S.A - Special A ep.05

May 5, 2008 | 11 Comments

This episode is actually pretty good. The animators are starting to get used to using shoujo style conventions (soft filters, pastel colors, etc). The cheesy crayon drawings that always appear during Hikari/Kei scene still present but it's easy to ignore them and just focus on what's good about the episode. I do wonder what people think about the 'tablecloth' effect. I'm talking about this white tablecloth patterns that appears everytime they try to emphasize harmonious situation. The scene usually involves a static screen so the tablecloth looks like a watermark/pattern overlaying the image. At first I find it amusing but I'm getting used to it know and sometimes they actually look pretty good. As for characters, the focus of the story is still on Kei and Hikari but at least the other members are getting more screen time than in the previous episodes. And if the anime continue in this direction then we'll actually see an arc involving Akira pretty soon.

Episode 5

During afternoon tea, Akira realizes that Hikari is nowhere to be seen so Tadashi informs her that she and Kei are having meeting with the student council to talk about the upcoming reception party. The only problem is that Kei hates the student council so he spends the majority of the meeting glaring at the poor members while Hikari and the president talk to one another. When the president suggests that they should have Wataame (cotton candy) party, however, Kei objects so the president tells him they should have a duel to find out whose idea is better. Because Kei insults Hikari using his usual "Nii-san" joke, Hikari ends up joining the student council to help with their party ideas. Akira, who doesn't like being Hikari-less decides to join her as well. The two create a campaign where they give out free Wataame to other students. The students, however, ignore their campaign when Kei comes with a car to distribute free gelato.

Meanwhile the rest of S.A feels that they are not needed by Kei to organize the party so they tell Kei to contact them if he needs their help. Kei doesn't seem to mind this because he always do things on his own even when he was a kid. While going shopping with Akira, Hikari finds out that Kei always tend to do things on his own. This is the reason that Akira would rather do things with Hikari. The next morning, Hikari finds out that the student council president is trying to sabotage one of Kei's attraction and even asks her to hack Kei's computer. Hikari refuses and tells the president that a festival should be fun for everyone involved. Hikari then confronts Kei and tells him that he can't possibly have fun doing things on his own. Because of this, she asks him to work together with others. Much to her surprise, Kei agrees immediately. The rest of S.A are relieved to see this because it means things back to status quo.

Much to other members' surprise, Kei actually asks them for some help. Hikari then comes and asks the others if the student council can help out as well. Much to everyone's shock, Kei agrees. In the aftermath, S.A and student association end up working together to organize a party. On the day of the party, all of the students are taken to an island using Akira's cruise liner and are asked to change into Yukata. The minute they arrive, they are greeted by row of lanterns illuminating the island's entrance. In the city center, there are food stalls all over the place. Kei then explains that the area is being developed for recreational purpose so he simply borrows it. Akira provided the ship, Ryuu provided the Yukata, Tadashi arranged the permission and food stands while Jun/Megumi takes care of the music. Unknown to Hikari, this lavish party has been arranged by Kei so that it'd suit her taste. In the end, Hikari reluctantly admits to Kei that she's having fun.

Impression

I think I finally understand why I haven't been able to enjoy Kei/Hikari scenes as much as I enjoyed Tamaki/Haruhi scenes in Ouran Host Club. Leaving aside character design and animation, I feel that I am not given any choice when it comes to possible pairing for Hikari. In Ouran Host Club, although Tamaki seems to be the default choice, there's a possibility that Haruhi could go for the other guys in the club. So if one doesn't like Tamaki as a male lead, you don't have to feel as if you're forced to like him. S.A, however, doesn't give that option. Kei/Hikari is the only possible pairing. In this series, even if I like the idea of Ryuu/Hikari, that's not possible given the characters' background and current situation. In a way, some characters in this series are too interconnected with another characters that it's difficult to put them in a situation involving their non-default pairing (ie. Kei/Hikari, Akira/Tadashi, Jun/Ryuu/Megumi).

This is probably why I like Hikari/Akira friendship in the series. Since any other possible romantic pairing for Hikari is almost non-existent, the only other relationship that's left for Hikari is her friendship with Akira. It's kind of fun to see the two of them doing things together and this is especially true when Akira is slightly obsessed with Hikari. I don't think Akira is leaning towards Yuri persuasion even though the series seem to suggest it. I think it's just a typical harmless high school crush that a friend has for another friend. Akira clearly likes Hikari's talent and ability and Hikari probably likes having a friend where she doesn't need to constantly prove herself. When she's with Akira, she can relax and just be herself instead of someone who always have to win that first position. In reverse, Hikari provides some kind of alternative friendship for Akira, whose only other options are the slightly dumb Tadashi, the cold shoulder Kei, and the threesome of Ryuu, Jun, and Megumi. It's no wonder that she finds Hikari's companionship to be the best of the possible options.

Miscellaneous thoughts

IMO, there's nothing wrong with Kei's preference to work on his own. I agree that working together with others can be fun, if you actually get along with those people. If you don't know the people that well or if you don't get along well, it's difficult to work together with a group of people. This is especially hard to do when no one in the group can agree about leadership. Everyone could be either too afraid to lead or they could be a bunch of alpha personalities who only want to lead but don't want to follow orders. Even if there is a consensus that one person should lead, it's hard to achieve consensus on what a group should do. In the end, one person usually decides the grand plan and just let the subordinates deal with the nitty-gritty details. This is fine if everyone is responsible and can get the job done on time. Sometimes, however, there are one or two people who can't be trusted with certain responsibilities because they'll just sit on it and do nothing. In my experience, group work is usually only fun when it happens between friends who already know each other and in the scope of class activities. When it's a group work between work colleagues, for example, it becomes a lot more difficult because egos usually are involved.

Poll: Do you like working in a group? If you have to work in a group, do you normally prefer to lead or to follow?

Preview

Next week: The start of a small arc involving Akira.

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