School Rumble manga (raw discussion only)

[Pakxenon]

That was... a weird response... this misunderstanding was pretty hilarious! XD

I didn't think that Harima would be working in the EDITTING department, though. I'm not sure what they actually do, but it doesn't seem right, especially when he's tampering with somebody else's pages!

[ichigoismyhomie]

Originally Posted by taichikun14

on the last panel, it says *shake shake*... so karasuma is NOT going out with tenma... good.

and is it just me or is karasuma a little more attractive in the manga than in the anime?

karasuma said to give opposite response for unwanted situation. Could it be that he didn't want harima to snooping around about his relation with tenma, that karasuma responded the opposite of what really going on?

in that case maybe something going on between him and tenma.

anyhow.....harima's response is unexpected. i smell another huge misunderstanding or probably progress with eri, maybe tenma too. since tenma was invited to the party...along with all the girls.

gaaaaaah.....i can't wait for the next chapter to come up. I say harima better pimp'd out all of them....hehehe

[Swampstorm]

There seems to be some confusion regarding the joke in this chapter.

Karasuma tells Harima that if he thinks a negative thought, he should say something positive (note that this is not the same as "do the opposite of what you're thinking"). He does not, however, say what Harima should do if he thinks a positive thought. The ambivalence of the response is because of the following:

Negative Thought -> Positive Response
Positive Thought -> Positive Response

As a result, if someone is following that principle, you cannot tell what their "real" response actually is, since they will always respond in the positive.

The last panel is somewhat unclear. The sfx is literally supposed to be "shake, shake", but shaking can refer to any sort of oscillation. By convention, however, we use the words "nod" and "shake" differently to distinguish between "yes" and "no" respectively. Does the sfx make that same distinction?

In any case, I found this chapter interesting for a number of reasons.
1) Eri's directness in this chapter was somewhat surprising. She recognizes that she's only invited girls to the party, so she doesn't really have a good excuse to mask the reason why she wants him over. Yet, she was able to give Harima the invitation with little amount of difficulty. The two of them seem fairly comfortable talking to each other on the phone whenever they feel like it, as of late.

2) In one of the pages, KJ gives out an apology in one of the side panels. This strikes me as interesting because it is the first time (as far as I can recall) that KJ has directly spoken in the first person in those side panel comments. Usually, they tend to be purely descriptive (eg. Sawachika Eri, a little more mature) without saying anything about whose opinions they are. While we've always assumed those side panel comments to be the author's thoughts, this establishes them as being such. This isn't anything really significant, of course, but its nice to know.

3) With regards to Harima's question on Karasuma and Tenma dating, I think it's more significant to consider the manner in which it is asked than to consider what is being asked. Karasuma is supposedly Harima's ultimate rival, and the question that Harima has put out is supposedly of ultimate importance to him - but he seems to attach no more significance to it than if he were simply asking about the weather.

By contrast, consider when Eri asked the exact same question of Yakumo, about 75 chapters earlier. At that moment, you knew that the question was an important one, from the expression on Eri's face when she asked it, and the way that her spirits were raised when she heard the response.

It's interesting how the same question, asked with regards to two different relationships, can have two vastly different presentations. One question becomes the climactic moment of a major story arc, and the other becomes part of a gag. I like Oudou quite a bit (especially the shopping scene with Tenma and Harima's birthday present to Tenma) but I think the manner in which the pairing is presented often tends to dilute its overall impact.

Originally Posted by canza

I'm surprised a bit of people are disappointed by it....

It shouldn't be all that surprising.

However, I do find it somewhat amusing that we have some people who are content to parrot out the ever popular "there is no progress" each week (without considering the fact that you cannot determine what counts as progress and what doesn't without knowing the destination - which none of us know) and at the same time, we have some other people who complain that there is too much progress in a particular direction. It's really tough to please everybody.

I think we'll always have trouble with regards to our expectations of School Rumble just so long as we are unable to find common answers to the following:

1) What genre is School Rumble? (Comedy? Romance? Commentary on High School Life? Slice of Life?)
2) Who is the protagonist?
3) Who is the protagonist supposed to end up with, if anyone?

As long as we can't agree on the answers to these questions, there will always be complaints about SR's failure to conform to our perceptions of what it is "supposed to be". Most romantic comedies have all these mapped out fairly clearly at the outset, so we know the destination, and can thus gauge what counts as "progress" and what doesn't. Originality is nice, but people seem to like the guidance of a known story structure to know where they are going.

Oh, and I think that Eri's after school look with her hair down looks amazing, as of these last few chapters.

[JarOfMayo]

Originally Posted by Swampstorm

2) In one of the pages, KJ gives out an apology in one of the side panels. This strikes me as interesting because it is the first time (as far as I can recall) that KJ has directly spoken in the first person in those side panel comments. Usually, they tend to be purely descriptive (eg. Sawachika Eri, a little more mature) without saying anything about whose opinions they are. While we've always assumed those side panel comments to be the author's thoughts, this establishes them as being such. This isn't anything really significant, of course, but its nice to know.

