An image forming apparatus comprising: a first electrostatic latent image bearer (112Y; 112M; 112C; 112K) configured to bear a colored toner image; a first electrostatic latent image forming device (111Y; 111M; 111C; 111K; 113) configured to form a first electrostatic latent image on the first electrostatic latent image bearer (112Y; 112M; 112C; 112K); a first developing device (114Y; 114M; 114C; 114K) containing a colored toner, configured to develop the first electrostatic latent image formed on the first electrostatic latent image bearer (112Y; 112M; 112C; 112K) with the colored toner to form the colored toner image; a second electrostatic latent image bearer configured to bear a special-color toner image; a second electrostatic latent image forming device (111S; 113) configured to form a second electrostatic latent image on the second electrostatic latent image bearer; a second developing device containing a special-color toner, configured to develop the second electrostatic latent image formed on the second electrostatic latent image bearer with the special-color toner to form the special-color toner image; a primary transfer device (134Y; 134M; 134C; 134K; 134S) configured to transfer the colored toner image and the special-color toner image onto a surface of an intermediate image bearer in an overlapping manner to form a composite toner image; a secondary transfer device configured to transfer the composite toner image from the intermediate image bearer onto a surface of a recording medium; and a fixing device configured to fix the composite toner image on the surface of the recording medium, wherein the special-color toner comprises at least one of a plate-like pigment and a film-like pigment, wherein an absolute difference in volume resistivity between the special-color toner and the colored toner is 0.30 logΩcm or less, and wherein the volume resistivity is determined by the method described in the description. a first electrostatic latent image bearer (112Y; 112M; 112C; 112K) configured to bear a colored toner image; a first electrostatic latent image forming device (111Y; 111M; 111C; 111K; 113) configured to form a first electrostatic latent image on the first electrostatic latent image bearer (112Y; 112M; 112C; 112K); a first developing device (114Y; 114M; 114C; 114K) containing a colored toner, configured to develop the first electrostatic latent image formed on the first electrostatic latent image bearer (112Y; 112M; 112C; 112K) with the colored toner to form the colored toner image; a second electrostatic latent image bearer configured to bear a special-color toner image; a second electrostatic latent image forming device (111S; 113) configured to form a second electrostatic latent image on the second electrostatic latent image bearer; a second developing device containing a special-color toner, configured to develop the second electrostatic latent image formed on the second electrostatic latent image bearer with the special-color toner to form the special-color toner image; a primary transfer device (134Y; 134M; 134C; 134K; 134S) configured to transfer the colored toner image and the special-color toner image onto a surface of an intermediate image bearer in an overlapping manner to form a composite toner image; a secondary transfer device configured to transfer the composite toner image from the intermediate image bearer onto a surface of a recording medium; and a fixing device configured to fix the composite toner image on the surface of the recording medium, wherein the special-color toner comprises at least one of a plate-like pigment and a film-like pigment, wherein an absolute difference in volume resistivity between the special-color toner and the colored toner is 0.30 logΩcm or less, and wherein the volume resistivity is determined by the method described in the description.