S.A (manga)

S.A (manga)
File:2005936866771643535 rs.jpg Special A Anime
Genre	drama, romance
Created by	Minami Maki
Manga
Written by	Minami Maki
Published by	Hakusensha
Anime
Directed by	Miyao Yoshikazu
Studio	Gonzo

S.A (S・A（スペシャル・エー）, S・A (Supesharu Ee)), also known as Special A, is a shōjo manga by mangaka Maki Minami. Serialization started in Hana to Yume, only appearing bimonthly. After Chapter 4 the manga became serialized in the biweekly magazine Hana to Yume. Special A has been licensed in Asian countries, Germany, and the U.S. (by VIZ Media). Currently there are 11 volumes (in Japan).

It was recently announced in Hana to Yume that Special A it will have an anime adaptation, animated by Gonzo and AIC.

Story

Hikari Hanazono, the main character, has always been second to Kei Takishima. While Hikari considers Kei a rival and somewhat of a friend, Kei loves Hikari. Everyone knows this, but she is too dense to notice. Their wrestling loving fathers first introduced them to one another when they were 6 years old. Assuming that she was the best in wrestling, young Hikari challenged Kei to a wrestling match only to be thoroughly defeated by him. Ever since that fateful incident, Hikari swore to beat Kei in school grades, a sporting event - anything. To do this she has enrolled in the same school as Kei since elementary. Now she attends Hakusenkan, an ultra elite school, that costs her carpenter father a lot of money. Hikari and Kei are the top two students in the school, with Kei holding firmly to that number one position.

The story primarily focuses on Hikari and her constant attempts to defeat her one and only rival, Kei, and how she finds love in their rivalry.

The School

Hakusenkan (or Private Hakusen Academy) is the best school in the prefecture. The classes are separated into A-F based on grades. The A class is only open for the top students in each grade. The top seven within the A class, from first year to third year, are known as the Special A or SA class. The members of SA are highly respected.

The SA class has its own building, dubbed "The School's Paradise" and attending class is optional (Only Hikari attends). They also have a kitchen, where Akira makes her afternoon tea. Their uniform is also different from the standard uniform. The members of the SA have been close friends since elementary school.

Characters

Main article: List of Special A characters

Names are displayed in Western order (given name before surname).

Hikari Hanazono (華園 光, Hanazono Hikari) Voiced by: Yuko Goto

Hikari is the protagonist of the story and is ranked 2nd in the school. She is energetic and kindhearted, but rather dense when it comes to love. She is the daughter of a carpenter. When she was six years old she experienced her first defeat and humiliation when she lost to Kei Takishima in a pro-wrestling match. In order to beat Kei, Hikari convinced her father to allow her to attend Kei's prestigious elite school and strives to defeat Kei at anything, from academics to athletics.

Kei Takishima (滝島 彗, Takashima Kei) Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama

Kei is Hikari's rival and holds the 1st position in the entire school. He is good at everything he does and is always a smooth winner. He is the son of the CEO of Takishima Corporation. Kei has been in love with Hikari since they were children, but Hikari is too dense to realize his feelings for her. He maintains a stoic and cool facade most of the time, except for when Hikari is in trouble.

Jun Yamamoto (山本 純, Yamamoto Jun) Voiced by: Tsubasa Yonaga

Jun is ranked 3rd in school and is the son of a music producer and a talented vocalist. He is a nice guy and is usually quiet like his sister. Both he and his twin sister, Megumi, seem to lack musical talent, and have an odd attachment with Ryuu. Like Megumi, he is very possessive of Ryuu and seems to worry Ryuu as much as he worries about the two of them. It is uncertain whether or not Jun or Megumi have the ability to win against Kei since they never really make the effort to do so, especially if it involves any tedious or boring activity.

Megumi Yamamoto (山本 芽, Yamamoto Megumi) Voiced by: Ayahi Takagaki

Megumi holds the 4th position in school and is the older twin sister of Jun. She and her brother are very close to Ryuu, whom they have known since they were children. Megumi is generally quiet and refuses to speak because of her bad singing voice. She communicates with others by writing down whatever she wants to say in a sketchpad. She speaks only when she is deeply upset, with fairly devastating effects when this occurs.

Tadashi Karino (狩野 宙, Karino Tadashi) Voiced by: Hiro Shimono

Tadashi ranks 5th in school and is the son of the school's director. He suffers from a bit of wanderlust, likes to travel alone and do whatever he wants or sees fit. He enjoys eating sweets, especially food made by Akira. He seems to end up as the character most comically attacked (frequently by Akira and Kei) because of his careless comments or reckless behavior.

Akira Toudou (東堂 明, Toudou Akira) Voiced by: Hitomi Nabatame

Akira holds the 6th position in school and is very fond of Hikari. She often will not do anything unless Hikari also wants to do it. She loves afternoon tea and is very fond of cute girls. Akira apparently loves Tadashi, and she never seems to hold back when hitting him. She is the daughter of the owner of an airline company.

Ryuu Tsuji (辻 竜, Tsuji Ryuu) Voiced by: Kazuma Horie

Ryuu ranks 7th in the entire school cohort. He is the son of the CEO of a sports company and one of his family's clients is Yahiro's family. He is an animal lover and is very good at handling children. The twins, Megumi and Jun, are unusually close to him, because they have been together since childhood. It is hinted that perhaps he is smarter than 7th place, but spends the majority of the time during exams worrying about Jun and Megumi, who tend to become bored or sleep during tests.

Drama CD

On February 23, 2007, a Special A drama CD was released in Japan. It focuses on Valentine's Day.

Voice cast:

• Hikari Hanazono: Masumi Asano
• Kei Takishima: Kenichi Suzumura
• Tadashi Karino: Masakazu Morita
• Akira Toudo: Yuu Asakawa
• Jun Yamamoto: Souichiro Hoshi
• Ryuu Tsuji: Hirofumi Nojima
• Yahiro Saiga: Daisuke Namikawa
• Sakura Ushikubo: Yumi Kakazu

Anime Adaptation

In issue 21 2007 of Hana to Yume, it was announced that S.A would have an anime adaptation. The anime is scheduled for spring 2008. Different seiyuu will be playing each character.

• Director: Miyao Yoshikazu
• Series Composition: Jukki Hanada
• Character Design: Kiyotaka Nakahara

• Color design: Aiko Matsuyama
• Sound director: Satoki Iida
• Animation company: Gonzo x AIC

• Hikari Hanazono: Yuko Goto
• Kei Takishima: Jun Fukuyama
• Akira Toudou: Hitomi Nabatame
• Tadashi Karino: Hiro Shimono
• Jun Yamamoto: Tsubasa Yonaga
• Megumi Yamamoto: Ayahi Takagaki
• Ryuu Tsuji: Kazuma Horie

External links

• S.A ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia