Special A

Special A is based off of two main characters, a boy and a girl, one extremely talented and the other one is innocent, maybe too innocent in fact. These two characters are Takashima Kei, and Hanazono Hikari. Our story starts off when these two are children, Hikari the girl practices martial arts with her father and enjoys beating up other people. She builds great confidence over her victories, too much confidence. Until, one day Takashima Kei, the boy is shown by her father and asks to have a sparring match. Hikari is confident that she will win, especially because of Kei's face and size, underestimating Kei, Kei easily defeats her with ease and puts almost no effort in crushing Hikari's confidence. Afterwards, Hikari challenges him again is once again destroyed by Kei. Special A begins after they grow up etc etc, and Hikari swears that she will one day defeat Kei. Enough of the main characters, Special A is about a group of seven elite members and how they help each other to keep their group together. Story 7/10 There isn't much of a real story to this but I find it entertaining to watch especially Kei, he's a total badass super genius almost robot like guy with little emotions. Each episode has it's own small story and many interesting scenes, it's more of a light hearted story with comedy in between and a bit of romance and how each Special A member contributes to helping each others problems. Art 9/10 Now if you've watched Special A at all, you'll be wondering, are you serious? A 9 for the art? I agree with you, it's not that fancy or wonderful, however, each episode has a special part where each character will "glow" or two characters will "glow" together showing off a special moment between these two and I think it was an excellent way to display the scene, you'll understand what I mean when you watch it. Sound 7/10 The sound is not really anything special, but there were moments where the sound effects were awesome and it really displayed the scene well. It had it's moments but overall the sound it decent and there isn't anything super special, except for maybe when megumi sings or when Hikari is sick, best moment of the series at least in my opinion ;). Character 9/10 This is the BEST part of the entire series, each character has their own unique personality, you've got the genius, the guy with gynophobia, the idiot, the girl who always seems to be beating up that one guy. But, personally Kei, my absolute favourite in the series, his intellect, badass, and abnormal strength and literally defying laws of physics or even life, I won't spoil it but you'll know what I'm talking about when you see him in action. Hikari, is a bit of an idiot or maybe a total idiot in fact, however she has this pure aura about her and Hikari is the only one that can "move" Kei and get him to show emotions. Nonetheless, she is an interesting character. You'll learn about each the character's and I'm sure you'll end up loving one of them at least. Overall 8/10 If you're looking for an anime with a strong plot, unfortunately you've took the wrong path, however if you're interesting in a simple light hearted series with a badass main character and some comedy mixed in between, as well as friendship then you'll be enjoying this series I think at least ;). This anime definitely had it's flaws, but it's also got it's moments, I never found myself bored with this anime and I hope you'l enjoy it as much as I did :).

Special A is definitely one of the best anime everyone will watch. It may sound cliche as it seems because it's a shojo romance. I also at first find this anime a bit boring because of the Special A only have persons who have the best grades in the cohort. But as I dwell deeper into their lives, I realised that there is something more interesting than just having good grades. They have their personal problems and they deal with it very well. They really learn how to make good use of love not like the cast from School Days who abuse love. In fact, the cast really developed a lot from annoying characters to understanding and caring characters. That was what I like to see. Basically, the story starts off as generic but skyrocketed up to great perfection and the characters and plot have very great depth. I believe that these characters really put in faith and determination in what they do to make Special A very special to them and to everyone. At first, Hikari sees Kei as rival, but as time develops Hikari and Kei started to like each other. Basically, there are 3 favorite characters in this anime. It was very good to see that love takes time to develop and Special A really handles relationships very well. In fact, I love to see more flashbacks and development of other characters like Ryuu Tsuji. #1: Ryuu Tsuji (He does better when he is not worrying a lot about his twins, Jun and Megumi) #2: Megumi Yamamoto (She reminds me of Kukuri from 11eyes. She is quiet, calm and is not a hindrance even to Yahiro, whom she loved in the end) #3: Kei Takishima (He might be quite boring due to the fact that he does things perfectly, but inside him, he brings fun and joy and teases Hikari. He is also a nice person.) The character development was really well done which deserves a 9. The art and sound were equally good and they both deserve an 8. The only problem with this anime is that some of the side characters never get fully realised. My favorite character is Ryuu Tsuji, he is an interesting character but sadly he doesn't have enough episodes focus on him. In fact I would love to know more about him. For this anime, I am very lenient when it comes to slice of life anime genre. This anime is really a very good factor and mixing both elements of slice of life and romance from Clannad, Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, Kaichou wa Maid sama. In fact, Gonzo really did a good job in this part. Even though you may find that these characters annoy you, try watching more episodes and you will see that the characters are actually have more depth in it and you will find that they really are likeable. Not only that I learn a lesson from this anime saying "Humanity is never perfect but humanity has something special inside them". Special A will remain special in my life. So overall, I give it an 8.

