(L) S.A. (tv) ~Special A~

[White Manju Bun]

Didnt see a thread on this yet.


The shoujo manga S.A. (or Special A/スペシャル・エー) is getting an anime adaptation. I think this will be in winter 2008 though I cant read the site for the date

Summary of manga: Hanazono Hikari, the main character has always been place second against Takishima Kei, who is always first, he also loves Hikari and everyone knows except her. Their wrestling loving fathers first introduced them to one another when they were 9 years old. Self-assuming to be the best in wrestling, young Hikari challenges Kei to a wrestling match only to be defeated thoroughly by him. Ever since that fateful introduction and incident, Hikari swears to be beat Kei in school grades, a sporting event, anything.

http://special-a.jp/index.html

Cast:
Jun Fukuyama as Kei Takishima
Yuko Goto as Hikari Hanazono

Ayahi Takagaki as Megumi Yamamoto
Hiro Shimono as Tadashi Karino
Hitomi Nabatame as Akira Tōdō
Kazuma Horie as Ryū Tsuji
Tsubasa Yonaga as Jun Yamamoto

Studio: GONZO
Creator: Maki Minami
# of epis: 24

Ive read a bit of this manga so Im looking forward to the anime and plus FukuJun is playing Kei which is nice

[LKK]

I hope between now and the anime's airing, they'll lighten the color of Kei's hair. It's supposed to be a yellow blond color not the brown shown in the anime art. I almost didn't recognize him the first time I saw his anime counterpart.

[MUAHAHAHAHAHA]

I really like this manga.I think Kei is cool and the art is okay.But i wonder how GONZO will end this.Perhaps in the same manner as how Ouran ended

[sapphire-pyro]

I love the manga and I highly prefer the manga art ^^; But I love this series so definitely checking out the anime

[Midonin]

I don't usually watch shoujo, but I've sampled nearly everything at one time or another, and the premise appeals to me. That, and Yuko Goto as Hikari.

Added to my "To Watch" list.

[ZODDGUTS]

The character designs for the anime look pretty bad damn what happen they don't even look close to what they look like in the manga.

[crystar]

Really looking forward to this. I <3 Special A. And I'll agree the anime character designs look a bit off. I also don't like how they changed Kei's hair colour. Everyone sort of looks the same in a way (the short haired people anyway).

And I thought this was confirmed to air Spring 2008. Well, I asked another forum I'm at for someone to read the date and they said Spring.

[mecano]

It is spring 2008 as I can read the kanji for "spring".
And I really dislike the character designs. The expressions of Kei and Hikari in the picture are way off. Only Akira and Tadashi look somewhat the same as the manga.
Let's hope that they change it in the anime.

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by White Manju Bun

Cast:
Jun Fukuyama as Kei Takishima
Yuko Goto as Hikari Hanazono

That right there is quite genius --- what a pairing.

I'm looking forward to this. It'll be interesting to see how they portray the story, along with it's characters in anime form. Never would have guessed Gonzo..

& yes, i wouldn't mind knowing who'll be the composer for the series.

[Bonta Kun]

LOL took me a while to find this thread, hiding away as S.A.... I was looking for Special A

can't wait for this, and I only just recently started reading the manga. Will agree that the character design is a little off but I can live with that.

Great cast of VAs
Hitomi Nabatame as Akira Tōdō = perfect

Ja ne

[crystar]

Hmm. What other shoujo-ish comedy titles has Gonzo done? Whenever I watch them it's always mecha. I hope they know how to handle a show like this. But I shouldn't get my hopes up for something the quality of what Bones did for Ouran...

How much you wanna bet that if this comes out and catches on, we'll get the obligatory "OURAN RIP-OFF!" outcry. Even though Special A came out first.

[Kyuusai]

I read a good bit of the manga (the first two volumes) so I could be familiar with it when I did some work on the last bit Entropy released before we dropped it due to it being licensed.

I recall thinking that it was absolutely ridiculous, but it was amazing that I enjoyed it anyway. It's just fun. I didn't follow the manga after Viz licensed it, though, partly because I was ticked off at Viz not responding to queries about its licensing status and partly because I was attached to my group's work after pouring blood and sweat into doing massive redraws on the parts I'd been assigned to. Yeah, I hope the poor souls at Viz who got assigned to that had fun doing it. Between those two issues, I was a bit bitter, and I guess I still am.

