1. 

   Crusader
   August 28th, 2006 - 12:24

   I beg to differ Mr. Stripey while Eri is beset by false hope, she was fool enough to take it. It is of special note that everything Harima sees in his grand illusion of Tenma, Yakumo has in abundance. You cannot quantify Eri in harsher terms than I. Eri is a jealous coward, you cannot refine it. Despite her facade of being a prince, a worthless profession IMHO, she fears getting close to Harima. Rather she seems to insist that Harima be the one to perform the role of dashing prince of her imagined courtship. Long has Eri enjoyed the tomfoolery of her would be suitors, it is a sign of weakness for her to think that Harima would be one to stoop so low. She will continue to fall behind if she does not discard her idiot insistance on hiding her feelings. Men can be idiots more so in matters of the heart, don’t expect them to woo you just because you wish it. Nay in the age of equality a lady must also step up and risk rejection as well.

   Despite the stab in Eri’s black heart, it is nothing compared to Harima’s selfless decision to get Karasuma to visit Tenma on her birthday. Harima is maturing, Eri is stuck in a loop, and Yakumo will once again mitigate anything Eri does because she is ever considerate. In fact Harima and Yakumo’s selflessness is a foundation for common ground. I support Harima and Yakumo if only for the continuation of Harima Manga. Besides if Karasuma and Harima end up as in-laws they will most certainly get along afterall hostilities only began when Harima discovered who was Tenma’s love, and even then Harima did not simply try and crush Karasuma, not that he would have been able to.

   Still you have made clear how you feel about giving false hope, may Jin give Eri an ending that you find acceptable.

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2. 

   wontaek
   August 28th, 2006 - 16:34

   The author, Kobayashi Jin has just announced the start of a new comic series and the main character resembles Yakumo in appearance, but her personality may be closer to Eri; well her facial expression reminds people of fox spirit. Two male characters visible on drawing was much younger, reminding us of Harima Shuuji and Ichijou Kyousuke. My wife believes that, in end, Yakumo, Eri, and Harima will all their separate path away from each other as they grow up. Other than some minor character, only couples that will survive is the Hanai-blessed Mikoto X Asou and Miss Worst-Cook-ever ( Tenma ) X Mr. Super Alloy Z Stomach ( Karasuma ), for growing up for so many of the characters would mean becoming more independent and better expression of inner thoughts and feelings. We need to also conisder that while Eri and Harima craves people’s attention, Yakumo is perfectly content being left alone.

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3. 

   crimson
   August 28th, 2006 - 18:31

   well, the skit was entertaining for me

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4. 

   eurys
   August 28th, 2006 - 19:36

   My now favorite hobby: reading crusader’s and wontaek’s posts about School Rumble, for they are witty, hilarious and very reassuring.

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5. 

   Stripey
   August 28th, 2006 - 22:06

   Crusader: Heh I take a lot more kindly to Eri. Given her outstanding beauty and elevated social status, her response to Harima is understandable since she knows nothing outside of being relentlessly courted. For her to take the offensive, she needs first to lose that pride, search her inner parts and face her truest desire before striving against social stigma (school idol pursuing school delinquent). That could just be overwhelming for a 17 yr old.

   wontaek: Ah good to hear SR mangaka moving on. Is SR manga coming to a close then?

   crimson: I really like the duality of the skit. Layered fun.

   eurys: You spoke my mind.

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6. 

   Crusader
   August 29th, 2006 - 10:45

   Well Mr. Stripey age 17 is the age where one can enlist with parental permission, and but hair’s length from age 18. Still all Eri needs to remember is that courage is fear holding on five minutes longer. Nevertheless when you get caught up…well let’s just say that a couple that stalks together stays together or so Jin would have you believe.

   By the way kudos on “outstanding beauty and elevated social status” what a clever way of masking trophy wife + bank = Eri.

   Wontaek: I hope SR continues or is at least given a bit of closure. I want, nay demand a token of HanaixTakano so I can die a happy man. Still that idea makes me a bit curious.

   I also agree that TenmaxKarasuma will endure all as time goes by I get more fuzzy watching them grow old together. The more screen time Karasuma gets the more I like the magnificent bastard.

