StorySometimes you want life to be better than it is. You don’t mean awesome
robots, cool superpowers, or easy panty shots – you would be perfectly
happy with popular friends, good old fun, and wannabe lovers lavishing
you with their desire. Basically, you want your currently insipid daily
routine to rumble with the brilliance of youth. Look no further.
School Rumble shines in its magical realism. Within an alternate world charged with
energy and social delight, we witness the formula of daily life (and of
the Japanese school life genre)
made exciting with humorous and clever variations. Homeroom period
becomes a battlefield for love, while summer vacation becomes a
battlefield for friendship; beach retreats fester in youthful
awkwardness, while sports festivals boil with youthful power.
Relationship acrobatics and romantic entanglements comparable to those
we see later in Toradora! combine with the vigorous pacing of Nodame Cantabile, the exaggeration of Lovely Complex, and the zaniness of Azumanga Daioh to create the ultimate anime sitcom.
Yes, School Rumble does indeed rumble with solid
entertainment value. But a viewer who undertakes the series for
superficial reasons (mainly, to just be “entertained”) will miss out on
a decently sized mine of deeper treasures. One cannot go through the
season without noticing how much of their feelings the writers and producers put into the work: The series burgeons with latent emotion. Subtleties
of this kind pass by almost unnoticed, flitting across the screen
unassumingly or even simply, but the more sensitive viewer will relish
in the restrained, dreamy wistfulness that ends up charging the entire
show.
A fair number of titles attain this ideal for many anime lovers. For me, School Rumble has captured my school-life daydreams in a way that the likes of Lucky Star or Toradora! could not.AnimationThe series doesn’t produce any dazzling eye candy, nor does it try to.
School Rumble’s animation places practicality above artistry, but that
does not diminish its general quality. Sure, a couple scenes would have
benefited from some Makoto Shinkai flourish, but the animators do a
sufficient job – namely, they get the story’s point across in a snappy,
nimble way, often heightening the comedy. Character designs, while a
bit plain, are appealing and consistent.SoundFirst of all, Yakumo’s Theme has changed my life. Now, whenever I am
ambling to class on a breezy spring day, the piece floats in my mind
like my very own theme song, tingeing my ordinary college existence
with a nostalgic serenity. Toshiyuki Omori’s exquisite soundtrack, like
much of the rest of the series, exemplifies the wonders of simplicity
and balance. Each theme serves their purpose and never blares out when
they’re not wanted.
The voice acting delivers, but it does not reach the seiyuu echelons of Nodame Cantabile or Toradora!.
Tenma (Ami Koshimazu) caresses the ear with smooth, honey-like tones;
Mikoto (Hitomi Nabatama) and Imadori (Daisuke Kishio) stand out as
well. While the cast is generally earnest, their performances sound a
bit too commonplace, or in the case of Hanai, too jarring. School Rumble's
English dub is worthy of mention, as it has garnered positive feedback
from dub-viewers and at times surpasses its Japanese counterpart in the
brilliance of its casting, particularly for Harima.CharactersSchool Rumble achieves something special with its cast: The characters become the story. We’re all familiar with those titles where the writers throw
in plot twist after plot twist to keep the story going, resulting in
precariously balanced, contrived entertainment. In the case of School Rumble,
the characters are so outstanding that little, everyday interactions
amongst themselves unfurl into blossoming story-fodder without even
trying.
Tenma Tsukamoto is cute enough. But the real treat – the “cream of the crop,” the roe in the middle of the sushi roll – is Kenji Harima,
the star of the show both in screen time and in simply being such a
fantastically constructed character. There are no scarred pasts or
clichéd psychological troubles to this young man; he stands perfectly
fine on his own as just a normal misunderstood teenager…or maybe not so
normal. His lifestyle is, shall we say, bizarre. In any case,
though, his simplicity brings laughter and fresh air, and his
complexity tugs at the viewer’s heart. For shoujo lovers who appraise
the male lead before deciding to click on Episode One, no need to
worry: Wait until he shaves off his moustache and cuts his hair. <3
The remaining cast members serve multiple functions: to provide
harmonious background noise, to occasionally shine in the spotlight, or
(most importantly) to intermingle/combust with each other in riotous
glory. Everyone has their own charm. Yakumo is my new role model, Sawachika is my personal anime proxy, Mikoto and Akira are badass, Kurasuma reminds me of a classmate, Imadori and Nara make me squeal, and Hanai…
Well, he has a nice body, I suppose. Basically, I want to become
friends with these people. They are so cool!
The characters are apt vessels for School Rumble’s emotional
inspiration. Each of them, in some way or other, mold themselves to
different dimensions of not only the fun and carefree, but also the
reflective and aching, dimensions of pre-adulthood. One may not
understand what it's like to be a delinquent like Harima, but one can understand what it's like to be so simultaneously hopeful and lonely;
one may not understand what it's like to be wealthy and popular like
Sawachika, but one can understand what it's like to always have to mask your insecurities.Overall“Is this a dream?”
“We’re both in a dream. A dream called youth. We’ll eventually wake up
from this dream, but the memories will continue to endure.”
Need I say more? This anime was, for me, twenty-six episodes of a
dream, an unadulterated escape from reality – or rather, a slightly
wistful superimposition of my current reality. School Rumble has become one of those shows that holds up decently in the anime world
for its solid entertainment value, but for me it has spoken volumes. It
isn’t particularly witty, beautiful, or even coherent, but it is sincere, and sometimes that’s just fine.