S.A. had a panel to panel pace and ridiculous plot points that seem like they'd be hard to translate into anime. Bones did miracles like this with Ouran, but I'll just have to wait and see if Gonzo can make an anime from S.A. that still feels like S.A.

[ZODDGUTS]

Originally Posted by crystar

Hmm. What other shoujo-ish comedy titles has Gonzo done? Whenever I watch them it's always mecha. I hope they know how to handle a show like this. But I shouldn't get my hopes up for something the quality of what Bones did for Ouran...

This isn't just being animated by Gonzo but with AIC onboard as well. They've work together on Solty Rei, Pumpkin Scissors and finally Seto no Hanayome. All shows had pretty good animation throughout the series. So I have faith this series will look good if it was just Gonzo alone well that would be a different matter...

[LKK]

Originally Posted by ZODDGUTS

So I have faith this series will look good

I hope you're right. I want S.A. to be a good-looking, well-animated series even though I don't particularly care for the character designs as they look right now.

[monir]

W00t!!! A potentially romantic-series-thread started by Manju!!!!? Of course I'm interested. I also want to see how the opposite sex wrestling match features in animated frames.

[LKK]

@ monir: S.A. is a romantic comedy with the emphasis more on comedy than on romance. However, there should be more obvious romance feelings shown in S.A. than in say Ouran from a couple of seasons back. Don't expect too many mushy scenes though.

Spoiler for character relationships:

Kei is definitely in love with Hikari. He'll readily admit it if asked. Most often, his feelings are expressed in side looks and comments though. Unfortunately for him, Hikari goes through life like a horse with blinders on. She can't see what's happening around her unless she's looking at it straight on. On top of that, when it comes to Kei's feelings for her, she's got a blind spot a mile-wide in diameter because she's so focused on defeating him in a competition. Any competition will do; she's not particular on that point.

[andromeda0201]

Originally Posted by ZODDGUTS

This isn't just being animated by Gonzo but with AIC onboard as well. They've work together on Solty Rei, Pumpkin Scissors and finally Seto no Hanayome. All shows had pretty good animation throughout the series. So I have faith this series will look good if it was just Gonzo alone well that would be a different matter...

Originally Posted by crystar

Hmm. What other shoujo-ish comedy titles has Gonzo done? Whenever I watch them it's always mecha. I hope they know how to handle a show like this. But I shouldn't get my hopes up for something the quality of what Bones did for Ouran...

How much you wanna bet that if this comes out and catches on, we'll get the obligatory "OURAN RIP-OFF!" outcry. Even though Special A came out first.

Actually GONZO has done another shoujo, Kaleido Star, I thought it was really good

[Bonta Kun]

Originally Posted by monir

W00t!!! A potentially romantic-series-thread started by Manju!!!!? Of course I'm interested. I also want to see how the opposite sex wrestling match features in animated frames.

huh.... how come when I read this the only thought I had was "I wouldn't mind going a few rounds with Hikari"........ah me thinks its time to go take a long cold shower to cool down

[NoOneKnowS]

Originally Posted by crystar

How much you wanna bet that if this comes out and catches on, we'll get the obligatory "OURAN RIP-OFF!" outcry. Even though Special A came out first.

?? S.A came out first than ouran? wow I didn't know that. Though I won't call this a ripoff though (read almost 4 volumes of the manga); While both series are romanctic comedy Ouran has harem elements to it while s.a. doesn't. (well; correct me if I'm wrong but that's how i see it).

[LKK]

Originally Posted by NoOneKnowS

?? S.A came out first than ouran? wow I didn't know that. Though I won't call this a ripoff though (read almost 4 volumes of the manga); While both series are romanctic comedy Ouran has harem elements to it while s.a. doesn't. (well; correct me if I'm wrong but that's how i see it).

Ouran and S.A. both started in 2003 according to Baka-Updates Manga. I don't know which one debuted first that year though. Regardless of which actually came first, they're close enough in time that accusations of "rip-off" would be highly unfair. There is some similarity in the setting -- smart poor girl attends elite expensive high school -- and they're both romantic comedies with leanings towards to the absurd. But that's about it for similarities. Like you said, Ouran has a reverse harem vibe while S.A. does not.