A review by narnianbrigette
S.A, Vol. 1 by Maki Minami
4.0
I reread this series this month, and it was a lot of fun to revisit. I read this series as a teen and loved it then, and I'm happy that it still (mostly) holds up for me now. Some of it may just be due to nostalgia, and there are some aspects of the series that haven't aged well, but overall I still enjoyed it very much. It's still surprisingly pretty funny too. Some of the humor is of a more slapstick, cartoon-y type, but I think that works in a series like this, especially considering the outlandish stuff Hikari and Takishima are able to do.
Speaking of which, Hikari and Takishima have such a fun rivals-to-lovers storyline, and that's the strongest part of the series for me. I love how much Takishima clearly admires Hikari and always stands up for her when other people try to put her down for always being in second place. And I also love that Hikari stands up for herself too and gives as good as she gets when Takishima teases her, and how she believes so strongly in rising to a challenge and working hard and giving a task her all, no matter the outcome. They're such a great power couple when they get together.
I also like that even though Hikari and Takishima are the main characters, the other characters in the class and outside the class get their own storylines and chapters to follow their perspective too. Everyone gets a chance to shine and grow, and that makes the series even better.
So yeah, 4 stars from me. Nostalgia wants me to give 5, but there are a few things that I wish were written differently, so 4 stars feels right for me.
Speaking of which, Hikari and Takishima have such a fun rivals-to-lovers storyline, and that's the strongest part of the series for me. I love how much Takishima clearly admires Hikari and always stands up for her when other people try to put her down for always being in second place. And I also love that Hikari stands up for herself too and gives as good as she gets when Takishima teases her, and how she believes so strongly in rising to a challenge and working hard and giving a task her all, no matter the outcome. They're such a great power couple when they get together.
I also like that even though Hikari and Takishima are the main characters, the other characters in the class and outside the class get their own storylines and chapters to follow their perspective too. Everyone gets a chance to shine and grow, and that makes the series even better.
So yeah, 4 stars from me. Nostalgia wants me to give 5, but there are a few things that I wish were written differently, so 4 stars feels right for me.