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7. 

   suguru
   August 29th, 2006 - 16:09

   Wonatek: Your wife’s probably right if the manga-ka wants to make the ending realistic–anime and manga are the only places it seems like couples that start dating in high school actually get married in my experience. I remember by the end of fall term freshman year in college the few high school couples who tried to stay together post-graduation had all broken up. Hell, out of my friends only one college couple got married, and I didn’t even meet my wife until three years after I graduated. It’d be kind of funny in the last chapter of Sukuran to see the cast at their ten-year HS reunion, laughing about all the misunderstandings back in high school, and going to the reunion with spouses they hadn’t even met back then. Although then I think the supporters of all the different factions would probably burn the manga-ka’s house to the ground…

   Although ojou hits a low point and then rebounds a little, we’re almost at the end of the second season and Harima still shows no signs of liking anyone but Tenma, which makes it hard to imagine Harima x anyone else. I’m guessing the most likely scenario for the end (if they actually want to end it with this season) is Tenma x Karasuma, Harima’s crushed, maybe Eri does something out of jealousy to block Harima x Yakumo, Eri has a change of heart and gets Harima x Yakumo together, roll the credits. I hope I’m wrong though, because Karasuma’s Vanilla H-like personality just rubs me the wrong way, and I think Tenma, for all her faults, deserves better ^_^

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8. 

   wontaek
   August 29th, 2006 - 16:12

   >>> afterall hostilities only began when Harima discovered who was Tenma

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9. 

   Crusader
   August 29th, 2006 - 22:30

   Suguru: Its not about who deserves better, but ultimately its who they settle for.

   wontaek: Nuts I have to wait years before Del Rey brings the rest of the SR manga to the States. Until then I am still waiting on volume 3. I dearly hope that it is as convincing wa you say. Nevertheless I hope for one more indisputable moment of affection, perhaps the elusive Takano smile will bring back Hanai from the dead, I know Hanai was curious and he did have an over load when Mikoto and Takano had to play the pocky game.

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10. 

    Swampstorm
    August 30th, 2006 - 10:19

    I wouldn’t worry so much. Yakumo is the latest in a long line of pseudo-rivals that Eri has faced in the past. Earlier rivals include Mikoto and Tae, both of whom follow the same classic story cycle where Eri comes to believe that Harima is in a relationship with another girl, and backs down, only to be reassured by her rival that Harima isn’t in a relationship. More than anything else, this episode is Onigiri’s deathblow, in the same way that Ep.23 S1 put an end to Marker and the Ep.15 S1 put an end to Pencil. Yakumo makes it clear that she doesn’t have a relationship with Harima, and the path is once again clear for Eri. What more could you ask for?

    Remember that while the manga acts as a reason for Harima and Yakumo to have scenes together, it is also the only thing that connects the two of them. If anything, the manga becomes a crutch for the pairing, since most of those scenes are similar and are thus unable to tread new ground. Also, should Harima and Yakumo ever lose that reason to be together…
    …But that’s a story for another day.

    Eri and Harima never really needed a reason to end up in each others’ company – they always just do. Events seem to have a way of always ‘randomly’ drawing them together (where randomness refers to the mangaka’s grand design ).

    Yakumo may be the “favoured child of the SR gods”, but her character, deprived of challenges, withers into that of a mere plot device. In a parallel vein, Karasuma may always defeat Harima, but he is always secondary in importance to Harima, serving as a foil to explore the depths of Harima’s character. Similarily, Yakumo is merely a foil for Eri, serving the secondary function of bringing Eri’s insecurities to light to promote the growth of her character.

    Characters like Harima and Eri tend to go through more hardships than the others. That’s the very reason why they take the spotlight. Tension and crises are what build stories, and protagonists are the characters that create them. Eri’s hardships are what give her character strength and depth. They’re a blessing rather than a curse.

    Crusader:
    >>It is of special note that everything Harima sees in his grand illusion of Tenma, Yakumo has in abundance.
    Yakumo has a long history of bottled up anger that she has built up towards her sister’s percieved incompetence, and she lashes out at whichever unfortunate soul brings it to the surface. The grand illusion of Tenma, thankfully enough, does not have an abundance of unresolved anger.