Special A or SA is an anime you just can't hate. The art is amazing and the soundtrack couldn't be better, the story was interesting and the comedy didn't make it silly or cliche actually it just made it more interesting. The romance between characters was involving and made it so much more different than other anime. The characters were mostly handsome boys and cute girls with a little bit of a strange personalities. There was a lot of violence and a lot of romance so i believe that both girls and boys would enjoy. In one word it was, is and will be a strangely intresting and involving anime ;D

When you say Special A, its one of the Shoujo and Super hilarious kinda anime! But when you compare the same Special A with its original adaptation i.e. the manga, it has many points to work on: {P.S. :Some points in this review is on the basis of S.A anime compared to S.A.manga } STORY: No doubt the story of S.A. is great and is narrated quite efficiently till a certain number of episodes, but towards the end it starts getting mixed up. The last episode, unfortunately, is not convincing enough and is all jumbled up! But if you want to enjoy a light laugh session, SA gives u the same in abundance. ART: ANIMATION Compared to the art by Minami Maki, the anime artwork need a lot of help. The face and body animation composure is not proportional. the anime characters (leaving Kei), don't look appealing as they are in the manga. Akira looks really bad in the anime and the others look fairly OK(somehow i feel it) SOUND: the music is really classy and goes according to the mood. its like a typical shojo score !Quite nice music is given for the elite situations and the funny scenes. CHARACTER: All the chara have a great role and are drafted quite nicely. Kei and Hikari are very hilarious. Even the pairing of Akira and Tadashi is very kawaiiiiiiii (cute).(for somw reason i have taken a liking to them

I absolutely looooooved this one, it was amazing. honestly. if you're into romance/comedy and all that, this is definitely worth watching. i was obsessed with the guy characters at one point.. o.O but seriously, once you finish this, you will remember that ONE thing takashima always say and yeah.. that's if you find him hot like i do :D i find it hilarious when he gets so protective and jealous, it makes me happy hehe >:D he likes to tease her, show her that he loves her, but doesn't tell her.. and the girl is pretty clueless, so yeah :) if you like this, watch kaichou wa maid sama also, they're almost the same :D Anywaaaaaaays, watch this and tell me if you've watched any that are similar cause i've been searching for one that's like this but never found any ;_____;

I fell in love w/ this series.. not because I consider Kei as my ideal type of guy(for real), not because of my fondness towards this upbeat gal named Hikari(w/ her try & try until I beat you Kei! personality), not of Jun's charming looks(his split personality was too hot to handle) nor the endearing beauty of his twin sister Megumi(she had a sweet voice, I know), not because of Akira's sweet and bubbly traits(afternoon tea enthusiast, actually) neither Tadachi's cuteness and carefree personalities(just love this guy so much) nor the kindhearted Ryuu(a good-looking smart guy)... but because Special A entertained me so much that I even dreamed of becoming one of bunch of these gifted yet crazy individuals. this anime gave me a really good laugh, slice of life, and despite their complicated issues towards their individual love interest., every love story was delightful and heartwarming.:)

I LOVE THIS ANIME! Right from the beginning you know it's going to be interesting. This show has everything that a good shojo needs and that does include the occasional fight. The show circles around the Special A. They're a group of the smartest and most talented kids in the school. Similar to Ouran High School Host Club but no 100% the same. Within this group are the childhood friends Kei and Hikari who are brilliant, literally. The show gives a view on there live and it make you want to believe in yourself and try your hardest.