Gives out an apology? You mean page 214? That isn't an apology its like any other side comment. In context it meant, Harima needs to apologize for taking the work of manga writers so lightly. lol Frankly he does...

Originally Posted by Swampstorm

Oh, and I think that Eri's after school look with her hair down looks amazing, as of these last few chapters.

Right on.

[Swampstorm]

Originally Posted by JarOfMayo

Gives out an apology? You mean page 214? That isn't an apology its like any other side comment. In context it meant, Harima needs to apologize for taking the work of manga writers so lightly. lol Frankly he does...

Based on what I read, it seemed to be a direct apology, which, given the situation, strikes me as making more sense. After all, KJ writes Harima's dialogue - Harima doesn't really have a free will of his own. I can't comment on the accuracy of the translation itself, though.

[hi no ken Jebus]

Yes! Finally a chapter I actually enjoyed reading

spoiler for the next one...

Spoiler for ch 202:

It's sawachika's birthday party, Harima seems out of place since he came just for Tenma and there's only girls there. They cut the cake and leave two pieces for Harima and sawachika. The girls tell her to give it to Harima, when she gives Harima his piece he says he doesn't like sweet things and goes to the balcony. Tenma comes over and they talk about the moon, then she offers him the same piece of cake. She then says she didn't realize guys don't like sweets things and she'll take it back.

He says since she brought it over it and it would be a waste to throw it out, and also he loves cake. She tells him he doesnt have to force himself, then tells him he's kind and that she likes that side of him. He asks if she's not having any then she says no because she's dieting and then he says he'll eat hers too. She says he might get fat but Harima doesn't really mind etc... Anyway chapter ends with sawachika looking at them with a glare on her face.

Spoiler for b45:

Hanai goes on another adventure of his after he accidentally gets carried away by a moving company because he was sleeping in the school's storeroom.

[Swampstorm]

Excellent. With the Pencil, Marker, and Onigiri rivalries behind us, things have been a little too stable as of late. It's good to see that we're finally gearing down for some Flag vs. Oudou down towards the final stretch/conflict. It will be interesting to see how this new dynamic pans out. Tenma has even more potential to be a frustrating opponent than her sister, given her tendancy to be oblivious. Hopefully this will bring out some much needed character development on Harima's part, too.

I want to see them get back to that Mikoto/Basketball situation at some point, though.

[ZODDGUTS]

My God that glare look that Eri had ...

Tenma may you rest in peace.

[0rphen21]

................................. was that killing intent radiating off Eri? looks like Eri is ready to fight for her man aahh errr i mean friend

[Forever]

Nice chapter. Is this the beginning of the end? Looks like eri is going to figure out who harima truly likes. And my my, eri seems to be very much the jealous sort indeed. Just look at that stare, that killing intent. Friend or not, tenma (or maybe harima) is going to be on her kill list pretty soon.

[roestigraben]

That last panel...I don't think I've ever seen any girl in a manga look so scary...but I also wonder whether that aggressive glare was directed at Tenma or rather more at Harima?

[Calca]

Goddamn I don't think Eri has ever looked that pissed.

I hope she doesn't end up getting her heart crushed.

[KaneDragon]

Haha, oh wow. I wonder if Eri managed to hear what Harima was trying to say to Temna. Either way, most excellent. This is not going to be just another "Mikoto isn't that cute" moment. ^^

Spoiler for USODA! (Recorded for posterity):

scEri~ ;_;

[Vermouth]

Ow...Eri is really scary...I'm a little sorry for Tenma, ehehehhe ^^

[faust123]

Kinda sad that this moment finally came because it will most likely lead to the end of flag as we know it (as Harima has shown VERY little change in his attitude toward eri except for his rando + comments). I guess I should look at the glass as half full though because it could also be the beginning of a bright flag future!

[KaneDragon]

Spoiler for 4chan discussion of above pic:

[taichikun14]

awesome chapter ^_^!!!! first chapter i've liked in months! the balcony scene with tenma and harima was lovely... finally, a little bit of seriousness between them... but arghhh is tenma deaf or something!? harima finally got the guts to say something sweet...arghh....

oh and i got really excited with the last page...finally, things are starting to happen!! it's been a little too happy and quiet in SR lately...

[taichikun14]

yeah i hope koboyashi doesn't pull anything ridiculous in the next chapter... i hope he just keeps the story moving along so we can finally see important things happen! i hope he takes this chance to develop SOMETHING...eri's feelings for harima, harima and tenma's relationship, whateveR! i just need something to happen!

anyways, i'm getting the feeling eri might take revenge when they play that "birthday queen" game they played on tenma's birthday... haha don't forget that when tenma made eri eat natto, eri said "i'll remember this..."

[SonicMonkey]

I'm actually... really eagerly waiting a SR chapter now.

That hasn't happened in AGES!

[canza]

Wow....Eri looked sooooooooooo awesome with that stare...................but I really hope the flag relationship never ends....seriously...

It's great to have Tenma barge in and mess it all up once and awhile...but I hope she doesn't mess things up permanently......
I'd even be happy if Yakumo screwed things up...not Tenma. But the story would be too perfect and boring without Tenma screwing around with flag =O