Things get weirder and have a slightly disjointed feel in Volume Five, but the series still manages to entertain.

plot summary

Tenma’s younger sister, Yakumo, is starting to be drawn into her older sister’s crazy world. First off, Yakumo gets drafted as the model bride in a mock wedding. Hanai, Yakumo’s not so secret admirer, tries to be her model husband-to-be. Unfortunately, the none too bright Harima gets wind Tsukamoto’s getting married. Another misunderstanding of epic proportion follows.

Then, Tenma’s secret admirer, Harima, accidentally leaves his manga behind in a cafe as he races to get an autograph from his favorite TV star. A waitress finds the rough draft of the manga and reads it. Just so happens Yakumo is that waitress! She reads Harima’s work, comments on it to the aspiring mangaka and suddenly becomes Harima’s slightly unwilling manga critic/ editor. Hanai mistakes the two’s involvement with each other and vows to destroy Harima.

To top it all off, two new exchange students, one from Mexico, the other from America, arrive at the school in search of worthy battle opponents and both have declared war on 2-C. 2-C needs to pull it together and mend their differences in order to survive through the rest of the school year!

review

Volume Five had a weird vibe to it. Maybe it was the lack of fumbling professions by Harima, or maybe it was because there was more focus on Yakumo, but the first three episodes felt slightly off beat. They weren’t bad, but they didn’t jive like the previous episodes.

I think part of the weirdness was due to Harima’s “growth” in finally accepting he wants to be a mangaka and the only way he can get close to Tenma is in his manga. The shift wasn’t unwelcome but the focus also shifted from Tenma and Harima’s involvement to Yakumo and Harima’s involvement. Something’s going on there, that’s all I’m saying….

There are also a slew of unanswered questions which are becoming more urgent as the series starts to near the end. I have a list of things I’d like addressed by the end of the season, but I have a feeling the carrot at the end of the stick will be dragged through into season two. The introduction of new characters/ antagonists in the second to last volume of season one, pretty much ensures there won’t be a tidy or satisfactory conclusion to the first season of School Rumble. Bummer.

Character Development

I like Yakumo. In contrast to her ditzy, loud sister, she’s intelligent and soft spoken. She only says something after carefully thinking it over, unlike Tenma who speaks and acts in a manner which suggest she’s not connected to her own brain.

Hanai is a great character, even though he too is swept up in the rampant and manifold misunderstandings of he said, she saids which abound in the series. His stoic mannerisms evaporate in an instant whenever Yakumo is involved. It’s charming in a way.

Music

Episode 18 has a different ED, called “Hatenkou Robo Dojibiron’s Theme“, by JÅ«zō Nanba. I’m not a fan of it and find it slightly annoying.

However, there’s a really good theme in Episode 19 which accompanies a meteor shower. The song has a very Enya feel to it. A Japanese Enya, interesting.

Conclusion

School Rumble, Volume Five was entertaining but frustrating at the same time, which is frustrating in itself. I want Season One to end with some sense of finality and closure. The volume still entertained but the addition of new characters was slightly annoying this late in the game. Past experiences with anime tell me I might not get what I want in this series’ ending, but you never know.

Rating

School Rumble, Volume Five gets 3 outta 4 Hammies!

Retail Info

• Publisher: Funimation
• Release Date:February 5, 2008
• Retail Price: $29.98
• Number of discs:1
• Episodes:19-22
• Run Time:100 minutes
• Rating:TV PG
• Language: English, Japanese
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen

Summer is still in full swing in Volume Four of School Rumble, and girls are in the middle of a friendship crisis!

plot summary

Eri has subtly insulted her friend, Mikoto, over a misunderstanding involving Harima. Mikoto tries to confront Eri to settle their dispute, but Eri runs away faster than Mikoto can say “It’s not a date!”

Eri has a strange love/hate relationship with Harima, while Harima despises Eri but is polite to her for the sake of Tenma.

Tenma thinks Harumi is the world’s biggest player and is afraid he might try to woo her little sister, Yakumo while on a co-ed camping trip with their friends.

Misunderstandings seem to follow Harima, Tenma, and Eri around like depressing storm clouds, and the camping trip is no exception. Once again Harima tries to confess his love to Tenma, and once again, Eri gets in the way and becomes entangled in her own emotions concerning Harima.

Harima has issues other than Tenma to contend with, however, as his beloved animal friends have no safe place to stay. Yakumo sees the softer side of Harima and she and her friends lend Harima a hand in helping his furry pals.

Tenma’s classmate, Karen, has fallen for the obnoxious and boob-crazy Imadori. Tenma tries to help Karen out when Karen goes on an obligatory date with Imadori, but it’d be better if Karen forgot about Imadori since he’s already forgotten about her. It looks as if the heartaches surrounding Tenma and company have finally spread to their classmates!

review

Character Development

Volume Four of School Rumble was as funny as previous volumes and gave some good insight into a few of Tenma’s friends; namely Eri, Mikoto and the two’s relationship. But what I kept hoping to see never cropped up in this Volume, which was the reason for Tenma’s attraction to Karasuma. I also kept wanting to see Harima succeed once, just once, in his declaration of love to Tenma.

I understand there’s so much going on in School Rumble, that it’s hard to get info crammed into an episode and still have the episode make sense and be funny. School Rumble resembles a comedic, animated soap opera, in that it’s epic, never ending, and becomes more and more convoluted as time goes on.

The series is continuing on in an organic fashion; one set of circumstances has a profound domino effect on the series and grows into a completely new side story. This organic domino effect is thankfully humorous and is what keeps the long drawn out misunderstandings and “he said, she said”s from becoming tiresome and obnoxious. I will say that it’s hard to keep up with the love stories popping up and crumbling just as fast they appear.

School Rumble, Volume Four went by quickly and had the effect of leaving me wanting more- now. School Rumble is an anime worth investing the time in since it delivers what it promises and then some- laughs, laughs, more laughs, and tears.

Rating

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