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Harima love Tenma, but Tenma loves Karasuma. Who does Karasuma love? And just why is there a pig in the show? School Rumble answers none of these questions but does make you laugh until it hurts.

Ah, high school. Love is in the air – as well as hormones, fear, test anxiety, nervousness, and the smell of a giraffe in the pool. The teens of 2-C are one giant mess of love mix-ups (what’s a love triangle when it has twenty some odd points?). At the end of Season one, Harima tried desperately to become a man Tenma could love, but the ditzy girl only has eyes for Karasuma, and in her traditional goofy, dim-yet-lovable way, thought that Harima had fallen for her little sister. Woe to Harima!

Season Two kicks off with preparation for the culture festival. But before 2-C can join in, they have to figure out how! Some of the girls want to run a coffee shop so they can wear cute maid outfits, but the rest of the class wants a play. The argument seems unending until cool, steely Akira suggests a survival game. Armed to the teeth, 2-C applies strategy, daring – or cowardice – to try and win – though nothing turns out like they suspect.

The culture festival arrives! Only wackiness could ensue in this school, and true to form, absolutely everything goes wrong. Harima falls asleep in the wrong place, Mikoto gets locked out, there is a stagejacking, and the girls of 2-C are recruited by other shops. It all ends with an unlikely kiss.

The second half of the set isn’t as much of an ongoing plot, though aspects do carry over several episodes.  From Tenma’s newfound excitement over basketball to a curry eating contest, Napoleon the pig to Piotr the giraffe, after school jobs to the tricky disposal of a massive porn collection, everything in 2-C’s world is fun – and utterly hilarious.

A word, now, about dubs. Subtitles or dub is a long-waged war among anime fans, and I’ve never hid that I’m a fan of dubs. School Rumble is the best example why that I have ever found. Funimation, who has some of the best voice over talent in the industry, releases School Rumble. The translation is absolutely a gem, and though I suspect they take a good bit of artistic license, they do a phenomenal job. Though the subs convey the plot adequately, the dubs are a riot – filled with lines like “Chill out your FACE!” and everyday isms, nicknames and assorted terminologies that, along with the unstoppable talent of people like Brandon Potter (who voices Harima, and who has such an amazing voice that I could listen to him talk about anything at all), Luci Christian (who has one of the longest credit lists that I’ve ever seen), Brina Palencia (who does voices for one of my favs, xxxHolic), Erik Vale and Todd Haberkorn, that the English dub is definitely one of the best ever.

Bonus features are pretty slim here, but it’s okay. The fact that the set has thirteen episodes with little tidbits smooshed in between more than makes up for the textless songs, random trailers and interviews with the Japanese cast.

School Rumble is funny. I laughed so hard I drew the attention of several friends, my husband, and a few co-workers – all of whom laughed themselves silly after they watched it. The stories are insane and cute, the art fantastic, and the acting truly shines. It was so wonderful that I was sad when it ended.

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