Her whole life, Hikari Hanazono has been consumed with the desire to win against her school rival, Kei Takishima--at anything. He always comes out on top no matter what he does, and Hikari is determined to do whatever it takes to beat this guy! 3v6164
At age 6 Hikari lost to Kei in an impromptu wrestling match. Now, at 15, Hikari s "Special A," a group of the top seven students at a private academy, for the opportunity to trounce the guy who made her suffer her first defeat. However, Kei's feelings towards Hikari are different.
Included are the following unrelated short stories:
V.1 - Mikansei Chorus
V. 11 - Shoku no Miyako
17 Volumes (Complete)

Not amazed at the quality of this manga at all, but amazed that it could deceive so many. Special A is fuLL of flaws. The male lead isn't good looking (deal breaker right there), and to top off his poor looks, he doesn't even have a lovable personality. Who carEs if the female lead is "strong" anyways. Almost all female leads these days are. That's no reason to love it as fervently as so many seem to.
99 chapters of pure fluff.
... Last updated 13 years ago
Okay, so, Hikari is an insanely strong, pretty, hard-working girl, who borders on perfection (besides her denseness), and at first, I was totally in love with her character.
But... the male lead is like an alien or something. He's over-the-top rich, handsome, he's an unparalleled genius, and he doesn't try at all to be amazing at whatever he does.
It's so ridiculously annoying. Hikari, who's really cool, is always shown as inferior to the other guys in this manga, and it bugs the heck out of me. She turns into mush at the sight of Kei, and just.. argh!!!
It's funny enough, but honestly, read it if you don't plan on taking it seriously, and just for a laugh, but for me, even when I read it that way, I still couldn't enjoy it.
To me this is nothing more than the typical shoujo manga. Hikari is dense and completely clueless as to what is going on throughout most of the series, and Takishima always tries to keep everything a secret which is more annoying than suspensful. The artwork is okay but not wonderful or the best thing you've ever seen. The plot is cliche but I have to say that it is comical and will have you laughing. The manga is very predictable but is an interesting read regardless.
wow... i really really love this manga.. even though there's quite many people out there criticized the flawlessness of takishima, i still like him.. he's the ideal time of every girl, i guess... although i have to say, the ending was quite dissapointing, it was a little bit too rush to me.. but rest assure b'coz the entire story was good..
this manga was on my bookmark list for a few months b'coz of some of the reviews i read.. so to anyone that hesitate whether to read it or wait for some time, stop doing that and pick this one up coz u will be taken to a journey.. haha lol, i'm exaggerated..
before that, i must warn u first, the girl is really really dense.. there was time when i read this manga n i just want to knock her head off... and the guy is truly romantic, and possesive.. haha, it crack me to laugh everytime he gets jealous.. so kawaiii!!!!!
why didn't i read this earlier?!
the first Vol was a bit vague but it's getting better in the second volume onwards ...really very beautiful and funny 🙂
Two main characters
Kei : Too perfect and I hate it. There's nothing he couldn't do. He cares about Hikari and he loves her. They're cute but there were times when I get annoyed.
Hikari : Now this girl here. She could fight but why is it when it comes to Kei carrying her (bride-style) she didn't punch him? For example the helicopter scene,she was carried by Kei into his very helicopter. She screamed,"Put me down! Pervert!" etc but did nothing. I was pissed and stopped reading Special A. Her character is unique,she's hard working,beautiful,she could fight but when it comes to Kei,her character went flat and I hate it. Also it doesn't make sense how she works so hard to beat Kei ever since she's a little girl and she never wins. On the other side Kei,he wins without really working hard. She's dense,yes I got it. But even the most dense person could sense that someone like her by lifting her bride-style while she's on date,kissed her hair,helped her cook,etc etc. Sigh.
The manga actually has a lot potentials how the school has the elites and competition,how the leading girl could fight,the cute friendship,the art work,but I just can't stand the characters.
I'm sorry for the fans but the characters pissed me off.
It was cute. Cliché in certain ways, but a bit of a guilty pleasure. This isn’t a super serious story so I could deal with the less realistic aspects (e.i. Hikari’s denseness). Kei is a bit too perfect but still kinda interesting in his own way. Surprisingly, I like Hikari and her fighting spirit the most out of the whole cast. The fun surround SA is perhaps the best thing about this manga and though I wasn’t fully invested in it, I had good memories of it. Not the best, but most definitely not a bad series. Plus, there are laugh out loud moments sprinkled all throughout.
... Last updated 8 years ago
One of my favorites. Great story, great comedy.
The artwork is average, not too good, but not too bad. But I could happily enjoy it, because the plot is growing better as the story continues. It isn't only focused on two main characters, Kei and Hikari, but also the other S.A . The other have their own stories, and it still relates to the other stories, which makes it somewhat different with other shoujo mangas.
For the characters, they all have their own abilities. But for Kei, he's way too perfect -_-
I would have liked it more if Kei had two or three weaknesses. How could someone be so perfect at one time?
And the chapters!
There are 99 chapters, I don't know if the author intentionally made it only 1 chapter left to 100 chapters or not. Yeah, although the stories aren't all for Kei and Hikari but also the other characters (they have their own roles), it's still too much. But when I the time I read it, I found myself enjoy all the chapters 😀
And one good thing, now I that, after reading it I find myself become more diligent. Yeah, I recommend this to anyone who want to read patiently!
... Last updated 14 years ago
I liked the ing characters more that Hikari and Kei.
The humour was cute and nice.
It dragged on and the ending in my opinion was bit too rushed.
In all it wasn't awful, but average.
Okay, since as this is actcually my first manga, I couldn't really say what was cliche and what was not.
First off, the art. I liked it. It was average, I guess.
Secondly, the story could be enjoyable. A good read. It's nice to know that the plot doesn't only focus on the romance and on the main characters. The other characters weren't come and go. They held a role in the story. Some parts were also focused on them and their romance. Friendship was also there so I'd say it's fine.
Now for the characters, Hikari's characteristics were really irable.She's something you want to be but minus the denseness part. At first, it was pure humor but later on it became annoying. In one chapter, Kei had already told her he likes her and she still doesn't get it. That's too much! Kei, on the other hand, was too perfect. He's good at everything and it's almost hard to believe. If only he could have shown a weakness, then it'd be more realistic. The other characters have their individuality only, that the author gave them some characteristics that are unbelievable and disturbing.