I didn't want to watch 'Special A' when I first heard about it. Most fans were saying it resembles 'Maid-sama'. I didn't want to see it as a replacement for my favourite shoujo anime. I refused to accept it. A year and a half after 'Maid-sama' manga ended and two years after I watched 'Maid-sama' anime for the last time, I finally understood I'm ready for 'Special A' as an original work with its own world.
story and characters
Initially, if we count similarities, they'd seem to have no end.
We do have one more prince here
who constantly makes the Heroine blush and teases her at the same time because...
And the Heroine is a strong
but slightly out of place girl.
She is a stubborn boyish heroine who does not fail to behave unlike what one would predict
Feelings is something beyond her understanding,
she's angry when she's supposed to be sad, and she's extremely resilient
She even
and has to dress as a maid
and her strength impresses even her enemies.
Even the graphic expressions of sounds and effects
and extremely weird situations shown with humour
were like those in 'Maid-sama'.
The Heroes have friends, of course, and what's surprising, the authors decided to give them a chance to show they're not just cardboard figures moving at the background of the main couple: every character had some past that was overshadowing the future and some problems to deal with.
However, this is where the common points end. Just a few plot twists and general archetypes do not mean these two animes are twins. Even the main couple has a completely different mood and a completely different basis for their relationship. Speaking of which, I'd say 'Special A' is even much less serious than 'Maid-sama'.
And this is exactly what spoils the anime. Let me be clear, like they say - if you're searching for a good romance, keep searching. Despite the fact the anime has 24 whole episodes, it's not enough for the story to progress very much. Since not only the main couple is in focus, all characters have just a tiny bit of time allocated for each them, which ends up in a collection of short stories about those characters, promising to have something in the future - but that future we're not destined to see. In fact, several times the authors deceived me with a simple trick 'first we make it look like they finally settle down, but then we crush it all!' The truth is, I did like the general concept. Or better to say, I did like how it differs from your usual shoujo.
But in the end, since they had no time for a real explanation of things, they still had to make it finish quickly, simple and lame: rainbow-coloured, flowery, soft and cute
As if compensating for this minor disadvantage, the authors drank heavily before creating the scripts and drafts of the episodes, or maybe ate some wild berries found in swamps of Africa, I don't know, but this I know for sure: this was one of the most wonderful love comedies I have seen.
graphics
is what surprised me most in this anime. Some frames were really beautiful
but some were just average or even lower. As if different people were creating those parts.
music
Music in 'Special A' is probably the most disappointing thing. And the thing that makes it so different from 'Maid-sama'. If the latter opened a whole new world for me under the name of 'heidi.', then 'Special A' brought nothing into my life to listen to in the morning when I go to work. OPEDs sung by seiyuus are rarely good, if only the seiyuus are not vocal pros or at least have outstanding voices, or the composer doesn't create anything very special for the anime.
voicing
But seiyuus here are just good. I'd not praise anyone of them especially, but I was satisfied with their work. Fans of mr. Fukuyama in his 'dark prince' mode would be delighted, I daresay.
Oh and if you were wondering who's that voice that is emitted from that childlike face of Kei's father then it's ms. Ogata Megumi. Yes, Haruka, Shinji, Eagle and Princess Emeraude.
conclusion
In the end, if I were asked whether I regret watching 'Special A', I'd never say yes. Because if laughing is said to prolong a human's life, then I've earned at least 5 additional years for myself.
We do have one more prince here
The Heroes have friends, of course, and what's surprising, the authors decided to give them a chance to show they're not just cardboard figures moving at the background of the main couple: every character had some past that was overshadowing the future and some problems to deal with.
However, this is where the common points end. Just a few plot twists and general archetypes do not mean these two animes are twins. Even the main couple has a completely different mood and a completely different basis for their relationship. Speaking of which, I'd say 'Special A' is even much less serious than 'Maid-sama'.
And this is exactly what spoils the anime. Let me be clear, like they say - if you're searching for a good romance, keep searching. Despite the fact the anime has 24 whole episodes, it's not enough for the story to progress very much. Since not only the main couple is in focus, all characters have just a tiny bit of time allocated for each them, which ends up in a collection of short stories about those characters, promising to have something in the future - but that future we're not destined to see. In fact, several times the authors deceived me with a simple trick 'first we make it look like they finally settle down, but then we crush it all!' The truth is, I did like the general concept. Or better to say, I did like how it differs from your usual shoujo.
graphics
is what surprised me most in this anime. Some frames were really beautiful
music
Music in 'Special A' is probably the most disappointing thing. And the thing that makes it so different from 'Maid-sama'. If the latter opened a whole new world for me under the name of 'heidi.', then 'Special A' brought nothing into my life to listen to in the morning when I go to work. OPEDs sung by seiyuus are rarely good, if only the seiyuus are not vocal pros or at least have outstanding voices, or the composer doesn't create anything very special for the anime.
voicing
But seiyuus here are just good. I'd not praise anyone of them especially, but I was satisfied with their work. Fans of mr. Fukuyama in his 'dark prince' mode would be delighted, I daresay.
Oh and if you were wondering who's that voice that is emitted from that childlike face of Kei's father then it's ms. Ogata Megumi. Yes, Haruka, Shinji, Eagle and Princess Emeraude.
conclusion
In the end, if I were asked whether I regret watching 'Special A', I'd never say yes. Because if laughing is said to prolong a human's life, then I've earned at least 5 additional years for myself.
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