Special A - Humorous but slightly forgettable.

So the first anime I watched this summer is Special A. It's a funny light-hearted shojo anime which reminds me of Ouran High School Host Club. Special A is actually the top class of the school where the top 7 of the school are placed. They are ranked:

No1 - Takashima Kei
No2 - Hikari Hanazono
No3 - Akira Toudou
No4 - Yamamoto Megumi
No5 - Yamamoto Jun
No6 - Tadashi Karino
No7 - Ryu Tsuji

Their class is different from the rest in the sense that their 'class' has a greenhouse where they have lotsa tea parties, a kitchen and a lounge. It's very relaxing and the class members are free to do their own thing. Each have their own little cliche and quirks but each of them held their classmates with high regards and love the class in their own way.

Takashima vs Hikari
These two are constantly competing to be no1 but Hikari always seem to lose out. The kind of chemistry they have is kinda baffling - we have Kei who harbors feelings for Hikari but he shows it only very subtly and he is always willing to play along with her competitions and teased her in his own way. Hikari, is a complete BLURCASE who never seem to realise Kei's feelings or her own feelings. She is just someone very innocently honest who believes that one can achieve their dreams by working hard and if you don't, you just didn't work hard enough. A very nice girl, her ONLY desire is to beat Kei at least once in something, but through the fair means of a competition.

Akira x Tadashi
My fav pairing! Here's two really funny characters who *spoiler* actually liked each other since young but never really said it out to each other. Akira loves baking and cooking and having tea parties while Tadashi enjoys roaming around and eating Akira's cooking. Someway or another, Tadashi always ends up saying something which infuriates or annoys Akira and she will just bash him up. He is so used to it that when she doesn't, he feels oddly out of place. Akira values her friends, especially Hikari and will do her best to protect Hikari and the people she values. A childhood friend of Kei and Yahiro.

Jun ~Ryu ~ Megumi
These trio are always together. Ryu is the eldest of the lead and loves animals. He has this special ways with animals and the animals loved him too!! Jun and Megumi are always jealous whenever Ryu shows affection to the animals. They are very close. Megumi communicates through writing on a notepad because she wants to protect her voice. However, everyone who hears her singing almost always got a dizzy spell due to the power of her vocals. Jun has a secret to hide and it is revealed in the anime but not here! :)

Side characters worth mentioning:
Yahiro Saiga
Childhood friend of Kei and Akira. He does his best to protect Akira but he is always misunderstood.

Sakura Ushikubo
Casted in a marriage interview with Kei, she switched her affection to Jun after realising he resembles her idealistic version of her prince.

As usual with shojo plots, we'll see the lead couple going through all sorts of trials and tribulations before they get together. In this anime, I was constantly annoyed by the thickheaded Hikari who never seemed to get the slightest hint. However, it was saved with the funny scenes and the lovable acts of the entire cast. The last episode was good as well the way everyone contributed to the infiltration of Kei's palace. Hohoho. All in all, it was a good watch but not really memorable. Still, the takeaway moral is that, we must work hard!