In picking up School Rumble, Second Semester, I expected to enjoy further laughs and mayhem with a romantic twist, just like I did in Season One. I also expected some answers to the copious amount of questions piled on in Season One.

School Rumble, Season One is all about hopeless teen drama, puppy love and crushed expectations. It’s funny throughout most of the series, and downright dramatic the rest. The first season is authentic and sweet. In short, School Rumble, Season One is a great romantic comedy with heart. School Rumble, Season Two, is, not so much….

School Rumble

Plot Summary

It’s the same ol’ teen drama for Class 2C as they kick off their sophomore year: Tenma is still clueless, and in love with the enigmatic and odd Karasuma. Harima still can’t confess his true feelings for Tenma, and Eri has some unresolved issues for how she feels about Harima.

But Harima has become a rising star in the world of manga, and with his increase in stardom comes an increase in confidence. Will his new found self-esteem help him profess his love to Tenma?

Review

School Rumble, Second Semester was plain bad. It was a serving of more of the same from Season One, but without the zest and freshness. The gags were old, the lines were tired and the characters were stale. I’ve found fresher things at the day old Hostess store.

The writers must have been giddy from their successful run with School Rumble, Season One, and hammered out a formula for what they thought brought in the ha ha’s. Why don’t we say that H (Harima) times (T) Tenma plus F (filler) equals cha ching! So (H)(T) +F =$$$. And thus fans are rewarded with a seemingly endless loop of garbage and the studio raked in cash with minimal effort. The only problem is this formula= Hard Fail. Infinity.

Filler episodes and scenes abounded and actual plot was gunned down so that romantic anarchy could rule.  I knew when the first episode made me shudder a bit in my critical thinking lobe that trouble wasn’t far behind. My instsincts seldom let me down. Two full episodes were dedicated to a cop-out  story arc, and a lame one at that. This series has more dream scenes and dodgy explanations than are allotted for a romantic comedy. It was cute at first, but like a child who doesn’t know that adorable little version of “I’m a Teacup” is getting on Auntie Rae’s nerves, so was School Rumble unaware its gags were frustratingly tired.

I would say there were three episodes worth of progressive plot. But it was a downer since it made less sense than the wacky limit the anime set for itself. It was uninspired and ubiquitously bad. The characters I grew to empathize with were stunted in their growth, though some development managed to to squeak by.

Character Development

Further decent character development was absent, a night-and-day departure for the series.  Tenma stayed stupid, Eri stayed rich but Harima had a change in his confidence level. Poor guy can’t catch break, though that’s partially his own fault. I would have ditched chasing after Tenma eons ago. The girl is a waste of air time and ink. Harima has his hang-ups and Tenma is one of them. Guy needs to go to rehab for hopeless infatuations with loser women. Harima was the only saving grace of the anime, but a tiny one.

Character Design

Blah, what can I say about things that don’t change? Nothing visually departed from the first season, but why should it really.

I’m lumping in Animation, Music and Voice Acting  with my critique of character designs. There’s something to be said about consistency, so no points are taken off for the average-ness of the rest of the series’ features.

Conclusion

School Rumble, Second semester went nowhere. I might have well just watched Season One and called it a day. I didn’t though, and flushed nine hours of my time down the kamode. It’s a shame that this series took a nose dive in its quality of storytelling.

School Rumble Season One was good.  There was no reason for Two to have been so different from the first, none. The ending of Second semester was the real kick in the teeth, though. It sucked harder than all the shifty, cop-out scenes combined, and that’s saying a LOT.

School Rumble has a third season coming up. I really don’t want to take another bullet for School Rumble fans since I’m still digging shrapnel out my funny bone from Second Semester.  If you’re a fan of Season One,  I recommend  you avoid Season Two if you can, you’ll only be let down, and who needs that?

Rating

School Rumble, Second Semester gets 2.5 outta 5 Hammies!

Retail Info

• Publisher: Funimation
• Release Date: October 14, 2008 (Part One) and December 16, 2008 (Part Two)
• Retail Price: $59.98
• Number of discs: 2
• Episodes: 1-13 (Part One) and 14-26 (Part Two)
• Run Time: 305 minutes
• Rating: TV-MA
• Language: English, Japanese
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled,

School Rumble “ends” with this last volume in the series, but why does it feel more like a “See You Soon” than a “Sayonara“?

plot summary

Class 2C and 2D are locked in a battle of brawn as the two compete for school supremacy at the athletic meet. Harima steps up to the plate in order to save the class from a smack down, but is really only doing so to thank Eri for saving him from humiliation.

Harima is still struggling with Eri’s weird feelings towards him, his misunderstood relationship with Yakumo and his unrequited love for Tenma. In a bid to forget it all, the delinquent takes to the high seas.

Tenma has decided she will tell Karasuma her feelings, and sets out to do so, only to find herself caught in a dream, or is she?