    >>You cannot quantify Eri in harsher terms than I. Eri is a jealous coward, you cannot refine it.
    I have seen many people qualify Eri in much harsher terms than you. It’s a method that recieves fairly common use by people who feel that Eri interferes with their favourite pairing – vilify Eri, and you have an excuse to not empathize with her trials and hardships. Those same individuals seem invariably to become disillusioned with SR in the later part of this season. It’s a poetic justice, of sorts.

    The true test of a character is how he/she performs under adversity. In this episode, we see Eri’s mettle being tested. Her role as the main character in the play is ursurped, she is humiliated in front of the school, rejected by the one she loves, and defeated by a seemingly unbeatable rival who appears to have captured Harima’s heart. At first, she struggles with her jealousy – but when she confirms for herself that there is a relationship between Harima and Yakumo (“I have spent a thousand years with the princess that the prince was unaware of” – in reference to the manga, of course) she casts down her sword and nobly bows out – fully expecting Yakumo to follow through with the kiss. Furthermore, at the dance, Eri, fully believing that she has lost her love to a superior rival, takes the initiative to apologize and even goes so far as to admit that her behaviour was immature (contrasted with Yakumo, who once again merely complies with Tenma’s orders to make up with Eri). In this, Eri shows true courage, true maturity, and true heroism. She casts aside her pride, and sacrifices her love, so that others can be happy in her stead.

    Nothing worthwhile comes without effort. While it is sad to see Eri suffer, this episode is excellent in the fact that it shows just how much Eri has grown over the previous 33 episodes. In this episode, Eri easily proves herself to be the best developed and most versatile character in the series.

    >>Despite her facade of being a prince, a worthless profession IMHO, she fears getting close to Harima. Rather she seems to insist that Harima be the one to perform the role of dashing prince of her imagined courtship.
    Eri is merely acting the role of a prince, as is Tenma, Sagano, and Ichijou. That doesn’t mean that she instantly inherits all the traits of the role.
    I remember correctly, Eri does actively court Harima, here, until he turns her down. That’s one step ahead of Harima, who prefers to choose the role of princess, insisting on Tenma being the one to perform the role of dashing prince of his imagined courtship.

    >>Long has Eri enjoyed the tomfoolery of her would be suitors, it is a sign of weakness for her to think that Harima would be one to stoop so low.
    I think that you’ve forgotten about the manner in which he pursues Tenma. I don’t agree that it’s a matter of “stooping”, but it does appear that he is one who stoops, by your standard.

    >>Men can be idiots more so in matters of the heart, don’t expect them to woo you just because you wish it. Nay in the age of equality a lady must also step up and risk rejection as well.
    Be patient. Romantic comedies have this mysterious habit of ending just after major couples get together. None of the major couples are going to put their cards on the table until the very end.

    >>Despite the stab in Eri

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11. 

    wontaek
    August 30th, 2006 - 13:45

    @ Swampstorm

    Ah, but what do you think about the upcoming Valentine episodes in anime? If you have already read the Manga, there are some English scanlations floating around out there, you know whose Chocolate gets consumed by whom in what fashion, so what is your general opinion about them? I still think, the ending will more likely be one where everybody gets some good laughs and go their separate ways, other than 2 pairings I mentioned. A note for Karasuma, although he often seems aloof, only character he shows active interest in is Tenma, so he may be a plot device, but he is growing on me. I read a good essay on School Rumble in one of the Korean site about how this manga abandoned its primary character ( Tenma ) in favor of mangaka’s Avatar ( Harima Kenji ). The core dillemas, from the start, have been how Tenma treats Harima and how Harima reacts to it; in this sense, even Eri and Yakumo, no matter how popular they may be, are still just minor character dragged into the ride for various reasons.

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12. 

    Crusader
    August 30th, 2006 - 14:23

    Swampstorm: Onigiri’s deathblow you say? I beg to differ, complete and utter destruction was not achieved Harima seriously thought about kissing imotou-san, while Eri seems as impotent as the Arab Air Forces in the aftermath of Operation Focus. Eri knew full well that when striking the Queen you must strike to kill, but her skill at arms was decidedly inferior and to add insult ot injury Yakumo was holding back and in a purely defensive posture. Yakumo’s admission of no romatic relationship was true there was no romance blooming, at that time. There was no denial of interest on the parts of Yakumo and Harima, deciseive victory for Flag faction was not achieved, at the tactical and strategic level.

