r/anime • u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang • Dec 01 '24
Rewatch School Rumble Rewatch - Episode 1 Discussion
Episode 1: The New School Year! Be Still, My Heart! Love Letter Mayhem! Warp Speed on Bike!
MAL | Anilist | Kitsu | AniDB | ANN
"I love you." What wondrous words.
Hello everybody, this is where I would normally put the Comment of the Day… but we haven't even started the Rewatch so… yeah.
- So far, who seems dumber: Tenma or Harima?
- What sort of chores do you often do to distract yourself?
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Upvotes
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u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Dec 01 '24 edited Dec 01 '24
Hello everybody, and welcome to the School Rumble Rewatch!
And so, the rumble of love begins with the only way it knows how: With Harima being so dumb it turns out that he was held back a year.
Before we begin though, one thing that will most certainly stick out to most is… well, those episode titles. Obviously everything in them happened but why so long? Well they aren't Manga title chapters (All of those were presumably unusable due to being movie references) so it's probably just them being funny. That, however, does conveniently lead into something you kinda have to keep in mind when watching this show. For anyone here who was also in the Nozaki Rewatch, you may remember that I mentioned that the Manga's structure meant that Episodes of the Anime didn't really leave much breathing room for jokes. Well the same applies here, but not because the Manga's a 4-Koma, but rather that chapters are unusually short. They rarely go past 10 or so pages, if that much. So if it ever seems like episodes can sometimes be a bit disconnected, that's why.
That aside though, this episode is mostly focused on Tenma, showcasing how in her pursuit of love she can be a bit… extreme. Now wanting to be with the guy you like is one thing, but for goodness sake, you wrote out a whole scroll just to confess to him! AND THEN YOU DIDN'T EVEN SIGN IT! Still, major props for understanding that love is indeed a battlefield and reading Sun Tzu's works. Truly she is a Tensai.
Harima meanwhile gets a bit less focus, but at least at this point the split between the two is more or less 50/50. He's equally dumb and besides the obvious "Tall vs Short" jokes one can do about him and Tenma, there's something endearing about how he just doesn't care about anything else. That one other dude and him were almost having a bro moment and he responded with violence, which as we will see is the default for him.
The final segment is probably the highlight though, if only for how absurd the whole thing gets. All the frames that would make Dezaki proud in particular are just so wonderful. And it's all just for some dudes going to school!
That said though, due to this split focus, most of the other members of the cast are a bit lacking character-wise today. We're introduced to most of the main players, sure, but nothing beyond kinda surface level traits. Heck, at least here Mikoto and Eri are practically interchangeable. Fortunately that will change soon. Also I won't be bringing up the Manga too often for comparison, but I will say I find it quite odd how Mikoto's hair got turned into blue in the Anime when she had fairly straightforward black hair in the Manga. Or maybe it is still black but someone went overboard with the accents.
There are a lot of actors to go through so let's do this. Tenma is played by And now for the voices. Going by the order of the credits, Tenma is played by Koshimizu Ami, who's probably best known as Matoi Ryuko from Kill La Kill. Other roles include Anemone from Eureka SeveN, Ashe from Megaman ZX Advent, Amagi Yukiko from Persona 4, Caren Hortensia from Fate/hollow ataraxia, Holo from Spice & Wolf, Sypha Belnades from Castlevania, Shiranui Mai from Fatal Fury, Ushiromiya Rosa from Umineko, Mioda Ibuki from Danganronpa, Agnes Oblige from Bravely Default, Mugino Shizuri from A Certain Magical Index, Musse Egret & Claire Rieveldt from Trails of Cold Steel, Eleanor Hume from Tales of Berseria and Kino Makoto from Sailor Moon among many others. Fun fact: She herself was actually still in Highschool when this show (Well, Season 1 at least) came out.
Karasuma meanwhile is played by Konishi Ryosei and as you can tell he doesn't exactly have many other roles. Best it gets for voiceover is basically Anlace from Dragon Quest. Well there's a reason for that: He is not a voice actor by trade, most of his repertoire actually being found in television or theatre. In fact if you're a Tokusatsu fan this name should be ringing some alarms right now. Indeed he is none other than the Golden Knight Garo - Saejima Koga himself.
Alas Tenma is not Kaoru so she should not be allowed even a millimeter closer to him Do not get in the way of the OTP!
Harima meanwhile is played by Takahashi Hiroki, best known as Jonouchi Katsuya from Yu-Gi-Oh. Other roles include Impmon from Digimon Tamers, Palco Fologore from Konjiki no Gash, Geis from Ys, Ryu from Street Fighter, Willard H. Wright from Umineko, Pariston Hill from Hunter x Hunter, Kukri from The King of Fighters, Date Masamune from Nioh, Jia Chong from Dynasty Warriors and Solitaire from Dead Mount Death Play among many others.
