Special A - Episode 7

After the thought of Kei being in love with her was implanted into her head during last episode's party, Hikari begins episode seven of Special A having rather a lot of trouble shaking those thoughts from her mind. Similarly, Kei is determined to find out what was said to her, and with the gang arguing about vacation destinations he sees the perfect opportunity to set down a challenge to her - A challenge that he knows she will both lose and be unable to refuse, with the bet going that she has to tell him what was said if he wins.

Thus, the scene is set for yet another episode of Special A filled with a completely ridiculous plot. But you know what? It was actually pretty funny. Sure, the whole race sabotage scenario has been done in animated form pretty much since its inception, so there's nothing innovative here, but the crazy lengths that Akira goes to in an attempt to prevent Kei from winning actually make for some decent and light hearted comic relief.

Of course, nothing is resolved come the end of the episode, leaving the main pair of characters as far away from getting together as ever. But, anime writers take note - As Special A has taken the brusque and distant Kei and made him warmer and more human as the series has progressed, so my enjoyment of the show has increased. A far cry from Itazura no Kiss, which insists on making its male lead as nasty as possible throughout, thus diminishing my enjoyment of the series. Really, you couldn't have a better example of how to get the right and wrong in similar scenarios.

Overall then, I really have warmed up to Special A now - It's certainly nothing ground-breaking, but get past that and it's kind of fun, with a couple of leads who are becoming increasingly enjoyable to watch.