The soap bubble which is the class’ adolescence seems ready to pop, but not before it floats some more along the Milky Way of teen love.

review

Gah, School Rumble really is a soap opera! It has just as many convoluted twists, turns and “gotcha!” moments as All My Children. There were two, count ‘em two, cop out scenes which turned out to be dream sequences or something similar. Why would the studio pull this on the last volume in the last two episodes?!

It was a given the series wouldn’t have anything resembling a tidy ending due to the path Volume Five was going down. I wasn’t as miffed as I normally would have been at the thought School Rumble wasn’t going to “end”, because the story still kept moving forward and was still building character and story development. But c’mon, why would they choose to dodge the chance to get more story lines resolved by substituting dream sequences for concrete storytelling?

The minute the story started getting really weird, I knew what I was seeing was a dream sequence, then again, weird stuff is always cropping up in this series so I wasn’t 100% sure until the sequence became even weirder. The minute I figured I was seeing a dream, I resigned myself to watch about ten minutes of fluff. Afterwards, I thought that would be the end of made-up sequences, but then BAM! Is this a dream too? Gimme break! It’s not to say the sequences sucked completely or weren’t entertaining, but the series appeared to be offering closure and then pulls it away. That was a mean prank, especially so close to the end.

Music

The last episode had a new ED song, “School Rumble 4 Ever“, by Go Takahashi. It was a very cheery, hip hop flavored tune, and wrapped up the series on a happy note. It’s always good to go out with a positive impression!

Conclusion

If this volume was supposed to be the absolute end of School Rumble, it was disappointing. However, the anime never built itself up enough to start focusing on a stopping point anyway. The series kept gathering steam, even adding more characters, but neglected to mention, “Yeah, we’re planning on ending.” So this series didn’t actually end. It didn’t even trail off. It simply shut down and will reopen shop in Season Two. Which isn’t bad, especially seeing as it never promised to end to begin with.

Volume Six was just like previous volumes: funny, entertaining and sweet. Unlike previous volumes, it had those two irritating, time-consuming dream sequences.

Rating

School Rumble, Volume Six gets 3 outta 4 Hammies!

Series Conclusion

Stepping back and looking at the anime as a whole, School Rumble is a great series. It’s funny, touching, human, weird, dramatic and all together entertaining. The anime has a touch of randomness which keeps each episode fresh. Yet it also has the feeling of a romantic comedy, so it resolves issues and story lines which come up in previous episodes.

I recommend the series for all who wish to remember (or commiserate with) the pangs and joys of teen puppy love. Except this time, you can laugh at the pain!

Series Rating

School Rumble, Season One gets 3.5 outta 4 Hammies!

Retail Info

• Publisher: Funimation
• Release Date:March 18, 2008
• Retail Price: $29.98
• Number of discs:1
• Episodes:23-26
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Rating: TV-PG
• Language: English, Japanese
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen

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!

Ah, summertime is a time for love, a time for friends, a time for playing academic catch-up, but most of all, summertime is a time for swimsuits!! In School Rumble, Volume Three, things finally lighten up- just a little- in time for the summer holiday. Who’s looking sharp in their swimsuit, and who’s scoring with the ladies?

plot summary

Harima finally decides to return to school after a prolonged absence. After initially swearing off his pursuit of Tenma, he begins to chase the clueless lass anew. Unfortunately, school’s over for the year and Harima won’t have many opportunities to try and win Tenma’s heart.

To make matters worse, Tenma has a new admirer who wants to get to know Tenma on a beachfront vacation. Harima gets wind of this latest development in time to insinuate himself into the group of friends Tenma will be traveling with.

But Harima has an uphill battle in the way of Tenma’s pretty friend, Eri Sawachika, who seems to frequently-and accidentally- get into misunderstanding with the delinquent. Eri seems to believe that Harima’s odd actions are directed at her, when in reality, they’re meant for Tenma.

After the strained and fruitless beach vacation, Harima decides to get a summer job in order to forget Tenma, only to find himself once again in a precarious situation following an overheard comment (yet another misunderstanding involving Eri).

This summer is turning out to be one long heart- and headache!

review

School Rumble Volume Three was a lot of fun. Summer episodes in anime are usually carefree and often seem to showcase what summer is like in Japan; Volume Three didn’t disappoint. There was the smashing of the watermelon on the beach, shaved ice, girls wearing yukata, fireworks, summer school, summer jobs, and lots and lots of swimsuits.

Character Development

Of course, along with the carefree, breezy atmosphere were plenty of stressed moments involving mix-ups and miscommunications. Harima is still stoic and unable to accept defeat in his pursuit of love, and Tenma is still totally clueless as to Harima’s feelings for her. Eri, meanwhile, is beginning-in a bizarre way- to be attracted to Harima since she believes Harima’s weird behavior is due to his attraction to her.

The character development thus far in the series has been fairy consistent if not overly profuse. I’m still waiting to find out why Tenma is so crazy about Karasuma and why Karasuma is so vapid and listless. I’m also waiting for more background and development of Tenma’s friend, Akira Takano.

