School Rumble, Volume Two

You might want to read my School Rumble, Volume One review first!

For countless centuries, love has baffled and confused countless people; regardless of gender, race, or economic and social status. Wars have been waged for love, people have died for it, killed for it, stolen for it, and lied for it. And all this done by technically “mature” adults. Love for the young is immeasurably more difficult due to hormones and lack of experience. Ah, it’s good to be older and past such trifles, *end sarcasm*!

School Rumble, Volume Two, profoundly ratchets up the confusion and misery caused by young love (in a light-hearted manner) with a mixed result of comedy and heart-tugging sorrow.

plot summary

Harima continues to pursue the clueless Tenma in hopes of confessing his sincere and overwhelming love for her. Tenma, meanwhile, is still trying to catch the eye of the object of her obsessions; the seemingly dull and listless Kurusama.

Recently, Harima’s gotten wind that his crush has a crush of her own. The delinquent turned Romeo-wannabe, searches high and low for the man who’s won over the heart of his beloved in order to take this interloper out of the Tenma + Harima = Happiness equation. However, Tenma has been gazing over in Harima’s direction lately, and Harima thinks that maybe, just maybe, he might be on the receiving end of Tenma’s adoration.

With the help of her younger sister, Yukamo, Tenma, tries her very unskilled hand at cooking in order to win over the heart of her would-be sweetie. Yukamo, has problems of her own, though, in the way of Haruki Hanai. Hanai simply adores Yukamo and literally can’t stop thinking about her.

Most of Tenma’s friends have issues of their own to contend with this volume round, but their troubles won’t stop for unrequited love!

review

Volume Two left me feeling tired and wrung out after watching it. Harima was the primary focus in this volume, and it was exhausting to see the poor guy do his damnedest to tell Tenma he truly loves her and end up miserable and unhappy after his attempts. He was fleshed out significantly in these four episodes, more so than anybody in the series yet, and was far more sympathetic a character than the ditsy and clueless Tenma.

Character Development

Though I was rooting for Harima to win the object of his desires, I was simultaneously wishing it was someone other than Tenma who he put his efforts towards. The man is sincere, and though he’s considered a delinquent, he’s fairly decent and has a well developed sense of honor. These attributes are completely out of sorts with his type, and creates interest and depth in Harima. Tenma on the other hand is a shallow, paper doll of a character; living only for the moment and looking only towards what she wants, oblivious to other people’s needs. Even though Tenma’s clueless nature is benign, she still affects those close to her because of it.

The humor in this volume was strong throughout, but the juxtaposition of the knee-slapping comedy with the heart-wrenching scenes of Harima’s crushed visage was absolutely draining at times. It was like being on a roller coaster which abruptly stops and and starts at random times. The result was similar to psychological combat.

Harima’s tireless pursuit of Tenma wasn’t the only taxing instance in Volume Two: It was nigh impossible to soak in the Gordian Knot cum mutated love triangle that is School Rumble. I could barely keep tabs of who likes who and why, and who likes someone else other than the person who likes them, which would in turn explain why someone is doing what they’re doing for someone else- yeah, as confusing as that.

Tiring though it was, School Rumble, Volume Two was still highly entertaining and a huge step forward from Volume One. The series is still a comedy, but it’s added on some flesh to the bare bones it started out with.

Rating

School Rumble, Volume Two gets 3 out of a possible 4 Hammies!