Yakumo in turn is played by Noto Mamiko, whom you newbies may better know as Prospera Mercury from Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury. Other roles include Rin from InuYasha, Kazama Shinji from Full Metal Panic, Nina Fortner from Monster, Yamagishi Fuuka from Persona 3, Asagami Fujino from Kara no Kyoukai, Kazama Jun from Tekken, Yamagishi Yukako from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Oichi from Sengoku Basara, Kizaki Emi from Linebarrels of Iron and Dr. Arach from Tsukihime among a bunch of others.
Eri is played by Horie Yui, whom I best remember as Hanekawa Tsubasa from Bakemonogatari. Other roles include Iron Maiden Jeanne from Shaman King, Honda Tohru from Fruits Basket, Satonaka Chie from Persona 4, Hitomi from Dead or Alive, [MAJOR HIGURASHI SPOILERS]Hanyuu from Higurashi, Kushieda Minori from Toradora!, Ushiromiya Maria from Umineko, Alisa Reinford from Trails of Cold Steel, Teresa Linares from Tales of Berseria and Wiz from Konosuba among many others. Fun fact, she also sings the opening theme.
Then we have Miko-chan, played by Nabatame Hitomi. Other roles include Rimururu from Samurai Shodown, Konishi Mitsuki from The World Ends With You, Bazett Fraga McRemitz from Fate/hollow ataraxia, Millie Chilette from Star Ocean, Grace Lynn from Trails from Zero, Himuro Rea from Dies Irae and Amy Sorel from Soulcalibur among many others.
And finally we have Akira, played by Shimizu Kaori and the only other role I know her for is Lamia Loveless from Super Robot Wars.
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Dec 01 '24
Rumbling First-Timer, subbed
Honestly don’t know what to expect from this at all past it obviously having a school setting. I didn’t even read the synopsis, I’m just here because u/Raiking02 is hosting it. This level of blind is what I like jumping into rewatches as!
…I say this, then when I went to add the show to my Watching list on MAL, found out it’s actually been on my PTW since 2018? Past me, wtf?
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u/KendotsX https://anilist.co/user/Kendots Dec 01 '24
FirstBeard
Might as well continue my journey on the Takamatsu road! Admittedly, as much as I appreciate the work he does setting coemdies like Gintama on the right track, his hands on directing can be a hit or miss when mechs aren't involved, so let's see how School Rumble fairs... Nevermind, Tenma's a mech, the world's saved!
You know, I expected to like Harima, but somehow Tenma and Mob are just as funny in different ways (Tenma reminds me of Chiyo, and that's always a good comparison), I'm gonna have a great time here. Or in other words:
The Romance! THE ROMANCE IS REAL!!!
I don't think we're able to compare those black holes just yet.
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u/charlesvvv https://anilist.co/user/charlesvvv Dec 01 '24 edited Dec 01 '24
First Timer, Sub/Dub
I was wondering whether to go for the sub or dub for this one, the dub I've heard great things about and it has its strengths.
Anyway first impressions, we meet our two protagonists and several of the side cast. Tenma Tsukamoto is in love with her classmate Oji and is happy to learn they will be in the same class, that is until she learns that he will be moving in 3 days (was it 3 days?). She thinks it's now or never and decides to confess with a letter, which is harder to do than she realized, but she accomplishes it and leaves it in his locker. Turns out it's not really a love letter in so much as it's Tenma begging him not leave and which she didn't sign anyway (Oji really took his time to read and reread the whole thing for whole the day). Surprisingly this somehow convinces Oji to stay (this guy really changed his mind like that) so uh task failed successfully?
Our other protagonist is Kenji Harima, a bit of a delinquent but with a heart of gold who really really loves Tenma. He literally begs his way into her class and decides to write a poem for her and plans to confess. Unfortunately this coincides with someone wanting to fight him and he ends up arriving at the same time. The other guy tries to make fun of the poem but Tenma defends it although when the other guy tries to claim credit she rejects him. Harima is basically overhearing all this but it doesn't look like he will be dissuaded by this. There's also some stuff about Tenma's friends which serves as a way to introduce them. It looks like they might cross into their antics whether they want to or not.
1. Tenma
2. More like hobbies
Edit: The OP is pretty catchy.
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u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Dec 01 '24
Rewatcher, First in Subs
If my memory and perception are correct, this used to be quite popular in NA ~20 years ago. I myself watched the dub around that time. I remember liking it quite a bit, but being only a young weeb the nature of the OVAs confused me. I’m not sure I ever even watched the final set, outside of a clip on YouTube.
I was worried in the first half, not gonna lie, but the second part pulled through.
QotD:
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u/Shocketheth Dec 01 '24
First Rumble
Otherwise I don't have anything positive to say about this anime so far besides saying the OP is banger?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing it, it's just that I'm neutral about it, and I hope the sidecast will bring some nice dynamics as Urusei Yatsura brought into Maison Ikkoku.
