School Rumble Z Volume 1 Chapter 9 (manga)
スクールランブルZ Chapter ♮9 “Patch Adams”
School Rumble Z Chapter 9

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Yakumo goes to the United States, where she is met by Tenma. Yakumo is impressed that Tenma knows how to drive and speaks good English. Driving to the hospital, the two sisters catch up with us learning that Sara and Harima are both roommates of Yakumo. Tenma teases Yakumo a great deal about Harima, but Yakumo strongly denies anything is happening even though she blushes like crazy. Yakumo says nothing but she knows that Harima is still in love with Tenma and that the only way to take down the walls in Harima’s heart would be someone strong like Eri.

At the hospital, Tenma knows a great many of the staff and patients there due to her always being there. The two pay Karasuma a visit and Tenma reveals that Karasuma has started remembering some things lately, especially regarding his former 2-C class. He remembers how to draw, but doesn’t remember any of the manga characters he created in school. However, while Tenma gets excited when he remembers bits about her, she also gets frustrated when he forgets things about her. This combination though is what apparently is helping Karasuma bit by bit.

Review/Thoughts: I guess that Kobayashi-sensei used this chapter to establish that little scene in chapter 10 that depicted Eri and Harima years later, married with a kid. It is a graceful way for Yakumo to bow out and recognize that Eri’s sheer force of will would be what gets through to Harima, though I think that even still, he’d still be in love with Tenma at some level.

Interesting that as adults, Sara, Yakumo, and Harima are living together.

The whole bit with Karasuma and Tenma was mostly uninteresting to me. The fact is that Karasuma as a character has never struck a chord with me. He was simply some strange device by which Tenma had something to focus on as a love interest and Harima could focus on as a male rival both in love and in manga. As I’ve not read beyond what Del Rey has released for the School Rumble story, I don’t know if Karasuma will get any better. Based on School Rumble Z, I rather doubt it.

Still, it is fun looking ahead and seeing things that happen in the future, even if they are side stories.