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School Rumble

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School Rumble
File:SR DVD.jpg
Cover of the TV series's first DVD
GenreComedy, Drama, Romance, Shōnen
Created byJin Kobayashi
Manga
Written byJin Kobayashi
Published byJapan Kodansha
Canada United States Del Rey Manga
Taiwan Hong Kong Tongli Comics
Singapore Chuang Yi Comics (Chinese)
South Korea Haksan publish
Anime
School Rumble
Directed byShinji Takamatsu
StudioStudio Comet
Anime
School Rumble - First Term Extra
スクールランブル 一学期補習
Directed byShinji Takamatsu
StudioStudio Comet
Anime
School Rumble - Second Term
スクールランブル　ニ学期
Directed byShinji Takamatsu
StudioStudio Comet

School Rumble (スクールランブル, sukūru ranburu) is a manga serialized in the Weekly Shonen Magazine (週刊少年マガジン), drawn by Jin Kobayashi. A 26-episode anime version was broadcast by TV Tokyo. In December 2005, an OVA was released, containing two special episodes and a second season titled "School Rumble - Second Term" started broadcasting on 2 April 2006.

The series features prominently in the ongoing fansub debate due to the actions of its copyright holder, Media Factory Inc. (see Fansub)

The manga is published in English by Del Rey. Unlike other Del Rey releases, the manga uses the original Japanese naming order (family name followed by the given name) to keep with the puns in the manga.

Plot Overview

The series is a comedy that covers the daily life of second year high school student Tsukamoto Tenma, her friends, her classmates, and their many unsuccessful attempts at love. The story is lighthearted and contains the group's daily trials and imaginations. However, in School Rumble, these routine interactions are exaggerated and at times can be considered over-dramatic. In the beginning of the first season, the main focus of the story are Tsukamoto Tenma's love triangle, with her love interest, Karasuma Ohji, and Harima Kenji's "secret" love for Tenma.

As of the 6th and 7th volumes of the manga, the plot of the story has changed greatly. The story has switched to focusing mostly on the interactions between two of Tenma's classmates, Harima Kenji and Sawachika Eri, and her younger sister, Tsukamoto Yakumo. Tenma and Karasuma Ohji play more infrequent and minor roles. This is commonly attributed to the popularity polls conducted regularly in the Japanese magazine, which revealed that these three characters are the most popular characters in the series.

A story in sharp, flat and natural chapters

File:School Rumble manga v2 contents chopped.jpeg
An artwork from the manga, 2nd volume, showing Sarah (left) and Yakumo (right).

In the manga, the main plot is descripted in the sharp sign chapters (e.g. ♯1, ♯2, ...) that appear in Weekly Shonen Magazine, but there are the flat sign chapters: side stories that sometimes help to explain important details (♭1, ♭2, ...) that appear in monthly Magazine Special, and the natural sign chapters (so far only ♮1, included in School Rumble Volume 7) appear serialized in the seasonal Shonen Magazine Wonder (magazine titles in order: 週刊少年マガジン, マガジンSPECIAL, 少年マガジンワンダー). All three magazines and School Rumble volumes are published by Kodansha in Japan. Recently, the manga series was licensed to U.S. market.

The ♭ chapters 1-7 feature stories focus on Yakumo, ♭8 centers around Suou Mikoto and Hanai Haruki, while the later chapters focus on minor characters from the main storyline, or ♯ episodes viewed from an alternative perspective. The only ♮ chapter so far tells a general story involving all the characters and their general relationship during the meteor shower during Tanabata with no story bias towards any of them.

The anime series is composed basically of the ♯ chapters, enriched in some parts with the ♭ and ♮ ones. The OVA specials are a compilation of some of the remaining ♭ chapters with an original new story.

Characters

Note: Names of School Rumble characters are given in the Japanese style, with the surname first. Del Rey Manga adopted this style since the publisher states that jokes involving the names are understandable. All of their pictures are screenshots from the anime series.

Class 2-C members

A class in the second year of high school (roughly 11th grade by US grade counting), Class 2-C contains most of the series main characters.

