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!