Here is my Special A rant, as promised! Before I get started though, I want to say that I have NOT read the mange, only watched the anime. Also, I watched the anime in the original Japanese, with English subtitles, so all refrences to voice and sound quality refer to the original vocal actors and sound team.
Now, a lot of you may not have heard of S.A. (I seem to enjoy some rather obscure animes) Therefore, here is a brief summery.
In some high schools, students are ranked based on grades. There is an A clas of high-ranking students, a B class of less high-performing students, and so on. In some of the most elite schools, there is a class of Special A students. In this case, only the seven highest ranked students are eligible for membership in the Special A. This anime, outlines some of the relationships and adventures, of these seven students.
Now, the main plot revolves around the person ranked one and two, who have been rivals since they were very young, though Ms two never seems to be able to out-do Mr one. However, these two also have deep romantic feelings for each other, though for a long time, the girl refuses to admit it. However, all seven of the students are close friends, and are continually bailing each other out of tight spots.
I really enjoy how this anime shows that while hard work does count for a lot, it isn't everything. You can succeed by working hard, but when someone has more talent then you, it is better to accept and enjoy that, rather then being bitter, or worse cheating to make yourself look better. Also, no matter what you're skills are, with good friends, and situation can be handled.
Now, while this is trying to show the power of friendship, its not al feel-good all the way through. There is a lot of polotical forces and bitter or eccentric charachters doing thier best to tear these people and thier relationships apart. Quite a few power-hungry idiots stick thier noses where they don't belong, and cause endless problems.
Now, my main problem with this show was that it all looked like it was set up for the last two episodes. Its as if the writer knew how they wanted it to end, and so just set up everything before that so it could magically fall into place in the last couple episodes. I love a happy ending, but this one was just a little too perfect for my tastes.
It also has the occasional curse word, but its actually pretty clean by most standards.
I truly enjoyed this anime. It has both male and female dominat ed relationships (though no yaoi or yuri, despite one character being questionable in the beggining) It has happy-endings and cliff-hangers. It has romance, drama, comedy, polotics, and even parental issues. Although almost everyone in it is portrayed as being socially elite, they act and feel like normall high-school kids, making and breaking ties like we all do. It even portrays the highest-ranked charchter, Kei, (who is practically super-man) as being afraid of his own emotions, and hurt everytime his love ignores his attempts to care for her. I suppose the basic theme, or moral is "Reach for your dreams, but remember we are all human."
Also, I really like how the voices and drawings of the characters reflect thier personalities. Unlike many animes, where it seems as if you have mans voices grafted into very young-looking characters, the people in Special A really do seem like real people, in that thier bodies, voices, and spirits all match. Even though some the characters at first look abnormally tall and thin (I think in order to show athletic ability) they seem like a whole person, not a drawing and a voice smooshed together.
It is 24 episodes long, and I strongly suggest you watch it. It is Dragon-Rider approved. (If you would like to watch it one you-tube, I will happily provide quality play-list links on request)
I will be producing more rants soon, and I am still open to writing requests, if anyone out there has an idea. 
I hope you all have a mervelous day!
