Hikari Hanazono has always been able to do things that normal people cannot do. As a child, she assumed no one could beat her. ~Ever~ Then she met Kei Takishima.
Hikari & Kei hold the top two rankings in school and are among seven of the academy's best students in a class known as "Special A." The problem is (and this is a big problem for Hikari) Kei's ranked #1. Always #1. She's ranked #2. Forever #2. Thus, the lifetime rivalry kicked into high gear. It's Hikari's very raison d'etre: She must beat him. She must triumph. She will. 😤 She absolutely will❗ What she doesn't realize is that she beat him long ago. He's already utterly 😍 vanquished. Not that she'd notice. She's BUSY.
SAC is 2008 release. It's 1 season consisting of 24 24-minute English dubbed episodes. The English voice acting is excellent, as always. Unfortunately, none of the written word is transcribed. One of the characters only communicates by way of writing on a tablet. We don't get any of that dialogue. I understand that it may not be cost-effective to put English words on the screen to translate what's written. But couldn't they, at least, have a voice actor read it for us? This is a common problem in older anime. Thankfully, newer shows do a much better job.
Hikari Hanazono is our FL. She's a bit competitive. When it comes to Kei Takishima, she's /rabidly/ competitive. Surely she can beat him once.... She will not give up. Even after scoring straight perfect💯 scores in exams, she came in 2nd ('When I pointed out an error in the exam the teacher gave me 5 points,' Kei explains). 😤 Not even then will she give up. Hikari is super fizzy soda, or a Red Bull, perhaps. Kei is an afternoon mint tea. He isn't expressive, and he's always acting cool, so Hikari can't read him at all.
SAC was written for warmth and chuckles. While it reinforces the better aspects of human nature, the value in SAC is found in its entertainment. Positive themes to be gleaned are the value of being earnest and hardworking. Also, we shouldn't judge others for good or bad based on the gifts (like intelligence) or privileges (like wealth) that they were born with, but rather their character.
SAC is a new twist on old style animation. The art has a signature look. It almost looks like a kid's drawing. Their portrayal of emotional expressiveness is above average. They cleverly use color changes to express emotion with fresh techniques. Pictures can say paragraphs when done skillfully. The almost rustic look to the drawing is full of bold long lines and is dotted with unique markers. It's almost dreamlike. People are long and lean with round eyes and simple features. Backgrounds stylized realism with simple lines, heavy outlining and pale colors. I've never seen another show quite like it.
SAC is a 24-episode smile. The show feels like it could have inspired the magnificent Maid Sama-10, which is a stellar romcom. This just works as a romance. She's oblivious, but he L💓VES her. Attraction builds slowly over the course of the show. The last half of the last episode nearly reaches the level of romance-porn, it's that good, and there's a great wrap up. They missed one opportunity: It's astounding that he never said to her that she's his #1, his first🏆place, and she had conquered him long ago. They opted to keep it playful. Perhaps they were saving that for the sequel? They did such a good job, overall, we can overlook it. As a bonus, there are secondary romances that are a wonderful compliment to the lead duo.
There's nothing as sweet as a challenge that one can't lose. That's where we find Hikari. Sometimes, NOT prevailing gives way to an even better reward. Hikari doesn't have any concept of that until the show's end. While she was piddling around contesting inconsequential things, like test scores, she unwittingly won life's MOST consequential contest: She bagged a prince among men. She'll never be looked at as second best ever again.
〰🖍 IMHO
🎬8 📝78 🎭83 💓8 🦋8 🌞65 🎨79 ⚡55 🎵/🔊6 😅6 😭2 😱2 😯3 😖1 🤔5 💤0 🔚9
Age 12+ for occasional language such as b@$+@rd & d@mm!. Rated TV-PG: Parental Guidance Suggested.
Re-📺? I plan to start a friend on this one, so rewatch is nearly assured.