  • Tsukamoto Tenma (塚本 天満 Tsukamoto Tenma)
Tsukamoto Tenma
Tsukamoto Tenma

Female protagonist, loves Karasuma Ōji. Short, undeveloped and childish for her age, she is often being mistaken as being younger than her classmates, even her younger sister. Also she is rather dense and often slow and unreliable. Despite that Tenma is good-natured and friendly. Enjoys professional wrestling, and although her classmate Harima is hopelessly in love with her, she is completely unaware of his feelings for her.

Note: Apparently, she has some sort of psychokinetic power, and can bend spoons with her mind, as seen in the first episode of the OVA. It should be noted that this ability is also mentioned in the first episode of the series, when she talks to Yakumo about wanting to be in the same class as Karasuma.

Harima Kenji
Harima Kenji

Male protagonist, ex-delinquent, loves Tenma. Although he doesn't practice any specific martial style, few people are able to match him in hand-to-hand combat. Has the ability to communicate with animals, and possesses a wide variety of strange and exotic pets.

Harima's dream is to become a famous mangaka, but every time he is in trouble with his work, he secretly resources to Tenma's sister, Yakumo to help him. The problem is because of it people often see Harima and Yakumo together, and those who know them believe they are actually dating, including Tenma, to the despair of Harima who fails every time he tries to clear this misunderstanding. Also every time he finds the courage to tell her his true feelings, something happens in order to prevent him from doing so.

Harima also has to deal with some conflicts involving his classmate Eri, unaware of the fact she has a crush on him.

Note: Sawachika calls Harima by an alternative nickname of "Hige" ("Moustache"/"Beard")

  • Karasuma Ōji (烏丸 大路 Karasuma Ōji)
Karasuma Ōji
Karasuma Ōji

Curry über alles. Karasuma enjoys dressing as a kappa and lacks facial expression. Has strange skills such as riding a bike very fast and driving buses. Although unspoken, he seems to be excellent at dodging any flying projectiles including Hurricane Kick. Karasuma's a famous mangaka, but almost none of his classmates know about it (except Harima Kenji), because he publishes his works under the pen name of Nijōfu (二条丈). Although it seems like Tenma's feelings for him are unrequited, behind his poker face he sometimes shows true concern for her.

Note: His surname, Karasuma, can be misread as Torimaru, which Harima mistakenly called him once.

  • Sawachika Eri (沢近 愛理)
Sawachika Eri
Sawachika Eri

A close friend of Tenma. Her father is a wealthy European and her mother is half-Japanese. Has great difficulty with Kanji. Extremely wealthy and rather spoiled (western Europeans in Japan are stereotyped to be billionaires and extremely snobby), Eri has a great admiration for her father, but she can't manage to spend much time with him because he rarely comes home.

Further in the story, Harima accidentally says "I Love You" to Eri, when in reality he was trying to say this to Tenma; Eri soon develops strong feelings towards him that she refuses to admit. She is very jealous towards him, especially when rumors of him dating Tenma's sister start to spread, but she is still unaware of Harima's true love interest.

Note: Harima usually calls Sawachika with an alternative nickname "Ojō" (Young lady or Miss. Shortened form of Ojō-san)

  • Suō Mikoto (周防 美琴)
Suō Mikoto
Suō Mikoto

A close friend of Tenma. Tall, well-developed, and tomboyish. She has a black belt in Kenpo, and is often seen sparring with her childhood friend Haruki. She had a crush on a senpai of hers, but she gave up on him after discovering he had already met someone. Often harassed by Imadori because of her cup size.

  • Takano Akira (高野 晶)
Takano Akira
Takano Akira

Another close friend of Tenma. She is very perceptive, resourceful, intelligent, and also very mysterious. In a side story during summer break, Takano is seen as a spy or secret agent protecting a young boy. President of the Tea Club, Akira has some uncommon hobbies, like planning war games and wearing full body costumes. In her class, she also knows exactly who likes whom but for unexplained reasons, stays silent on the matter.

  • Hanai Haruki (花井 春樹)
Hanai Haruki
Hanai Haruki

As class representative of 2-C, Hanai takes his duties seriously, always trying to keep his classmates in line (especially the male ones). Unable to have second thoughts, he always says exactly what comes into his mind and is hopelessly in love with Yakumo.

