[quote=dragoon]
Most of the people in this forum are not early adopters/heavy purchasers of DVDs. I’m behind myself due to the economic conditions. [/quote]
That’s not my problem. I easily get sidetracked with other things. lol Thankfully just in line with the new year/next decade, I’ll be cutting back severely on the other things and devoting more time to anime so I can score cool titles like this on a more frequent basis.
The story’s synopsis reminds me of the first part of His & Her Circumstances.
Is it a bit like that? (without the unique animation style of Kare Kano that is)
I’ve actually never watched His and Her Circumstances, so I can’t really say.
Just finished the final episodes on Part 1 today, and I have to say that I really enjoyed them. Episode 12 was especially funny and touching. With this streaming on TAN now, more people need to check this show out. It’s a lot of fun.
Also of note, I’m getting His and Her Circumstances for Christmas. So I might be able to comment on their differences later.
Premieres on VOD next week!
Yeah, so people better check it out DAMN IT! It’s a fun show. I think there are a lot of people here who will like it! 
I watched the first episode -
[details=spoiler]This does looks like it will be a fun show. I like the rivalry between Hikari and Kei and I like the other characters as well.
I find it funny that Hikari went to that school just to beat Kei at something and the fact that he teases her – calling her “Miss Second Place” because she can’t beat him. But I know he secretly likes her – very obvious as Cody had mentioned. Kei watched Hikari sleeping and he seemed happy that she remembered his birthday, until the rest of the class showed up. He was staring at her face in the moonlight and he seemed disappointed that he wasn’t going to be alone with her. Aww!
And they do make a great fighting team too, when they go after the guys that were stealing the test answers. Kei even paid Hikari a compliment before the fight. He really seems to admire her. Loved the look on his face when she vaulted over him during the fight![/details]
just watched the first ep on VOD and i gotta say this isnt my style of anime… although it got a little more interesting when
she caught the 3 stealing the test answers…
but if everyone says its that good i guess ill give it a shot and keep watching it. i mean heck, i pay for it so i might as well right?
yoka
Episode 2 -
[details=spoiler]Ha! When Hikari tells the student council president that she “loves” people that can rise to a challenge, I thought Kei was going to murder someone, he looked so jealous!
When the accidents occur, Kei worries about Hikari and wants to replace her in the match, letting her think that she is a hindrance and also instilling a grain of doubt in her. Not a very nice thing to do. And the way he tried to protect her during the match was really sweet. Ok, that made up for it for me!
But when the student council president insults her too, he lets her fight and, of course, they win. Now, about that little side bet they had – I wonder what “one thing” Kei will make Miss Second Place do? It should be funny – I hope it’s in the next episode! :laugh:[/details]
Episode 3 -
[details=spoiler]Since Kei won the bet, he wants Hikari to make him a box lunch. Well, that’s a simple enough request! But maybe not, when the person doing the cooking puts enough effort into things that she destroys kitchens.
When her mother doesn’t let her cook at home, she uses the school kitchen. It’s so funny that she can pulverize rice with her fist, not to mention putting holes in the pots. Poor Kei is walking around so happy and anticipating a nice lunch made by the girl he likes.
When Hikari’s rice ball is a huge failure, Kei apologizes for causing her so much trouble. But the look on his face says it all when Hikari tells him that she “wants” to cook for him. Then she drops the bomb by saying she has an obligation to the bet. Poor Kei!
When Hikari finds out that Kei never really had a meal made just for him, she becomes even more determined. She finds “unbreakable” rice (lol), asks Akira to help her and is finally able to make decent looking rice balls. She presents them to Kei but the school president swipes them and says they taste awful. But Kei eats them anyway and says they are delicious. Now, that’s love!![/details]
Something about the character designs just irritates me. One thing I noticed for certain is that their legs are really long. Anyway, it just doesn’t fit me. I wasn’t really expecting it to, though.
