schimmel.boyd - 2016-05-27 18:26:13

*This review will cover both season 1 and season 2 of School Rumble, since for all intents and purposes there aren't enough differences to warrant me writing two reviews for each season. I will NOT include the sequel OVAs in this review.

So. School. All of us are either in school or went through it at some point, and if you went through school, chances are that you have both fond and bitter memories of your time there, ranging from your unrequited crush dating the local gangster leader to your dog actually eating your homework and no one believing it to you accidentally ending up on the bus travelling to the opposite end of the country and no one noticing because your existence is that meaningless to you freeing animals from the local zoo and terrorizing children in a playground...

Wait, what do you mean that none of that happened? You mean...all of that was a lie? 

Blasphemy!

But you know all the absurdity and stupidity that you go through as a high-schooler? All the dumb moments and drama that is so bloody ridiculous in retrospect, yet you can't help and look back and laugh, even be a bit nostalgic?

That, ladies and gentlemen, is School Rumble. Imagine every absurd situation in high school blown out of proportion over a thousand times over, and you get the comedy in this show.

I'll be very blunt; if you're not fond of that kind of humor, you might as well stop reading this review and head elsewhere. School Rumble's appeal is oddly specific, and if you don't match that appeal, then this show is not for you. At all.

If what I said so far sounds like your cup of tea, read on.

School Rumble's basic premise is that your ditzy airhead Tenma likes Mr. What's-his-personality, and Harima, the local delinquent, likes Tenma. 

This premise is, for the most part, only followed superficially; what instead happens is random comedic skits (and do take my word on it, they're random to hell and back) about Tenma and Harima trying to get their respective crushes to notice their feelings. It backfires. Spectacularly. 

The show largely consists of two general scenes; either some kind of skit following (but not necessarily, especially in season 2) Tenma or Harima. The other kind of general scene tends to be interactions between the various characters, though those tend to be filled to the brim with comedy. These scenes are considerably more quiet and are more about how the characters feel about various things, usually graduating or their feelings about various characters. They're incredibly interesting and offer different perspectives about the characters, making this work unbelievably well as a character-driven show as well.

Speaking of the characters, I love all of them. All of them receive some degree of development and change over the course of the show (and the manga if you continue that after season 2), all of them are absolutely hilarious and all of them work off one another really well. It's not every day that I walk out of a show with absolutely no complaints about any of the characters and feeling like I don't hate any of them, but School Rumble pulls this off.

Artwork is simple enough but varied and changes depending on what comedic skit is taking place; it's effective, it works with the comedy and ultimately that's all what really matters. Animation quality looks dated but doesn't get in the way of the comedy or character drama, and that's perfectly fine.

The voice-acting sounds great in both versions, though I have a personal bias towards the English dub; the dialogue is funnier and the comedic timing feels better. The soundtrack is generally solid though can feel slightly repetitive; the opening and ending songs are exceptionally catchy and fit the mood of the show, with the openings being more upbeat and the ending songs being more bittersweet.

I love this show to hell and back and I enjoyed every last second of it, and if what I'm saying sounds rad then do give it a shot as well. It's not for everyone and the fact that you have to read the manga to get to the conclusion after the second season undeniably is a barrier to some, but if you can look past that you're in for one hell of a ride.

Thanks a bunch for reading, any and all feedback would be appreciated. 

hodkiewicz.sim - 2015-08-12 12:41:50

A very fun and enjoyable anime. Filled with comedy romance and so much more. You learn to love certain characters as you learn more about their individual interests and characteristics. Sadly it only got two seasons and never was continued. Still a good watch though!

houston44 - 2015-06-28 18:59:43

If you're looking for a documentary to sate your curiosity about the obscure phenomenon of rumbling schools, look elsewhere. Unfortunately, School Rumble is NOT a show about a school that rumbles. Thankfully, it's a damn good romantic comedy that's actually funny! Don't let the word "romantic" fool you into thinking that it'll be anything like Clannad or Chu2 either. There's no annoying melodrama to be found anywhere, no teenage angst to put a damper on your good mood, or any of that bullshit. There's also no overarching story that forces you to sit through every episode either. This is the kind of show that you can sit down and enjoy with your friends whilst laughing your asses off and eating some pizza (even if they're not into anime), and that's the kind of show I just love to watch!

