School Rumble: 2nd Semester

Jehowi Oct 1, 2014

7.7

School Rumble (season 1 and 2 review) Storyline: 8. Harima Kenji is a high school delinquent with a crush on his classmate Tenma. But Tenma only has eyes for the mysterious and ever so absent-minded Karasuma. What follows is a funny story about unrequited love, where Harima and Tenma both try their best to get the attention of the one they love, but fail at each attempt and unwillingly get in each other's way as the story progresses. A typical love triangle/school life story you say? Perhaps, but School Rumble is much more than that. There's a certain flow in this series that I can hardly describe. The humor is priceless and the creators make sure that you often get mislead. Plot and pace: 6. The story is a follow-up of events that give Tenma and Harima the chance to get the attention of the one they love. However, they always fail in the most ridiculous ways, often because of misunderstandings. Although the story doesn't seem to be more than this and nothing ever changes, you still keep cheering for your favorite character. While they do get more sympathy for each other as the story progresses, neither of the main characters ever get what they want. That's still a bit disappointing. Cliffhangers: 6. The story starts at the beginning of a new school year and after that mainly takes place at or around school. Some episodes are linked or follow-up, but most can be put in another order without anyone noticing. Cliffhangers are rare and mostly negligible. Satisfying ending: 6. As I already mentioned in the 'plot and pace' department of this review, you quickly start to notice that eventually nothing will happen in the end, and that's always a let-down in a romantic series. But if you're a seasoned Anime viewer like me, you'll predict that nothing will changer very early in the Anime, so you're already kind of prepared for what's coming. Also, for some reason, School Rumble's third season never aired (which is a BIG shame. The manga has only been fan translated so you'll have to check that one out online if you want to see the real ending of the story). In stead, they made two final episodes that show almost literally everything that happened in the third season. I, from my part, never found that annoying, but it certainly felt rushed. But hey, you can't blame them for trying to wrap it all up. At least they still made an attempt to give the viewer an appropriate conclusion. Rewatchability: 9. School Rumble was very enjoyable to watch. The comedy value was higher than Toradora, to make a comparison between another school life series I watched (but the romance and ending was better in Toradora). As most of the episodes can be seen seperately and contain lots of comical situations, the rewatch value is high. Characters: 8. As always in Animes like this, all the main characters are parentless. Tenma lives together with her younger sister, who'd ironically make a much better match with Harima than Tenma herself. Tenma is airheaded and ignorant, but has a sweet personality. Her sister is the shy one that looks after Harima. Then there's Harima, the bad-ass guy with a softer core that you just have to feel sympathy for. Other notable characters are Tenma's friends and classmates. Some get introduced early in the series and become an important part of the story or seperate episodes, others get introduced later and aren't that important. Conversations: 9. Most of the conversations consist of Tenma and her friends having some sort of weird conversation, while in the background Harima sees a different meaning behind what they're saying (mostly to his advantage). When eventually the real meaning becomes clear, you can't help but laugh about Harima's stupidity. Art style: 7. The drawing is a bit old-fashioned, even outdated perhaps, but never bothersome. It fits the overall feeling of the series. There were some parts that really cracked me up, like when Harima Kenji was feeling depressed over something and his face was all white and wrinkled like an old man. The characters are the most important part of the series, so the creators didn't pay a lot of attention to the scenery. Music and sounds: 9. This is where School Rumble really shines. The first OP was amazing and even months after watching this Anime, it's still stuck in my head. The Japanese voice acting is great and fits the characters well. the English voice acting takes time to get used to. I especially liked Harima's and Tenma's Japanese voice, especially Harima's cries of astonishment were hilarious. Personal enjoyment: 9. School Rumble was one of the most entertaining watches I've had this year. It's never ground-breaking and doesn't shine out in originality, but the humor and cast make up for that. If it had a better ending and plot development, it'd have certainly received higher marks concerning the ending verdict. Total score: 77/100

nasreen10 Dec 7, 2010

8

Story: It starts off where School Rumble ended. I am going to warn you that you don't really get too much progress with either of the main relationships but I wasn't really expecting it. There is some development but not enough to make real drama which isn't really what School Rumble is about. It is about some romance but twice as much random comedy. You will laugh your ass off because School Rumble really does deliver. There is some plot but most of the time it's just random which is what it's going for. There is some connections between certain events but usually it's just random stuff happening. Also, there is some drama but not too much to make things really serious. I always know that if I need a laugh, School Rumble is there to deliver. Animation: Cute character designs which are individualistic. The people don't just blend together. They stand out. The little details adds so much to the humor and the facial expressions are just great. The backgrounds are sub-par but you tend not to focus on that. The animation isn't going to move you to tears but it'll probably make you cry from laughing so hard. Sound: Again, I watched the English dub because it was free and legal which is important. However, the English dub did a great job and I really liked it. The voices fit their parts with all their little emotions and quirks. The background music heightened whatever mood it was fitting. The ending and opening were fun and cute. Overall, it did good. Characters: They may be stupid but you just love them anyway. The characters just stand out and are unique, even the secondary ones. They may make ridiculous choices and thought-processing skills, but they're just so hilarious and likable. The main relationships do have some development but not that much. I wasn't expecting it to be resolved. However, other feelings to get thrown in the mix and they actually do develop nicely. Just, nobody confesses which I don't mind too much. Overall: School Rumble 2 is just as successful as it's predecessor which pretty much covers it.

ReviewBonfire Nov 27, 2021

7

School Rumble Ni Gakki In the beginning, I never expected this anime to win me over as a comedy. After it started with only a flabby 2 episodes and it took forever to get all the characters in. But they on, I was completely wrong. School Rumble is a fascinatingly simple mixture of "Light romance" average character drama" and "A full truckload of idiocy and lovable characters". Add to that the delightful creativity of author Kobayashi Jin and the result is impressive. Certainly, it's not the best comedy I've seen, as the episodes did fluctuate and not all the characters were completely convincing. As a result, many gags simply couldn't rise above themselves and didn't even create a smile. Especially since I find it interesting that the author drew "Harima" almost in his image. Thus, the irony of Harima writing a manga about himself becomes all the more interesting. [Story 3] As before, the background is light with some dramatic events, but they have no relevance to the plot. The story merely revolves around the strange and ingenious daily lives of the characters. [Characters 5] The heavyweights have usually been Harima [The master of misinterpretation], Tenma [The master of misunderstanding], Karasuma [Karasuma], and Akira [The 4th Wall Character]. These 4 practically carried the entire anime with slight support from the other characters. The interplay of these characters and jokes has been impressive and has cost me some unexpected laughs. However, that's not to say that the other characters have been fundamentally bad. They just didn't rise to the same level as these 4 apocalyptic horsemen. Incidentally, anyone who has also seen Gintama and seen the parallels between Hasegawa and Harima can hopefully feel my pain. [Music 6] Intro has been average and a bit off-putting from the vocals. Unfortunately, the first opening had a much more appropriate style and fit this series perfectly. The outro is average as before, nothing special. The strength here was only in the osts and their placements. Which supported the respective scenes well. Conclusion I never expected this anime to surprise me so positively. There are still comedies that I do not know and have such tremendous potential. Unfortunately, the anime ends only with an open ending and you have to continue reading the manga. Or can skip a large part and watch the 2 Ova. However, some of the atmosphere is lost, which is why I rather recommend the manga. [Enjoyment 8]