TV-Tokyo’s airing of a School Rumble anime adaptation was something I initially viewed with unreasoning enthusiasm. As the initial air-date drew near, however, it struck me that as a long-time reader of the Mangainc translation of the manga, the animated version probably wouldn’t have a whole heck of a lot to offer me. After the first two or three episodes aired, I hungrily downloaded the fansubs, and watched each. The animation quality wasn’t anything to write home about, but pretty good for a TV anime. The character design and plot, however, were so similar to the manga that there just wasn’t a lot of incentive to continue watching. I already had 70 chapters (plus b tracks) of that plot read, digested, and thoroughly enjoyed.

Recently I had the opportunity to watch it through again, after a several-month hiatus from the print version. It’s a fun series, with a notably non-grating opening and end theme song for most of the series. The last episode was great, as it panders to what I expect would be a number of fan requests for how things should tie up. They didn’t go so far as to have Harima (the male protagonist) fall madly in love with somebody other than Tsukamoto Tenma (the main female protagonist), though a lot of American followers of the print version would have liked to see any number of alternative couplings result.