School Rumble
School Rumble (スクールランブル Sukūru Ranburu) is a manga serialized in the Weekly Shonen Magazine, created by Jin Kobayashi <ref>School Rumble (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia</ref>.
A 26-episode anime adaptation was broadcast on TV Tokyo between October 2004 and April 2005.<ref>AnimeNFO anime information. Accessed 2007-01-15.</ref> In December 2005, an OVA was released, containing two special episodes,<ref>AnimeDB OVA information. Accessed 2007-01-15.</ref> and a second season titled "School Rumble - Second Term" was broadcast in 2006 between April and September.<ref>School Rumble Nigakki (Anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia. Accessed 2007-01-15.</ref> 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.<ref>Fanime '07: Bits And Pieces of FUNi Pre-AX. Accessed 2007-05-28</ref> The series features prominently in the ongoing fansub debate, due to the actions of its copyright holder, Media Factory Inc.<ref name="mediafactory">Media Factory makes request to stop fansubbing. Anime News Network (2004-12-09). Retrieved on 2007-07-26.</ref>
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
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 Weekly Shonen Magazine (週刊少年マガジン). Incidental or side stories are told in flat sign chapters (♭1, ♭2, ...) which appear in the monthly Magazine Special (マガジンSPECIAL), and the natural sign chapters (so far only ♮1, included in School Rumble Volume 7) appear serialized in the seasonal Shonen Magazine Wonder (少年マガジンワンダー). 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. Two seasons are shown, School Rumble and School Rumble - Second Term. At the end of Second Term, a message is displayed which states, "School Rumble will continue". However a third season has not yet been confirmed.
- 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
Video games
PlayStation 2 dating simulation games have been adapted from the story. The first, School Rumble: Neru Musume wa Sodatsu, 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, School Rumble: Nesan Jiken Desu! 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 <ref>Come! Come! Welcome? Party DVD(Catalog No: KIBA-1194)</ref> on 24 March 2005 featuring the following:
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 <ref>School Rumble Live Butai - Osarusan dayo Harima kun DVD(Catalog No: ZMBH-2401)</ref> on 10 October 2005. The cast members are as follows:
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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."<ref>Chavez, Eduardo M. (2006-02-15). School Rumble Vol. #01A of 13. AnimeOnDVD.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-15.</ref> David Maduram stated that "The real strength of this series is its witty use of puns, wordplay, and comic situations." <ref>Maduram, David (2004-10-11). School Rumble 1 Review. davidslife.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-17.</ref> 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)." <ref>Jones, Tim. School Rumble 2nd semester. THEMAnime.org. Retrieved on 2007-01-17.</ref>
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;<ref>AnimeSuki page about Media Factory. Accessed 2007-01-16.</ref> 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.<ref>Fansub BitTorrent site gets cease-and-desist mskala's home page : lawpoli : cases. Accessed 2007-01-16.</ref><ref>c-net news.com Anxious times in the cartoon underground. Accessed 2007-01-16.</ref>
References
External links
- Vorlage:Ja icon School Rumble Manga Official Site
- Vorlage:Ja icon School Rumble Animation Official Site
- Vorlage:En icon FUNimation dub website
- Vorlage:En icon AniRec Database entry on School Rumble
- Vorlage:En icon Del Rey Manga's School Rumble English Website
- Vorlage:En icon Watch School Rumble Online
| Hauptcharaktere: | Tenma Tsukamoto • Kenji Harima |
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| Nebencharaktere: | Yakumo Tsukamoto • Oji Karasuma • Eri Sawachika • Mikoto Suo • Akira Takano • Haruki Hanai |
| Andere: | Charaktere |