[quote=ZakuAce]
Something about the character designs just irritates me. One thing I noticed for certain is that their legs are really long.[/quote]
That’s the style of design that appeals to a lot of women and/or Clamp fans. 
[quote=ZakuAce]
Something about the character designs just irritates me. One thing I noticed for certain is that their legs are really long.[/quote]
It bugs me a lot too.
That anorexic character look is one of the things that really irked me about Code Geass, and the character designs here are very similar.
Which reminds me, I thought Zaku liked CG? Might be thinking of someone else though, it’s been a while since we watched that.
Since you liked Ouran, Coffee - You weren’t irked with Ouran’s? The character designs of these shows are pretty similar, with similar target demographics in aesthetics.
Nope, I loved CG. But it had a grab factor that S.A. doesn’t have. I lost track of time during every episode of CG. CG had everything I like - mecha, action, a good story, and some comedy thrown in there as well. I wasn’t nearly as put off by the character design in there as I am in S.A. Being a straight comedy it doesn’t have anything that pulls me in like CG did. That gives me a lot more time to nit pick.
[quote=dragoon]
Since you liked Ouran, Coffee - You weren’t irked with Ouran’s? The character designs of these shows are pretty similar, with similar target demographics in aesthetics.[/quote]
Yeah, the Ouran designs bugged me like that as well.
But it didn’t seem as pronounced as it does in CG, at least not angularly to me.
Overall though, all three lacked normalicy in character designs, though so far, Ouran seems to be the least prominent out of them in that regard.
Zaku I can see where you’re coming from, but specifically on design, I think that should be judged on that and that alone and nothing else. Regardless of other factors. Viewing a series though as a whole though, I don’t disagree with your right to that opinion. I kinda felt that way about Tsubasa and holic… as much as I like their designs, sometimes it gets a little too much. Sometimes it’s definitely a your mileage my vary. These designs tend to spark interesting viewpoints, heh.
On the whole these types of designs don’t really bug me, personally been seeing it since the older Clamp stuff which I’ve gotten pretty used to by now, ever since X. I particularly liked it in X and CG myself though.
[quote=TheCoffeeGod]
Overall though, all three lacked normalicy in character designs, though so far, Ouran seems to be the least prominent out of them in that regard.[/quote]
I was bugged by the character designs in Special A for the first episode or two, but as the show grew on me, I didn’t notice. I found the character designs in Ouran to be much less natural and much more annoying. Even after several episodes, I still noticed how oddly the characters were proportioned.
Episode 4 -
[details=spoiler]Kei invites Hikari home because his dad wants to talk about pro-wrestling and Hikari’s dad is too busy. The house is quite a palace and Kei’s dad seems awfully young - even younger than Kei. I loved the look on Kei’s face when Akira and Tadashi invite themselves over as well. Perhaps Kei was hoping for some alone time with Hikari?
It turns out that Kei has a younger brother, Sui, that everyone knew about except Hikari. I found that funny, considering they grew up together. Sui is something of a brat, insulting his teacher which in turn annoys Hikari and she chases him, calling him “Mini-Takishima”. Sui runs into his room and Hikari ends up knocking the door off the hinges, breaking it.
As payment for the door, Hikari agrees to tutor Sui. I liked Akira’s reaction when she found out that Hikari would be going to Kei’s house everyday. And Hikari’s teaching skills are almost as good as her cooking skills, but she takes it as a challenge and is determined to succeed. When Sui insults her, she compares him to Kei. But when she might finally be getting somewhere with him, Kei walks in the room.
It is evident that Sui feels inferior to Kei and thinks their father prefers him. Hikari makes note of this. Her next lesson takes place out in the garden and when Kei shows up again, he and Hikari end up having a dragonfly catching competition. Of course Kei wins, catching 57 to Hikari’s 56. Sui says that he will never be at his brother’s level and that Kei is a robot in human skin; he hates him. Hikari is saddened and wants to help the brothers become closer.