    As for Harima’s courtship of Tenma, Harima is more intelligent than you realize. He has learned form the numerous failures at trying to confess directly that a head on clash will end disasterously. Thusly he has taken an indirect approcah to convey his feelings in a non-spoken format, last stands and final offensives are the providence of inept commanders and result from a lack of imagination. Harima is not so blinded by jealousy as not to realize the importance of Karasuma in Tenma’s life. His attempts at sabotage have been limited and it was not until ep 22 that he tried anything intentional and only after being emboldened by the passing of his rift with Tenma. He could have simply burned Karasuma’s manuscript when he had the chance, but instead relented and called upon Imotou-san for help to atone for his lapse in judgement.

    Eri on the other hand has not even thrown full effort into a confession attempt. Eri is prone to blame others when the play was in immenint danger she blames Yakumo who up until then was relatively well concealed but only revealed herself after answering the challege from a boisterous prince. Eri could have pleaded for Harima to go along with the play and appealed to his sense of righteousness, but no. Instead she issues a demand and denies that she wants to go through with it inciting Harima to feel that he is once again being looked down upon. Since the beginnings of Eri’s attemtps at the ongoing Operation Confession she has simply spited Harima by shaving his head and a heinous crime to all fans of Dwarves, beard clipping. Even when apologizing after the debacle that she herself created she denied again how she really feels, not the kind of liberating admission a mature person would deliver.

    The entirety of their encounters is characterized by antagonism, and Eri only ever shows decency towards Harima when he is disguised. Eri is more than capable of kindess and affection and she has the aid of Akira and Mikoto to realize her endeavors in romance. Yet still she refuses to bite her lip for more than a minute to overcome Harima’s defensive posture which she herself forced him to develop, rather she inists on a paper thin defense of feigned disinterest. Not once has she made clear to Harima how she feels, but is more than ready to let jealousy get the better of her to nearly destroy one friendship and insult the school nurse. Such is her insecurity that she feels that Harima is philandering about with all women other than her. Eri can barely, if at all, stand the thought of Harima having any sort of relationship with other women. Eri has a right to vent her frustations at her repeated failures, but not wantonly and with reckless abandon at those who happen to be nearby or imagined foes without substantial proof.

    Eri may be prone ot jealousy, insecurity, arrogance, and cowardice, but she is also comptent in all things unrelated to romance or emotion, capable of charity, affection, and kindess. What she needs to do is realize that she can be a better person and that growing up means to continually improve oneself. If one step forward and three steps back is the be all and end all of her feelings for Harima then she will never get beyond her doorstep. Still it is hard to empathize or sympathize when Eri’s failings can be easily corrected with effort. Afterall there is nothing beautiful about a girl whose heart is wrapped in jealousy, in fact my saltier inclination would be to smite it.

    Yakumo is at the very least more capable of selflessness than Eri. She is considerate enough to know Harima’s birthday, an occassion rarely celebrated. Yakumo accepts the fact that Harima only has Tenma in his heart and unconditionallly aids him in his quest. Yakumo could fervently defend Tenma in her endevours to wed Karasuma, but such is not the case. Instead she alone encourages Harima on his quest to confess to Tenma with full knowledge of how he feels. For times beyond number Yakumo could have sabotaged Harima, but this has yet, if ever, to happen. Though Harima is doomed to failure Yakumo helps Harima complete his manga of confession because she knows that Harima is the only one who can make Harima see the futility of trying to get Tenma reciprocate his feelings. Yakumo wants to see Harima be happy and realize his dreams, goals, and aspirations. Harima wants to confess to Tenma, he would always regret it if he never does. What benefit is there to helping out Harima? I can hardly see any even if they have a clear medium of communication it is of little use while Harima is fixiated on Tenma. Yakumo’s act of selflessness is her acceptance of Harima’s feelings for Tenma, and to help him realize his aspiriations and shine, even if it is not for her. One undeniable accomplishment Yakumo has achieved is a closer relationship between Tenma and Harima, the crowning moment of glory being the hand shake of friendship. It was the first time Tenma fully acknowledged Harima as a friend, every last bit of him and despite all the misunderstandings. Selfless acts don’t need to be delivered one after another that is the providence of saints like Sara. Even one as shady as Rommel was capable of selfessness He refused Hitler’s commando order, withdrew in the face of Hitler’s direct order that he stand and fight in North Africa while Paulus led the 6th panzer army to annhlilation with his compliance, and lastly to take his own life to save his men, his family, and be buried in a sick display by his murderers. Selflessness rarely gushes forth from people rather it reaffirms that they are indeed human. Unlike Eri I have yet to see Yakumo call upon Quid pro quo.

