S.A - Special A ep.06

May 13, 2008 | 15 Comments

I think part of the problem that this series had before is because the writers try to stretch one volume of the manga for one episode. Vampire Knight writers realized that this is impossible and does a good job of mixing up a few chapters but that's not the case with this series. Thankfully the writers start to realize that this is not the way to go and starting from this episode, they combine 2 chapters to make one episode. I also realized now that the majority of Special A's stories are more like a straight-up romance between Kei and Hikari than a comedy involving the rest of the Special A members. I know I've said this before but it needs to be repeated because I think the side characters like Tadashi, Akira, Ryuu, and the twins are a lot more interesting to see. I don't like Yahiro though, I think he's as annoying as Kei so watching this episode is similar to seeing two annoying people at once. It doesn't help that I think the animation is not as good as last week's episode.

Episode 6

Hikari opens the door to her house only to find Takeshima Sui standing in front of it, calling her "Baka-onna". As it turns out, he's come to deliver her next part-time job...and to declare how much he loves his brother who seems to be in a funk lately. Yikes. This kid has a serious bro-con. Anyway, Sui urges Hikari to take the job since she's poor and all. Much to Sui's horror, Kei then arrives accompanied by Higurashi no Naku Koro ni-styled music, ordering his brother not to meddle. Sui argues that he though Kei would enjoy the party more if Hikari comes with him. Despite Kei's request that Hikari returns the invitation, Hikari insists on taking up the job. Much to her surprise, the job is to be Kei's partner at a party. Since Hikari takes the job, Kei tells her that she must follow his order at the party. That night, Hikari scares both of her parents because she's actually interested in parties and making a dress for herself. Well, that and because she looks like a serial killer from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni while wielding needle and making stabby sounds. Ooh, I just realised that the nickname of the male protagonist in this series is similar to the one from Higurashi as well: Kei.

The next day, Hikari shows off the fugly dress that she made the night before to Kei. Obviously he rejects it. When Akira asks her what party she's going to, Hikari shows the invitation. Much to Akira's shock, the invitation is for a birthday party of a guy called Yahiro. Because of this, Kei suggests that it'd be better if Hikari doesn't attract too much attention at the part (ie. wearing simpler dress). Despite being pissed off for being ordered around by Kei, Hikari agrees to do what he asks for. Later on, Hikari gets to have her body measured by the tailor so they can make a dress for her. Because Hikari keeps moving and screaming around, however, the owner of the house can hear her. Upon finding out that the person upstairs are being measured under the request of Takeshima family, the guy, who turns out to be Yahiro, decides to take Hikari's measurement himself. Hikari tries to kick him out but Yahiro manages to block her karate chop. He immediately recognizes as Hanazono Hikari and wonders if Kei has broken her. In the aftermath, Hikari comes out wearing a long blue dress. So much for simplicity. Kei looks dumbfounded upon seeing her which is funny since Hikari is badly drawn here.

That night, Tadashi, Jun, and Ryuu sneaks into the party because they are ordered by Akira to protect Hikari. Not surprisingly, Ryuu is getting friendly with the dogs already, causing Jun to be jealous. Later on that night, Hikari ends up standing on the balcony on her own since Kei is busy doing other things at the party. She finds herself approached by the same man who took her measurement and much to her surprise, the guy turns out to be Yahiro himself. Yahiro gets straight to the point and asks Hikari if she's Kei's girlfriend. Hikari denies this and claims that Kei paid for her. LOL. That makes it sounds worse than a girlfriend. This causes Yahiro to realize that Kei's love is one-sided so he wants to know what Hikari thinks about Kei. He also feels sorry for her for being liked by that 'wimp'. Hikari kicks Yahiro upon hearing this, asking him not to call her greatest rival a wimp. She also believes that there's no way he likes her. In order to prove his point, Yahiro tells Hikari that he'll pretend to do something to her and if Kei is angry, that will be his proof that Kei actually likes her.

Because of this, Yahiro pretends that he's going to kiss Hikari. True enough, Kei appears and proceeds to punch Yahiro. Hikari is shocked to see this development and when Kei tries to touch her, she freaks out and punches him before running away from him. Later on, Yahiro finds Hikari hiding inside his room so he decides to tell her that he doesn't think Kei will go all out against her in terms of fight. Because of this, he promises to train her in his place. Later on at the party, Yahiro suggests to the other guests that they play a game of 「鬼ごっこ」- (Onigokko), a game of tag. He promises to give the winner a prize. And the person who's chose to be the "Oni" (Ogre) is none other than Hikari. The goal is for the "Oni" to reach the rooftop but she can't use the lift. Because of this the men in the party start to chase after Hikari. Hikari, however, takes off her shoes and rips her dress so she can run easily and kicks those guys to oblivion. When Jun, Tadashi, and Ryuu arrived on the scene, they are freaked out upon seeing the unconscious body and realises that they are better off not coming.

Meanwhile, Hikari is taken into a room by Kei, who wants her to escape by car. Hikari, however, refuses and continues to play the game. Because of this, Kei has no choice but to help Hikari by beating up her opponents. Hikari eventually reaches the rooftop by kicking the door open. Hikari, however, doesn't want any prize. Since she won this game, she just wants to be acknowledge as Kei's rival. Yahiro tells her that it's okay. Kei then drags Hikari away from the guy but before they left, Yahiro asks them if Akira is okay. Upon finding out that she's okay, Yahiro seems to be happy. Later on, Kei explains that he, Yahiro, and Akira used to be childhood friends. This causes Hikari to say outloud that there are many things she doesn't know about Kei. Kei decides to tease her if she wants to find out about it but Hikari denies it. Despite this, Kei still wants to know what Yahiro said to her earlier in the mansion. Hikari, of course, refuses to tell Kei what it was.

Impression

As it turns out, the only reason the writers include all of those Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is because Yahiro decides to play that Onigokko game. I actually don't mind the episode but since I am not a big fan of either Kei or Hikari or Yahiro, the episode still feels muted. It did have a few amusing points such as the aforementioned scene where Hikari tried to make her own dress or when Sui demonstrated his bro-con. I am grateful that the writers try to include the scene where Jun, Tadashi, and Ryuu are infiltrating the party. But at the end of the day, their roles are pretty minimal and unimportant. It's always amusing to see Ryuu getting along so easily with the animal though. Although when I first see Jun, I actually thought he's Akira. And then I realized, why would Akira be jealous seeing Ryuu with two dogs? XD Anyway, I was hoping that they'd include Tadashi's puppet thing at the end of the episode but I guess the writers realized that they didn't have enough time to do this since they're compressing two chapters into one episode.

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