When he was a child, he was shy, weak, and always been bullied by other children. This scenario changed with a little help from Mikoto, who has been his friend since that time. He attends the same dojo as her and has a black belt in Kenpo, as well. Despite Hanai and Mikoto having their own love interests, people around them sometimes think they are too close to be just friends.

Hanai is also Harima's rival, usually due to some misunderstandings between them that they usually sort out through violence. Although they put all of their strength into their matches, they always get interrupted in the middle, or end in a draw.

  • Imadori Kyōsuke (今鳥 恭介)
Imadori Kyōsuke
Imadori Kyōsuke

The class's number one pervert, he has the (not so) special skill of knowing a girl's cup size just by looking. Interested only in girls with breast size D or larger, the main targets of his flirting are the well endowed Mikoto and Lala Gonzalez, and he continues to pursue them constantly, although they are strong enough to beat him down. He enjoys the tokusatsu show "Hatenkou Robo Dozibiron", though he really should be too old for it.

  • Nara Kentarō (奈良 健太郎)
Nara Kentarō
Nara Kentarō

The class nobody who tries to fit in. He has feelings for Tenma, but any chance he gains to approach her is foiled by Harima. Curiously, according to the mangaka, his original intentions were having Nara as the series' main character, but somehow he was defined as one of the least important ones.

  • Ichijō Karen (一条 かれん)
Ichijō Karen
Ichijō Karen

Has monstrous strength despite having a weak looking appearance. Member of the amateur wrestling club, her power amazes even her strongest male classmates. She is in love with Imadori, but he intially avoids her, not only because of her small measures, but also because he fears her strength.

  • Asō Hiroyoshi (麻生 広義)
Asō Hiroyoshi
Asō Hiroyoshi

A quiet, athletic character who works part-time as a waiter in the same Chinese restaurant as Sara, despite his family has their own.

  • Yoshidayama Jirō (吉田山 次郎)

He dreams of ruling the school as the top delinquent, but his plans are foiled by the fact there are students much stronger than him, like Harima. Has feelings for Eri.

  • Fuyuki Takeichi (冬木 武一)

Pretends to take photos of the girls in the school for the yearbook but in reality sells them to the other male students.

  • Umezu Shigeo (梅津 茂雄)

Boy's track team member, boyfriend of Kido Madoka. Got his first kiss during the athletic festival.

  • Nishimoto Ganji (西本 願司)

A huge but timid figure. His family operates a video store, and he is known to host "ero meetings" discussing girls. Hailed as "Buddha Nishimoto" for his great collection of porn, among other reasons.

  • Suga Ryūhei (菅 柳平)

A close friend of Asou Hiroyoshi, and belongs to the boy's basketball team. Currently looking for a girlfriend.

  • Sagano Megumi (嵯峨野 恵)

Close friends with Ichijou Karen and Yuuki Tsumugi. Belonged to the girls' basketball team when she was in junior high, but became the manager for the boys' basketball team because there wasn't a girls' team in senior high. Though she seems concerned about her classmates' relationships, she doesn't seem to care about her own, and thus has no boyfriend.

  • Yūki Tsumugi (結城 つむぎ)

Has severe near-sightedness, and is the only meganekko in the class. She is the substitute class representative when Hanai Haruki is unavailable. She also had a crush on him, but somehow she gave up after she saw how Mikoto gets along well with him. Belongs to the astronomy club.

  • Ōtsuka Mai (大塚 舞)
Ōtsuka Mai
Ōtsuka Mai

Class representative for nine years straight. Has freckles, and likes fairy tales (though she denies it herself). According to the "ero society" data, she hides a fair-sized bust for some reason.

  • Kido Madoka (城戸 円)

Track team member, and apparently a very fast runner. Girlfriend of Umedu Shigeo, at least on the surface.

  • Kinugawa Ayano (鬼怒川 綾乃)

Track team member. She works at her family's sento, so she's used to naked bodies.

  • Mihara Kozue (三原 梢)

The gyaru stereotype of the class. Enjoys bodyboarding, and got a tan in the process. A fast runner, but bad at karaoke.