At the next lesson, Sui says that his brother doesn’t care about him and that he is as cold as ice. Hikari disagrees with him and Sui asks if she likes his brother. She gets a little flustered and says that they are only rivals. The answer annoys Sui because now he thinks that Hikari only comes to the house because of Kei. While Hikari tries to convince him otherwise, Kei comes in and says that Hikari shouldn’t come anymore and to leave Sui alone. Sui runs out of the room and Kei tells Hikari that it isn’t right to force Sui to do what he doesn’t want to do.
Hikari runs after Sui and catches up to him in a park. When Sui trips, Hikari breaks his fall, hitting her head in the process. She is too dizzy to walk and Sui tries to carry her on his back. He goes as far as he can and falls. Kei comes to the rescue (covered in leaves and twigs and rolling down a hill) with evident concern for Hikari. Even Sui can see that he likes her. I think it is the first time that Sui sees some genuine emotion in Kei and tells him that he looks “uncool”. Kei rubs Sui’s head and tells him that he did a good job helping Hikari. The brothers hug and are reconciled, which made me very happy!
When it is time for another tutoring session, Sui unexpectedly shows up at school. Hikari thinks he came to get her, but he really came for Kei. Sui has decided that he would rather have his brother teach him. Then Kei makes things worse by offering to tutor Hikari as well. She says she hates him and he responds with a very affectionate “I know”. This girl is just so clueless!![/details]
Episode 5 -
[details=spoiler]Kei and Hikari meet with the Student Council to discuss plans for the upcoming school festival. As Hikari and the president talk, Kei gets more and more jealous. There is a disagreement over a cotton candy stall and Kei leaves. Hikari follows him and when she catches up to him, she tells Kei that she understands. He gets really hopeful. Maybe clueless Hikari finally gets it? If only he would just come out and tell her already!
Hikari says that she see how he feels about her talking to the president and should have noticed how he felt sooner. Kei is even more hopeful, but then she dashes his hopes by saying that she should not have teamed up with the president against him and wont do it again. A devastated Kei hides his hurt feelings with a laugh and says it’s fine. He says that Miss Second Place can team up with the loser team and anyone else and she still won’t beat him – and a new challenge is born!
When Akira finds out, she joins Hikari’s team. To promote the event, Hikari comes up with a cotton candy tree, but Kei outdoes her with ice cream. He now calls her “Miss Eternally Second Place” and an angry Hikari creates Thirty Tier Cotton Candy, but Kei outdoes her again with Sweets from Around the World. The student council retreats, but it looks to be a hollow victory for Kei. It obviously doesn’t mean anything to him to win without Hikari. There is a sad flashback of Kei as a child saying that he’d “rather be alone” because it’s easier.
Hikari and Akira go to talk to the shop keepers about opening stalls for the festival and Akira says she’s happy working with Hikari because Kei always does everything himself, giving Hikari pause for thought. She keeps thinking of Kei alone, confusing herself and isn’t able to sleep well that night. Maybe she is starting to look at Kei in a different light?
The next day, she catches the president about to destroy Kei’s display with a sledgehammer. He says that cheating is the only way to beat Kei, making Hikari angry and she quits. She realizes that the festival is for everyone to enjoy and shouldn’t be a competition. She goes to Kei and tells him that the win wouldn’t be a happy one if he weren’t there. She says that fun things should be shared and she wants them to work together. There’s another sweet flashback of Hikari and Kei.
Kei accepts Hikari’s offer and now wants everyone to help, as he realizes that he really doesn’t have to do things alone. Hikari even brings the Student Council to help and Kei says it’s fine, surprising everyone else. Things go off without a hitch and the reception party is very beautiful and elaborate, taking place on an island. The earlier cotton candy and ice cream even make an appearance. The others get the feeling that it was all done just for Hikari. I got the same impression too![/details]