Why are only some of the references censored in Lucky Star


As anyone who has seen Lucky Star will remember, most of the references to
other anime and manga are censored. The most obvious examples of this are
references to Gundam or Sgt. Frog (both of which are notably Sunrise shows).
Presumably this is done to avoid KyoAni getting sued. This also explains why
references to Haruhi and Full Metal Panic weren't censored (as far as I
remember). Interestingly these instances of censorship probably could have
been removed in the English release since it was licensed by Bandai, but I
don't know if they actually were, so this question might only apply to the
Japanese version.

However, there are still a few cases of references which weren't censored
despite no obvious connection between the Lucky Star team and the source. The
one that immediately comes to mind is To Heart, which is referenced several
times. To Heart is associated with VN studio Leaf as well as animation studios
Oriental Light and Magic and AIC, neither of which have anything to do with
Lucky Star (KyoAni and Kadokawa). I can't find any connections between them,
but of course that could be oversight on my part, and I didn't check all of
the individual staff members.

Is there some connection that I missed? Barring that, what sort of policy
would a studio typically use for references like this? Would they try to
obtain permission for all of the references, or just bleep the ones that seem
risky to them?




Not sure if this is just a random connection or actually the reason, but
here's the connection between Lucky Star and ToHeart:

Lucky Star's manga and anime are published by different branches of Kadokawa.
The ToHeart manga was published by MediaWorks which was owned by, you guessed
it, Kadokawa.

I don't know if every single branch of Kadokawa is allowed to mention a work
in every other branch, but there is at least this connection. If someone
bought Lucky Star DVDs and saw ToHeart mentioned and then decided to go buy
the ToHeart manga, that's a double win for Kadokawa.




Not sure if this is just a random connection or actually the reason, but
here's the connection between Lucky Star and ToHeart:

Lucky Star's manga and anime are published by different branches of Kadokawa.
The ToHeart manga was published by MediaWorks which was owned by, you guessed
it, Kadokawa.

I don't know if every single branch of Kadokawa is allowed to mention a work
in every other branch, but there is at least this connection. If someone
bought Lucky Star DVDs and saw ToHeart mentioned and then decided to go buy
the ToHeart manga, that's a double win for Kadokawa.

