Special A

Hikari Hanazono has always been able to do things that normal people cannot. As a child, she assumed no one could beat her—until she met Kei Takishima. Thinking she would win, Hikari challenged him to a match. But things didn’t go as planned; she lost not once but each time she rechallenged him. From that point on, she has sworn to best Kei at everything, ranging from academics to athletics.

To achieve her goal, Hikari enrolls in the same school as Kei—Hakusenkan, a prestigious institute for the wealthy. As a pair, they hold the top two rankings in school and are among seven of the academy's best students in a class known as Special A.

While Hikari treats Kei as a rival, she is completely oblivious that he harbors hidden feelings for her. Together, the members of Special A deal with competition, friendship, and just a bit of love.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Takishima, Kei Main

Fukuyama, Jun Japanese

Hanazono, Hikari Main

Gotou, Yuuko Japanese

Karino, Tadashi Main

Shimono, Hiro Japanese

Tsuji, Ryuu Main

Horie, Kazuma Japanese

Yamamoto, Megumi Main

Takagaki, Ayahi Japanese

Toudou, Akira Main

Nabatame, Hitomi Japanese

Yamamoto, Jun Main

Yonaga, Tsubasa Japanese

Saiga, Yahiro Supporting

Taniyama, Kishou Japanese

Takishima, Sui Supporting

Shimizu, Kaori Japanese

Koupe Shuzette, Finn Supporting

Kawamura, Hiroshi Producer

Watanabe, Takashi Producer

Yamazaki, Fumiki Producer

Miyao, Yoshikazu Director, Episode Director

Reviews

Sep 27, 2008

shadowraze

Recommended

Special A is primarily a Shoujo Rom/Com that starts off slow but gets better as you go. Based on the inability of Hikari to understand Kei's true feelings for most of the plot. Normal laws of physics are generally ignored by the seeming superhuman duo of Kei and Hikari, who also are both at the top of their school academically.

The story isn't the most original story ever, relying on the interaction of the seven members of the Special A (SA from now on) class and not involving many other characters. While somewhat predictable, it still manages to be entertaining most of the time if not ... frustrating because of the general lack of development between the main couple's relationship. (The anime does have several minor changes in its adaptation of the manga's story)

The art style is pretty normal for your typical shoujo. The character models are somewhat odd in their unusually elongated limbs, but it's nothing that should ruin the show for you. The scenery and colors are good, if nothing fantastic, and I particularly liked the animation of the romance scenes where they would employ a pastel like color scheme which enhanced the scene.

The sound, much like the art, is, for the most part, good while not great. The background music appropriate and never seemed to get annoying or repetitive. The OPs and EDs have mixed opinions. The first OP and ED didn't really go over well with me and i doubt anyone would mind skipping right over them. The second OP and ED didn't seem to be much better at first either, but surprisingly they grew on me and ended up being pretty catchy. I don't have any complaints about the VAs, they all seemed to fit their characters and Kei and Hikari's VAs particularly were good, bringing out the same character that was seen in the manga.

The Characters were developed well, with the other members of the SA getting their own spotlight at times. While the main focus is on the Kei x Hikari pairing, there are a few other pairings that show up and will get episodes developing them. Obviously, being the two main characters, Kei and Hikari are developed the most and are both likable, though you might want to strangle Hikari a few times for being as stupid/ignorant as she is. Still, she definitely has her own great moments and you should be able to mostly ignore her own shortcomings and cheer her (and Kei) on.

The enjoyment varies as the series goes on, starting off somewhat weak compared to its peak later on in the anime. The comedy of the anime compared to manga is just as good if not better than the original. The romance on the other

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Dec 21, 2009

inkmouse

Mixed Feelings

Special A was anything but special. It was very cliche, but it's hard to avoid that in shoujo anime. There was nothing mind-blowing about neither the music or the art.

The story is pretty basic. In all honesty, I don't really think there is such a thing as orginality, but it's up to the people writing or directing to make it seem real. We know Shakespeare based Romeo and Juliet off a book someone had already written. How many times have we heard the story of 'I must defeat him...oh, wait I just found out he loves me?' but the issue isn't whether it was original ... or not, it's simply that they didn't know how to move the plot efficiently.

To me, one of the most important, if not the primary, thing to a story is character. If you have believable characters, then the audience will automatically simpathize and invest their own emotions into those characters. Yes, it is a comedy. Most of the things in the show defied the laws of physic, to say the least, but take Akira for example. The problems of her past evolving Yahiro really gives her more depth. As compared to Hariki who mentally retarded but ended up in the S.A. anyway. They should have developed a bit more of the characters. What's the point if it's just the same thing again and again? Yes, we know she thinks of him as his rival, but wouldn't it be more interesting if she had become aware of her own feelings on her own and had to defeat him in order to prove to herself she wasn't in love? Or what if he suddenly let her win (and I'm not talking about that crap challenge with the flower) what would she have done? Would she have realized that she probably really didn't want to win?

What I'm saying is that there could have been so much more done to make them more human. Why doesn't he let her win, anyway? Does he feel she'll love him that way?

That aside, though, I really liked the less fictional aspects of the show. It wasn't TOO bad, in all honesty. I won't watch it again, and I got bored about half way though, but hey, it had it's good parts. I can't think of any NOW, but I remember liking somethings....

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Dec 21, 2010

aindah

Not Recommended

Special A was a promising representative of the shojo genre. Was. Up until the seventeenth episode it was fun, cute, hilarious...everything a good shojo anime should be. The characters never escape the usual shojo mold, but still they were very likable and entertaining. Up until the seventeenth episode, I rated Special A with a subjective 9, because it made me smile, it made me burst into laughter, and because it was dynamic and simply fun. And I kept thinking: I can't wait to re-watch this one.
How did it tumble down to a pathetic 2?
Episode 17 - 24 were made. Then starts the downfall of ... Special A. The story was concentrated on two main characters which suddenly lost their leading parts, and became "those two who you would wanna see, but won't because we have to make more episodes". Instead of dispersing the stories about the supporting characters, they shove them all together. This might actually be acceptable, if it doesn't happen as the series nears it's completion.
The characters I liked, became annoying and idiotic. Hikari and Kei are supposed to be these exceptionally intelligent and capable characters, but with all the unnecessary playing around you just get the feeling they are a bit slow, and possibly somewhat challenged in the brain department. I mean, every other character realizes his/her feelings, but our two main characters remain adamant in their silence (Kei) or their blatant ignorance (Hikari).
All in all, I'm pissed off. I regret they screwed up a potentially good anime. It could have been saved by a good ending. But no. The ending is so profoundly stupid and anticlimactic, that it subtracts from the overall grade.
I guess that's a problem when you make an anime out of an ongoing manga - you don't make it so it's great - you make it lacking so that the people feel the need for closure. Then those people think: "Maybe I should pick up the manga." I'm going to be a sucker and do just that, because I'm dying to know if it's any good.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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