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 fifth volume had a lot of stuff to offer but once again it didn't really push the envelope for the show. This series has been kind of stuck in its groove for a while now, though admittedly the groove is very funny. Last time we checked in for the show the kids all got involved in an art project, Harima got a close shave, and everything ended with the start of a sports festival. With a fair amount of continuity that's right where the final installment picks up.

In episode 23 the class of 2-C is fiercely competing with their rivals 2-D. In the women's and men's relay races things kind of get out of control but then again you'd expect that from School Rumble by this point. To celebrate the day's events the school holds a dance but Harima finds himself in a bit of an awkward position considering his recent haircut. As the volume moves on though the series seems content to push our goofy male star and Eri closer together somewhat. The two wind up spending time with each other at the dance and even after the fact it appears as though they are dating.

Naturally at this point Harima feels that he has no chance with his true love Tenma, which only leads to more hilarious situations. Things become awkward when Eri interprets a gift to Harima as an approach by Yakumo for his affection and throughout it all Harima still pines for Tenma. This causes him to kind of rethink his life and head out to sea in order to find his muse. In typical School Rumble fashion this part really stood out from the dynamic of the series but it wasn't exactly as successful as it could have been. For whatever reason, it just felt really out of place almost like it was an afterthought.

As the volume, and series, comes to a close Harima is still working towards his dreams of being a manga artist. Tenma is still chasing Karasuma while being doted on by Harima, and Eri finds herself somewhere in between. If you've enjoyed the show up to this point then you'll undoubtedly dig what goes on with this installment. Some of the bits feel out of place here and the stupidity of the show's characters will just make you want to slap your forehead but it's all funny just the same.

My enthusiasm for this series has slowly been diminishing thanks to the fact that most of the jokes give it a "one trick pony" mentality. This is a funny series to be sure but once it finds its comfort zone it never really expands beyond that. The density of its characters is charming at first but becomes grating after a while and the love triangle just doesn't seem to fit when all is said and done. Still, there is another season to come eventually and who knows what will happen then! This series is a light recommendation for anyone looking for a slapstick comedy show but if you're looking for something with depth or ingenuity you'll want to look elsewhere.

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.

Like the other volumes we get another sheet of magnets, textless songs, and some trailers. This volume also includes an interview with two of the show's original Japanese voice actors. Harima and Karasuma's performers talk about their experience with the series but they don't get into too much detail. There are a couple of funny moments here and it seems like the crew had a really good time with the show.

School Rumble is a fun show that breaks the mold of what you'd expect from a high school romantic comedy though it doesn't push the envelope too far. The characters are energetic yet stupid, the jokes can be inspired, and just about everything in the series is endearing to a fault. Unfortunately somewhere towards the middle the quality started to wane and some of the gags became old hat. There's a defined brand of humor here but unless you adore it early on some of the gags will probably annoy you more than tickle your funny bone. Still, if you're looking for a different comedy series with interesting characters then School Rumble comes with a light recommendation.

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