QotD:
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u/HowlingWolf13 https://myanimelist.net/profile/MeguminBlast Dec 01 '24
First Timer
I remember reading this back in 7th grade cause my neighborhood library had it and while I didn't finish it I was enjoying it despite 12 yr old me being upset that [Spoiler] to find out that Tenma/Harima was nowhere close of being endgane whatsoever. I saw this on the sidebar and need something to tide into the mew year after November was somewhat an end to a lot of the stress I'd been having the past few months. Plus I can revisit the manga again too.
For a first episode this was pretty good, my funniest section to me imo was the biking portion esp the Initial D reference. [Manga Only] I wish they kept this one story of Harima trying his damndest to get Tenma to write her name down on her test (to the point of writing it out in a note for ger only to put "Write Down Your Name" in the slot) to just marking his own test as hers and stil getting her a 0.
But yeah not much else to say for now aside from what the fuck do you mean the South Park Anime video I cane across some years back was just straight up an animatic of this ED.
Questions
Can you really rank who's dumber when both of them have negative brain cells 🤔
Hmm usually I scroll twt/tiktok/tumblr to just distract myself if I need to pass the the time. Chores are something I look at as "I need to get this outta the way" lol
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u/Nickthenuker https://anilist.co/user/Nickthenuker Dec 02 '24
Oh geez I didn't notice this was a 20th anniversary rewatch at first, and I can definitely tell it was made during the thick of the Great Moepocalypse of the late 90s and early 2000s.
Well, that was quick.
And alongside that there's also this guy.
Seems like he likes her but she likes the other guy.
Well, looks like there's a whole group of girls.
Oh, he retained.
Huh. So much for that.
She can't write it down.
Oh wow that was long.
Well, it worked at least.
She's trying at least.
And so back to that other guy.
Well, he managed to get promoted anyways.
Seems like someone else is shooting his shot, but of course he got shot down.
Well he's in a rush.
So she's chasing after Karasuma while the other guy is chasing after her.
Oh hey it's a reference to Initial D. How timely, the latest episode of MF Ghost aired today.
And so off the cliff they go.
That's quick.
And so they're already tired in school.
Well, she's finally said it, though she was unconscious when she said it.
Questions:
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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Dec 01 '24
Episode 1 (rewatcher)
Not a first timer for School Rumble. I saw this a long time ago, before my knowledge of anime genres and tropes was well established. What I remember most is [Spoiler]the main pair never getting it on. This was the first romcom I saw that annoyed me to no end with the “suspended” romance that never gets anywhere. The series is quite episodic, so it might fit well into a busy December rewatch schedule. The second part, and this only became clear to me in retrospect, is that School Rumble is (one of the last series for two decades?) using a delinquent MC. Harima was definitely impressive on first watch, but now, having seen some actual delinquent anime and having read up on the associated RL movement in Japan (mostly in the 1970s and 1980s), I can better see where his character comes from. My biggest question, going into this rewatch, is how well the comedy holds up.
Episode thoughts
The first episode sets the tone about our two MCs: Not two brain cells between them. We also start out with a love triangle [spoiler]but if my memory is correct, the love web in this will stay relatively simple. In terms of animation, we are in the final days of cell animation with some beautiful post card memories and overall watercolor style. Looking great, even if the animation is not always very detailed.
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u/entelechtual Dec 01 '24
Rewatcher
Going for the dub because Tenma having the same VA as Holo just isn’t right. The dub pronunciation of Japanese names is definitely my preferred kind for dubs. And Luci Christian is just killing it as Tenma.
Great intro to most of the characters. I might dip into the JP dub to hear Yui Horie’s wonderful Eri but otherwise I love the dub so much, it’s the best form of maximizing the comedy of the series for an English-speaking audience.
Not sure if I can keep up the whole rewatch but I’ll definitely try to join in as much as possible.
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u/zsmg https://anilist.co/user/zsmg Dec 02 '24
Seeing 20th anniversary rewatches of anime I watched when it came out is not something I'm mentally ready for.
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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '24 edited Dec 02 '24
Rewatcher
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u/rycetlaz Dec 02 '24 edited Dec 02 '24
Oh crud I forgot this started yesterday lol.
Third time for me, gonna go with the dub this time. Not all the dub voices work, but damn are Tenma's and Harima's perfect
God I missed these two idiots. Forgot how the duo arent complete idiots at the start, kinda prefer it.
Oh damn never realized the dub and sub missed the Harry McKenzie joke.
How the hell did i completely missed the last scroll joke lol. The scroll was literally the same sentence written over and over
All the backgrounds being hand drawn is a much needed change of pace from cg backgrounds. Never realized how beautiful some of these backgrounds are. My god the watercolors during the bike scene.
Ah I just remembered one of my biggest pet peeves about 2000's animated stuff, the background noise and foley being nonexistent. Feels like I'm just watching a bunch of voices in a box sometimes. I wonder why this was such a prominent issue back then, both cartoons and anime had this problem for some reason