School Rumble

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To start off, this is one of those manga that's mainly concentrated on comedy. Trust me, if you read this manga it'll make you laugh. Of course if you're one of those looking for romances this isn't a bad choice either. Don't be fooled. Even though there probably won't be a lot of romantic situations or development till chapter 50 or so, each chapter is 5-7 pages long not even half the length of a regular chapter of 18-20 pages.

Story : 7
There really isn't a set plot. It's mainly girl likes guy that shows no response to her feelings while another guy ... has feelings for the same pure and honest girl, and the chapters revolve around both of them trying to confess and win the other person's heart. To be honest, drama isn't one of this manga's main points since there is rarely any chapters where the setting is connected (except like when someone's confessing or something) and usually you'll see a problem confronted a few chapters later rather than right away. Since this is a gag manga, the story won't always involve the main characters. There will be chapters involving their classmates instead but you won't be disappointed.

Art:8
Original. That's the best way I think to put it. Each character and setting is drawn in such a way that each person feels unique and the setting and situation really connects. You gotta love the artist's ability to draw their funny expressions and some characters' lack of expression.

Character:7
The main characters are what you expect them to be like. All of the personalities are there. Shy, timid, outgoing, smart, delinquent, beauty, pervert, and the misunderstood. However, I love the involvement of the other classmates in the story and it isn't like the other series where there's only the love triangle and the best friend involved.

Enjoyment:10
If I say I didn't enjoy this series, shoot me. Sure there is a lot of repetitive scenes where the guy is misunderstood but I think the situation makes up for it. It'll get you to say "BaHAHA!" rather than "CHEEEESY!".

Overall:8
I would prefer to rank it as a 9 simply because I think 1-10 doesn't fully acknowledges how much I enjoy this series, but I think it gets confusing at times when the chapter after a serious scene is completely random and totally unrelated. BUT I HAVE NO REGRETS AFTER READING SCHOOL RUMBLE.

School Rumble has that innovative idea of introducing 2 gender opposite protagonists. Those 2 MCs have equally the same plot time but in this particular book they are not equally interesting as a character for good or worse.

First of all this show works as a good comedy, that from time to time might give you a decent chuckle. The thing is, it doesn't come out with strong hand as a good romance.

The show follows the idea of "infinite romance" where characters try really hard to get attention of their crushes, but ultimately it comes down to nothing. Said measure goes on and on ... for pretty much most of the book and while it does the job as a funny thing, it gets really repetitive and boring in romantic terms.

Back to the 2 protagonists. Shortly, one of them is way more interesting than the other, in a way that you are really tempted to read story of one, but not really care about the other, hence you lose commitement and begin to feel more boredom when that character shows more constantly.

While there are 2 main protagonists, the story is narrated from lots of perspectives. They have their own problems and give a different outlook on the flow of time and their portayal of other chatacters, giving the story a little more life, therefore it is a decent zest

Summarizing. School Rumble is a solid comedy but moderate romance. There is a clear gap between 2 MCs in terms of enjoying the story about them and it is possible for a reader to find the story repetitive, or make him unpleased with the ending that is really hurried and leaves much to desire.

No spoilers for the first part. There will be marked spoilers after the first part, for a bit of a longer read.

This is a romcom that does not have a satisfying conclusion.
For me, this is an absolute deal breaker. There is nothing I hate more than to read/watch an entire series, only to find out there is no resolution to anything that was set up throughout the series. There is no real payoff to any of the romance building. In a romcom.
So if you are anything like me, then don't bother with School Rumble. It isn't worth your time.

It's quite clear the author was just ... making it up as he went, and had no long term plans. He likes to write climactic scenes (to hook the reader), but doesn't like to follow through (that would require an actual plan), so everything is just misunderstanding on top of misunderstanding that never goes anywhere.

But it extends even further than that. The author can't seem to decide what genre he wants to write. It will change from being a standard romcom, to just a surreal gag based comedy series, over and over. Even the protagonist seems to be undecided. While the protagonist is supposed to be Tenma, her actual role in the story isn't that large, and at times it ends up feeling like Harima is the protagonist instead.

You'll have your climactic scene (imagine a love triangle, where one girl sees her love interest kiss another girl) only to be followed by several chapters of unrelated characters doing other stuff. Then, when it finally comes back to the continuation we were all waiting for of that scene, it is just played off as some misunderstanding and there is no real pay off. This is basically the entire series.

The comedy and characters are genuinely good at times, so it's really unfortunate that the series ended up like this.









