About Russ Parker
Location: Plano, Tx
Occupation: Literary Mercenary
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Posts: 59
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I’m running out of clever ways to say “You should watch School Rumble”
No seriously; it’s good, really good. If you aren’t currently salivating at the thought of being able to watch more School Rumble then you might be dead. I’ve said it all before, off the wall comedy, surprising depth of characters, interesting dramatic situations, and a love story I don’t feel dirty for watching: School Rumble has it all.
In this volume, the over arcing love story gets much more complicated. After Kenji mistakenly confessed his love to Eri she’s been given him the evil eye 24/7, and Kenji’s newfound ability to commune with animal has netted him a new admirer in Yakumo. Meanwhile Tenma overhears Kenji talking to himself about loving someone, but is too dense to release he’s in love with her. When you throw in the love interest of the side characters, and all of the new characters, it starts to get a little confusing. What started out as a simple love triangle and transformed into some malformed love hexakaidecagon. (That’s a sixteen sided shape for those of you keeping track at home.)
While I have mentioned this before, I feel then need to once again point out how finely crafted each DVD of School Rumble is. In addition to coming with a reversible DVD cover, both with American and Japanese cover art; each release has come with bonus magnets of the characters. Now I ‘m not saying that magnets with a DVD are a real selling point, but the last free swag I remember getting with a DVD was back in ’02 when I got free character pins with Azumanga Daioh. Free swag aside, Each DVD has had its fare share of extras, including Japanese cast interviews and the standard textless opening and closing.
In addition to the extras, the English voice acting is phenomenal. Very rarely do I completely prefer one version of a show to another. More often than not I will switch between the original Japanese and the English adaption: trying to get the best form both worlds. The Japanese offers the characters and dialog “as the where meant to be heard” while the English offers a new take on the dialog that is often easier for me to follow. In the case of School Rumble however, the original dialog is dwarfed by the stellar work of the English voice cast.
I really can’t say enough good things about School Rumble. Please watch it, if not for you, then for me.
