Review for School Rumble OVA: Extra Class (US)

Introduction

Can you believe that it's been nigh on a year since Revelation last released an anime disc in the UK? Their distribution deal with Funimation was short-lived, and the abrupt cessation of releases left several promising titles in limbo, among them School Rumble. They got as far as releasing volume 3 in the UK, and I wound up importing the remaining volumes of the series from the US. It's a delightful comedy series, like so many set in high school, but with one or two twists from the norm. It's certainly enough to make it stand out from the crowd, and I'm not the only one who thought that. Appreciation in Japan was so strong that the show got a second series, and to bridge the gap, there were these OVA episodes. I was suffering from a School Rumble deficiency, so I went and imported everything else that had been released in the West on DVD. So first up, there are these two OVA episodes, packaged together on one disc, with some extra features too.

School Rumble is a slapstick, laugh-packed comedy, something that the UK anime scene could always use more of in my opinion. What's more, it's not one of those 'teenaged boy, surrounded by a harem of girls, crossed purposes, compromising situations' comedies. It's the second year of high school for Tenma Tsukamoto, and it's time for her to confess her feelings to model student Oji Karasuma. Unfortunately he doesn't know she exists. Kenji Harima is a teenaged delinquent, known for his gangster tendencies, his aggressive attitude, and his motorcycle, who has up till now been a school dropout. That's until he fell for Tenma Tsukamoto. Now he's a full time school student, attitude and all, determined to make his feelings known to Tenma. Unfortunately she doesn't know he exists. The OVA episodes are set during the first series run, and comprise those bits of the story that happened in the background, or that we just didn't get to see for lack of time or space, or animator willpower.

1. New Term Excitement! To Be Near You Scramble! The Naked Truth!
You know Yoshidama, don't you? You don't? He's the spiky haired kid who told Harima erroneously what class he was in at the start of term, and got punched out. We learn just why, more about him, and what he's trying to be, at the start of this episode. Then we see how Tenma's sister Yakumo made her first friend at school, thanks to a cat and a dog. Tenma tries to sit next to Oji in class when the seating arrangement is announced, and Harima tries to sit next to Tenma. Finally, it turns out that after the camping trip, the gang went to a hot springs to relax, and Harima got into more trouble with Eri.

2. Smile For Me! Let's Eat Mammoth! Can I Fall In Love?
We begin with Yoshidama's second attempt to scale Mount Harima, as he tries to inveigle himself with the toughest kid in class. Imadori makes it his mission to make Mexican exchange student Lala smile. Buying a burger has never been so painful. Prehistoric Rumble sees the characters' Stone Age ancestors plagued by a deadly cursed mammoth, a mammoth that Harima vows to take down just to impress Tenma. And on the final day of the manga contest, as Harima seeks Yakumo's aid to meet the deadline, the two share a moment when there is a power cut.

Picture

It's a 4:3 regular transfer, NTSC for the Region 1, with no immediate problems visible. Everything is clear and sharp, there are plenty of primary colours, and I noticed no compression, or even the aliasing that usually rears its head in the credit sequences. It's a fine transfer. The animation, as you would expect from a comedy, remains straightforward and simplistic, with pleasant character designs, and fairly non-descript artwork. It's all very energetic, and does more than enough to get the comedy across.

Sound

You get a choice of DD 2.0 English and Japanese, along with translated English subtitles and a signs only track. The show gets a catchy and quirky set of themes that are impossible to get out of your head once you hear them. The dialogue is clear, and the stereo sufficient for the show. Which language you choose depends on your usual preferences, but for what it's worth, I found the show much funnier in Japanese, the timing and the flow just seemed to work better.

Extras

The disc comes in an Amaray style case with a reversible sleeve, offering a little equality of exploitation. While one cover has the girls from their hot springs trip wearing towels, the alternate sleeve has the prehistoric male rumblers donning loincloths.

The disc autoplays with a trailer for Sasami Magical Girls Club, and on the disc you'll find further trailers for Case Closed, Kodocha, Tsubasa, Degrassi, xxxHolic, Peach Girl, Black Cat, and School Rumble.

You get the textless credits for the show, one opening, and two closing themes.

The big extra is an interview with the Japanese voice actresses who voice sisters Tenma and Yakumo, Ami Koshimizu, and Mamiko Noto. This lasts 29 minutes, and they talk extensively about the show, and their characters, and where School Rumble is after one series.

Conclusion

It's been a while since I last saw School Rumble, but it's nice to know that nothing has diminished or altered for this collection of OVA episodes. Its 52-minute runtime offers the same madcap comedy, the same loveable and crazy characters, and the same sketch format hijinks that so appealed in the first series. What separates the OVAs from the series is that there is a slightly stronger emphasis on the supporting characters, of which there are many in School Rumble. Not to worry if you are looking for more Harima, Tenma and Oji mayhem, as that is here too, but by offering something different from the series, it helps the OVAs stand out.

A character that barely made an impression in the series was Yoshidama, but here he gets a back-story and some character development too, even if it is just to remain foil to Harima's aggressive tendencies. There's some more sweetness with rivals Ichijou and Lala, when Imadori gets involved at their place of work, but by far the best aspect of these two episodes is the focus on Yakumo, Tenma's little sister. The sketches in this show take us back to before the start of the series, and we meet Yakumo as she used to be, aloof and reserved. She's already got that odd telepathic ability of hers, which doesn't help her interact with people any, and given what most teenage boys think about, she's understandably awkward around them. But we do get to see her begin to come out of her shell, and there's a nice running thread looking at her dealing with her insecurities. It culminates at the end of the final episode with her and Harima spending time together, trying to get Harima's manga completed on time.

For the traditional Tenma, Harima and Oji hijinks, we have the hot springs expedition, which sees the second of the Harima and Eri naked confrontations, developing something that hopefully turns into a running gag in the second season. Then there is the bizarre diversion into the prehistoric era, which sees Harima as the proud hunter-gatherer trying to impress Tenma by bagging a mammoth. One of the funny aspects of this episode is that the characters keep using modern colloquialisms, and then pausing to wonder what they could possibly mean.

The runtime may be pretty anaemic, and even with the added value of the interview it still feels woefully short for an anime disc. But this is more School Rumble in much the same way as the first series. I was laughing all the way through last night, and for a comedy anime disc, there's no better endorsement. Well worth picking up if you are a School Rumble fan.