling classmates, despite Momiji's constant scheming and needling (literally, with a big syringe intended to drain Ichiko's happiness particles and redistribute them to the more deserving). Gags here center on Japanese pop-culture references, anime in-jokes, boobs (goddess or not, Momiji is flat-chested), and even what minor characters in Yoshiaki Sukeno's source comics were cut in the video adaptation. It's not too far from the Family Guy school of humor—especially when a "bathroom god" in a dung-shaped costume is set ablaze, and says he "doesn't give a flaming crap." Yet the farcical tale here is also still capable of adding some noteworthy emotion now and then. Compiling all 13 episodes from 2012 on a dual-language Blu-ray/DVD Combo set, rated TV-MA, extras include episode audio commentaries and a video commentary. An offbeat and entertaining anime series, this is recommended. (C. Cassady)