Stop me if you've heard of this one before. There's a new anime about a bunch of kids at a school. It follows their daily lives, exploits, attempts at relationships, and a lot of funny stuff happens in between. Sound like something you may have seen before? In many ways School Rumble wears cliché on its sleeve. The premise appears to lack originality and the characters seem to be nothing special at first. However, once you watch the first episode you'll realize that this show is indeed cut from a different cloth.

Originally airing in 2004, School Rumble is a 26 episode anime that came from a manga by Jin Kobayashi. The series was popular enough to warrant an OVA and second season so it's safe to say going in that it's not your typical high school comedy. On the contrary, School Rumbles is hilarious. During my stint as a reviewer and otaku extraordinaire I have sat down to watch several comedy shows. Out of all the series I have seen only a few have actually made me laugh out loud; this is one of them.

In many ways School Rumble does not break from tradition where the romantic school comedy is involved. Characters tend to stick with stereotypes but for the most part these faults adhere to the secondary support cast. The main crew in this show is something of a different breed.

Tenma Tsukamoto isn't your typical 16 year old; or is she? When not chatting with friends about the things that matter in life to girls of that age she's off dreaming about boys. One boy in particular (Karasuma) catches her eye and she desires nothing more than to be in his class and get closer to him. She takes these feelings to an intense degree and when it is revealed that he's going to be transferring, Tenma uses this as an opportunity to write a love letter. Instead of scratching down a few kind words on a piece of paper she winds up writing a ten foot scroll and forgets to sign it at the end. This is the kind of insanity that sets her apart from the others.

On the completely opposite end of the spectrum is a guy named Kenji Harima. He is the badass of the story and a delinquent in almost every sense of the word. His grades suck and he's not book-smart by any stretch of the imagination, he travels around by motorcycle, and he gets into fights whenever he feels like it. Most people in school fear him due to his mean exterior but inside beats the heart of a lovesick puppy. Harima wants nothing more than to be with Tenma and express his love for her, though if the two have anything in common it's the way with which they approach the subject matter with the object of their desire. That is to say indirectly and to a dangerous extent.

The four episodes on the first volume are a perfectly balanced way to begin School Rumble. Each of them remains episodic with some self-contained stories about Harima and Tenma's misadventures. In each episode there are also a few subplots, similar to the way other comedy/variety shows break up the pace with two stories in a single episode.

The first episode here introduces the characters and their desires, features Tenma's love letter writing, and pits all three in a bicycle chase in an attempt to catch up to the other's love interest. In the second episode the class of 2-C is given an English test but Harima notices that Tenma didn't write her name on the test. Through much hilarity he attempts in vain to get her attention and let her know that she didn't put her name at the top. After this ordeal Tenma becomes trapped in the girl's room when she doesn't want Karasuma to see her come out. Then there's the school's physical examination where all the students want to know personal information about the others.

The show goes on to put the kids through a sketching class, inspires Tenma to take up archery as a method for delivering her love letter, and features a school field trip. There are a few other events in between though I'll leave those up for your discovery if you do happen to check out this volume. It is safe to say that after watching each of these episodes my impressions regarding School Rumble are very positive. I laughed at just about every joke and unlike other shows each gag was fresh and inspired. Nothing was rehashed or borrowed from other anime (as far as I could tell).

If you're in the market for a new comedy that succeeds in both content and originality then School Rumble is the one you've been waiting for. This first volume is hilarious with four episodes that introduce the characters and concept perfectly. Hopefully we'll see the rest of the series follow suit but until then consider this one highly recommended.

The first season of School Rumble originally aired in 2004 and is presented on DVD with the full screen aspect ratio it was produced with. FUNimation did a decent job with the transfer here though there were a few flaws that cropped up during viewing. On the hole grain seems to cover several scenes and gives the show a somewhat fuzzy appearance. There are also a fair amount of artifacts and blocking that pop in at random intervals. In the end neither blemish is enough to detract from the find artwork and vibrant palette of the show but if you're watching on a larger television or HD set you'll notice them more prominently.

With 2.0 English and Japanese stereo tracks School Rumble is not an audio powerhouse. There isn't a lot of action here and most everything is dialogue based so I suppose a surround mix was unnecessary; though it would have helped matters a lot. For the most part things sound good with a fine presence on the soundstage but I do have to say that the volume felt a tad unbalanced. Some scenes were quieter than others and music tended to drown out the dubs. Speaking of which both languages do offer competent voice actors and fine dubbing quality all around.

Like most FUNimation releases the first volume of School Rumble comes with a regular and special edition. In both cases the DVD features remain the same with textless animation, trailers, TV spots, and some interviews for members of the original Japanese cast. If you pony up the extra money for the DVD with the box you'll be treated to a finely designed package that is reminiscent of a school locker. Full of character artwork the box is attractive and unique but it also includes a yearbook with character artwork and a space for autographs along with some stickers that can be applied to whatever you want. A trinket or other disc of some variety would have been nice too but I can make do just finely with what's presented here.

School Rumble is a fun new show that breaks the mold of what you'd expect from a high school romantic comedy. The characters are energetic and unique, the jokes are inspired, and just about everything in the series is endearing to a fault. I can't wait for the next volume of the show and only hope that it continues to offer the same talent for evoking laughter as this one did. I'm not sure that the extra money for the special edition is worth it but if you collect anime boxes then you'll definitely appreciate the packaging here. Overall this is a solid release from FUNimation and comes highly recommended.

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