If you look at the back of the volume, you'll see this manga described as 'rabukome', or love comedy, it's how this genre is called in Japan. However, in case of 'Special A', there is much more comedy than there is love, and that's why it's surely not my favourite.
story and characters
Well, I can't help comparing 'Special A' with 'Maid-sama'. There are too
many similar situations and aspects. However, 'Special A' lost to
'Maid-sama' in all possible ways.
If in 'Maid-sama' all 'transformations' and all silly situations could be somehow explained, even though they were created entirely for fun, in 'Special A' the level of absurdity was reaching to the sky.
I do admit those situations were hilarious and the way the mangaka dealt with them was worthy of praise, but you cannot live on humour when you're reading shoujo. It's not just a comedy, it's a love comedy.
So here it comes - the main point. If in 'Maid-sama' the romance bloomed soon after the beginning, in 'Special A' the Heroine was even more dumb and the Hero was much more scared of scaring her (pun intended) with his feelings and much less self-confident. Let's take the confession by the Hero. When did Usui make it? Volume 1, chapter 4. When did Kei properly make a confession? Volume 8. Even when mangaka happened to show mercy and draw something that was supposed to be romantic, it was not. At least not in the way that makes a girl feel that dokidoki thing, sigh with envy or hold her breath.
Okay, maybe the author was busy with something else? Of course she was, instead of one major couple she divided her attention to a number of couples. All Hikari's friends had their eyes set on someone. To be even more precise, as soon as a character happened to be single for some reason, miss Minami felt her divine duty to make him or her find a partner. Even minor character like Alise were not left aside. On one hand, it's much better than a manga centering on two people and leaving no space for others. Of course, I liked the fact that there was more interaction between characters who were not involved in a relationship than it usually is in a shoujo (even in 'Maid-sama'). Like the fact that SA members were all good friends, or how Aoi, Finn, Sakura and Yahiro and others were welcomed into their group.
And though this seems just right and kind of the mangaka, it's not an entirely good thing. Not only this fact, but also the fact that there were a lot of not-so-necessary fillers was making the manga just boring. I mean, when the reader wants something to stir his mind and to penetrate his skin down ho his nerves, it's not a chapter about one more school festival where Hikari one more time helps some random girl (believing that she must have her own reason) that the reader wants to see. Moreover, even if other couples are introduced, there must be at least some progress in their relationship, too, because otherwise there's no meaning. However, romantic moments were scarce - if those count as romantic at all, most relationships were only hinted at, and that's surely not enough to feel any compassion.
I must praise miss Minami's sense of humour, not to let you think it's completely unworthy of reading. I liked a lot Hikari's attitude like '- Hey, Hikari, do you have any business in this class? - Why should I? I was just passing by'
However, all that image was spoilt by occasional 'she's just a girl' scenes. While my favourite Misaki was never shown to be a loser, even in moments when it was apparently impossible for her to win, Hikari was constantly getting into such situations, and moreover - giving up, such as when she was pathetically crying for help at Aoi's house.
And though I was not disappointed very much with such image, finally Hikari was just a cheerful positive cute girl.
One,
two,
three,
four,
and many more times.
In fact, exactly like Usui in 'Maid-sama', Kei also admitted it's impossible to win to Hikari because she's so stubborn and never-giving-up. However, while Misaki was an undoubtedly standing-out heroine, in 'Special A' Hikari was dangerously close to those good-for-nothing girls whose role is limited to lighting the Hero's way with their broad smiles.
graphics
And graphics in 'Special A' is a thing that's the most mysterious in Minami Maki.
First of all, her style looks like she made no progress even after creating 17 volumes. Even if you look at the last pages of this manga, there will be the same lame faces like in the first one. However, it's not that she is a completely bad artist. From the very beginning she proved she is able to create extremely detailed beautiful pictures that look as if there is real movement in them.
And just a few pages away there are frames that make me thing I opened the wrong manga.
But then she demonstrates her ability again.
And you see this wonderful frame...
and then you slide down the page and see a lame picture again.
And then I think, maybe she was drunk? Or at least tired? Or maybe she is a kind person who sometimes lets her assistance draw some frames instead of her?
