SCHOOL RUMBLE

is a manga serialized in the Weekly Shonen Magazine, created by Jin Kobayashi ^[2].
A 26-episode anime adaptation was broadcast on TV Tokyo between October 2004 and April 2005.^[3] In December 2005, an OVA was released, containing two special episodes,^[4] and a second season titled "School Rumble - Second Term" was broadcast in 2006 between April and September.^[5] Sony PlayStation games were produced in July 2005 and July 2006. The manga is ongoing as of 2007.
The manga is published in English by Del Rey Manga. Unlike other Del Rey releases, the manga uses the original Japanese naming order (family name followed by the given name) to conserve the puns in the manga.
FUNimation Entertainment recently announced at Fanime Con that the first volume and starter box set will be released on August 21, 2007.^[6] The series features prominently in the ongoing fansub debate, due to the actions of its copyright holder, Media Factory Inc.^[7]

Contents

Plot

Characters

Media

Manga

Anime

Music

Video games

Live performances

Reception

References

External links

Plot

The plot of ''School Rumble'' covers the daily lives of students of the fictional Yagami High School and their surroundings. The series is of the romance comedy genre, with scenes in the story being exaggerated for comedic purposes.
The heroine is Tenma Tsukamoto, a second year high school girl with no special qualities who has a crush on Oji Karasuma, a stonefaced eccentric. The generally clueless Tenma finds it difficult to confess her love to him. Complications arises with Kenji Harima, the male protagonist and a delinquent, who has developed a crush on Tenma. He too has difficulty confessing to her. The attempts of the two characters to confess their respective loves are running gags seen throughout the series.
As the series progresses, the story changes focus to the relationship that develops between Harima and Tenma's close friend, Eri Sawachika, which results from various embarrassing situations involving Eri and Harima. Harima also develops a relationship with Tenma's younger sister Yakumo Tsukamoto, who begins to assist Harima with the development and drawing of his manga.
As the story progresses, Harima gets himself into romantic situations with Tenma, the relationship between Tenma and Karasuma progresses, and Eri's and Yakumo's bonds with Harima grow stronger.

Characters

Main articles: List of School Rumble characters

''School Rumble'' features a diverse cast of characters, most of whom attend Yagami High School, and the protagonists and most of the supporting characters belong to Class 2-C. While both Kenji Harima and Tenma Tsukamoto are the protagonists, the focus is not exclusively on them, as the supporting characters in particular receive a fair amount of character development.
This supporting cast includes Oji Karasuma, Tenma's love interest, who otherwise does not play a more active role in the story. Yakumo Tsukamoto is Tenma's shy younger sister, who can easily read the thoughts of anybody who loves her, including boys who try to approach her, her sister and her pet cat Iori. Tenma's friends include Eri Sawachika, a wealthy, half-British, half-Japanese girl who becomes attracted to Harima, Mikoto Suo, a black belt in Kenpo, and Akira Takano, who is very perceptive, resourceful, intelligent, and mysterious. Rounding out the group is Haruki Hanai, a childhood friend of Mikoto's who is head over heels for Yakumo.

Media

Manga

In the manga, the main plot is described in chapters marked with a musical sharp sign (e.g. ♯1, ♯2, ...) appearing in . Incidental or side stories are told in flat sign chapters (♭1, ♭2, ...) which appear in the monthly , and the natural sign chapters (so far only ♮1, included in ''School Rumble Volume 7'') appear serialized in the seasonal . All three magazines and collected volumes are published by Kodansha in Japan. The Del Rey version uses the sharp/flat designations for chapters, with the Sharp chapters listed first in the table of contents of each volume followed by the Flat chapters.
Flat chapters 1-7 focus on Yakumo, chapter ♭8 focuses on Suou Mikoto and Hanai Haruki, and later Flat chapters feature minor characters from the main storyline or Sharp episodes viewed from an alternative perspective. The only Natural chapter released is a general story involving all the characters and their general relationship during the meteor shower during Tanabata with no story bias towards any character.

Anime

The anime series is adapted from a composition of the Sharp chapters, enriched in parts with the Flat and Natural stories. The OVA specials are a compilation of the remaining Flat chapters with an original, new story.

;Theme songs - season one

★ Opening (eps 1-24 and OVA 1-2): "Scramble" (スクランブル) by Yui Horie with UNSCANDAL

★ Opening (ep 25): "Umi no Otoko wa yo" (海の男はよ) by Kikokumaru's Man Chorus Group (鬼哭丸少年合唱団)

★ Ending (eps 1-17, 19-24 and OVA 2): "Onna no Ko♥Otoko no Ko" (オンナのコ♥オトコのコ; Girls♥Boys) by Yuko Ogura

★ Ending (ep 18): "Hatenkou Robo Dojibiron's Theme" (破天荒ロボ ドジビロンのテーマ) by Jūzō Nanba

★ Ending (ep 25): "Scramble" (スクランブル ''Sukuranburu'') by Yui Horie with UNSCANDAL

