School Rumble Ni Gakki Review

Overall Rating 5.7 out of 10 - Overall worse than predecessor, with only few good episodes.

I recommend watching few select episodes, like episode 20 and 25.

Me complaining that sequels fail to live to the original is nothing new, here again a second season of Sucuran is not as good as the original.

One difference however is that unlike many other shows that I condemned with the same conclusion, Sukuran did not abruptly got worse from second season on, so I cannot easily blame it on staff changes and such. It's of course possible that staff changed mid-season, but what are the chances. Sukuran was already declining in first season. Gradually it introduced more and more unlikable characters like Lala, Tougou, Imadori or Jirou, that gradually stole the show away from the core cast. 

Second season was not a sudden break with the trend; it just exacerbated what was bad in the first one. More screentime for characters I do not like, less for those I like. Even those characters I generally do like, get to play less appealing role. There is less of Tenma fawning over Karasuma and more of her being nasty to Harima (episode 15 something, not episode 25, she is nice to him there). That orange haired nurse that was so nice to Harima in first season, became lesbian with his relative in the second and no longer treats Harima nicely. Not an abrupt break, but some kind of planned gradual decay.

Despite that occasionally Sukuran gets back to its core roots and pulls a few good episodes here and there. However, by now they are clear minority. A drop of honey in a barrel of tar. Unlike the first season, second did not get a good final episode that would leave me at least hopeful for the future of the show. I might watch the brief second season sometime in future, but for now Sukuran is shelved.

I have to look back to remember every good episode that was worth watching, so I cannot list them now. Will come back to it sometime.

Overall, with exception of few good episodes, this season is a failure. Something killed yet another show that was initially promising. Or maybe it was never meant to be good in the first place, I was always bad, I just could not see it early on. 

Regardless it's no longer a show about Tenma doing silly but cute things driven by her unrequited love for Karasuma, this show no longer makes fun of women and instead mocks and abuses men. Poor treatment of men is not something I am willing to tolerate in my shows, only poor treatment of females.