I really like it but i wish it was bigger! And the ending i wish it was a little bit more romantic! The main characters were hilarios, comedy,romance,school life,friendship everthing go together perfectly.

a story of a bunch of "special" students. the smart top 7 of the school are "specially" treated. they go through a lot of problems and disturbance from people who think that it is not fair that they be treated that way. Important people try tear them apart. but they're the special A that's seemingly impossible. a story filled with confusion, romance, tragedies & so much more. *recommended to watch.

I've been told of this series (well, actually the manga...) by my bestfriend Krys since forever...I suppose :P It's only recently that I got around to actually be able to watch it, since it really piqued my interest. It sort of reminded me of Ouran HSHC... and of course since it did, I immediately fell in LOVE with it. Well, Special A (or SA) is about this rivalry between a girl and a boy (Hikari and Kei), wherein the guy always seems to beat the girl in all contests the girl challenges the guy with. Ah! But here's the catch: the guy likes the girl while the girl is DENSER THAN LEAD to even know the guy's feelings :P Cute, I know... For some reason, having read the manga, I liked the anime just as much as(if not more than) the manga. I suppose with such a short run (just 1 season, standard number of episodes for a single anime season (24)), you have to be a bit creative with how to present the story. And it did this SO WELL, in my opinion, since it covers a lot of the romance and pairings that took quite a bunch of chapters to develop, and somehow squeezes it in that short amount of time without it feeling TOO rushed. (Although Kei to me seems a bit...er desperate, as compared to his manga self) There are of course some differences (but I think they work!) in the anime as compared to the manga, but if I go on about all of it, this review would be meaningless. Better you just read AND watch to decide! Also, I enjoyed that Host Club episode! The manga doesn't have it! Well sort of does, but not like in the anime! I feel a little sad though that Ryuu didn't get his pairings (which are in the manga) My favorite characters have to be Ryuu, Jun, Tadashi, Kei (his faces are just...priceless!), Megumi (Independence Day Attack-voice!), the school president (although he also annoys me), Kei's dad (ehehe) and I suppose Hikari is good too (since she's so hardworking..but her utter denseness annoys me). I however am so angry with the fact that Aoi was portrayed here as someone like "the devil's advocate", (with Kei's ojisan being the devil) because in the manga, his motives are better explained, and he is redeemed (will in my book anyway! He's one of my fave characters :P)

my friend told me about this anime.I staraed watching it on saturday the 1st of November and finshed it on the 9th of November.It was an outstanding anime one of the best I've seen in ages.I gave Special A 10/10

The storyline may be ridiculously goofy, but it always cheers me up. I'm a little worried that the creators didn't put enough detail into the storyline and may have skipped over some stuff, but I hope not. The characters were hilarious and enjoyable; the way they interacted fit perfectly with their personalities. The overall animation was decent and it fit perfectly with the settings and scenarios being portrayed. The voices were a little off and it there was always this strange music playing in the background. Some parts were absolutely hilarious. Hikari's personality, for example is just so odd that it's totally amusing... It did get annoying at times though. For someone so smart, it seems like she has awful judgment and needs to calm down. I also thought it was strange that out of all the members in the Special A, she was the only one who wasn't rich and the only one who was ever studying. But overall, Special A was hilarious and I wish there were more episodes to it.

