shadowraze

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 notfrustrating 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

inkmouse

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 originalor 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....