In terms of story, School Rumble is the anime equivalent of a late-90s Cartoon Network show like Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Ed, Edd n Eddy, or The Powerpuff Girls: there's no overarching plot, it's mostly episodic, and nothing of significance happens by the time the season's over. Whereas most romantic comedies to come out in recent years focus more on the romance, School Rumble just tries to make you laugh and if my results are anything to go by, I'm sure you'll get more than just a quiet chuckle every now and then. Then again, comedy is purely subjective and I know damn well there some popular comedies that failed to make me laugh even once (cough cough The Big Bang Theory cough cough) but let's not open up that can of worms right now.

Keeping in line with that late-90s Cartoon Network comedy feel, every episode of School Rumble is told in three ~7-minute long segments that have next-to-nothing to do with each other. Each segment tackles a simple dilemma that one (or both) of our airheads in love will have to put up with like Harima trying to sit next to Tenma during the school field trip or Tenma trying to sketch Kurasama during art class. I can safely say that this approach worked incredibly well to School Rumble's favour. The concept of each segment is incredibly simple, which makes room for a lot of jokes to be told and the segment's just short enough to prevent that concept from getting stale and repetitive. Another upside to this is the fact that you don't have to sit through the entire episode either. I mean, I like to watch segments from episodes of School Rumble on my phone when I'm on the bus to class and by the time the segment's over, the bus is already at the college.

Really, the only complaint I have with the show is that I can't really sit down and watch more than 1-2 whole episodes at a time but that's basically the way I am with comedy shows in general. Whilst I have no problem with comedy, I enjoy shows that have much more to offer than the comedy alone. If I was given the choice to watch an episode of GTO or an episode of School Rumble, I'd probably go with the former since GTO has a lot more to it than just the comedy. But then again, everyone's different so maybe you might be the kind of person who can just sit down and marathon 12 episodes in one sitting.

If you're expecting multi-faceted individuals that parallel the kind of questionable morality that real humans tend to have, look elsewhere. School Rumble's characters aren't compelling individuals in the slightest, nor do they undergo any significant change throughout the course of the series. You know what? That's okay! I mean, Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, and The Powerpuff Girls had static characters and yet people love the everliving Christ out of those shows. This doesn't mean that the characters in School Rumble are terrible. In fact, they're far from it. Tenma and Harima are quite possibly some of the most endearing and hilarious airheads in all of comedy anime. If School Rumble ever took itself a little more seriously, you'd bet your sweet ass I'd be shipping the hell out of those two (oh fuck it, I still do!). All of the supporting characters play off of Tenma and Harima exceptionally well too. I never get tired of Tenma's friends and their reactions to her latest scheme to end up with Kurasama. Speaking of Kurasama... there isn't much I really can say about him except he reminds me of Octavius Rex from that episode of Spongebob where Spongebob takes Pearl to prom.

There isn't a lot I can really say about School Rumble beyond the fact that it's funny. I mean, the jokes are well-timed and they actually work, the English dub is some of Funimation's best work to date (especially given that we have amazing voice actors like Her Highness Lucy Christian as Tenma and Brandon Potter as Harima), but that's basically it. Sure, I can go on and talk about the artwork, the animation, and the soundtrack but I'm pretty sure most people don't go into a comedy show for the pinnacle of audio-visual quality.

