Special A Review

Special A is what I like to call a "happy show" a real "feel good" experience. Also I was heavily reminded of Ouran. Perhaps it was the normal girl hangs out with a bunch of rich kids (where the boys are all hot). Well anyway, I had extremely high expectations for Special A, but I found it to be the opposite of what the title suggests. Not as Special A (s) expected.
Special A was your typical Shojo, High School romantic-comedy. A basic summary of the plot is this: a girl (Hikari) and a guy (Kei) have been competing since they were little, the girl is always loosing, but she never gives up. The show flashes forward and the main characters are now in school in the top 7 spots academically in their class. Of course our main boy, Kei is in the first spot and our main girl, Hikari is in the number 2 spot. Hence, anime style high school hilarity ensues.
Now although Special A is fairly stereotypical shojo anime, I did enjoy a few aspects of it. First of all, it was pretty funny, I definitely found myself laughing out loud at some moments! One of the things I really appreciated in this show was that it was the guy who liked the girl and not the other way around. Alot of times I find in these High school style anime's that the girl is always the one trying to get with the guy and the guy either doesn't like her or he is oblivious. So for me, it was a breath of fresh air seeing the guy be the one to really like the girl. Also it was just really cute! I just really became of fan of Hikari and Kei.Although this attraction was adorable. It posed a very interesting question for me...if he liked her so much why not let her win for once. (Spoiler alert from here on out) Hikari never once beats Kei, although I found this to be comical...I also really really wanted him to like let her win! Especially if he liked her, and would want to see her happy. Just a thought

The other characters, besides the main two, are also very adorable. We have Jun and Megumi, the very unique siblings. (Jun has a split personality and Megumi only writes on her notepad instead of speaking) Tadashi, the goofy carefree guy. Akira, Hikari's best girlfriend and finally Ryuu. Now, I'm not hear to talk about pairings I like, but honestly this show had the best collection of cute pairings! Besides the main KeixHikari, you also have AkiraxTadashi, which is portrayed so sweetly in the anime (Akira tells him she loves him and then runs away embarassed. Tadashi was my favorite guy in this show) SakuraxJun, which includes seeing Jun be awkward and sweet and this is also the first time we see his character's personality truly begin to develop. Finally there is YahiroxMegumi, which I WILL touch on in more detail later. The only one left out is Ryuu, who doesn't have a girl and therefore does not get to be a detailed as a character as some of the others. This was really disappointing for me that he was the only one left out. Also I felt they took to long to develop Jun and Megumi's characters. Though even without the development all of the supporting characters are extremely lovable

For some reason the most interesting episode to me was MegumixYahiro episode where she goes on a date with Yahiro, in hopes of keeping the SA alive. This episode was so interesting to me because it really showed the sweet and caring side to Yahiro, (though done in a very indirect way). We also got to hear Megumi's speaking voice (which is rare). I just thought this pairing came out of no where and yet somehow it worked SO perfectly for me. I seriously wish there had been more development in that relationship (though we do see them together at the end) I just think that more cute episodes like that, would've been nice. Though Akira and Tadashi and Kei and Hikari give the audience a ton to get excited about.
My final point to make before wrapping up is about the music. Whenever I'm watching a show, I try to notice the music and animation as being part of the show. Although the animation was fine in this show (fairly average at best) the music was so blah. It didn't really compliment the show in any sort of way. The opening and ending themes did not stick out to me, nor do I remember them being any good. The character designs are SO adorable though and the boys are sooo well-drawn!

To come to a close, Although the music and animation were mediocre, Special A has great characters and is DEFINITELY a character driven story, so if you aren't hooked by the characters, don't even try to wait around for a plot because it's not coming. Though there are story arcs and a general overlapping theme. Each episode definitely focuses on the characters. I loved all the characters, even the ones you thought you'd hate, you end up liking in the end (Yahiro FTW). If you like shows that have rich kids hanging out, doing nothing all day long and shows with adorable boys, this is definitely the show for you. If you like sweet, adorable and semi-comical romance, this show has got PLENTY of that. (makes ME happy) If you like Ouran High School Host Club, or pretty much any other high school anime, this is definitely a show to check out! Some how this review ended up being me talkAs for me I give it 4/6 Appa paws. Better than Death Note, DEFINITELY not as good as Avatar.

Sokka says: Of course it's not as good as Avatar, besides we don't got all that mushy stuff!

Response: oh yeah? even with Yue and Suki??

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Stay Special ;)