Special A came out in 2008 when I was first falling in love with anime, which is why I was rather surprised I had never heard of it before. Having watched it now, I realize that I hadn't missed much. Story: Calling this a poor knockoff of Kaichou Wa Maid-Sama wouldn't exactly be fair, as this show came out two years prior, but it is difficult not to compare the two. Special A follows the now standard trope of a strong independent woman and her seemingly perfect male rival. While this trope is meant to signal female empowerment, that message falls flat when our female lead's "strong independence" always fails to surpass her male counterpart. Nearly every episode ends with the heroine being saved by the hero, even under circumstances where she had the situation under control and did not need saving. Art: The art is as expected for 2008, and does nothing to help or harm the show. Sound: The sound is about as bland as the art, but earns a slightly lower score due to a couple of glaring faults. The suspenseful music most often comes across as corny, and the voice actors have uncomfortably long pauses in between lines that is usually reserved for the dubbed community. Character: The characters begin and end as boring tropes. In the first episode, I had hopes for real character growth on the part of the female lead, but that hope died quickly, and no other character came close to filling the gap. Overall: This anime is a feel good that thought about making a statement and decided against it. To put it plainly, it was boring. Not bad enough to turn off, but never good enough to keep me watching at the cost of other things.

The series is set in a high school (completely original setting). The series is based around 7 characters. These 7 characters are the top 7 students in the school and are known as Special A. The MMC who is no. 1, The FMC who is no.2, Hot Twin boy is no.3, Hot Twin Girl is no.4, Punching Bag is no. 5, Violent Tsundere is no. 6 and AnimaIIover69 is no. 7. Together they form the group known as Special A. The story mostly revolves around the MMC and FMC (obviously). They have a rivalry going on. The FMC is trying super hard to beat the MMC but she fails every single time. The MMC on the other hand is in love with the FMC. You kinda have to feel bad despite his teasing he does try to show that he likes the FMC. But she is sadly suffering from density syndrome. Truly an epidemic in romcom main characters. The problem with there relationship is that its not really equal. The FMC despite being incredibly talented needs rescuing from the MMC multiple occasions. No wonder she can't beat him. Even then its really disappointing how she just loses all her charm just so the MMC can come in and save the day. Despite these negatives. I did like the comedy surrounding those two (albeit they over do it by making the same joke over and over again no. 2). Their romantic interactions were cute (Despite the end of each episode basically restarting). The main issue likes in no.6 the Violent tsundere. Whoever invented the trope tsundere needs to fucking die. These are the most lazy ass piece of shit characters to exist. This is 0 effort type characters made to pad the series and pull the series down in every way imaginable. Goddamn she sucked so much ass the entire 24 episode series. another pink haired weirdo also didn't do much and tried very hard to take the no. 1 spot from violent tsundere to be the worst character in the series but was able to get no. 2 piece of shit by the skin of his teeth. The rest of the characters aren't really that memorable. Falling into the more mundane style of being a cast of characters. Animal lover 69 was fun to watch but overall none of the characters really had any stand out moments so despite being part of the main cast they felt like they belonged in the background. There really isn't much else to talk about here. Some other characters show up. Most mediocre. They weren't all boring but they weren't memorable either. Each episode pretty much starts the same and ends the same. Really the only fun aspect of the series is that the romance between the MMC and FMC. Its not anything special but it is fun to watch. Some comedy moments here and there and some light character development. Another issue was the ending. It doesn't resolve anything. I understand that anime are ads for the manga anyway but thats such a horrible way of looking at it. The author should aim for a better anime or director in this case. TLDR: I was disappointed in this series. It actually had potential at the start but fell into this repetitive groove. I don't remember much of this series and i finished it in 2 days. Overall 4/10. Disappointing.

