信じられますか

Okay, so we have Tsukamoto Tenma as our next girl to adore, in the next anime I’m watching: School Rumble. Seeing talk of the second season around so much (as it’s still coming out), there was massive pressure to watch the first installment, and of course I succumbed.

I started out School Rumble expecting a fine but otherwise usual school-romance-comedy. What I got was a school-romance-comedy, yes, but I got the feeling this is a special one. Popular opinion surrounding this seems to think so anyway.

The first thing I noticed was the theme song, SCRAMBLE. It is incredibly light-hearted, and just listening to it, you’re prepared for a simple, fun anime…in contrast to the horror mindfucks I’ve been watching lately (Higurashi, Elfen Lied, though these were still good mindfucks, mind you). Guru guru mawaru…guru guru mawaru! As stereotypically cartoony the OP sounds, you just can’t help but want to sing to it! Then we have the POSE!

…

…well, I guess that pose didn’t always symbolize Haruhism.

Anyway, I like the efficient time-usage of the sponsor recognitions.
So in that short dead-time right after the OPs and next-ep previews, we get some more shots of our characters, as well as amusing descriptions of them. ^-^

So anyway, like I said I was expecting a typical school-romance-comedy. I’d just like to say THANK HARUHI-SAMA THAT THE MAIN MALE CHARACTER IS NOT A SPINELESS BALL-LESS “GOODY-GOODY” DOUCHEBAG! (Or is that only in harems?) Yes! The last time I said something like this was for Saito in Zero no Tsukaima, unfortunately he’s winding up to be cornier as the series progresses. Anyway, we get a refreshing delinquent who’s closer to Onizuka than Keitaro: Kenji Harima.

ah yes, but even crazy Oni’s must fall in love. And of course with Tenma! Yet while this was predictable, execution is key, and School Rumble is pulling it off quite well. We’re getting refreshing approaches to this genre which has been recently milked down to a pathetic mess. The love letter arc, the whole bike race, it’s all hilarious, and I keep fearing that I’m going to start seeing horrible cliches happen again, but they don’t! and that’s awesome. Instead,we’re treated to moments of random comedy such as the following:

Yes, the entire atmosphere of School Rumble is as light-hearted and carefree as you can get, with none of that angst that usually comes with the romance genre…at least not yet. In fact, this is pretty much, as far as I can see, a romance version of Azumanga Daioh! And the expressions are incredibly similar…

Whoa! Did Sakaki and Osaka suddenly merge?!!

Actually, it really is a lot like Azumanga Daioh, especially with the whole multiple short-stories in one episode thing (School Rumble has three while Azumanga has five per ep). Anyway, if this series brings me the same enjoyment and laughter as Azumanga Daioh, then I’ll be a happy otaku. Till then, I’m gonna be catching up, hopefully before the second semester of School Rumble finishes airing.