  • Rinko (隣子)
Rinko
Rinko

An originally unnamed girl who sits next to Harima. A Japanese fansite named her Rinko, literally meaning the neighbour girl, and the anime was influenced to name her as such.

  • Nagayama Toki (永山 朱鷺)

A beautiful girl with long black hair that even Kobayashi Jin described her as "a hidden gem". Went out with Tanaka Kazuya after 2-C's survival game, and they became a couple.

  • Tanaka Kazuya (田中 一也)

Captain of the soccer team. Took advantage of the situation during the survival game and asked Nagayama Toki to go out with him. They've become a fast couple ever since.

  • Ishiyama Hiroaki (石山 広明)

Has a limited sense of presence as other people call him "the other person". A friend of Tanaka and participant of Nishimoto's ero meetings.

  • Saeko (冴子)

Family name unknown. Apparently good at taming men and writing dark stories.

Class 1-D members

  • Tsukamoto Yakumo (塚本 八雲)
Tsukamoto Yakumo
Tsukamoto Yakumo

The shy younger sister of Tsukamoto Tenma, Yakumo was born with a variety of gifts. Not only she is able to read the thoughts of those who like her, but further is shown she also has the ability to communicate with ghosts. She also has innate fighting skills, despite her calm demeanor, and had put this skills in use in a few occasions such as against Hanai (when she read a bad thought from him about Tenma and when he tried to kiss her while she was sleeping).

Skilled, reliable, smart, and beautiful, she is one of the most admired girls in the school. Despite that fact, she has never had a boyfriend. This is due mostly to her mind-reading ability, as she can easily read the secret intentions of any boy who tries to approach her. The only exception is Harima, whose heart belongs completely to another girl; thus, his mind is completely opaque to her (During the OVA, Yakumo was able to read his mind for an instant, when he mistook her for his beloved Tenma). Although she has some difficulty socializing with other teens and adults (especially the male ones), Yakumo can easily interact with children, quickly gaining their trust and affection.

Though both sisters live in the same house, Yakumo is the one who does most of the house chores because Tenma is a complete failure in the kitchen and in almost everything else. However, Yakumo doesn't care as she knows her older sister is one of the few people who truly cares about her. She is also a member of the Tea Club.

Harima usually calls Yakumo with an alternate nickname "Imouto-san" (Little sister).

  • Sarah Adiemus
Sarah Adiemus
Sarah Adiemus

A close friend of Yakumo, Sarah works in the same restaurant as Asou. She is an exchange student from the UK, and a nun at a local Catholic church. Member of the Tea Club.

  • Tawaraya Satsuki(俵屋 さつき)

Despite being short for her age, she is a passionate basketball rookie who has a crush on Asou.

Class 2-D members

Due to some hostilities between some of its students and even their homeroom teachers, classes 2-C and 2-D became mutual rivals during the School Sports Festival. Later in the manga, this grudges weakens to a point where some of the 2-D students make friends in class 2-C.

File:SR 2-D.jpg
Tōgō Masakazu (left) and Harry Mackenzie (right)
  • Harry Mackenzie (ハリー・マッケンジー)

Blonde haired exchange student, skilled at fighting. Rival of Harima Kenji and Hanai Haruki. (Note: Harry Mackenzie is pronounced Harii Makkenjii in Japanese, which makes it sounds like Harima Kenji when pronounced fast, leading to some confusion & comedic misunderstandings in the story). Rides a golden bike with a Hyaku decal and often wears red clothing and red shades. This makes him a parody of the character Quattro Bajeena (Char Aznable) from Gundam.

  • Tōgō Masakazu (東郷 雅一)

Class rep., sees Class C as a rival. Obliviously self-confident. Unfortunately, his character leads him to rejections from his classmates.

  • Lala Gonzalez (ララ・ゴンザレス)
File:SR Lala.jpg
Lala Gonzalez

An exchange student from Mexico, and a skilled practitioner of Lucha libre fighting. Belongs to the same amateur wrestling club as Ichijō. She sees her as a rival, often shouting "Ichijō!" when she meets her. Lala doesn't like Ichijō's name because her mother, who abandoned her and her father when she was a child, was also named Karen.

