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.

The third volume continued the fun with four episodes of School Rumble goofiness. The previous installment was arguably packed with fan service as the girls all donned bikinis and various bathing suits. While at the beach Tenma met a boy named Nara who fell head over heels for her; something that Harima didn't particularly care for I assure you. Thusly he invited himself along to the beach but found himself in a bit of trouble as Eri walked in on him after he lost his swim trunks. This was probably my favorite part of the third volume but things still continued as the remaining episodes put Tenma and Harima back in their element.

Four more episodes of School Rumble hit the fourth volume of the series. The first episode sees summer still going strong and while there's plenty of fun to be had Harima is working on another manga. Driven by ambition he takes it to a publisher and bumps into Eri along the way. Assuming she has ill intent our fearless hero runs the other direction and bumps into Mikoto along the way. Something's bugging her and the two wind up chatting for a bit only to be interrupted by Eri once again. Naturally it looks as though the two are on a date and I'm sure you can figure out what happens next. The first episode ended with a nice twist that involved some fireworks and Tenma's group of friends coming together to celebrate.

The second episode was a lot of fun but once again the relationship between characters doesn't really go anywhere. Tenma's Tea Club has an outing of sorts and some other people like Harima and Yakumo tag along for the ride. Through a series of circumstances Tenma sees Harima and Yakumo talking and thinks that the bully is hitting on her. Ironically enough he was inquiring about Tenma so it's only fitting that in good Tenma fashion she challenges Harima to a competition. Naturally the knucklehead thinks that she is going to confess her feelings to him but plans change once some nasty rain starts.

From the third episode on School Rumble keeps hitting the funny bone in typical fashion though I have to admit that the jokes are becoming a little tiresome. Granted I do have admit that the animal cosplay and Tenma wrestling bits were genuinely amusing. The relationship angle that permeates every ounce of this series has just started to grow stale in my opinion. Sure new characters are introduced and their roles in the series provide nice diversions for Harima and Tenma but the supporting cast isn't nearly good enough to elevate the material.

Don't get me wrong, I love this show and I think it's hilarious, but there's just something about it that is beginning to bug me. I find the characters endearing enough and the situations they find themselves in are as amusing as they are irreverent. If off the wall anime is your cup of tea then School Rumble will quickly become one of your favorites. There is enough charm to carry the material and the writing is fantastic though you may tire of the formula if you don't give yourself some time between viewings.

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 whole, 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.

Another sheet of magnets has been packed into the DVD case and some textless animation and trailers have been placed on the disc. Another interview segment with some of the original Japanese voice cast is included in the extras menu as well. As with the previous segments similar to this the content is fairly light but enjoyable enough for a single viewing.

School Rumble is a fun 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. The fourth volume offers another grouping of episodes that proved to be a lot of fun all around but some of the content has started to waiver. Things remain hilarious but each episode features one ridiculous situation after another. Granted I suppose that's something to love about the show but if you watch too much of it at once you'll notice the tiring structure. I still highly recommended the series but it's certainly turning into something that's much more enjoyable in small doses.

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