Why Special A Rocks and Itazura na Kiss Sucks. (part 2)

Now on to a much more enjoyable subject: Special A.
I must say, this is one of my favourite animes this spring, as it is rich on humor and has a nice love story going. The slightly reserved Kei trying to get the thickheaded Hikari to realize his feelings is an endless source of entertainment. So why is this anime so much better than Itazura? They are both love comedies after all. Oh so many things spring to mind.
First thing to mention is, that I like seeing the boy chasing the girl more than the girl chasing the boy. This is a strictly personal preference of course, and is not at all the sole reason why I love Special A.

The second, and by far the most important difference is that the love between Kei and Hikari (though it really has been one-sided so far) brings a smile to my face. It's a kind of love you want to cheer on. As opposed to a snobby little bratty asshole who treats everyone like trash but still gets loved for it, Special A offers a thoroughly enjoyable love relationship between two characters that you can only like. Add to that some wonderful comedy, often induced by Hikari's inability to read Kei's feelings, or simply her lack of understanding for the situation, and you have yourself a solid anime indeed.

But that's not all SA has to offer. Pretty much all the characters are funny and likable in their own way, and often have their own side stories which are just as enjoyable as the main story. The fact that even the side stories don't have you thinking "Ow, I wish they'd made this episode about something else." is just a testament to how well this anime is doing. It's not even fair to compare Special A with Itazura na Kiss.

In the end, SA has everything that Itazura should have had, but simply lacks or manages to fuck up in some way. The love in SA is enjoyable, and you want to cheer it on. The "love" in Itazura is torture, and you want to see it crash to the ground in a burning heap.
The love-comedy moments in SA are great, both because they are genuinely funny and because you don't hate the people involved in them.The regular comedy is plentiful and always funny in SA. I never really saw anything funny in the 3 episodes of Itazura that I managed to endure.

And finally, SA has you eagerly awaiting the next episode, wondering what'll happen next. Itazura has you loathing every minute. You only watch the next episode in the hope that the show will pull a School Days (which unfortunately it doesn't).

Well, that about covers it I think. Damn, I feel good after bashing that piece of crap! I need to do this more often. Later!