What I do acknowledge is that she, like other mangakas whom I respect, is able to convey the characters' feelings with the way they look.
Miss Minami surely did a great job capturing moments that were important for the story, together with the characters' feelings inside and making those moments last just a bit longer for the reader than they did in reality.
There were also attempts to create unusual visual images, like on this chapter cover.
But what I want to mention here is that she is obviously a fan of different kinds of inscriptions, and I'm grateful for that.
'WHY? - it's in American. Nice!'
'here's a helicopter'
Sometimes she was even expressing thorough sarcasm towards the genre she's working in
'shoujo-manga eyes with not a single cloud in them' (and it's a boy)
and sometimes she used grotesque-styled images that really fit the comical situations she created.
conclusion
I'm never giving any points out of ten or stars out of five. So it's not about the mark I give. If I were asked whether this manga goes by plus or by minus, I'd give it a plus. I laughed a lot and I began to think the characters dear to me so that I was even sad when I saw the last page. That, however, does not erase the fact I have been reading 17 volumes for 5 weeks, which is extremely long.
I do admit those situations were hilarious and the way the mangaka dealt with them was worthy of praise, but you cannot live on humour when you're reading shoujo. It's not just a comedy, it's a love comedy.
So here it comes - the main point. If in 'Maid-sama' the romance bloomed soon after the beginning, in 'Special A' the Heroine was even more dumb and the Hero was much more scared of scaring her (pun intended) with his feelings and much less self-confident. Let's take the confession by the Hero. When did Usui make it? Volume 1, chapter 4. When did Kei properly make a confession? Volume 8. Even when mangaka happened to show mercy and draw something that was supposed to be romantic, it was not. At least not in the way that makes a girl feel that dokidoki thing, sigh with envy or hold her breath.
Okay, maybe the author was busy with something else? Of course she was, instead of one major couple she divided her attention to a number of couples. All Hikari's friends had their eyes set on someone. To be even more precise, as soon as a character happened to be single for some reason, miss Minami felt her divine duty to make him or her find a partner. Even minor character like Alise were not left aside. On one hand, it's much better than a manga centering on two people and leaving no space for others. Of course, I liked the fact that there was more interaction between characters who were not involved in a relationship than it usually is in a shoujo (even in 'Maid-sama'). Like the fact that SA members were all good friends, or how Aoi, Finn, Sakura and Yahiro and others were welcomed into their group.
And though this seems just right and kind of the mangaka, it's not an entirely good thing. Not only this fact, but also the fact that there were a lot of not-so-necessary fillers was making the manga just boring. I mean, when the reader wants something to stir his mind and to penetrate his skin down ho his nerves, it's not a chapter about one more school festival where Hikari one more time helps some random girl (believing that she must have her own reason) that the reader wants to see. Moreover, even if other couples are introduced, there must be at least some progress in their relationship, too, because otherwise there's no meaning. However, romantic moments were scarce - if those count as romantic at all, most relationships were only hinted at, and that's surely not enough to feel any compassion.
I must praise miss Minami's sense of humour, not to let you think it's completely unworthy of reading. I liked a lot Hikari's attitude like '- Hey, Hikari, do you have any business in this class? - Why should I? I was just passing by'
One,
graphics
And graphics in 'Special A' is a thing that's the most mysterious in Minami Maki.
First of all, her style looks like she made no progress even after creating 17 volumes. Even if you look at the last pages of this manga, there will be the same lame faces like in the first one. However, it's not that she is a completely bad artist. From the very beginning she proved she is able to create extremely detailed beautiful pictures that look as if there is real movement in them.
What I do acknowledge is that she, like other mangakas whom I respect, is able to convey the characters' feelings with the way they look.
'WHY? - it's in American. Nice!'
'shoujo-manga eyes with not a single cloud in them' (and it's a boy)
and sometimes she used grotesque-styled images that really fit the comical situations she created.
conclusion
I'm never giving any points out of ten or stars out of five. So it's not about the mark I give. If I were asked whether this manga goes by plus or by minus, I'd give it a plus. I laughed a lot and I began to think the characters dear to me so that I was even sad when I saw the last page. That, however, does not erase the fact I have been reading 17 volumes for 5 weeks, which is extremely long.
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