Special A - Episode 15

After a couple of episodes away from what is most assuredly the main point of the series, we finally return to the relationship between Hikari and Kei more or less where it left off, with Hikari promising Kei a date after helping to nurse him back from his stress-related health problems.

Of course, this being Special A these things never go smoothly, with Kei's family and bodyguards on the prowl for him as he ditched a marriage interview to meet Hikari instead. However, this soon catches up on him, with Sakura (the subject of the interview) catching up with them both and stealing Hikari away, albeit largely for her own ends.

While the episode as a whole is a bit all over the place, the burgeoning relationship between the show's main pairing continues slowly but surely, with Hikari seemingly moving further and further towards the realisation of her feelings for Kei. For a while it appeared that Sakura's appearance would be that of a rival for her affections, but although she looks likely to stick around as a character (which is fine with me, she fits in with the tone of the show well enough) her attentions are soon diverted away from Kei to pastures new by the end of this episode.


The more I watch of it, the more of an odd series Special A is to sum up. On the one hand, I've found myself really rather liking Hikari as a main character (despite her stupidity when it comes to love, although this is actually played to in rather a funny way early in this episode), but on the other sometimes it tries a little too hard to be either wacky or generally something it isn't. Besides which, watching the lives of so many priviledged people still makes it hard for me to form any kind of emotional bond with them, which could well explain why I don't have that issue with the 'normal' Hikari.

At the end of the day though, this show is far closer to romantic comedy 'done right' than a series like Itazura na Kiss (I know, sorry to rant about it yet again), and for that alone I am grateful in this current climate that is rather low on such offerings.