Overall, I give School Rumble an 8/10. It's not the epitome of comedy gold like Gintama apparently is, but it's still pretty damn funny! If you're in the mood for a comedy show that you can watch with your friends and have a damn good time watching it, this show fits the bill and then some. I mean, you don't even need to know anything about Japanese culture to even understand the jokes in the first place and there isn't much in the way of fan service or juvenile humour at that. This is something you can actually watch with your family provided that they're willing to give it a shot. Unless you have some sort of long-standing visceral hatred of romantic comedies (or comedies in general), there's no reason why you shouldn't give this show a chance. Anyway, that's it for this review. Feedback is always welcome and with that, I'm out. Peace :)

***

Since I haven't done any alternate recommendations in a while, here are a few shows you should check out if you're in the mood for something like School Rumble:
- Ouran HSHC (the English dub is some really hilarious stuff)
- Azumanga Daioh (the quintessential slice-of-life comedy)
- Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu (another hilarious slice-of-life comedy with Luci Christian as the leading lady)
- Great Teacher Onizuka (much more crass and vulgar than School Rumble, but every bit as hilarious. Plenty of sweet and heartwarming moments to go around and hey, it actually has character development! Steve Blum was even cast as Onizuka, what's not to like?!)

jaskolski.louisa - 2015-02-12 05:29:53

Please watch this show.  It will restore your faith in humanity.  5/5

payton.mccullough - 2015-01-01 20:55:17

i love this anime 
best school anime 

vbernhard - 2014-12-20 23:03:25

The first time I saw this anime I thought it was pretty dumb so I didn't pay attention to it but once I I watched the first episode I couldn't stop watching it! It's hilarious and cute.

art96 - 2014-10-19 19:07:56

phyatt - 2014-03-28 13:20:50

Saw bits and pieces of this as a child and when got older i decided to look up this anime and watch the whole thing. And my God, was I glad that I did. It's a really sweet/comedic anime. Highly suggest this anime, espicially to people who just started watching anime. It's a great gateway anime.

xmante - 2013-06-28 08:15:23

I didn’t really pay much attention to this show until someone actually introduced me to it. It wasn’t much of an attention grabber for me at the start, because I initially thought it wasn’t something worth looking forward to. My opinion changed when I found myself getting a chuckle or two on the first episode, then I was immediately hooked. But as I progressed through the series, School Rumble definitely exceeded my expectations. Though it isn’t the best anime overall, it still ended up as being one of my favorite romantic comedies to date. Thank you, for whoever recommended me to this show. You know who you are.School Rumble is pretty much a normal school / slice of life story revolving around Tenma Tsukamoto, a 2nd year high school student who has fallen head over heels with one poker-faced Oji Karasuma, one of her classmates. On the other hand, Kenji Harima, the school’s infamous delinquent, is in love with Tenma. Both of them can’t seem to confess their feelings correctly, and as days go by, their failed attempts to confess leads to more and more misunderstandings, involving many of their classmates in the process. And it gets bigger and more complicated from there. To put it more simply, School Rumble is basically about a girl who likes a boy but seems clueless about it, and another boy likes said girl, but she seems as clueless as the other guy as well. That’s about the gist of it.Majority of the show presents exaggerated, over-the-top, comedy/action/drama events that don’t really need a set plot to make it extremely interesting. As these misconceptions start to grow, the more drama, character vs. character conflicts build up. Ironically, that’s actually what makes School Rumble lively and entertaining. There’s just so many humorous epic fails that are worth laughing your ass off to. You’ll probably see someone confess to the wrong person, get thrown off a cliff, have their hair shaved off, get hit by a speeding truck, and actually find that amusing. Also, expect some unexpected twists and turns, but it’s really nothing to be scared about. The show’s surreal humor is more than enough to whet your appetite anyway.While the story doesn’t deserve much credit, School Rumble’s cast of characters is pretty much the heart and soul of the show, and also the most memorable. On top of getting to know the main protagonists, more characters are introduced later on to join in on the fun. Thankfully, School Rumble doesn’t throw in 100 characters in just one sitting; you gradually get to familiarize with more of them as the show progresses, giving you enough time to take it all in. This also gives you a wide variety of favorite characters to choose from, which is a big plus. You’ll probably find at least a character or two to connect with, either just to laugh at them or find their personalities interestingly similar to your own. Most of the characters have their own little arcs strung within the main plot, and you at least get to know them a bit through some minimal to good character development as the show progresses. It almost feels like no character in the show seems to be left out of the picture, which I found impressive. Hell, even the minor characters were memorable.School Rumble’s visual style/animation isn’t exactly the best, but I’d say it’s above average. Character designs look appealing and the environment looks appreciable enough to fathom. Other than that, you’ll pretty much see lots of smexy chicks in their school uniforms and bikinis, etcetera, etcetera.The music gives off sort of an old-school feel to the show, blending in some rock, jazz, and other genres, but nothing really special. But the opening theme ‘Scramble’ by Yui Horie, and the ending theme ‘Onna no ko Otoko no ko’ by Yuko Ogura definitely stand out by a long shot. Plus if you listen to the lyrics, it pretty much sums up what the show is mostly about.I was a little skeptical about listening to the English dub, mainly because some of the female characters just sounded like your typical, stuck-up rich kids. But after a couple of episodes in, you start to grow into it. Overall, I think they did a fine job with the voice acting; like personally, I prefer Harima’s English voice dub better because he just sounds like a total creep/pedo in the Japanese version. Just putting that out there…School Rumble is indeed just for big laughs most of the time, but the entire series can probably sort of become a reminder of how high school life was for some of us. But that’s probably just me. The animation isn’t the best, but still pretty decent. Music isn't anything special, but still appreciable to hear. School Rumble contains a unique cast of characters you won't soon forget, and you'll find yourself laughing at or with them most of the time. So if you’re looking for a good ol’ romantic slapstick comedy, School Rumble is definitely for you. Hopefully you’ll watch it, then laugh, and laugh some more, enjoying and savoring every single minute of it. I know I did.

