Special A

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S・A (Special A)

Special A Anime
S・A（スペシャル・エー）
(S・A (Supesharu Ee))
Genre Drama, Romance, Comedy
Manga
Author Maki Minami
Publisher Flag of Japan Hakusensha
Demographic shōjo
Magazine Flag of Japan Hana to Yume
Flag of Germany Daisuki
Original run April 1, 2003 – ongoing
Volumes 14 (ongoing)
TV anime
Director Miyao Yoshikazu
Studio Gonzo
Network Chiba TV
Original run April 6, 2008 – ongoing
Episodes 24[1]

S.A (S・A（スペシャル・エー） S・A (Supesharu Ee)?), also known as Special A, is a shōjo manga by Maki Minami. Serialization started in Hana to Yume, only appearing bimonthly. After Chapter 4 the manga became serialized in the biweekly magazine Hana to Yume. Special A has been licensed in Asian countries, Germany, and the U.S. (by VIZ Media). Currently there are 13 published volumes (in Japan).

It was announced in Hana to Yume that Special A would have an anime adaptation, animated by Gonzo and AIC.[2]

Contents

[edit] Story

Hikari Hanazono has always been second to Kei Takishima. When they were six years old, their pro-wrestling loving fathers introduced them to each other. Assuming that she was the best in wrestling, young Hikari challenged Kei to a wrestling match only to be thoroughly defeated by him.

Ever since that fateful incident, Hikari swore to beat Kei in school grades, a sporting event - anything. To do this, she has enrolled in the same school as Kei since elementary. Now she attends Hakusenkan, an ultra elite school, that costs her carpenter father a lot of money. Hikari and Kei are the top two students in the school, with Kei holding firmly to that number one position. While Hikari considers Kei to be a rival and important friend, she is completely unaware that Kei loves her.

The story primarily focuses on Hikari and her constant attempts to defeat her one and only rival, Kei, and how she finds love in their rivalry.

[edit] The School

Hakusenkan (or Private Hakusen Academy) is the best school in the prefecture. The classes are separated into A-F based on grades. The A class is only open for the top students in each grade. The top seven within the A class, from first year to third year, are known as the Special A or SA class (hence the title). The members of SA are highly respected.

The SA class has its own building, dubbed "The School's Paradise" and attending class is optional (Only Hikari attends). They also have a kitchen, where Akira makes her afternoon tea. Their uniform is also different from the standard uniform. The members of the SA have been close friends since elementary school.

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of Special A characters
Names are displayed in Western order (given name before surname).
Hikari Hanazono (華園 光 Hanazono Hikari?) Voiced by: Yuko Goto
Hikari is the protagonist of the story and is ranked 2nd in the school. She is energetic and kindhearted, but rather dense when it comes to love. She is the daughter of a carpenter. When she was six years old she experienced her first defeat and humiliation when she lost to Kei Takishima in a pro-wrestling match. In order to beat Kei, Hikari convinced her father to allow her to attend Kei's prestigious elite school and strives to defeat Kei at anything, from academics to athletics. She later starts dating Kei.
Kei Takishima (滝島 彗 Takishima Kei?) Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama
Kei is Hikari's rival and holds the 1st position in the entire school. He is good at everything he does and is always a smooth winner. He is the son of the CEO of Takishima Corporation. Kei has been in love with Hikari since they were children, but Hikari is too dense to realize his feelings for her. He maintains a stoic and cool facade most of the time, except for when Hikari is in trouble; Recently dating Hikari.
Jun Yamamoto (山本 純 Yamamoto Jun?) Voiced by: Tsubasa Yonaga
Jun is ranked 3rd in school and is the son of a music producer and a talented vocalist. He is a nice guy and is usually quiet like his sister, Megumi. Both he and his twin sister, Megumi, seem to lack musical talent, and have an odd attachment with Ryuu. Like Megumi, he is very possessive of Ryuu and seems to worry Ryuu as much as he worries about the two of them. It is uncertain whether or not Jun or Megumi have the ability to win against Kei since they never really make the effort to do so, especially if it involves any tedious or boring activity.
Megumi Yamamoto (山本 芽 Yamamoto Megumi?) Voiced by: Ayahi Takagaki
Megumi holds the 4th position in school and is the older twin sister of Jun. She and her brother are very close to Ryuu, whom they have known since they were children. Megumi is generally quiet and refuses to speak because of her bad singing voice. She communicates with others by writing down whatever she wants to say in a sketchpad. She speaks only when she is deeply upset, with fairly devastating effects when this occurs.
Tadashi Karino (狩野 宙 Karino Tadashi?) Voiced by: Hiro Shimono
Tadashi ranks 5th in school and is the son of the school's director. He suffers from a bit of wanderlust, likes to travel alone and do whatever he wants or sees fit. He enjoys eating sweets, especially food made by Akira. He seems to end up as the character most comically attacked (frequently by Akira and Kei) because of his careless comments or reckless behavior. He likes Akira, and starts dating her.
Akira Toudou (東堂 明 Toudou Akira?) Voiced by: Hitomi Nabatame
Akira holds the 6th position in school and is very fond of Hikari. She often will not do anything unless Hikari also wants to do it. She loves afternoon tea and is very fond of cute girls. Akira apparently loves Tadashi, and she never seems to hold back when hitting him. She is the daughter of the owner of an airline company. Dating Tadashi.
Ryuu Tsuji (辻 竜 Tsuji Ryuu?) Voiced by: Kazuma Horie
Ryuu ranks 7th in the entire school cohort. He is the son of the CEO of a sports company and one of his family's clients is Yahiro's family. He is an animal lover and is very good at handling children. The twins, Megumi and Jun, are unusually close to him, because they have been together since childhood. It is hinted that perhaps he is smarter than 7th place, but spends the majority of the time during exams worrying about Jun and Megumi, who tend to become bored or sleep during tests. Has a crush on Finn.

