School Rumble

This review is for the entire School Rumble series.That includes both seasons and all of the OVAs. I don’t believe in dividing up series by seasons and I firmly believe series should be treated as a whole and therefore rated and reviewed, and judged in the same manner. School Rumble is basically the story of a love triangle. The hyper, slow-witted, dense and yet extremely nice and lovable character Tsukamoto Tenma is in love with her strange and seemingly dull classmate Karasuma Oji and at the same time the misunderstood delinquent Harima Kenji is madly in love with Tsukamoto Tenma to the point that he hasbeen transformed into a new man because of it. The series best fits in the comedy genre and anytime you feel the story is about to take a serious turn, it swings back to its comedic nature faster than you can blink. The characters are probably the best part of this series. While there is really only three or four main characters, on numerous occasions, the series turns its attention to some of the backgrounds characters and lets the viewers get to know them better through some interesting side stories. Tsukamoto Tenma is extremely cute and lovable, Harima Kenji is a brooding delinquent you will love to root for, and Karasuma Oji is the character you will love to hate. The background characters such as Tsukamoto Tenma’s sister, Yakumo (quiet, reserved, and gorgeous girl that almost all men fall in love with at first sight) , Sawachika Eri (the seemingly shallow rich blonde girl sought after by many guys), Suou Mikoto (the athletic and cool tomboy that seems to be good at just about everything), Takano Akira (the quiet, calm, and mysterious girl that seems to know everything) are also very well developed and quite entertaining to watch. There is a character type to suit any viewer’s tastes. The Japanese voice acting is absolutely fantastic and the voices match the characters well without exception. The most notable are the voices Tsukamoto Tenma which is done brilliantly by Koshimizu Ami (The very talented voice actress who does the voices of Kallen in Code Geass - Hangyaku no Lelouch /R2 and Horo in “Spice and Wolf”), and the voice of Harima Kenji which is done by Takahashi Hiroki (the voice of Kikumaru Eiji in Prince of Tennis and Hisoka in Hunter X Hunter). I can’t comment on the English voice acting due to the fact that I have not watched the dubbed version of the series (…and I have no intention of doing so). The art and animations are not quite as noteworthy as the character design and voice acting. The art is average and the animations are done well most of the time with a few exceptions here and there. That is about all that needs to be said about the art and animations. The story itself and the way it’s developed are both very interesting. However, I did find it quite irritating at times where I felt the story should perhaps take a more serious turn. The show is a comedy and above all else it should be funny and in that area there is definitely no shortcomings. The show is absolutely hilarious. However, while it is a comedy, its subject matter is not, and I would have found it quite refreshing if the writers had not shied away from including some serious elements as a complement to the comedy. Instead, they chose to completely slam on the breaks and put it in reverse whenever there was even the slightest danger of any serious development. The only part where things get even in the least bit serious is in the final two-episode OVA where they attempt to conclude the story. Another area where this show suffered a bit had to do with filler episodes. There are not too many filler episodes and some of the fillers even contribute a little bit to the story. But, fillers are still fillers. While they are not abused to extremes as with some other shows such as Bleach, their presence still adds some annoyance for the viewer. ATTENTION: The next paragraph talks about the ending. While I will not include any specifics about what happens at the end of the series, I will talk about the style and quality of the ending. If you feel this might spoil things for you, skip over the next paragraph. This is where the show lost the most points from me. While, I did not know the specifics of the ending, I had a very close guess formed by the second or third episode of the first season regarding how the show would conclude. I knew I was in for at least a bit of a letdown at the end simply based on the nature of the show and how it completely shied away from getting even slightly serious. The ending doesn’t really leave you hanging which is good. However, I did not get the ending I wanted and I am fairly certain most people who have watched the series in the past and those who will watch it in the future have felt and will feel the same way I do about this. It will not catch you off guard. You will know it is coming fairly early in the series. But it is still a letdown. Perhaps, an alternate ending episode might have remedied this. The two places this series lost marks from me were the filler episodes and the ending. Without the fillers and with the correct ending this show would have scored full marks.

School Rumble is my all time favorite anime series therefore my high score for it and because it actually deserves it. Story - Basically, School Rumble has no real storyline besides Tenma going after Karasuma and Harima going after Tenma, thats basically it. But the thing about School Rumble is, even if it barely has a storyline it still appeals to many many people, which is something i believe is unique. Art - I adore School Rumble's beautiful design of characters. Even though its a 2004 anime, it still has considerable good graphic maybe even better then some animes in the year 2007. Also one thing ifind quite different in the art of school rumble is how KJ ( Kobayashi Jin, creator of school rumble) hides the good-looking appearance of some of the characters such as Harima and Hanai. Sound - School Rumble has one of the catchiest and most addictive OP any anime ever had 'Guru Guru Mawaru Guru Guru Mawaru....' this song just makes you want to get up dance to the melody. The ED was also very catchy as well, School Rumble's ending is one of the ONLY ones i've watched for all of the episodes. Side from the OP and ED, the voice actor/actress fitted the role very well, from cute and loving Tenma to the complete pervert Imadori, there voice seems to be made for the character. Also Horie Yui is one of my favorite voice actress so i guess that adds up to the score as well.. hehe. Character - Wide range of entertaining characters all which make you literally laugh out loud. They are all entertaining but they all have very unique personality from the Tsundere Ojou to the Semi-yandere Yakumo. I highly doubt you will hate any of these characters because i certainly didn't! Enjoyment - If i could give bonus points for enjoyment of this series, i would. First off, as stated before, this series literally makes you laugh out loud. A series that can actually make someone laugh out loud is something I'd think is freaking hilarious. Hilarious = Enjoyable... therefore School Rumble is really hilarious and enjoyable. (Yes that was lame..) Overall - Overall, this series is definitely something you should watch if something is really bothering you and you want to watch something fun and laugh all the pain away. Even if you like really serious stuff like Death Note, you should still try this, you never know you might actually like this genre of anime.

