STORY: 10/10
Here is a quick synopsis of the main story-line: it all centers around three students at high school. There is Tenma Tsukamoto, Karasuma Ooji, and Kenji Harima. Tenma has fallen in love with Karasuma, Kenji has fallen in love with Tenma, and Karasuma... is just kind of existing. That's the whole plot, short version. Obviously, "long version" wouldn't be much longer. So how can a show with a plot that is shallower than a kiddie pool get a 10/10 rating? Simple: it doesn't NEED a complex plot. What this show does an EXCELLENT job of doing is recognizing its identity. It knows it's a comedy. It knows it's supposed to be a simple, relaxed, laid-back show meant primarily for laughs. Therefore it doesn't really take itself seriously by overworking itself on a complicated plot but it DOES deliver the best comedy I've ever seen in an anime! Also don't think this show is ONLY laughs. School Rumble will occasionally throw you a curve ball with a serious moment every once in a while. It's just uncommon enough that you will most likely be unprepared for it when it comes for a majority of the series. Not that it is a bad thing. It's a welcome change-of-pace. Just another thing School Rumble does right.
ART: 10/10
Everything was on point here as well, every character looked magnificent. They all had their own unique look, only time there was similarities in how two characters looked was if they were related. That kind of variety I thought really brought a lot to School Rumble. I loved how whenever we were in a Kenji manga scene or a Tenma dream sequence, they kept the animation the same (or at least very similar) so as to keep the viewers as unaware as possible. A big thing to me in anime is opening/closing credit sequences. Are they able to please my eyes and ears? Or do I quickly become bored and desperately wait for it to end? In this case, when it comes to the visual aspect of both credits sequences, I was very happy with them. Very pleasing to the eyes and they suited the anime very well as well. School Rumble's art department didn't really miss a detail. From opening credits to Tenma's cute little pigtails getting active when she gets excited to closing credits, they made sure to cover every tiny little thing.
SOUND: 8/10
This is probably School Rumble's one weakness. The sound itself during the show is, of course, solid. You don't expect perfect sound out of a comedy show but all things considered the sounds they did end up delivering ended up pretty dang solid and realistic, especially for what you would expect. Kenji's motorcycle made me feel like I was riding a Harley, for example. Other sound effects I think were purposely exaggerated. Nothing wrong with that in a comedy. The sound effects were solid, and held their weight, just like the rest of the show, but it's about time I tackle the REAL one weakness of this entire show- the music. Now first understand, when I say "weakness", I use that term lightly. The music in School Rumble isn't really all that bad. It's just the only thing with flaws. Anyways... first, the music in the opening credits: this is evidence to how lightly I use the term "weakness". The opening credits music is SUPERB. It's catchy, upbeat, has a REALLY positive vibe, it just fits this anime PERFECTLY!!! As for the closing credits music... it's a different story. The music isn't BAD, it just... doesn't fit School Rumble. It seemed a little quieter, I didn't really get the point as much, and the writing seemed lazy. You don't end ANY song with 15+ seconds of "lalalalala". As for music during the show, I saved this for last for a reason. I usually have a hard time noticing the music during the show because I'm so plugged into the show. I did catch some bits and pieces during School Rumble. The pieces I caught seemed pretty well done but not perfect; with a little more practice it could've been better. I implore you to not ask for further details.
CHARACTER: 10/10
This is probably where School Rumble shines brightest. School Rumble does a BRILLIANT job of bringing in COUNTLESS meaningful characters into the story. Because there is little to no story, School Rumble has the flexibility to do so. So what starts off as Tenma, Karasuma, and Harima in the first episode slowly becomes this complex network of characters that all have different personalities, interests, crushes, enemies... you get the idea. Personally, my favorite character was Harima. He was trying to confess to Tenma the entire series and it always led to hilariously sticky results. Whenever Harima tried to do something to better his relationship with Tenma (if not confessing) it always somehow made things worse. The way he could screw up the simplest of things is comedy gold. He may be my favorite, but every character on the screen looks amazing, sounds amazing, is unique, is truly hilarious... the only character I MIGHT have a complaint about is Karasuma. It's not really a complaint though... he's just weird.
ENJOYMENT: 10/10
I was laughing my butt off practically from the moment I started watching this series. I never really stopped except for the rare serious moments and when the series ended. There were moments when I needed to pause the show because I was laughing so hard and I just couldn't stop and I didn't want to miss anything. There is an extremely high likelihood that this will be the first anime that I will watch for a second time. I could go on, but at this point, I don't think I need to...
OVERALL: 10/10
Other than a couple minor errors in the Sound category, I consider School Rumble to be literally flawless. The plot is thin but not much plot is needed. It's replaced with the best comedy I have ever seen. From beginning to end it was very much a visual marvel. This is the best AND deepest cast of characters I have ever seen in an anime. And I can truthfully say... I've never had more fun watching a TV show than I did watching School Rumble. As I said before, this will probably be the first anime I ever re-watch, and I desperately urge you to watch it as well.
