Bandai Entertainment has announced the acquisition of the 24-episode Lucky Star anime series from Kyoto Animation, the red hot studio responsible for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.  Based on the satirical 4-panel comic strip (4-panel comics are known as 'yonkoma' in Japan) by Kagami Yoshimizu, the Lucky Star anime ran on Japanese TV from April to September of 2007.  Like Haruhi, which benefited from buzz in the fansub community, the Lucky Star anime has already made a positive pre-release impression on hardcore American anime fans and thus, like Haruhi, it has a chance to do well right out of the gate.

Konata Izumi, the protagonist of Lucky Star, is a lazy high school girl who is preoccupied by anime and videogames.  With its bevy of young-looking female characters Lucky Star provides a mega dose of 'moe' (young, naive characters who elicit a protective or loving response from the audience) and a surfeit of 'kawaii' (cuteness).

Bandai has not yet announced when the first volume of Lucky Star will be released, though it will debut in 2008.