School Rumble News

What's a Super Duper Mini Review?  Well, since I'm taking a break from written reviews, I decided to put a short list of what I liked and didn't like about the shows I review and put down some notes and fun facts as well.  For a little info about the show, I copy the Plot Summary from the Anime News Network pages and throw them in the review so the reader can be a little bit informed on what the bases of the show is about.  I also borrow some info from Wikipedia as well. 

Super Duper Mini Review

  Natsu no Arashi is an anime based on the manga of the same name, which is created by Jin Kobayashi, the man behind School Rumble.  There are two seasons, both created by Shaft and directed by Akiyuki Shinbo.  Both seasons aired in 2009.
 
Natsu no Arashi is a supernatural romantic comedy with a time travel theme.
 
 
 
Plot Summary:
 
Season 1

Yasaka Hajime meets a strange girl Arashiyama Sayako who turns out to be a ghost from WWII. They can "connect" and together travel back in time. Along their adventures they meet Kamigamo Jun and Kaya (also a ghost) whom can also connect and do time travel. 2 other ghosts from the same time, Yayoi and Kanako, drains Arashis existance so they can live. Hajime fights to save Arashi, but ends up connecting with Yayoi and traveling back in time with her as well.

---  Anime News Network
 
 
Season 2
 

The summer of a man's boyhood memories continue. Still on the cusp between childhood and being a man, he has linked with the ghost of a young woman from the World War 2 era. She, and the ghosts of other young ladies from that time, continue adventures alongside their linked partners, learning more about each other and travelling through time via their supernatural connection. While he struggles to see his crush on her come to fruition, meanwhile his friend- a girl his age, pretending to be a boy- seeks his attention as well.

---  Anime News Network
 

Pros

• Just like School Rumble, the show has a goofy and enjoyable cast.
• Also like School Rumble, it has a goofy tone to it as well, not as crazy and over the top as School Rumble though.
  
• Dark toned at times which makes story have some depth and it makes a nice change of pace.
  
• Loved it when they showed real life models and they blow them up.
  
• Other Shaft references/cameos like Pani Poni Dash, Hidamari Sketch, and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei which was a nice piece of fan service.  Also in some episode you see some of the cast from School Rumble.
  
• Really cool and stylish openings and endings, except for the first opening, which wasn't anything special.
• Those weird black and white scenes where Yayoi, and some other cast member as well, try to describe something simple, but they describe it with such depth.  It's really goofy and out of place, but they are really enjoyable and it gives the show some style.
  

 
Cons

•  Like most animes based on on-going mangas, the show doesn't have any real closer.

 
 
If you are a fan of the genre or a fan of School Rumble, this is a must see.  Thanks to CrunchyRoll, they have both seasons up for our pleasure.  LINK

The following review is for the entire School Rumble anime series.  This covers School Rumble , School Rumble: Extra Class (OVAs), School Rumble: Second Semester , and School Rumble: Third Semester (OVAs).
 
School Rumble is anime adaptation of the manga of the same name.  There are 26 episodes in the first season, 26 episodes in the second season, and 4 OVAs.  School Rumble was animated by Studio Comet and directed by Shinji Takamatsu (Season 1, Extra Class, and Third Semester) and Takaomi Kanasaki (Season 2).
 

Brief Overview

School Rumble is a romantic comedy with over the top exaggeration for comedic effect.  The protagonists of the show are Tenma Tsukamoto and Kenji Harima.  Tenma is a charming and hyper cute girl who isn't the brightest.  Kenji is a bad ass who gets into fights a lot, but softens as the show goes by.  There is a love triangle between these two characters.  Tenma loves Oji Karasuma, a really plain guy with no outstanding features, Kenji likes Tenma, and Oji just sits there staring off into space.  Through the show Tenma and Kenji always try to confess there love, but they always fail and something ridiculous usually happens.  The love triangle gets even more complicated when Yakumo Tsukamoto and Eri Sawachika get thrown into the mix as well.  While those two are the main protagonists of the show, other love relationships happen between other classmates as well.
 

My Thoughts

School Rumble has to be one of the most ridiculous romantic comedies I have seen thus far (aside from My Bride is a Mermaid) and that is why I loved it.
 
There are tons of enjoyable character through out the show, some more enjoyable the others.  Tenma is a sweet girl that's hard not to hate, even though she is dumb.  Kenji is the hard ass that everyone wants to be.  Kicking ass and trying to get his girl.  Oji may be plain dude, but he hast his goofy moments as well like wearing a turtle outfit in the rain.  There are some great side characters as well that play more important roles as the show goes on.  Haruki Hanai is the class president of 2-C.  He wants everything done right and he wants everyone to follow the rules.  Haruki has his goofy moments as well like getting stuck to a kite for 2 weeks and floats around Japan.  Another side character I enjoyed was Karen Ichijou.  Why did I like her? Well, she is a super sweet girl, but she is probably the strongest character in the whole show.  You see her lifting a piano and ease.  I wish I could do that.
 
There are tons of enjoyable moments through out the show from love to over the top crazy.  One of the most memorable scenes for was the the "Survival Game" during the first few episodes of the second season.  "Survival Game" was basically a capture the flag game between two teams.  If Kenji's team one, they would do a play the school festival.  If Haruki's team wins, they will do a cafe for the festival.  So why was this so memorable?  They students wear shooting guns at each other.  Sure they weren't real guns, but it was just so crazy and out of place that it was fantastic.  Another memorable part was the horse fighting part of the school's athletic day.  It starts out normaly, but goes crazy with groups combining to make a giant tower, to fists and punches to get the other team's headbands.  There are some peaceful moments as well like when the cast watches a meteor shower go by.  It's has nice a peaceful music and and fits the ton perfectly.  Another memorable moment is when Kenji get's his head shaved by Eri.  You looks like an old fart with his new hairdo.  One other thing I found that was goofy is that Kenji can grow his bread pretty fast.
 
While I did love the cast of characters and the over the top comedy, there were some issues I had.  One issue was the animation.  At times it looked from really goofy to just plane bad.  Another one is the love relationships.  They often get close to something happening , but the relationships stay the same through out the whole series.  The was 3D used in the show as well, which looked pretty bad.  It looked like a bad CG Saturday Morning cartoon.  And last and certainly not least is Lala Gonzalez.  Don't get me wrong, she is a goofy character that fits in with the others, but her voice is the loudest thing I have ever heard for a girl.  I'm not sure who screams more; Yami Yugi, Lala, or the entire cast of Dragon Ball Z.  These are just some issues that I had, but that didn't hurt my enjoyment of the show.
 
Overall I had a blast with the show.  The show had tons of great characters and the comedy was top notch.  If it weren't for those issues, this would be a perfect comedy show.  Looking for a new comedy show?  Try this out!  Looking for a new romantic comedy?  Try this out!  Looking for a new deep romance show?  You are looking in the wrong place.
 
My Score - 4.5/5
 

Blog Thing

Short blog this time.  The next show I'm going to check out is Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.  The show has been on my radar for a while now, but I'm finally going to watch the series.  Game wise, nothing new recently.  I'm hoping to pick up Virtua Fighter 5 some time this weekend.  It's been around since 2007 and now since it's dirt cheap, I'm finally going to pick it up.
 
That's it.  :P
 
Jordan.