  • Tennōji Noboru (天王寺 昇)

Delinquent who deems Harima as a rival. Often shown much larger than he really is. Has a little sister named Mio who likes Harima's little brother, Shuuji. He also shows interest towards Tenma (temporarily) and Mikoto.

Faculty members

File:SR Itoko.jpg
Osakabe Itoko
  • Tani Hayato (谷 速人) - Class 2-C homeroom teacher. Teaches English. Very soft-spoken. Owns a collection of toy dinosaurs.
  • Katō Kyōji (加藤 矜持) - Class 2-D homeroom teacher. Has an unlikeable personality.
  • Osakabe Itoko (刑部 絃子) - Physics teacher and cousin of Harima Kenji (Note: "Itoko" is also homonymous with the word "cousin" in Japanese).
  • Sasakura Yōko (笹倉 葉子) - Art teacher and old friend of Osakabe.
  • Anegasaki Tae (姉ヶ崎 妙) - School's infirmary nurse. Has lived with Harima Kenji in the past, and seems attracted to him.
  • Kōriyama (郡山) - Physical education teacher, often referred by the class of 2-C as Goriyama due to his gorilla like physique.

Other characters

  • Harima Shūji (播磨 修治) - Younger brother of Harima Kenji. Despite he secretly likes Yakumo, he shows true concern about Tennōji Mio, who is also his classmate.
  • Ichijō Kōsuke (一条 康介) - Younger brother of Ichijou Karen. A Dojibiron fan as well.
  • Tennōji Mio (天王寺 美緒) - Younger sister of Tennouji Noboru. She is friends with Harima Shuuji and has a crush on him.
  • Nakamura (中村) - Butler of the Sawachika family. A former soldier.
  • Kōtsu Masahiro (神津 正弘) - Suō Mikoto's former tutor and first love. He found a girlfriend after he graduated from high school, breaking Suou's heart.
  • Gotō Kengai (五島 玄海) - Captain of the Kikokumaru, a fishing boat. Formerly an unsucessful manga artist, he inspired and motivated Harima Kenji when Harima run away from Japan to the sea to forget his troubles.

Animals

  • Iori (伊織) - A black stray cat with a scar on its forehead who has lived in the Tsukamoto household since he was tamed by Yakumo.
  • Alexander - Harima's pet frog.
  • Pyotr - Once Harima's pet giraffe. He was later moved to a zoo along with all the other zoo animals.
  • Napoleon - Harima's pet pig.
  • Anastasia - Harima's pet penguin.

Voice Actors

While all School Rumble characters have their names in the Japanese order (family name, given name), all voice actors have their names in the Western order (given name, family name)

Role Japanese Cast
Tsukamoto Tenma Ami Koshimizu (小清水 亜美)
Harima Kenji Hiroki Takahashi (高橋 広樹)
Karasuma Ōji Hiroki Konishi (小西 大樹)
Sawachika Eri Yui Horie (堀江 由衣)
Suō Mikoto Hitomi Nabatame (生天目 仁美)
Takano Akira Kaori Shimizu (清水 香里)
Tsukamoto Yakumo Mamiko Noto (能登 麻美子)
Sarah Adiemus Yukari Fukui (福井 裕佳梨)
Ichijō Karen[1] Yuuka Nanri (南里 侑香)(season one)
Mako Sakurai (桜井 真子)(season two)
Hanai Haruki Shinji Kawada (川田 紳司)
Imadori Kyōsuke Daisuke Kishio (岸尾 大輔)
Nara Kentarō Yuuki Tai (泰 勇気)
Fuyuki Takeichi Hiroyuki Yoshino (吉野 裕行)
Harry Mackenzie Nobuyuki Hiyama (檜山 修之)
Tōgō Masakazu Hiroki Yasumoto (安元 洋貴)
Lala Gonzalez Yuu Kobayashi (小林 ゆう)
Tennōji Noboru Tomoyuki Shimura (志村 知幸)
Osakabe Itoko Yuu Asakawa (浅川 ゆう)
Sasakura Youko Sayaka Ohara (大原 さやか)
Anegasaki Tae Akiko Kurumado (輦止 亮子)
  1. ^ As announced on 24 Feb, Seiyū for Ichijō Karen was changed from Nanri to Sakurai, due to scheduling conflicts.
    Referenced: http://www.school-rumble.net/news/060224.html

