Special A - Episode 23

As Special A hits its penultimate episode, so the pressure on Kei to leave for London intensifies, hitting him where it hurts most - His friends and, of course, Hikari.

The political manoeuvring coming from Kei's grandfather and subordinates sees first the Special A closed down, forcing the gang to attend normal classes, before than pressure switches to the families of individuals within that group, which in turn sees Akira, Jun and Megumi drop out of the academy altogether. This leaves Kei with only one choice - To secede to his grandfather's wishes and leave for London, giving us an implausible yet still strangely emotional ending to this episode with Hikari absolutely distraught.


I've commented previously about this series that on occasion the Special A's priviledged existence can actually be a handicap to allowing the viewers to empathise with the main characters, and this issue crops up again here, as I found myself wholly unsympathetic to having the Special A closed - After all, why should a handful of rich kids get such special treatment, smart or otherwise? Luckily this wasn't dwelt on for too long, and allowed the actual storyline to flow through, with Kei and Hikari of course stealing the show, even when the former was brooding away without actually talking to anyone.

If nothing else, I'm certainly now intrigued to see how the series closes out, as this slow-burned has carefully and quietly edged its way into my heart from a show that I could care less about into something that I actually rather enjoy watching.