Hikari Hanazono is the best at everything, from studying to sports. At least, until she meets Kei Takishima, who has been surpassing her at every level since elementary school. Now Hikari's one goal is to beat Kei and become number one, even though they are the top two students in the elite high school Hakusenkan, where they belong to the few, the proud, the intellectually notable: the Special A! Hikari is determined to steal the top spot from Kei no matter what, but the melodramatics of young love always have a way of ruining the best laid plans . . .

Highlights:

As volume fourteen of Special A opens, it's the beginning of second year for Hikari, and her goal is still the same: defeat Kei Takishima! But when she reads the new class rankings on the first day, she realizes it's not going to be as easy as it usually seems: she has competition from newcomer Iori Tokiwa, who is tied with her at number two. It seems that Iori wants to become number one as well. Since their goal is the same, Hikari and Iori form an unlikely alliance, and become closer than ever as they study and spend a good deal of time together, which infuriates Kei. Now the man ranking number one in Hakusenkan has his own goal for the year: defeat Iori Tokiwa!

Disaster strikes when Iori falls sick and Hikari subs for him at his part-time jobs, even though such things are frowned upon by their school. When Kei finds out about the arrangement, he uses his family's influence and power to rent the apartment next to Iori's, then steals Hikari away from Iori and kisses her suddenly. This turn of events leaves Hikari in a trance, moving around while continually spacing out, which worries the other students of Special A. In order to snap Hikari out of her odd spell, Kei challenges her to a contest, and the loser has to obey one command from the winner! Hikari loses, but finds that the command from Kei is rather unusual for his character.

Later, the Special A is sponsoring a tea party reception for incoming freshmen of Hakusenkan high, only to be threatened by a series of anonymous notices around campus. As they investigate, Hikari finds herself running into the same middle school student around the SA building. Could there be a connection? When the day of the reception comes, the SA put a plan into action that reveals a story of hurt and heartbreak in a young girl's family. When Golden Week comes around, Ryu finds himself the center of a competition between twins Jun and Megumi and foreigner Finn to decide whose vacation plan is better. Afterward, during a field trip shortly before Golden Week, Iori and Hikari find themselves on the same team during a competition; Kei, riddled with jealousy, draws a line in the sand in terms of who should be close to Hikari, challenging Iori to try and beat him at stealing away her affections.

Overall:

The series Special A is, at its heart, a very uneven series. Despite being over a dozen volumes long at this point, it's not yet sure whether it wants to be a romantic comedy or a high school drama. Add the fact that its very premise makes it read like the stepchild of veteran shojo series Ouran High School Host Club, not to mention that the quality of the series tends to be on and off with each volume, and you have a recipe for utter mediocrity. However, volume fourteen does not fall into this trap: as a chapter in the continuing saga of Kei and Hikari, it is a solid read, keeping a level balance of humor and drama while moving the plot along at a steady pace.

Maki Minami's art is as overbalanced as usual: the quality of her drawing technique still falters between a quite nice shojo style and something that is messy and bordering on humdrum. This only applies to when the panel is one of a serious or dramatic tone; the panels during the jokes, in which characters turn super deformed or have the most amazingly shocked looks on their faces, is still top notch work and still never fails to draw a good laugh. I don't think I will ever tire of Hikari's humorous dazed looks during chapter seventy-eight, no matter how many times I read it.

As for the cast itself, Hikari is as single-minded and determined as always, and while her bubble-headed antics can be annoying at times, her unbreakable spirit is what keeps Special A together as a group. Her foil, the stubborn and pragmatic Kei, is constantly wrestling with his romantic feelings for her, especially now that a challenger approaches in the form of new student Iori. And I am probably the odd man out when I say I rarely if ever care about the other members of Special A, barring perhaps Finn and the twins — which is why the second-to-last chapter of this volume was such a breath of fresh air in the middle of the Kei/Hikari/Iori triangle of teenage melodramatics. However, for fans who love all members of Special A and were looking forward to the continuing adventures of their own storylines, this volume will disappoint. Most of the book focuses mainly on the principal characters, leaving the other top students to become barely anything more than a backdrop for the main story. Even with that, this is a release that will not disappoint the Special A fanbase, and has an ending that will leave readers anxiously waiting for volume fifteen.

ComicsOnline gives Special A volume fourteen 3 out of 5 class rankings.

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