Print Review: School Rumble volumes 1-3

Review School Rumble volumes 1-3Written by WarpshadowRating very good

The romantic comedy may be old hat in the realm of manga but as School Rumble shows that with a bit of talent and ingenuity even old hat is good reading.

Tsukamoto Tenma is a normal but ditzy high school girl. She is in love with the very inscrutable Karasuma but is unable to tell him her feelings. Harima Kenji is a delinquent student who has feelings for Tenma yet she is as oblivious of his feelings as Karasuma is of hers. The story begins when Tenma learns that Karasuma is going to transfer. Will anybody be able to tell someone their feelings?

School Rumble is a romantic comedy that is short on the romance and long on the comedy. This is more of a shonen manga but bears little resemblance to the average male romance coming out of Japan featuring a delightful twist on the genre's usual male lead who is surrounded by women who are uninterested in him (as of the end of volume 3). Chapters tend to be short and to the point, never taking a gag out too long. While I found the first volume to be a decent read but School Rumble really comes into it's own with the second the the second volume when more characters are added to the mix allowing for more variety in jokes and some continuity. For what it is School Rumble is a great comedy and well worth reading.