[edit] Drama CD

On February 23, 2007, a Special A drama CD was released in Japan. It focuses on Valentine's Day.

Voice cast:

[edit] Anime adaptation

In issue 21 2007 of Hana to Yume, it was announced that S.A would have an anime adaptation. The anime aired in Japan on April 6th, 2008. Different seiyū will be playing each character.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Staff

  • Director: Miyao Yoshikazu
  • Series Composition: Jukki Hanada
  • Character Design: Kiyotaka Nakahara
  • Color design: Aiko Matsuyama
  • Sound director: Satoki Iida
  • Animation company: Gonzo x AIC

[edit] Theme songs

1st Opening theme
"Special Days"
Performed by Yuko Goto, with S.A (Hitomi Nabatame and Ayahi Takagaki)
1st Ending theme
"Hidamari no Gate" (陽だまりのゲート)
Performed by Jun Fukuyama, Hiro Shimono, Tsubasa Yonaga, Kazuma Horie
2nd Opening theme
"Gorgeous 4U"
Performed by Jun Fukuyama, Hiro Shimono, Tsubasa Yonaga, Kazuma Horie
2nd Ending theme
"Special Gyutto Good Luck!" (スペシャル☆ギュッとGood luck!)
Performed by Yuko Goto, with S.A (Hitomi Nabatame and Ayahi Takagaki)

[edit] Episodes

# Title Original air date
01 "Hikari and Kei"
"Hikari・Kei" (光・彗) 		 April 6, 2008
At six years old, Hanazono Hikari was unbeaten at pro-wrestling until she was easily defeated by Takishima Kei. Since that day, she has vowed to defeat Kei, who proves to be remarkably talented at whatever he attempts, at anything and convinced her father to allow her to attend the same expensive elite schools as her rival. 
02 "Pride and Pro-Wrestling"
"Puraido Puroresu" (プライド・プロレス) 		 April 13, 2008
The S.A is challenged to a pro-wrestling competition by the Student Council President, Kakei Hajime. Hikari and Kei accept the challenge, but run into trouble when the President decides to use underhanded tactics to beat them and Kei begins to worry about Hikari's safety without considering her feelings. 
03 "Onigiri and Sincerity"
"Onigiri･Magokoro" (おにぎり･まごころ) 		 April 20, 2008
Hikari, having lost a bet to Kei in the previous episode, agrees to make a bento for him. However, despite how hard she tries, all Hikari's attempts to cook something wonderful for him to eat prove to be disastrous. 
04 "Siblings and Teacher"
"Kyoudai･Sensei" (兄弟･先生) 		 April 27, 2008
Kei invites Hikari to his house because his father wants to talk about pro-wrestling with someone. She unexpectedly becomes tutor to Kei's younger brother, Sui, who has a rather strained relationship with Kei, and tries to bring the brothers closer together. 
05 "Festival and Contest"
"Matsuri･Shoubu" (祭り･勝負) 		 May 4, 2008
The Student Council and S.A challenge each other to see who will organize the upcoming school festival, but Hikari and Kei end up arguing; Hikari joins the Student Council's side and Akira soon follows. While Kei takes them all on single-handedly, Hikari learns that he has always done everything alone. 
06 "Written Invitation and the Saiga Mansion"
"Shoutaijou・Saiga Yakushi" (招待状･雑賀邸) 		 May 11, 2008
Because of some intervention from Sui, Hikari ends up being Kei's date at a birthday party for Saiga Yahiro. While wondering how Yahiro fits into Kei's past, Hikari is shocked to hear from Yahiro that Kei is in love with her. 
07 "Sensibility and Thickheadedness"
"Binkan・Donkan" (敏感・鈍感) 		 May 18, 2008
Hikari behaves strangely around Kei after Yahiro's party, unable to believe that he is in love with her, and refuses to tell Kei why. To determine where the S.A will go for their vacation, Kei suggests a contest where the winner decides - with the condition that if he wins, Hikari will tell him what Yahiro said to her at the party. 
08 "Journey and Dog"
"Tabi・Inu" (旅・犬) 		 May 25, 2008
The S.A head off to Hawaii for their summer vacation, but end up playing "family" to Chitose, the spoiled and demanding son of a client for Ryu's family. He is particularly harsh with Hikari, but she is determined to make sure he has a good time, even if it means being the dog in Chitose's family. 
09 "Villa and Letter"
"Bessou・Tegami" (別荘・手紙) 		 June 1, 2008
Hikari joins Yahiro and Chitose at their villa in order to find out why Yahiro's relationship with Kei and Akira is so strained, but ends up becoming his prisoner so that Yahiro can force Akira to see him again. 
10 "Rear and Ryuu"
"Shingari・Ryuu" (殿・竜) 		 June 8, 2008
 
11 "Girlfriend and Boyfriend"
"Kanojo・Kareshi" (彼女・彼氏) 		 June 15, 2008
 

[edit] References

  1. ^ Special A (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia. Accessed 2007-12-08.
  2. ^ Anime adaptation, Anime News Network, retrieved on 2007-10-08

[edit] External links