[spoilers ahead]



The first problem, is Tenma and Karasuma. Tenma's affection is originally supposed to be some kind of gag. It isn't really that "serious", if that makes sense. Harima likes Tenma, but Tenma likes Karasuma. Karasuma though, is a completely plain, generic look character who doesn't talk or do much. He only exists to create the unrequited love of Harima for Tenma. Consider when early on in the story, when it is raining, and Tenma wants to walk home with Karasuma sharing an umbrella. Karasuma says he has a kappa (rain coat) and so turns her down. But then he is dressed like an actual kappa (the youkai), with a shell and everything.
Or consider when Tenma asks Karasuma which he likes more, her or curry, and he says curry.
Or consider when Tenma tries to ride to school on a bike, because she wants to go to school with Karasuma, but he is ridiculously fast so she is basically just chasing after him. Harima has the same idea, and is chasing after Tenma with his own bike. So you have Karasuma, completely oblivious, Tenma who wants to ride with Karasuma, and Harima who wants to ride with Tenma.
This is Karasuma's character and his relationship with Tenma.

Now, compare that with the other relationships in the series. Sawachika and Yakumo towards Harima, for example. These are taken more seriously, because they aren't gags. There is actual build up, and it is somewhat understandable why they might love Harima. Compared to the other relationships presented, Tenma's just feels like she is a kid who has a crush, and that's it.

The second problem is the overall lack of attention towards romance, even though this is a romcom. While there is some drama and relationship building in the series, it generally just comes off as clickbait (for lack of a better term), and never really goes any where. There are too many side characters introduced, just to act as filler, when really a lot of that time should've been spent on Sawachika, Tenma, Yakumo, and Harima. There is too much attention focused on misunderstandings instead of actual romance.
Consider when Harima accidentally confesses his love to Sawachika, thinking it is Tenma. Or how Sawachika sees Harima and her name written on the piece of paper. These misunderstandings are never actually addressed or resolved, so throughout most of the series, she thinks Harima is in love with her. In reality they should've been resolved very quickly, to create romantic drama between Tenma and Sawachika (there is a tiny bit of this, but only near the end). Even better, they should've never happened in the first place, and Sawachika could just fall in love with Harima through his actions. Throughout these encounters, Harima himself could open up more to Sawachika, and realise she is actually a good girl and fun to be with (he doesn't necessarily need to fall in love with her here).

The final problem, is the ending, which is a culmination of these problems.
First, Karasuma. You can't just suddenly decide to make Karasuma and Karasuma x Tenma a serious thing. He was a gag character and plot device throughout most of the series. He even disappears for large parts of the series because he is ultimately a boring character and there isn't much to do with him. The sudden revelation that he is actually in love with Tenma but has a serious illness so he can't respond to her feelings and has to leave the country, is absolutely terrible writing. You can't suddenly make me care about this relationship, when you haven't worked for it the entire series.
It doesn't even make any sense. If Karasuma has some incurable illness where he will lose all his memories, then why does he have to go to a hospital in the US? If there is no cure it doesn't matter whether he is in hospital in Japan or anywhere else. There is literally no reason for him to go to America.
What's worse is Tenma follows him and stays with him in America to look after him. Why? How? She is a minor. Did she drop out of school or what? What visa could she even possibly be on? She says she is going to become a doctor to cure his illness. How? She is an idiot. It is established throughout the series. She is just going to leave Yakumo and everybody else behind, drop out of school, and stay in a foreign country she can't speak the language of or anything? Yeah, I'm sure that is exactly what Karasuma would've wanted.
It should've ended as unrequited love for Tenma, and that's it. None of this nonsense. She could realise that she was just a kid and maybe her feelings for Karasuma weren't what she thought they were. Even better, this could've been built up throughout the series. Maybe she could've slowly gotten closer to Harima, but because of her obsession with Karasuma, not have been able to see that.

Second, Harima and Sawachika.
As I said earlier, Harima could've slowly grown closer to Sawachika throughout the series, but this never happens. Almost everything in the series is Harima to Sawachika, be it misunderstandings or otherwise. Lots is done to make Sawachika fall for Harima, but nothing the other way around. Because of this, in the ending, Harima still does not understand Sawachika at all and is very cold to her. This is resolved in an emotional exchange between the two. But... why now? Why not earlier in the series so we could've had a more interesting romcom? Then it immediately jumps to some nonsense about Harima being her fake fiancé so she can stay in Japan. Please note, this doesn't actually go anywhere. This is literally amongst the last few chapters of the manga. Also, there is still no confession from her.

Third, the ending itself.
After Harima decides to be Sawachika's fake fiancé, he realises he has no place to stay. So he ends up moving in with Yakumo. But what is the purpose of all this? Literally nothing happens. There is no confession or anything from Yakumo. There is no romcom with Harima, Sawachika, and Yakumo. There is nothing.
I kid you not, in the next chapter, there is a time skip of some undefined amount of time into the future (probably a year or two). The characters are no longer in school, and Harima is no longer around. What happened to Harima's engagement with Sawachika and their relationship? What happened with Harima living with Yakumo? If you aren't going to do anything with it, then why did you set it up in the first place?
The entire ending arc of the series, feels like the author just went, "Screw it, I don't want to write this any more" and just defecated out the crappiest, laziest, non-committal ending he could think of.