seamus22 - 2013-03-15 23:35:29

Story - Basically, School Rumble has no real storyline besides Tenma going after Karasuma and Harima going after Tenma, thats basically it. But the thing about School Rumble is, even if it barely has a storyline it still appeals to many many people, which is something i believe is unique.

Art - I adore School Rumble's beautiful design of characters. Even though its a 2004 anime, it still has considerable good graphic maybe even better then some animes in the year 2007. Also one thing i find quite different in the art of school rumble is how KJ ( Kobayashi Jin, creator of school rumble) hides the good-looking appearance of some of the characters such as Harima and Hanai.

Sound - School Rumble has one of the catchiest and most addictive OP any anime ever had 'Guru Guru Mawaru Guru Guru Mawaru....' this song just makes you want to get up dance to the melody. The ED was also very catchy as well, School Rumble's ending is one of the ONLY ones i've watched for all of the episodes. Side from the OP and ED, the voice actor/actress fitted the role very well, from cute and loving Tenma to the complete pervert Imadori, there voice seems to be made for the character. Also Horie Yui is one of my favorite voice actress so i guess that adds up to the score as well.. hehe.

Character - Wide range of entertaining characters all which make you literally laugh out loud. They are all entertaining but they all have very unique personality from the Tsundere Ojou to the Semi-yandere Yakumo. I highly doubt you will hate any of these characters because i certainly didn't!

Enjoyment - If i could give bonus points for enjoyment of this series, i would. First off, as stated before, this series literally makes you laugh out loud. A series that can actually make someone laugh out loud is something I'd think is freaking hilarious. Hilarious = Enjoyable... therefore School Rumble is really hilarious and enjoyable. (Yes that was lame..)

Overall - Overall, this series is definitely something you should watch if something is really bothering you and you want to watch something fun and laugh all the pain away. Even if you like really serious stuff like Death Note, you should still try this, you never know you might actually like this genre of anime.