School Rumble Z Chapter 06
School Rumble Z Volume 1 Chapter 06 (manga)
スクールランブルZ Chapter ♮6 “The Game”

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

During high school after Karasuma went to the U.S., Harima finds himself short on cash and in need of supplies to do his manga. So he prostrates himself before the rich “Sawachika-sama” in order to get a small loan. She refuses, but then has a proposal — if he plays Shogi with her and he wins, she’ll give him the money. If he loses, he has to do what she says. “Ken-chan, Shogi Master” agrees but finds that Eri has studying the game under a very famous master player. As such, he’s losing the game and so Eri begins to ponder what to make Harima do, including pay back the ¥146,235 he owes her. She then suggests that were they to marry, the debt would be forgotten. Harima decides to leave but is informed that her servants Nakamura and Masura are outside.

Harmia still has a chance at the game and advances his “rook” to Dragon. Eri goes after the piece and captures it. Harima retreats to the bathroom, crying over his dragon piece, saying dragons belong in the sky not stuck on the ground. As such, he feels he shouldn’t be stuck at this mansion and plans to fly out the bathroom window. He finds the escape route closed by dobermans, crocodiles, an electric barbed wire fence, and of course Nakamura and Masura. As such, Harima returns to the game where Eri asks him what his next move is since she’s tired of this same routine. Harima understands what she means and is stammering.

Eri feels confident she has Harima trapped, so while she’s not thrilled with his excuse about needing to see his assistant about the manga, Eri tells him to call Yakumo and have her come over. Eri wants Harima to accept his defeat in front of Yakumo before Eri makes him do as she wishes. So Yakumo comes over but after examining the board, she finds that Eri has made an illegal move/activity and so Eri loses.

Review/Thoughts:

Heh! People have wanted the original School Rumble story to continue in School Rumble Z because as I understand it, things are left unresolved. Clearly, the love-triangle between Eri, Yakumo, and Harima grows so I have that to look forward to.

That aside, this chapter kinda tosses a bone to those people wanting a continuation of the School Rumble story, at least I think it does. I don’t know if Karasuma being in the U.S. was how the manga ended but assuming so, then this chapter would appear to take place after that.

Regardless, I loved this chapter. That makes three in a row now. ^^ I got a kick out of Eri making sure Harima couldn’t escape and not give her the answer she wanted. I appreciated the fact that the Shogi game went much like their relationship — Eri pursues Harima (in her own way) and Harima continues to do what he can to elude her grasp. Leave it to Yakumo to give Harima his out. ^^

I know Harima only ever had eyes for Tenma and I know that Tenma only had eyes for Karasuma. So what did Eri and Yakumo see in Harima to fall in love with him? Yakumo is pretty easy to answer, I think. After all, Yakumo could read the thoughts of others when they were directed at her and she discovered that men wanted her. With Harima, she found someone not desperately wanting her and thus she fell for him, even becoming his assistant.

For Eri, maybe there’s more information to come. I know she’s shown signs of interest in Harima ever since his accidental confession but why would that make her fall for him? Maybe there’s an answer in the School Rumble manga that I just haven’t read yet.

Still, in regards to this chapter, I do hope that these kinds of stories are what Kobayashi-sensei continues to do, advancing the story of Harima, Eri, and Yakumo through the years.