One of the episodes, however, was dedicated to the intense Haruki Hanai- the guy who’s absolutely in love with Tenma’s “little” sister, Yakumo. Hanai was given some depth and a good helping of development and background in the episode, which explores his and Mikoto Suō’s relationship as friends. It was a touching episode which explained a lot about why Hanai is the way he is if not why he’s ga-ga over Yakumo.

School Rumble, Volume Three, injected some fun and sun into the series and took Harima’s problems with Eri to new, and very, very awkward, heights. If you need a little lightening up in the autumn months, School Rumble Volume Three is sure to brighten your day.

Rating

School Rumble, Volume Three gets 3 outta 4 Hammies!

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!

We learn how to interact with each other, learn how to stand up for ourselves, or not, and learn all about puppy love by attending this grand institution. Most of the time, teens don’t even have to pay for these wonderful life lessons or, at least, not here in the US.

If you wish to forgo the high school experience or want to revisit those happy yet troubled years in a slightly skewed manner, let School Rumble Volume One take you back.

plot summary

Tsukamoto Tenma has issues. As a sophomore in high school, Tenma isn’t the smartest, most attractive, or most athletic girl in her class. However, what Tenma lacks in intelligence, looks, and fitness she makes up for with her endearing tenacity.

This year, Tenma has vowed to proclaim her love to her long time crush, Karasuma Ooji. Since she’s lacking in even the most basic smarts, she’s forced to constantly come up with new, and interesting, ways to gain her heartthrob’s attention.

While Tenma schemes and the hamster in her head runs round and round, someone else is also hatching plans to capture the heart of their crush.

Unbeknown to Tenma, Harima Kenji, high school delinquent, is madly in love with her. Like Tenma, Harima schemes ways to make his enduring love known to Tenma. And like Tenma, Harima also isn’t the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree. Harima tries in his own delinquent way to pour his heart out the girl who’s his only reason for attending school.

As these two clueless lovebirds circle around the objects of their desire, hilarity ensues as Tenma tries to escape the bathroom, Harima pours his heart out in an unsigned love letter, and Tenma’s sister, Yakumo, discovers she can read her admirers’ minds.

review

School Rumble is a comedy of the random, slice-of-life variety à la average high schooler. No episode necessarily follows the previous one to further the story since what’s driving the story is the character’s interactions and reactions.

Random vignettes pop up in the episodes, play out and just as quickly disappear. Ideas don’t fill entire episodes as much as streak across the screen. I found I didn’t need to devote actual thought into watching School Rumble nor pay too much attention. Bonus after a hard day.

Tenma is absolutely hopeless in her dense mental process and naiveté. She doesn’t come across as moe as much as clueless. Tenma is perfectly capable of helping herself once she figures out how to, although “helping” might be stretching the definition of the word a bit.

Harima is sympathetic as the tough bad ass who tries to turn his life around in order to get the girl who inspired him to do so. His intentions are pure and done for the good of Tenma, no matter the cost to him. Harima’s ill-planned plots are as funny as much as they are sad.

Karasuma is bland as Tenma’s questionable heartthrob. His unwavering inexpressiveness makes me wonder what the hell Tenma sees in this guy. He’s not so easy on the eyes, not much of a hero, and he’s a very mundane and average character.

I laughed at the “drama” unfolding between these three characters but I wasn’t too drawn into the story nor did I sympathize overly much with them. School Rumble much resembles Azumanga Daioh and Cromartie High School in it’s structure but it doesn’t have the heart of AD nor the well plotted laughs of CHS.

The OP, “Scramble”, by Yui Horie is cute and fits the subject matter. The ED, “Onna no Ko, Otoko no Ko”, by Yuko Ogura is also a good fit. I was indifferent to both OP and ED beyond that they were both cute and apropos. The graphics to both OP and ED are adorable.

We skipped the English dub and went with the Japanese version. The Japanese dub had so much more expressiveness then the overly affected English one.

Studio Comet did an average job with the animation and overall the animation was actually fairly bland. There weren’t even moments when the animation stood out as something special. I can’t say that I was impressed with the work the studio did.

Character designs for School Rumble were what one comes to expect with this variety of anime; meh. You can’t do too much with high school uniforms ‘cept maybe hike up the hem line, add an extra line here or there, or unbutton a blouse on the girls and perhaps have a tousled look for the boys. Although I did like the character design for the cat Yakumo befriends.

The packaging for the DVD has some nifty extras. A sheet of seven magnets with Tenma’s classmates are included as well as a reversible DVD jacket. On the opposite side of the jacket is the original Japanese DVD cover.

School Rumble has the potential to be a great series if it steps up the pacing a notch. Even with all the random quirkiness, there’s still a decent plot underneath the series’ silly facade. The concepts that have, so far, been in the background have the capability to push School Rumble beyond an average blasé slice-of-life anime.

Which is why I think this anime, while entertaining, is not one, thus far in the series, I would devote much effort towards. If someone pops School Rumble into a DVD player, for example, and I happen to be in the room, I’ll watch it. However, I will watch the next volume to see if my suspicions are true that School Rumble will pick up the pace and the heartfelt sentiments that lie dormant will wake up and take this series to the next level.

out of a possible four gummies.