I’ve been rewatching some shojo that I really enjoyed when I first started getting into anime, and Special A happened to make that list. Unfortunately, this anime has a lot of flaws that I didn’t see when I was in middle school! It’s a fun romance if you’re younger or just getting into anime, but after seeing quite a bit of shojo, this anime has a lot going against it. For one, characterization is lacking, especially for surrounding characters. In other shows with similar dynamics, such as Ouran or Maid-Sama, the background characters have a lot more depth compared to the cast in this show. The plot is slower-paced, making some of the episodes drag, and Kei, the main love interest, puts all the responsibility on Hikari to discover his feelings for her. (Spoiler: she can’t read minds!) This is charming for about three episodes. It’s hard to sympathize with the male lead when he makes no attempt to convey his feelings, yet gets frustrated at being misunderstood. In Maid-Sama, the closest comparison for me to this show, at least Usui Takumi makes it more obvious he has feelings for Ayuzawa and appears more patient with her denseness. Kei barely does anything besides looking shocked when Hikari does something he likes, or seems pissed off/possessive on the flipside, giving Hikari (and the viewers) emotional whiplash. Because of the underdeveloped characters, the frequent, more serious turns in the plot just cannot be taken seriously. The humor in this show is the strong suit, but with the plot developments, the conflicts are cheesy, over-the-top, and fairly transparent. There are also some classist undertones that go unaddressed/can’t be offset by the main characters. In Ouran, Haruhi’s character offered the “commoner” point of view, which worked well to humor and ridicule the portrayed aristocracy. There is no such character in Special A, often making the plot about rich people being rich. Despite this criticism, Hikari is not the MOST annoying lead in shojo. The humor and cute moments made me remember why I thought this show was so charming. Though I don’t think my opinion of it is very high, objectively, it could be fun for a shojo-lover.

Special A is an anime that is near and dear to my heart. I’ve grown quite fond of it, mainly because of how wonderful the characters are. This anime is full of ups and downs—laughs, fun, confusion, sadness… The best part of this anime is the fact that, although there are cliché elements, there are some great things that set this apart from some other shoujo anime out there. The story isn’t, by any means, that unique, but it is enjoyable and comes across the way that it’s meant to. Once again, there’s the school setting that we all know—it seems ever-present in shoujo—but there is something unique about this school. That’s the special class that the main characters are in. I found this appealing, but some people might not agree. Special A slides pretty well between fun, slice-of-life moments and seriousness. The plot is low-key and relaxed, unable to really be explained in a concrete way. The best part of this anime’s plot, though, is how comedy and romance is executed. The jokes are almost always got me laughing, and the little romantic moments made my heart flutter. There is, however, a problem with the pacing. The main part of the story keeps getting pushed near the end, stretching the story out to the point where some people might just lose interest. Special A starts slow, gets better near the middle, and slows down again before the last hoorah. I actually find the art style here quite favorable. It’s pleasing to the eyes and better than some things I’ve seen. The characters are tall and lanky, as per usual for the shoujo style. Although it seemed taken too far when I started watching, the style grew on me. All of the boys are extremely handsome; I’m quite fond of the character designs, as well. Everything gets fuzzy and colorful during sweet moments. I actually find this quite cute, and am not annoyed by it. The only thing that bothers me with the art is the fact that, more than once, you can easily spot times when the animators started experimenting. Eyes have more lashes, faces are drawn a bit differently, etc. I thought this was really unprofessional. The artwork is still good, but the random changing isn’t appealing. Openings were pretty well done. I’m really fond of the first one, more so than the second OP, but both were catchy and fit the mood of the anime. The music during the show fit wonderfully, as well. Voice acting is good—the boy’s voices were particularly seductive, if I do say so myself. The characters in Special A are some of my favorites. They are all so human, with so many emotions and such dimension in their personalities. When you realize what they’ve been through, and what goes on in their heads, you feel an unbreakable bond with them. Yahiro, one of my favorites, comes across one way, only to have his motives explained in a heart-wrenching twist. Akira and Tadashi are a perfect, hilarious and emotional pair. Megumi, Ryuu, and Jun are lovely friends and great characters. The true main characters, Hikari and Kei, make an awesome, unique pair. Hikari, competitive and a little thick (but adorable), harbors resentment towards Kei because he’s always in first place. Kei comes across as your normal jerk of a love interest—handsome, cold, calculating, perfect—but, while his perfection at most things is sometimes annoying, it becomes apparent that he has some flaws to him, too. Because they added personality to him, and made his love for Hikari so darn sweet, he’s become one of my favorite characters. Some things that I didn’t find favorable is the fact that everyone was so privileged, the fact that they were all so popular, and the fact that they pretty much got to do whatever they wanted without problems. What’s also annoying is the fact that this was never explained very well. There is another thing that I must mention. My main problem with this anime is the ending. I was looking for something really big, something that would make me feel accomplished, but in the end, I felt that something was missing, and that tarnished the experience a little. Despite the flaws, Special A is currently one of my favorite shoujo anime, simply because it harbors so many wonderful emotions and just has a magical quality about it. If you’re looking for something funny with sweet romance and great characters, I wouldn’t hesitate to try Special A out. It’s a great anime. I hope that, if you try it, you enjoy it as much as I did. (At the moment, I have never read the manga, but will be reading it soon. I will edit my review once I finish.)

