You know, School Rumble just hasn’t been treated very well as a franchise, has it?   In Japan, Kobayashi-sensei doesn’t resolve certain plot threads from what I understand (though one could say that there are resolutions made in the 1-volume School Rumble Z).  Del Rey fell very far behind the Japanese releases and ended up releasing its last volume (whether it is the final volume for Del Rey or not remains to be seen) as a three-volume omnibus covering volumes 14, 15, and 16, denying U.S. fans the color cover art for two of the three volumes covered.  Now, there’s nothing on the horizon for future School Rumble manga releases in the U.S. with six more volumes still unpublished.

The School Rumble anime scored two TV series and some OVA’s but the third TV series was axed in Japan though the final OVA closed things out.  In the U.S., FUNimation’s release of the first School Rumble series saw them outsource the subtitles for the first time, making them inferior though the second series was brought back to the normal translators and rescued.  (As an aside, I mark this as when FUNimation decided that subtitles for the hardcore fans were no longer important.)

Still, despite the uncertain future for us U.S. fans scoring the final six manga volumes legally, I still hope to see them published one day and given a proper treatment along with School Rumble Z.  In the meantime, here’s some Christmas love from some of the School Rumble girls.  ^_^

Assuming someone else doesn’t learn first, I’ll see what I can dig up regarding the School Rumble manga after the new year starts.