Trivia

Cameos and Parodies

Season 1 and OVA

Ep 1: During the scenes where Tenma is chasing after Karasuma, the Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX from Shigeno's Initial D series appears (and is promptly overtaken by all three bikers). The notable differences between the 86 in School Rumble and the 86 in Initial D is the driver's side door sticker (It now reads "Kobayashi Tofu Ten" rather than "Fujiwara Tofu Ten") and the license plate numbers. Also, the train which the three of them overtake on their bikes is the Enoshima Electric Railway located south of Tokyo. The coastal setting in this scene exists in real life.

Ep 3: The (in)famous bullet-time sequence from The Matrix is parodied as arrows aimed at Karasuma pass zooming by Harima as Harima tries (and succeeds) in dodging the arrows. When Tenma gets knocked off the roof of the bus by a tree, the rear destination panel of the bus says "Sayonara" - Good Bye.

Ep 4: Devil's Tower from Close Encounters of the Third Kind can be see in the background when Harima is attempting to hitchhike after being separated from the rest of the class on the field trip.

Ep 8: There is a movie on TV when Harima decides not to go to school, called "Comet Wars". Needless to say that it's a parody of Star Wars, with even similar characters (despite the fact that Comet Wars' Princess Leia is blonde).

Ep 9: Theres a Dragon Ball Z reference, where Harima's hair changes to gold, when he goes "Super Saiyan" in the manga that he is drawing. Karasuma is dressed just like M. Bison from the Street Fighter video games. A Fist of the North Star reference also exists in the same segment, where plot, setting, characters, fighting styles, and trademark scenes are imitated. Harima Kenji also uses Kenshiro's line "I came back from hell to kill you" but uses it in a less threatening manner.

Ep 17: This episode features a short CGI segment following the closing credits, which seems to serve as a parody of summer action blockbusters in general. The sequence revolves around Takano Akira engaging in a running battle with several members of the Italian Mafia. Early in this sequence, Akira dodges a number of bullets fired at her by the mafiosi, another obvious sendup of the signature action scene in The Matrix.

Ep 18: Tenma's wrestling mask has the japanese word "niku" (meat) written on its forehead. Actually, it's a parody of the character Meat Alexandria, from the Ultimate Muscle series, which had an identical writing on his head. Dozibiron ending theme - When the 5 mechas merge to form the Dozibiron, the car which flies off from the impact of the Dozibiron landing on the ground is none other than the Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX.

Ep 20: Hanai plays the theme song of The Godfather with his recorder with a heap of mistakes.

Ep 21: In the opening scene where Mikoto went into the mountain to find Hanai and finds him suspended upside down by a beam transferring water from the lower vessels to the upper vessels is parodied from the early Jackie Chan 1978 movie "Drunken Master" where Jackie Chan was made to perform a similar training to prepare himself to learn the ultimate skill known as "Drunken Fist". The music which was heard when Hanai rebounced a kick from Harry McKenzie during the Sports Day scene with his stomach muscles alone is also parodied from the same movie.

Ep 21-22: During the scene where Harry McKenzie first shows up, he is wearing shades; combined with his blonde hair he is very similar to Quattro Bajeena (Char Aznable) of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. Harry is also riding on a bike painted golden, and has the letter "Hyaku" (Kanji for 100) on it, a parody of the Mobile Suit MSN-100 Hyakushiki, piloted by Quattro Bajeena. Also in episode 22, he fights with Lala, who have much resemblance (name and look) to Lalah Sune, who was the woman in which Char loved. Tougou also resembles Anavel Gato. All the three aforementioned belongs to Principility of Zeon, the antagonist group in Mobile Suit Gundam.

Ep 22: Tennouji's appearance resembles Godzilla, including the rumbling water cup.

OVA 2: During the scene where Harima and Yakumo were drawing manga and listening to the radio, the announcer was DJ Yoshimo, a famous Japanese radio announcer.

