If you’re sitting there wondering “Oh great, another anime about high school kids beating the shit out of each other …” you’re sadly mistaken. School Rumble is a show about love triangles, lots of comic relief and a bunch of anime parodies thrown in to get viewers falling off their couches onto the floor trying to contain their hysteria. It has NOTHING to do with rumbles, I swear!

School Rumble is originally the work of Kobayashi Jin, a famous Mangaka in Tokyo who serializes his manga in the Shounen Jump weekly magazine. The popularity of the manga sealed the birth of its animated counterpart and as expected TV Tokyo’s (the production house that made SR) ratings soared higher than ever before, despite the production of major shows like Naruto and Bleach.

The story focuses on high school students with average day high school problems, most important of all focuses on their relationships. The leading male protagonist of the show, Harima Kenji (actually based on the mangaka himself) is a general bad-ass, feared by the public and his peers …. He’s in love with an air-headed girl by the name of Tenma Tsukamoto, the female protagonist, who happens to be in love with the weird curry-loving Karasuma. The mayhem begins as more characters are introduced. This show is classified as a high school love-comedy.

The greatest thing about this show is the character development, Harima Kenji, Tenma Tsukamato being the protagonists lay out the basic plot lines … Harima likes Tenma … Tenma likes Karasuma … Karasuma likes curry (yes I know … but he does love his curry). Many people complain about Harima’s “tunnel vision” for Tenma … but it keeps one on the edge of the seat thinking “may be in this episode, for sure, it must be!”. His “tunnel vision” may be a nuisance for some yet it delivers amazing plot line progression and its just plain hilarious how he gets screwed over every single time.

You will instantly fall in love with many of the characters, heck you may fall in love with all of them. One of School Rumble’s strong points is the character lineup … and the voice-actors who play the characters. Other side characters bring out the golden personality that School Rumble hides deep within itself. Some of them are, Eri Sawachika … a slightly spoiled, rich, blonde pigtailed girl who really couldn’t care less about the world … but as said before … its all about love triangles … or was it love-hexagons …

oh well you know what im trying to say. She and Harima Kenji play major roles in the comical side of School Rumble, but then again the show was made to be ape-shit-hilarious so almost all the characters; lead and supporting will drop you on your back choking yourself so your neighbors don’t hear you in the dead of night. Other supporting characters warm your heart and leave you all fuzzy inside. Yakumo Tsukamoto, for instance … the soft spoken, shy beauty that she is who can read other people’s expressions and thoughts.

You may have guessed Tenma and Yakumo to be siblings, very different in personality but both of them have their good traits. Other characters like Hanai, Sou, Akira, Imadori, Harry-Meckenzi (you’ll understand later), Ichijou Karen and of course the fiery-Imadori-pounding Lala-chan all bring something special to this series and all off them create what I like to call the ‘complete set’.

School Rumble isn’t anything amazing in the soundtrack department. It gets the job done even though it is nothing to be worshiped. The soundtrack also helps with the comic relief a great deal. Another great thing about School Rumble is the fact that it can switch moods instantly. One moment your busting your gut to Imadori getting his face smashed into an un-recognizable blob by a scorned Mexican woman … the next you’ll be tearing up to a sad flashback from one of the character’s dark pasts. The ambiance and background audio are really to be credited in the sense that it lets you actually feel the emotions and really does make an impact.

School Rumble’s art is not ‘OMFG! HOLY SHIT! I CAN SEE EACH AND EVERY STRAND OF HAIR ON HER HEAD’ neither is it ‘Did a four year old draw this?’. It has a perfect balance, creating an immaculate viewing experience. School Rumble has one of the best, simplistic animation/art styles around. Even though its nothing KyoAni would make but the picture quality fits perfectly with the atmosphere and the overall look of the anime. As you can expect from the Animation production group ‘Studio Comet’ they deliver high quality design with simplistic production techniques,. You may be thinking “What is this guy talking about Studio Comet made Intial D … that animation sucked ass!” …. While it is true that the first season of Initial D wasn’t very appealing to the eye …but as expected of any new production house, they started out Initial D with a low budget that too years ago. As you would notice the further seasons of Initial D brought drastic improvement in visual quality.

Now when it was School Rumble's turn… they couldn’t give one of the most highly anticipated productions a poor quality, low-budget job now could they? Basic ‘BESM’ animation for School Rumble, sharp, crisp colors and warm tones bring out the eye candy. Again, the animation effects the mood as well, one scene would have warm vibrant colors for comedy … the next would have darker, mellower tones for emotional or sad settings. Overall School Rumble is a treat for the eyes and surely many will agree that it has one of the best color combinations to date. To sum it all up, School Rumble has amazing artwork and beautiful character designs ... I personally being an inspiring animator myself, truly admire and appreciate the character design and framework.

The design itself is simple, nothing too ‘out-there’ but that is exactly how it should be. There couldn’t be any other alternative to what it already has to offer, if anyone of you has seen the second season’s second episode “The class warfare” one … you know what I’m talking about. School Rumble has the amazing ability to change moods/settings instantly. It also showcases this ability in its animation/artwork department since it can deliver whatever you could ask for. Anything from slapstick, comical relief to even slightly erotic or serious/emotional scenes. School Rumble has it all. This was THE show that rekindled the flame in me to start drawing again.

Now we reach the conclusion. This show is one of those shows you wait two to three years for … you anticipate its arrival because you know once it airs, it’s gonna’ be big … and I mean really big. Overall roller-coaster ride that will make you laugh, cry and feel for each and every character. School Rumble strongly focuses on its comedic side yet its serious/emotional side does tend to stab you in the tear glands once in a while. The characters and the story pacing truly define this show to what it really is … a humble love-comedy that makes you smile every time you see it. School Rumble is actually one of the ‘incomplete anime’ which I have truly enjoyed with my very essence ever since I got into anime back in 1996. Two seasons have been released and a third one is currently in production. The manga on which the anime is based has passed the 200 chapter mark. Almost every aspect of School Rumble is great but some cons would include Harima’s “tunnel vision” and the excessive physical abuse to poor Imadori. You gotta watch it NOW ! … and I swear … it has NOTHING to do with rumbles. School Rumble is ultimate ownage. Harima x Eri are the greatest anime duo EVER, and I just crapped myself because I got way too excited!

If you don’t watch this show, Santa Claus will give you a lump of coal on Christmas!

~Reviewed By Amar No Ecchi