The story focuses on a love triangle involving the series' two protagonists, Tenma Tsukamoto and Kenji Harima, and one of their classmates, Oji Karasuma.
In North America, Del Rey Manga published the English translation of the first 16 volumes of School Rumble in physical format.
The decision by Media Factory to aggressively pursue its intellectual property rights for School Rumble is believed by proponents of fansubs to have had a negative impact on the franchise's release and sales in the North American market.
Tenma Tsukamoto, a cheerful yet unremarkable second-year high school student,[2] has an obsessive crush on her eccentric, enigmatic classmate, Oji Karasuma.
A recovering truant and delinquent, Harima attends school solely to get close to her,[4] and even begins creatively expressing himself as a manga artist, but he has similar difficulty declaring his love due to Tenma's dimwittedness and single-minded ambition, and whenever he summons the courage to do so, circumstances and his own bumbling conspire against him.
[5] Many of these instances, also result in Harima finding himself in mutually embarrassing situations with one of Tenma's best friends, Eri Sawachika, causing the two to form a tense relationship.
However, this belies the mutual affection she holds for her childhood friend and classmate, the uptight class representative Haruki Hanai, whose father runs the dojo.
His amnesia gives a purpose to Tenma's life; she concentrates on her studies to become a doctor and help Karasuma, half-heartedly turning down Harima at their graduation ceremony as a result.
Epilogue chapters following the manga's conclusion, predominantly in the "parallel comedy" School Rumble Z, reveal events that happen in the adult lives of the characters.
[n 2][7] He stated to an audience at Honolulu's 2006 Kawaii Kon convention that he started writing the series because he found the idea of a manga involving a delinquent falling in love interesting.
[77] The narrative of the School Rumble anime is designed to mirror that of the manga, which results in multiple short story segments with no significant connection.
Shown from the perspective of its characters—notably Tenma and Harima as they attempt similar ploys to get their crush to notice their affection[78]—the anime uses absurdist humor which often combines elements of popular culture to explore the love-triangle, with jokes that work on multiple levels.
Lisa Marie comments "I certainly admit watching an insane bike chase cross paths with Initial D's famous AE86 has a bit more cachet when you know why there's a cheesily rendered race car in slow moving Eurobeat.
Two versions were produced; a regular and a limited edition, the latter of which included a drama CD, memorial album, and a special box with variant cover art.
[101] In 2004, School Rumble's Japanese license holder, Media Factory, declared its titles off-limits to fan-made subtitled translations—a practice known as fansubbing.
[105] Proponents believe School Rumble would have more quickly received an English license had fansubs been allowed to circulate more freely, generating viewer interest.
[102] On January 19, 2012, the Taiwanese children's channel Momo Kids TV was reported to have received a fine of NT$600,000 (about $20,333 in U.S. currency) for broadcasting an episode of School Rumble on December 26, which according to parental complaints contained "high school students watching a pornographic movie together", along with "a scene of jiggling breasts" and "actors moaning in pornographic movies.
Remarking on Kobayashi's ability to draw on numerous influences, Chavez applauds the manga artist for finding fresh ways of using old themes, preventing School Rumble from becoming derivative.
[125] In the next two volumes Chavez approves of the mixture of comedy and romance and the way the characters "grow up", although acknowledging that while the manga's style suits his personal preferences it will not be to everyone's taste.
[128][129][130] She noted that volume five may appeal to readers more interested in the side characters, and that appreciating Kobayashi's humor in the second half of chapter eight "requires a bit more mental effort".
[131] In volume ten, she remarks that while Kobayashi borrows the oft-used cliché of a disastrous school play, he manages to add enough twists to make it unique.
Most reviewers took the position that, even if they dislike certain elements, the series as a whole contains something that makes them want to see more; a view summed up by Chris Beveridge of Mania.com, who writes: The stories are really quite simple as well as being things we've seen done dozens of times before.
[142] Luther calls the first DVD "the perfect back-to-school accessory",[141] while Marie characterizes School Rumble as "insane", asserting it appears on the surface more laid back than other titles like Excel Saga and Haré + Guu.
[145] Anime News Network's reviewers found much to enjoy about the first series, although Theron Martin warns that the first DVD should be "watched in small doses, as trying to tackle too much of it in one sitting will elevate the suicide rate of your brain cells".
[26] Carl Kimlinger comments that "from the moment the words 'School Rumble' come spinning onto the screen, you know you're in for ... undiluted good times",[146] and that the title is "two of the greatest animation non-sequiturs you're likely to see anytime soon".
Overall, his rating is mediocre, saying that "although this disc technically marks the end of [the first season of] School Rumble, it's really more of a pause, seeing as how the last few episodes simply ride along with the plot rather than try to reach a dramatic finish".
He did not highlight a single specific reason, instead observing that although all elements that "make the TV series enjoyable are certainly present here, they just feel weaker".
Unlike Martin, Luther did not believe the OVA is a good introduction to School Rumble, due to its short sequences and seemingly random nature.
[154] Zac Bertschy of Anime News Network declined to post commentary on the preview announcement for the second season, claiming "we assume if you loved School Rumble, you're gonna check out the sequel regardless of what anyone says, so why bother reviewing it?
"[155] David F. Smith from IGN gave the first part of season two a rating of 6/10, with lower scores for the Funimation extras and higher ones for the plot and story.