School Rumble, Volume 3

by Jin Kobayashi

Book Overview

SUMMER LOVE SHAKE-UP! Cute Tsukamoto Tenma is desperately trying to help juvenile delinquent classmate Harima Kenji win the girl of his dreams: Tenma' s friend Mikoto. But when Tenma hears Kenji say "... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345491491
• Release Date: August 2006
• Publisher: Del Rey
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.5" x 5.0"

Customer Reviews

At the beach

As many cute girls as Jin Kobayashi packs into "School Rumble," its makes sense that eventually he would put them all in bathing suits and take them swimming. Volume 3 sees the gang first having an adventure at a water park, and then later taking an overnight trip to the beach where, of course, hijinks ensue. "School Rumble" keeps getting better, and more complicated, with each volume. This issue sets the stage for the shift in focus away from the Tenma/Karasuma/Harima conflict, and into the wider world of an ensemble comic that you need a flowchart to keep up with. The first mini-story sets up the Harima/Eri romance that will become the focus of later volumes. In the same story, Anegasaki Tae pops her head in for a brief moment, so see if you can remember her when she re-appears later! At the beat trip, class nampa king Imadori Kyôsuke gets himself trapped in a sea cave with poor Suô Mikoto, who has to endure him guessing her bra size until the sun comes up and they can go home. I really love this comic, and the shift in focus to an ensemble cast really hits. There is lots to be explored here, and all of the students are weird enough and interesting enough that you want to spend a little time with each of them. Don't expect anything to get resolved anytime soon though! "School Rumble" is well into the late teens in Japan, and Harima still hasn't managed to confess to Tenma, so expect the wild times to keep coming for awhile.

Fortunetelling, Watersports, and more...

This volume of School Rumble starts us off with Harima in a very Zen place, offering advice as a humble fortune teller on the streets of the city. Of course, many of his friends and aquaintences will see past his disguise, but will one of them be the object of his affections? Oh, the suspense. Then the girls are off to a waterpark to get their swimming jones on and are instantly bothered by pick-up artists (honestly, with their figures, is it a surprise?), all but Tenma, of course... but another one of her suitors is close at hand and manages to stretch the day at the waterpark to a summer getaway at the beach for the whole gang (Harima really, REALLY wants to go, but will his pride prevent him from asking?). The art is par for the course, dropping in and out of exaggerated poses and expressions as the need arises then back to crisp, clean lines in an instant. If you haven't noticed by now, resolution to ANY of these entangled love lives is far, far, FAR down the road... even now, it's hard to keep up as there are several love interests/objects that we haven't even been introduced to yet (such as with Suo Mikoto's mysterious crush). But that's the way soap operas (and parodies of soap operas, like this) go... and, to be honest, I don't even know who I'm rooting for anymore... though, I must admit, Yakumo/Harima is the sweetest pairing in my eyes. Ah well... Pick it up, but make sure you have the first two volumes handy for reference... as love is confusing... especially with these folks.