    As for Karasuma being a mere tool, I beg to differ. Karasuma has stuck his neck out for Harima in the manga world and when Tennma’s curry dish was broken he did the one thing that made clear the respect he had for Harima and how much he cared about his well being. Karasuma lets Harima go comfort Tenma rather than going himself. He fully understood the need for Harima and Tenma to get back on better terms, though it probably pained him to do so. Karasuma has failings they are just not a pronounced as Harima’s, afterall Karasuma is a beginning to take the initiative in reciprocating Tenma’s affections. It is also of note that in ep 22 Karasuma pullls off one brilliant maneuver by redirecting Harima and Eri. In one masterful reversal Harima’s attempt to crash Tenma’s moment of romance was prempted thus ensuring Harima and Tenma are on good terms. Also Karasuma also achieved his secondary goal of appeasing the Flag Faction by creating circumstances for another moment they can fawn over. Surely this man is a magnificent bastard, and if I may say so accross the chaos of School Rumble, a consumate gentleman.

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13. 

    wontaek
    August 30th, 2006 - 18:56

    >>> Surely this man is a magnificent bastard, and if I may say so accross the chaos of School Rumble, a consumate gentleman.

    Nawww, I still think he is an alien, or a super villian like M. Bison in Street Fighters. He may even be a robot, judging from his lack of facial expressions, incredible strength and stamina, and his ability to eat huge quantity of bad food, although I suspect Yakumo aided Tenma in most Lunch box preparations.

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14. 

    wontaek
    August 30th, 2006 - 23:06

    News Flash!!!

    Remember Yuuki, the girl with glasses? Well, latest manga episode’s main character is her! Won’t divulge more without permission from Stripey, but don’t forget her.

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15. 

    Crusader
    August 31st, 2006 - 09:31

    wontaek: Just becausse Karasuma is an alien doesn’t mean that he can’t be a gentleman and a scholar. Afterall there are people who are born to human parents but fail to become upright human beings, in some cases becoming God’s greatest waste of a soul.

    Yuuki with a whole chapeter…well this is most unexpected. Damn this thrice cursed release schedule in the US.

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16. 

    Swampstorm
    August 31st, 2006 - 11:41

    wontaek: There are several things that I noted about the Valentine’s Day chapters. I’ll try to be vague.

    The day before Valentine’s Day: Seeing as it’s the first meeting between those two characters in over two months of SR time, I found the two to be surprisingly distant to each other. When two really good friends meet for the first time after a long while, you generally expect to see much more warmth. We once again see an action based on compliance, and we see one of the two displaced from one love triangle to another. The colour insert in ch.170 really drives the new love triangle home. It’s a nail in the coffin.

    Valentine’s Day: If you think back to the early episodes of SR, one of the big links between Harima and Tenma was how they thought the same way, and made the same mistakes. This chapter is the start of a new trend that is really hammered home over the course of the last twenty chapters. This time, we see Tenma’s role in the copycat routine replaced by that of another girl. It also reaffirms Akira’s support of a particular faction.

    It’s very possible that everyone may grow apart in the manner you described – based entirely on the current setup, Flag has a tough road ahead of it. Still, I can’t shake off the feeling that there’s a running theme in all of these events – the way in which Harima consistantly mixes up Tenma and Eri, the picture of Harima’s dream girl that he takes away to sea with him in Ep.25 S1, the constant parallels drawn between Harima and Eri as of late, and Yakushamaru’s commentary and enigmatic laugh in ch.185. Were we talking about real events, I would wholeheartedly agree with you. But based on what I’ve seen of the story structure so far, I think it might be a good idea to defer judgement.

    I don’t think that Karasuma is just a plot device. Harima is the better developed character of the two, since Karasuma mostly just acts as a foil for him, but Karasuma does have his moments. I think that the True Oudou scene at the end of Ep.3 S2 was critical – by admitting his weakness with emotions to Tenma, he established himself as more than a pure plot device.