Kobayashi Cameos: During the "Prehistoric Rumble" sidestory in OVA 2, the narrator is no other than the series mangaka, Kobayashi Jin himself. Kobayashi also made a cameo as a fisherman in Season 1, Episode 25 as 'Sailor F' which is identifiable by an initial 'F' on the hat the fisherman is wearing.

Season 2

Ep 1: Tennouji's appearence in the jidaigeki version was a parody of Sachiel in Neon Genesis Evangelion episode 1. The laptops used in the meeting at the end are IBM R32 ThinkPads while the masks that the boys are wearing resembles those worn by the villains in New Police Story.

Ep 2-3: The battle in school, between the play and cafe faction, with BB guns, greatly resembles Battle Royale. Also, there is a parody of Full Metal Jacket Sgt. Hartman's famous jogging song "I don't know what I've been told", humorously adapted to otaku themes (for example, M78 is the nebula where Ultraman came from). The battle between Harima and Hanai, and also how Harima charges his guns are a parody of the movie Equilibrium.

Ep 4: During the reading of the possible scripts to the culture festival play, the scene with Harima (disguised as Yakumo) and Hanai is an allusion to the Tokimeki Memorial game series. The scene of the ballet practice with Ichijou, Imadori and Mikoto resembles the Glass Mask anime/manga series. The scene with Mai is a reference to a handful of Magical Girl series, including the staff she uses, which resembles the one used by Kinomoto Sakura in Card Captor Sakura.

Ep 5: The "Tokihasou" stand in the Tea Club Cafe is a reference of the apartment where Tezuka Osamu lived, Tokiwa-sou. Also, Yakumo is humorously dressed like him in this episode.

Ep 6: The Culture Festival play is a very unfaithful version of the tale "Sleeping Beauty".

Ep 7: There is a cooking contest between Hanai and Harima, which is derived from the anime "Chuka Ichiban" (which is also named "Cooking Master Boy"), especially the "vision" seen by the judges after tasting the "glowing" food present by the contesters. In one of the vision, boar-shaped "Mountain Gods" wandering in the woods, which is a famous scene in the animation movie "Princess Mononoke" made by Hayao Miyazaki. The Anime studio "Hometto" where Harima take part-time job is actually referring to Studio Kometto, the studio in charge of the animation production of School Rumble.

Ep 9: During Tae's motivation speech she was branding a scepter (surrounded by a glowing golden aura) and striking a pose in an allusion to Saori Kido from the anime "Saint Seiya" (aka "Knights of the Zodiac").

Ep 10: When Tenma is making her pot in pottery class, Karasuma apppears in "ghost" form to help her out, very similar to a scene in the movie "Ghost (film)" with Demi Moore. Also, the Joker in the boys' card game is a CG Akira, similar to that of Season 1 episode 17.

Ep 12: There is a parody of the "dating sim" genre of games, most proeminently Tokimeki Memorial, when Harima wonders how he'll invite Tenma to a date. Also, when Harima tries to enter Itoko's room, and the traps are activated, the radio starts playing the Season 1 ending.

Hatenkou Robo Dozibiron

File:Dozibironteam.jpg
Hatenkou Robo Dozibiron Team
File:Dozibiron.jpg
Hatenkou Robo Dozibiron

On Episode 18, Karen and Imadori go out on a date. When they go to the cinema, the movie on play is a tokusatsu named Hatenkou Robo Dozibiron (破天荒 ロボ ドジビロン, something like Unprecedented Robo Dozibiron), an obvious parody of Super Sentai shows like Power Rangers or Choushinsei Flashman. Not only Imadori, but Ichijou's younger brother Kosuke is a big fan of the series. The team is composed only with girls, whose names are also a parody of their voice actresses names, exchanging the first kanji of the name with the corresponding color of the character. Their battlecry is "Duel!".

Kishimizu Ami (黄清水 あみ) - She is the Yellow Dozibiron, and the team's Number One. She appears to be a truck driver. She controls a yellow wolf-like mecha. Her name is a parody of Tsukamoto Tenma's voice actress, Koshimizu Ami (小清水 亜美).