story-9 i loved this show! it was just the knid of show i was looking to watch and am so happy i did. it is one of my all time favs!' art-9 really good art but i have seen a bit beter. sound-9 really really good! character-9 i loved all the charcaters and couldnt find much of anything i didnt like about them. enjoyment-9 i loved this show! nothing more to say! overall-9 just great

Special A wasn't at all as I thought it would be - This could be a good thing or a bad thing. The begining caught my attention but as I continued watching I was completely drawn OUT. It drags way too much and I think it was completely unecessary. The humor was a little dry but I did laugh a bit at points. Yes, there has been a time in my life when I paused the video, fallen on the ground, and rolled around laughing like a completely baffoon, but nothing like that really happened in Special A. Maybe I should also say something good... Though the couples are obvious like Kei and Hikari are together and all, I think it's cute that all the other characters also get love interest. Overall, I tried so many times to finish the manga/anime- But I couldn't. It juts never clicked Dx Personally, I didn't enjoy Special A at all.

*some spoilers, but not major* Special A isn't a very 'special' plot. Basically the top seven pupils of quite a high-ranking school are immediately placed into 'Special A', a group where they do not (seem) have to attend classes, and they have their own area of the school to themselves. The thing that bugs me about Special A is the fact I don't actually like the protagonists that much. The whole 'competitive' thing, while funny to watch, was unbelievably aggrivating, especially when it came to her finding herself liking Kei back and realising she'd 'lost' the competition between them because of it. I find Kei a bit too aloof and just arrogant for my liking. Saying that, I do like that in some characters, but I just find him a little too tiresome and boring for my liking. For me to like a main, especially shoujo, male character, there has to be a little bit more in him, so maybe having flaws, aside from the whole fact of him loving her ( oh please, like thats not happened before in a shoujo manga ), would have enabled me to warm to him a little more. I liked Hikari, in theory. I thought her sweet and lovably clueless. But as the series went on, I found her cluelessness becoming more and more irritating. Saying this, you'll probably wonder why I gave this anime such a high mark. To be honest, it's the supporting characters. Suprisingly, I loved the other members of Special A and their stories. While it's essentially about Kei and Hikari, romance follows almost all of the rest of the group (Jun, Megumi, Akira, Tadashi and Ryuu). You will laugh at moments, and at others you will clutch at your heart for the tenderness of it. The music is beautiful, and suits the anime to perfection. All in all, I'd recommend you to watch this, but don't expect a stellar plot and brilliant main characters.

Rival Or Romance? could also rival And Asmara .. Perhaps the story in this anime, including both, but the anime is still favored by teenagers. Because the story includes Slice Of Life and the school day. Anime school systems that exist in the anime is similar to the anime Shugo Chara, The Chosen Students. Rival's story is the rivalry between Hanazono Hikari and Takishima Kei, who underwent competition from childhood through adolescence, but they have feelings of love for one another. So also the story of other characters.