    While I can’t comment on the essay, not having read it myself, I have heard similar ideas before. In an early interview in Taipei, Taiwan, Jin mentioned that about 30 percent of the inspiration for Harima comes from himself. That, coupled with the fact that he draws on a beard and mustashe and wears sunglasses to these conventions, lead some people to believe that Harima is Jin.

    That being said, if any character is Jin’s avatar, I would suspect that it would be Yakushamaru, Harima’s look-alike, who appears briefly during ch.184-185. In those chapters, he meets with and gives his opinions on the two main heroines in a parallel fashion. The other way of figuring out Jin’s opinions on the series would be to just read the side notes that he writes, of course.

    I suspect that Tenma appeared to be sidelined due to the nature of her character. She excels at comedy/gags, which is why the first thirty or so chapters of the series have an Azumanga feel to them – most of the chapters are one-shots that are built around a joke. After Harima’s confession to Eri, the story becomes a series of story-arcs. Tenma still retains her importance in the one shot chapters that appear between story arcs, but most of the serious scenes switch over to Harima and Eri (if you want, try to break down the story into its main story arcs, and see who the dramatic tension is focused around). Good storywriting involves playing each character to their strengths, after all.

    Crusader: It seems like you misunderstood a couple of issues about that scene.
    1) The *only* reason why Harima doesn’t resist Yakumo is because she tells him that she has a plan to fake the kiss by hiding behind her hat. Note also that Eri is agreeable to kissing Harima, while Yakumo is not.

    2) The fight is a stage fight. If you watch the blows, Eri is attacking the staff, not the person behind the staff (since you want to avoid injuring the other actors with weapons during a stage fight). If you pay attention, Eri is trying to hint to Yakumo during the fight to tell her to lose, in keeping with the story. However, as the fight continues, the pace becomes too much for Yakumo, causing her to miss a block in surprise and to injure Eri by accident. This is not a sign of superior skill on Yakumo’s part – rather, it shows her inexperience and incompetence with the staff. A requirement for stage fighting is that you don’t actually injure the other party involved. Since when has disregard for the rules of engagement ever been considered a sign of prowess?

    Considering that Eri knows by the end that Yakumo and Harima aren’t going out, it is a decisive victory for Flag. Onigiri has given Flag the push that it needed after the Sports Festival, and it ceases to be relevant to Flag’s progress. Everything from here on is Onigiri’s death throes.

    I do agree, though, that Yakumo and Harima had no romantic interest in each other at the time. Nothing has changed since then.

    Harima is stuck in the same trap that Hanai is – he believes that through a combination of skill and ability, it is within his own power to create a relationship with Tenma. What he fails to recognize, however, is that half of the power needed to create a relationship lies with Tenma, outside of his control. Love is quite different from war – the latter can be ‘won’ through the right tactics and use of force, while the former must be grown over time through the coorperation between two people. To apply the principles of one to the other is to invite failure – and this is Harima’s biggest mistake. This realization would be the first step that Harima needs to take on the road to maturity.

    Eri doesn’t throw herself into a confession attempt early on because her feelings for him are uncertain. The first time that she realizes that she loves him is the day after – and she immediately acts on her feelings to sew the jersey for him. Between the jersey incident and the Cultural Festival, Eri is under the belief that Harima and Yakumo are dating – so she keeps her feelings to herself and tries to keep her distance. The play forces Eri to confront her feelings again, and she shows that she is willing to take the first step – by carrying through with the kiss. Oh, and on another note – the recent material that you’ve been seeing in the anime is the first stretch of time that Flag has been unhindered in a while. Wait just a bit longer and you’ll get a very clear counterexample to your statements.

    And Yakumo *was* at fault for wrecking the play. That’s why Tenma made her apologize at afterparty.

    When you look at it, nearly every character in the series who has a love interest is unable to confess, be it Tenma, Harima, Eri, or any number of minor characters. For the sake of consistancy, you should bring up your principles in the context of all of these characters, not just Eri.