Akae Yui (赤江 ゆい) - She is the Red Dozibiron, and the team's Number Two. She appears to be a famous model or actress. She controls a red bird-like mecha. Her name is a parody of Sawachika Eri's voice actress, Yui Horie (堀江 由衣).

Midoritame Hitomi (緑生天目 ひとみ) - She is the Green Dozibiron, and the team's Number Three. She appears to be some sort of police officer. She controls a green turtle-like mecha. Her name is a parody of Suou Mikoto's voice actress, Nabatame Hitomi (生天目 仁美).

Momotō Mamiko (桃登 まみこ) - She is the Pink Dozibiron, and the team's Number Four. She appears to be a professional wrestler. She controls a pink mole-like mecha. Her name is a parody of Tsukamoto Yakumo's voice actress, Noto Mamiko (能登 麻美子).

Aomizu Kaori (青水 かおり) - She is the Blue Dozibiron, and the team's Number Five. She appears to be a waitress (quite clumsy, by the way). She controls a blue elephant-like mecha. Her name is a parody of Takano Akira's voice actress, Shimizu Kaori (清水 香里).

When the team shouts the command "Shoutotsu Gattai!" (Crashing Union!), the five mechas combine themselves to form a Megazord-like giant robo, called Dozibiron. The Wolf and Bird mechas form the body and the head; the Mole mecha changes into the right arm, with a drill-like weapon; the Turtle mecha changes into the left arm, with a giant claw used to grab opponents; and, finnaly, the Elephant mecha forms the legs.

The signature attack of the giant robo is the Unprecedented Strike, a powerful attack with the right arm's drill, going through the enemy's body and totally destroying it.

Hatenkou Robo Dozibiron seems to be a quite popular show in School Rumble's universe. It is depicted in further chapters of the manga, a fact that probably will also occur in the new TV series. It even has a theme song sung by Takahashi Hiroki available in Track 5 of Harima Kenji's CD Image Album Volume 7 (Catalog No: KICA-676).

Other Trivialities

  • Almost all of the manga's chapters are titled with names of foreign films, songs, and proverbs.
  • Hanai Haruki's Ultimate Killing Move is featured as a Blue Tiger known as "Flower Tiger" (its writing in kanji is 百花虎撃, which means Hundred Flowers Tiger Strike).
  • Harima Kenji's Ultimate Killing Move is featured as a Red Dragon known as "Hurricane Dragon" (its writing in kanji is 播拳龍壟, which means Scatter Fist Dragon Grave), as well as a finishing kick known as "Hurricane Kick". Harima & Eri also combined in Episode 22 to form a Twin Hurricane Kick to take down Tennouji.
    • Note: The term "Hariken", which means "scattering fist", is a pun for Harima Kenji's name, as well as for "hurricane".
  • Ichijou Karen's Ultimate Killing Move is a German Suplex Hold.
  • Most of the primary characters names coincide with train stations or street names in Japan.

School Rumble Seiyū & Live Cast Performances

School Rumble Presents Come! Come! Welcome? Party

On 5 December 2004, a concert featuring the Seiyū cast of School Rumble was held at Yokohama BLITZ. It had been released on DVD (Catalog No: KIBA-1194) on 24 March 2005 featuring the following:

School Rumble Live Butai - Osarusan dayo Harima kun

On 21 July - 25 July 2005, a stage play recapping Season 1 of School Rumble was shown. It had been released on DVD (Catalog No: ZMBH-2401) on 10 October 2005. The cast members are as follows:

Theme Songs

Season One

  • Opening (eps 1-24 and OVA 1-2): "Scramble" (スクランブル) by Yui Horie with UNSCANDAL
  • Opening (ep 25): "Umi no Otoko wa yo" (海の男はよ) by Kikoukumaru's Man Chorus Group (鬼哭丸少年合唱団)

Season Two

  • Opening: "Sentimental Generation" (せんちめんたる　じぇねれーしょん) by Tokito Ami (時東あみ)
  • Ending: "Kono Namida ga aru kara Tsugi no Ippo to naru" (この涙があるから次の一歩となる) by Tokito Ami (時東あみ)
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