School Rumble - Review

Duration: 2 Seasons (26 ep per, 24 mins each) + 3rd Season OVA (2 ep)

Genre: Slice-of-life, Comedy, School-life, Romance

Many slice-of-life anime are successful because they focus and illustrate on people's day-to-day musings or interactions--primarily the more humorous sides. Most of those anime get a decent chuckle or nod acknowledging the various jokes/punch lines thrown. School Rumble is just one of those series that has its distinct charm that gets my blood pumped...for comedy.

Story

Tsukamoto Tenma, a seemingly ordinary second year high school student, has fallen in love with one of her classmates, Karasuma Oji. Timid and unexperienced in relationships, she is unable to confess her feelings. Making things worse, Tenma learns that Karasuma is going to transfer to another school next year. On the opposite side of the spectrum we have Harima Kenji, a typical delinquent/badass, who has fallen in love with Tenma. Similarly, he also has a difficulty confessing his feelings. Hilarity ensues. On the surface, a simple love triangle archetype for a romantic comedy, but don't let its simplicity deter you from watching it.

Characters

At first glance one may think there are too many characters to cover in School Rumble (and you would be right); for brevity reasons I shall cover the main ones. In retrospect, the minor characters won't even seem like minor characters as one will get to know them fairly well in random scenes and respective story arcs.

Tsukamoto Tenma: The focal girl of the series; she's just hilarious. An airhead most of the time, her random antics and outbursts make her a treat to watch. There's never a dull moment with Tenma to say the least.

Harima, Kenji: The focal guy of the series. Equally hilarious. What makes him likeable is his unwavering adoration for Tenma. Outside his tough and unsocial exterior is a thoughtful, strong-willed, misunderstood fool. A heavy case of tunnel vision and denseness makes Harima the butt end of numerous jokes. Not enough can be said about him.

Karasuma, Oji: Extremely random, has otherworldly super reflexes, and with an ungodly ugly bowl haircut, one questions why Tenma is so infatuated with him. A man of very few words, all we know is that he loves his curry.

Tsukamoto, Yakumo: Tenma's younger yet more competent sister. She is lusted by nearly every guy in school, but through some innate ability she is able to see the thoughts of the people who admire her. She can cook, clean, is good with animals, and with the body of a goddess, who wouldn't want her?

Sawachika, Eri: One of Tenma's friends who unexpectedly and unwillingly develops a crush for Harima. Born into a rich, high-class family, she is pretentious and has a unhealthy sense of entitlement. It goes without saying that she has some internal issues. Aside, she has her own quirks and charm which make her a fun character to watch.

Voice Acting/Sound

Much of the characters from the original Japanese dub are voiced quite well. Again, this is driven by my particularly heavy bias towards original voice work. The English dub is no slouch either, but various puns and references may be missed as a result. Specifically, the lead voice actors (Harima) and (Tenma) made for an extremely engaging series. One could always sense Harima's passion for Tenma every time he called out her name and Tenma's airheaded-ness in nearly every situation. There were some exceptions to the cast as I was a bit perplexed by the voicing of (Lala). In retrospect, it's fairly difficult to pinpoint how a Mexican luchadora speaking Japanese would sound like.

Much of the soundtrack from School Rumble is fairly standard. It's essentially a comedy, focusing on the jokes and various scenarios. Dramatically contemplative Harima scenes characterized by pensive-like music while scenes depicting more action embodied by some high pace/typical action music. Tracks tend to be recycled quite often and aren't particularly special, but one must keep in mind that the soundtrack isn't there to be groundbreaking or innovative. Aside, the first ending track "Kono Namida ga Arukara Tsugi no Ippo to Naru" by Ami Tokito is worth at least a sample listen--a real treat.

Loved
Laugh Out Loud Funny: When I say it was laugh out loud funny, I definitely mean it. There are too many scenes to consider when asked for a favorite one. The over the top antics and parodies to other anime simply have me in stitches. Of course there will be some hit and miss jokes that not everyone will get, but that is often the case with most comedies.

Dojibiron/Hacchake Basket: The series featured numerous parodies, but two stood out above the rest. To be honest, I wouldn't mind watching a spinoff series of these. The former is your typical Super Sentai/Power Rangers parody while the latter is an over the top basketball themed anime/manga. Some say it's filler, but I like it when animators play around a little bit with their characters. It's random as hell, but I love it.

Hated
Unrequited Love: As much as I love School Rumble, nothing really pans out in terms the relationships within the entire cast. The third 'season' OVA attempts to tighten loose ends on the love story, but essentially it is all for naught. Those looking for a Hollywood-romantic-comedy-type ending should look elsewhere. As a slice-of-life anime, it follows suit in which nothing significant will happen--just enjoy the ride.

The Lowdown: School Rumble has its special place in my all-time favorite anime list. Sure, it has some flaws with it's fairly open-ended and rushed ending; and I can confirm that I don't understand every single punch line/parody/outside reference, but the series is so damn funny I often revisit when I need a good laugh. As long as you're not expecting an elaborate storyline with cohesive twists and turns, you're going to enjoy it.

Notes: Watched entire series + 3rd season OVA (official Funimation sub) and parts of English dub.