Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
nikqiv
The perfect, funny romcom anime. I really liked how they did academic rivals to lovers and I saw a lot of comments saying that this show was boring or slow-paced but I really didn't feel that. There was always something interesting and wacky happening each episode and all of the couples were really cute and entertaining!! I'm the type of person who gets really attached to the main couple and I never really like episodes surrounding other couples because it takes away from the main story, but I liked some of the side couples even more than I liked the main couple!! And all of the episodes were so entertaining, I gave almost all of them 5's and I don't think I rated any episode under than 4. Most of the characters get a chance to have the spotlight. This really is a solid anime and I really…
Read at the source50Fiftillididee
✒Rock 🥈 Paper 🥇 Buzzsaw 🏆 Love Is A Game °8.2° °excellent° 💯%🔍 some minor spoilers
Hikari Hanazono has always been able to do things that normal people cannot do. As a child, she assumed no one could beat her. ~Ever~ Then she met Kei Takishima.
Hikari & Kei hold the top two rankings in school and are among seven of the academy's best students in a class known as “Special A." The problem is (and this is a big problem for Hikari) Kei's ranked #1. Always #1. She's ranked #2. Forever #2. Thus, the lifetime rivalry kicked into high gear. It's Hikari’s very raison d'etre: She must beat him. She must triumph. She will. 😤 She absolutely will❗ What she doesn't realize is that she beat him long ago. He's already utterly 😍 vanquished. Not that she'd notice. She's BUSY.
The English voice…
Read at the sourceMidniteAndBeyond
Out of all the shows on my to-watch list, this one has been on there the absolute longest. Its been on there for so long, I honestly have no recollection as to why I put it on there in the first place. Did I like the art? Did I see the opening a million years ago and think it was good? Was it a recommendation from a friend? I have no idea! I've spent YEARS seeing this show as an absolute enigma because I've never heard anyone else talk about it, but it somehow made its way onto my to-watch list but would just NEVER. GET. WATCHED... UNTIL NOW, THAT IS! AND NOW, AT LONG LAST, I CAN FINALLY SAY..... this show is just fine.
The first half is very repetitive with your typical "will they or won't they" storyline between two characters who keep going back and forth between loving and hating each…
Read at the sourcearmycat23
This will always be the best comedy/romance high school anime to me.
Too often in a romance/comedy anime the side characters are pushed to the side as a mere after thought........and are just as significant to the story as minoru in boko no hero. THANKFULLY, that is not the case here. Each character in this anime has their own journey and it's fun to watch. Even certain characters who seem like an "antagonist" ends up being a character that is worth watching for his own growth.
I enjoy all the romantic couplings, and I'm going to say that my favorite of which isn't even the main guy/girl..........it's Akira and Tadishi.
Read at the sourceTcherie035
I gave this anime an 8 because it is, in my opinion, one of the better/best rom coms out there. I love how there are no harem aspects or drawn-out love triangles, and I like how the show focuses more on friendship and monogamy. The best thing about this show is the SA members. I really liked them as friends and the show did a good job keeping me entertained, I never felt bored watching this anime.
The only small con for me was the MC Hikari. I enjoyed her character in the beginning of the show because I liked her passion towards her rival - MC Kei Takishima, and I thought she was very sweet; but I just didn't feel like she grew much. 15+ episodes in and she was still acting the same - childish, dense and I caught myself rolling my eyes at how oblivious she continued to be with EVERY situa…
Read at the sourceNatsuki_SanJuan
Nostalgic. I remember when my three older sisters watched this anime on our local TV, in their teenage years. I was 6 or 7 years old back then and we enjoyed it. For them, that anime was so romantic. Even though I'm an adult now, I still found these romantic feelings for this show still lingering inside my heart. High school was probably the best year that happened to me.
Special A is another romantic comedy shoujo anime in my collection. This anime seems old because it was released in 2008. But this is one of those underrated romantic gems that everyone can enjoy. I didn't understand why my older sisters loved this but now I knew why. It may be a typical shoujo romance anime, but this is ridiculously romantic and fun.
The premise is about the two childhood friends and Hikari, the main p…
Read at the sourcekwsty
I have no words to describe this anime, the way I love it has no comparable words, I wish I could rewatch it for the first time. Guys, if you want to rip your hair off your scalp, watch this.
It's the type of romance where she's too dumb to realize, but once she gets to know her feelings over the boy, you wish for things to just happen. This anime gave me so many emotions, no words could describe the love I have for this one. It's an older anime and you might not like the animation, but please, give it a try, it's way better than new ones.
All the characters were amazing, big development and a story which makes u press ''Next episode''. This is one of the healthiest relationships grow out there and the fact that Takishima(main boy character) didn't force his feelings on the Hikari(main…
Read at the sourceShizukana_Sekai
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 nee…
Read at the sourcekatbae
So this is an update after rewatching the anime. The first time I watched it I was 14 and at that time I thought this was such an amazing anime and you know I was a girl in love with shoujo-ai stories. I had watched Kaichu wa maid sama and Ouran High-school.
But after rewatching Special A at 20 yrs I realised how lacking the whole anime is. It's a huge cliche and has no uniqueness to it. The plot is repetitive and it's obsessed with portraying Hikari in the best light and make her deal with things that would be naturally annoying. It doesn't fit because she's like part tsundere/ super friendly + kind/ super strong + independent/ extremely competitive/ damsel in distress - It's like they blended a bunch of characteristics that don't even blend well nor make sense and was like yup think th…
Read at the sourceShellshock123
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…
Read at the sourcelknkira
I'm not good at writing long reviews, so I'll be very brief here.