★ Ending (ep 26): "School Rumble 4 Ever" by Ami Koshimizu, Hitomi Nabatame, Kaori Shimizu, Yui Horie

★ Ending (OVA 1): "Ginga Ensen '05" by Hiroki Takahashi
;Theme songs - season two

★ Opening: "Sentimental Generation" (せんちめんたる　じぇねれーしょん ''Senchimentaru Jenerēshon'') by Ami Tokito (時東 ぁみ ''Tokitō Ami'')

★ Ending (eps 1-12 and 14-16): "Kono Namida ga Aru Kara" (この涙があるから次の一歩となる) by Ami Tokito (時東 ぁみ)

★ Ending (ep 13): "THE LAST CANDLE"

★ Ending (ep 17-26): "Futari wa Wasurechau♡" (二人は忘れちゃう♡) by the Tsukamoto Sisters, Tenma (Ami Koshimizu) and Yakumo (Mamiko Noto) [1]

Music

Main articles: List of School Rumble albums

Main articles: List of School Rumble character image albums

Video games

PlayStation 2 dating simulation games have been adapted from the story. The first, '', was released on July 21, 2005. A successive game was released on July 20 2006, School Rumble Ni-Gakki Kyoufu no (?) Natsugasshuku!. On July 7 2005, '' was released on a UMD for the Sony PlayStation Portable.
An eroge based on the series, School Rumble School Shuffle, was produced by by Atelier-G.

Live performances

On 5 December 2004, a concert named 'School Rumble Presents Come! Come! Welcome? Party' featuring the seiyū cast of School Rumble was held at Yokohama BLITZ. It has been released on DVD ^[8] on 24 March 2005 featuring the following:

★ UNSCANDAL ★ unicorn table ★ Yui Horie

★ Yuuka Nanri ★ Kaori Shimizu ★ Yukari Fukui

★ Mamiko Noto ★ Ami Koshimizu ★ Hitomi Nabatame

On 21 July 2005 - 25 July 2005, a stage play called 'School Rumble Live Butai - Osarusan dayo Harima kun' recapping Season 1 of School Rumble was shown. It had been released on DVD ^[9] on 10 October 2005. The cast members are as follows:

★ Ami Koshimizu as Tenma Tsukamoto ★ Hiroki Takahashi as Kenji Harima ★ Michie Kitaura as Ōji Karasuma ★ Satomi Akesaka as Yakumo Tsukamoto

★ Yuka Koide as Eri Sawachika ★ Mai Yoshida as Mikoto Suō ★ Mana Hyashi as Akira Takano ★ Mami Sakamoto as Karen Ichijō

★ Rikako Miura as Tae Anegasaki ★ Keiichi Beshi as Kyōsuke Imadori ★ Mondo Yamageshi as Haruki Hanai ★ Rie Mashiko as Itoko Osakabe

Reception

School Rumble has been well received by English reviewers. Eduardo M. Chavez from Anime on DVD commented about the manga that "the execution and randomness is perfect. Readers can literally pick up this title, select a chapter and enjoy. Comedy like that is universal making it a must for readers from all demographics."^[10] David Maduram stated that "The ''real'' strength of this series is its witty use of puns, wordplay, and comic situations." ^[11] Tim Jones from THEM Anime Reviews said about the second anime season that "School Rumble Second Semester manages to be funny without being repetitive and boring, a feat very hard to do in a series that goes on for 52 episodes (when you count the first season)." ^[12]
Media Factory has served a cease and desist notice to the website AnimeSuki to remove links to fansubs of their works which includes School Rumble;^[13] AnimeSuki has since made it policy to remove links to a fansubbed anime should its license be purchased. Media Factory-owned anime is the subject of debate over the validity of fansubbing practice.^[14][15]

References

1. ''Shōnen Magazine''. Accessed 2007-07-10.
2.
3. AnimeNFO anime information. Accessed 2007-01-15.
4. AnimeDB OVA information. Accessed 2007-01-15.
5. . Accessed 2007-01-15.
6. Fanime '07: Bits And Pieces of FUNi Pre-AX. Accessed 2007-05-28
7.
8. Come! Come! Welcome? Party DVD(Catalog No: KIBA-1194)
9. School Rumble Live Butai - Osarusan dayo Harima kun DVD(Catalog No: ZMBH-2401)
10. School Rumble Vol. #01A of 13
11. School Rumble 1 Review
12. School Rumble 2nd semester
13. AnimeSuki page about Media Factory. Accessed 2007-01-16.
14. Fansub BitTorrent site gets cease-and-desist mskala's home page : lawpoli : cases. Accessed 2007-01-16.
15. c-net news.com Anxious times in the cartoon underground. Accessed 2007-01-16.

External links

★ School Rumble Manga Official Site

★ School Rumble Animation Official Site

★ FUNimation dub website

★ AniRec Database entry on School Rumble

★ Del Rey Manga's ''School Rumble'' English Website

★ Watch School Rumble Online