School Rumble is a romantic comedy that you should watch if you don't want to pay attention to any plot details or you just in it for a good laugh. Meaning school rumble is a show that has virtually no main plot and gets nowhere in 26 episodes. STORY:7/10 Now i did say that there was not plot but that doesn't mean that the show does nothing but corny humor for the entire 26 episodes(even though its all it really needs to do for the genre). They introduce a variety of characters throughout and give them most at least some back story, character development, and even somesmall story arcs for the larger supporting characters. The main focus was at first for Harima to confess his love to Tenma and for Tenma to confess her love to Karasuma but later on it changes to just watch as they fail at every attempt and laugh while they do it. The only real problem with the story is by the end nothing really has changed since the beginning, sure Tenma now finds Harima to be a nice guy but their relationship is no different. They don't even know they are interested in each other (that goes for every love relationship in this show)and that is what i find disheartening(not because it takes away from the show but because it keeps the show from being better than average in the story section). The story does everything it needs to do to get the job done but not much more to surpass and be a truly great anime. CHARACTERS:9/10 If you can look past how good the comedy is in this show you will realize how strong the character cast is. First off Harima was one of the funniest and unique characters i have seen(best character in the show), honestly put him in the spot light and its guaranteed a good laugh. But all the characters as a whole is what truly makes this show special. Let me explain, in most high school shows they focus on maybe five characters and they are in a tight nit group with very similar interests. School Rumble on the other hand exceeds the amount of characters that you would expect and they are all from completely different stereotypical social cliches(There is the smart kids, the delinquent, the Marshall arts student, the big boobed bimbo, the dumb kid, the photographer, the pervert, the rich girl, the popular kid, the kid sister, and so many more) that are all pretty well defined, and they ARE ALL CONNECTED. For example how often do you see a show were the main character knows the school nurse on a personal basis. Its like this with almost every character interaction. the only people i found in the show that were not explained were a few people Harima worked for. I also believe that all the different character cliches clashing with one another is one of many elements that makes this anime so funny. They are also able to make all of the characters likable while making them all so different which is something to be proud of(this fact alone is why this show sticks out as one of the better anime out there). ART/ANIMATION:9/10 The animation in this show was nothing to special at most times but it had its moments(Ex.bike chase in beginning of show,"Matrix" scene, and the Alien ship). What was the best part in this department was the art specifically the facial expressions on Harima and Tenma when they reacts to specific moments throughout the show. They are able create most the most funny moments in this show using their facial expressions and lets be honest if this show makes you laugh it has served its purpose. SOUND:8/10 The opening and ending songs for this show were both catchy and were good fits for the show itself. the atmospheric and suspenseful music were both pretty good as well but nothing in this section was supremely good in my opinion. PROS: -All characters are likable -Most characters are connected and are from different school life cliches providing great dynamic moments -art was effective in amplifying comedy and more CONS: -No real results, most things we know in the beginning are the same in the end -Show thrives off a specific humor so its not enjoyable for all audiences -Harimas unbelievable fails at love confession get annoying after a while ENJOYMENT/OVERALL:8/10 My overall enjoyment for this show thrived off of the comedy itself and seeing all the different character personalities. The only things about this show that were not great was the lack of a strong story arc and there was no real change from the beginning of the show to the end. This is a really Unique Romantic comedy that is TV-PG so all demographics can see it and has no fan service so its great for men and women to watch. But when it comes down to it the only thing this show actually needs to do is make you laugh and it does more than that. If this is your type of humor and you are looking for a show that you can just sit back and relax while watching than this is the show for you. Thank you for anyone who took the time to read my review, and have a great day!!

I tried! I TRIED!!!!!!! I tried to like this anime but I really couldn't, I tried to laugh I couldn't, I love romance/comedies but school rumble was just to zany and random for me.Even though I finished the first season I felt like I was forcing myself to watch it from the beginning. The plot goes no where and I know that's not the main purpose THE MAIN PURPOSE IS TO LUAGH but I never got one good chuckle from my self and it came to a point where I was trying to force myself to laugh. Some episodes left me dumbfounded on how random the eventswere and if that's the purpose of this show then this show is just not for me. I had to stop watching early on into season 2, I was really trying to make myself like this show but I couldn't. One day I might give this show another try but as of right now I'm putting this series back on my book shelf.