To start, the anime has everything I like and hate in shoujos
In terms of feelings, I would say that it managed to make me feel happy or sad at various times, a positive point.
But what annoys me, are some episodes that seem to go nowhere, as if he didn't really miss it. And the personality of some characters, which is not a defect of the work, that end up irritating me.
But in general, it's a very nice anime to watch, at least it brought me moments of joy during the episodes.
Read at the sourceAnastasiyaV
[STORY]
-----------
The romantic scenes were very cute, especially in the beginning when Kei got protective of Hanazono. Watching two oddly paired people fall in love with each other sure was a journey. I didn't really enjoy it as much towards the end, although it had a pretty interesting ending. I was confused on how the anime ended, but after doing some research, I understand it.
[ART]
-----------
The quality of this anime was amazing. The details of every little thing was included, and I absolutely loved the scenery.
[SOUND]
-----------
The music was outstanding, and the voice actors / actresses did an amazing job of expressing their characters' personalities, especially Kei and Hanazono. Kei really showed that he was serious most of the time, and Hanazono is a very joyful girl who…
Read at the sourceauspiciousgoblin
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!) Th…
Read at the sourcemeily
just watched this anime (already finished the manga), and i'm kinda disappointed because the Kei's voice in here wasn't like in my imagination (if I should give an example, then maybe like Kyouya Otori - Ouran host club). for Hikari, well I prefer Nana Mizuki's voice, but Yuuko is good too so I don't mind it.
first impression = the legs and hands is so long! I know in manga it's like that too, but I hope they will make it more 'rational' in the anime. but well, since this anime was produce 10 years ago, I can't complain about it, though.
because this anime made when the manga still ongoing, so the ending was... hang up...
Read at the sourcepomegranit
Whelp. All I have to say is 'wow'.
I'm not really a shojo fan, to say the least. I don't particularly like anime that centers purely around romance without any other plot, and I usually despise shojo heroines because they're dumb and innocent and blush too much and are so starstruck I just can't deal with them.
I prefer action heroines who kick ass, after all.
I think I found myself a new Ouran High School Host Club in Special A.
Ouran is one of my favorite animes of all time, mostly because of the characters and group dynamic, which I found in Special A: and it made me really, really happy with the structure of the show.
The plot is interesting, with the arcs never taking more than two-three episodes before quickly moving on to maintain interest. The arcs don't fade into nothing…
Read at the sourceNalarueAni
I watched this anime over the summer while working on commission drawings of the "Durarara!!" characters - meaning I watched the dub. I'm sorry, but I HATE the English voice actor for Hikari. She's so nasally which is a feature that would make ANYONE annoying. So if you're planning to watch this, go with the sub.
Dubbed voice acting to the side, I loved the anime. It reminded me a lot of "Kaichou wa Maid-sama!" because of the whole boy-loves-girl and girl-loves-boy-back-but-refuses-to-admit-it kind of deal. What made this anime better than "Kaichou wa Maid-sama!" was that Hikari realized and admitted her love for Kei quicker than Misaki did so I'm glad about that. Also there was a lot more romance between all the side characters as well which I was surprised about and quite enjoyed.
Th…
Read at the sourcegworcester
This anime is about 7 high school students who (thanks to their grades and social status) are a part of the elite special A group. This anime is a comedy/romance and will have you laughing and "awwing" in almost every episode. I rated this anime a 10 out of 10, there was nothing I could pick out about it that I didn't like. This anime shines in its character and enjoyment categories especially. I loved how every character got their happy ending, I grew to love all of them so the ending really left me with a happy satisfied feeling. I would go on but there is not much else to say. This short anime will leave you with a happy feeling in your stomach, I highly recommend for romance/school comedy lovers!
Read at the sourceLucky_SLS
Just a 1 time watch.
Dont expect too much from this series. u r way better watching 'Kaichowa maid sama' or 'toradora'. this is too stereotypical n kinda bores u with the same stuff. A romantic relation should develop as a series progresses but that's completely lacking here. after watching a few episodes, u kinda get bored seeing hikari's acting. so move on to some other anime if u can.
The only god thing in this anime that i can say was the characters. all their story was what kept me pushing to finish off this anime. the humor level is ok though. if it was crappy, i would long ago deleted the series (like before 5 episodes). and the story is pretty childish too. its has a feel free go along with it flow, so if u dont like it, it does nothing to convince u. if u felt a particular episo…
Read at the sourceInvertiHerikawa
This is primarily going to be a deliberate rant about how much I hated the Special A dub, and this is coming from someone who only watches dubs. The anime is fine by its own right, so I'm not gonna delve too deep into any elements other than the voice acting. I'm just gonna briefly rate the other elements, and that's it.
----------
Sound: 0
I have several problems with this dub. The first being Andrew Love, a voice actor that specializes in deep voices is the voice of Tadashi. Oh, hell no. There's plenty of other voice actors in the Houston area that could fit the bill. Like Adam/Scott Gibbs, for instance.
The second is the sheer fact that Brittney Karbowski and Shelley Calene-Black are used for practically every single female extra. You should never cast two voice actresses with highl…
Read at the sourceSaraaahh63
I decided to watch Special A after hours browsing the internet for something similar to OHSHC. I watched all 24 episodes in the span of a day. I loved everything about this anime. The story really isn't anything special, but the characters are ones you will definitely fall in love with. The whole experience was a roller coaster of emotions. You'll go from feeling giddy to frustrated to confused to sad to giddy again. I feel like this would be amazing to watch while on your period (sorry if that's tmi). It was very sad ending the series, simply because it's one of those shows that you will go away missing. The characters feel like people you have genuine connections with.
Read at the source