    The shaving scene was purely comedic in nature. If you want to take that and pull it out of context, I’d ask that you also explain the moral reasoning by which Harima beats up weaker individuals at the slightest offense (such as Yoshidayama and Tennouji), by which Karen lobs basketballs at Imadori’s head, and by which Yakumo slams Hanai into the ground in Season 1.

    >>The entirety of their encounters is characterized by antagonism, and Eri only ever shows decency towards Harima when he is disguised.
    Sports Festival Dance? Tenma’s birthday dinner? Christmas? New Year’s Day?
    For that matter, there’s a large set of interactions that you haven’t seen if you haven’t been following the manga. I’d recommend reserving judgement until you see everything.

    >>Such is her insecurity that she feels that Harima is philandering about with all women other than her.
    This is clearly disproved a statement made by Eri to Tenma in Ep.18 S2.

    >>Eri can barely, if at all, stand the thought of Harima having any sort of relationship with other women.
    A point which is contradicted by her willingness to step down at the slightest hint that Harima is interested in someone else. She’s given up on having a relationship with him on three separate occasions, for his sake.

    >>What she needs to do is realize that she can be a better person and that growing up means to continually improve oneself.
    A valid point. Eri is characterized by her growth throughout the series.

    >>Still it is hard to empathize or sympathize when Eri

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17. 

    Crusader
    September 1st, 2006 - 00:31

    Swampstorm:
    Your arguements have compelled me to make a closer study of the play.

    >>2) The fight is a stage fight. If you watch the blows, Eri is attacking the staff, not the person behind the staff (since you want to avoid injuring the other actors with weapons during a stage fight). If you pay attention, Eri is trying to hint to Yakumo during the fight to tell her to lose, in keeping with the story. However, as the fight continues, the pace becomes too much for Yakumo, causing her to miss a block in surprise and to injure Eri by accident. This is not a sign of superior skill on Yakumo

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18. 

    Crusader
    September 1st, 2006 - 14:01

    Continuing on.

    Nuts I misspelled Cannae and Trasimene.

    Also upon review of my statements I came off as seemingly die hard Onigiri. I wish to clarify this I don’t care who Harima ends up with so long as his relationship with her or him is genuine. However that being said I don’t believe that Eri is the ultimate goddess that her die hard fans have harped her to be. Nor do I think that Eri x Harima is as indisputable as sunrise. I like Yakumo more than Eri. Part of it stems from the fact that I have to deal with characters that often act quite arrogant, yet my line of work means I must grit my teeth and do it. I have seen too many carefully laid plans be torn asunder by Eri-like people. I want to see Eri move beyond that but my patience grows thin with every retreat. It seems that I have become the Devil’s advocate in Flag territory, but hey I’ll run with it. I sympathize with Haima’s crush all offenders mentality, flawed as it may be. If one hurled insults at you upon your first unarranged meeting I doubt the first thing that comes to mind is that this person loves me. Hardly, for me that person has chosen hostility as their remedy and I am obliged to give them all that they want. Uncompromising? Yes, but insults are not the best way to make friends.

    >>Eri doesn

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19. 

    wontaek
    September 1st, 2006 - 16:32

    Uh, Crusader. Have you been consuming abnormal amount of caffeine and meat lately?

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20. 

    Crusader
    September 1st, 2006 - 20:12

    3 days with one meal/day, 11 hours of sleep between three days, one trip to the slaughter house, and a starbucks bill that makes me cry…

    So how does the resident music man think of the my little butchery of Battle Hymn of the Republic/Blood upon the Riser?

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21. 

    wontaek
    September 2nd, 2006 - 09:25

    @ Crusader

    I thought you needed some peace, quiet, sleep, and some vegetables.

    As for the lyrics, I admire you for all the hard work and creativity, but while they are glorious, they become too gory and bloody for my poor stomach. I need some sleep and a good meal as well.

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22. 

    Stripey
    September 2nd, 2006 - 10:13

    I… I’m simply awed/floored by the depth of insights you guys have for all the characters in SR. Yes, pls carry on the discussion. After all, I might publish all this discourse in a book decades down the road and start an anime U with the money. No worries, credits where they are due. Tanuki’s honour XD

    Truly I have learnt sooo much and really my support for Eri x Harima has grown exponentially. Can’t wait to catch up with the rest of the series.

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23. 

    Crusader
    September 3rd, 2006 - 21:38

    wontaek: Thanks for the kind words, but it was nothing a convention could not cure and the seminar of Warterloo and Kursk alone made up for being sticky for two days. Sorry about turning your stomach I guess having a morbid fascination with the Eastern Front made me forget that not every one is into gory detail.

    Stripey: Tanuki’s honor eh? Isn’t that what you invoke before Nauzron after every figurine purchase?

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24. 

    wontaek
    September 4th, 2006 - 01:22

    News Flash! In Episode 23, You can see Iori, Pyotor, and Harima’s animal gang putting their paws together. Can’t divulge more without spoiling.

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25. 

    Swampstorm
    September 8th, 2006 - 04:15

    Crusader:
    Concerning the stage fight:
    The range and speed of a staff is influenced by the position of your hands. The further you move your hands away from any given end, the greater your reach and the greater the resistance of that end to rotation (or a higher moment of inertia, if you prefer). As such, if you keep your hands on the midpoint of a staff, you divide the staff into two equal parts, each with the same amount of rotational resistance – allowing the staff to be easily spun. If you move your hands towards one end of the staff, the staff is divided into two unequal pieces, the longer one offering a large amount of rotational resistance, and a smaller one offering very little rotational resistance. In this position, the staff offers a greater range for thrusts, but requires much more force to rotate.

    Watch the head on shot of Yakumo deflecting the blows, early on in the fight. Yakumo is holding the staff like a walking stick, with two hands close to the top of the staff. The problem that this creates is that the length of staff below her hands is rendered useless – at the effective distance for Eri’s sword, Eri is too close to be kept at bay with the longer end of the staff. At the same time, the rotational resistance experienced by the lower length of the staff prevents it from being used effectively to parry Eri’s attacks. Thus, if Eri wants to properly stage a fight, she cannot strike at Yakumo below the position of her hands on the staff.

    The only portion of the staff available to Yakumo for defense is the length above her hands, which is more manuverable because of the lower rotational resistance. However, the available area is extremely small. Eri aims high for a reason – aim too low, and she’ll end up cutting Yakumo’s hands to ribbons. Given that fact, it shows remarkable skill on Eri’s part that she is able to adapt to her opponent’s ineptitude and confine herself to so small an area. If you watch Eri’s swordplay earlier in the episode, she does use lower strikes against her earlier opponents. If you’re actually trying to hit someone, it’s much easier to go after an exposed torso than a well defended head.

    Of course, common sense dictates that if you unwittingly find yourself in the middle of someone else’s play, the courteous thing to do is to find a way to exit without interfering. The appropriate course of action for Yakumo would have been to ad lib a line or two as an excuse to leave the stage.

    >>Non-action does not constitute a victory when no gains are made. Just because the Allies invaded Normandy on June 6, 1944 rather than June 5, 1944 does not mean that the Axis won a victory on June 5. Granted Eri has gleaned some information is irrelevant if she cannot capitalize on it (which she still hasn’t). Afterall Hannibal won at Trebia, Trazamine, and Canae but we all know who won that war. I don’t think that Eri has achieved a turning point just yet.

    It is a gain. Eri would have given up on a relationship with Harima, had she continued to believe that Yakumo was dating him. Onigiri presented an obstacle just after the Sports Festival, and this clears up that misunderstanding. One less obstacle equals a gain in my book.

    >>I disagree. Mikoto, the intended princess was inextricably delayed. Harima fell asleep on the set. Tenma lost the super sword by answering incorretly. All things taken to account Yakumo hiding in the bed is the least disasterous thing that has happened to this play. We did not even ascertain her position until Eri took a closer look, and the audience did not find out until Eri called Yakumo out. To place blame on Yakumo alone is a grevious miscarrige of justice. Yakumo’s only fault was to answer to Eri’s bullying, blame was placed and intimidation was used. The only reason I suspect that Yakumo even made an apology was so that Eri could appeased.
    The critical difference, though, is that Harima’s substitution for Mikoto could have continued without interfering with the story of the play – one actor is simply substituted for another. By contrast, Yakumo’s presence forced the story to change its course. Had 2C had anyone other than Akira for a stage director, the play would have been unsalvagable.

    Yakumo may have just given an apology without really meaning it, as you say. I wouldn’t put it past her.

    >>Also upon review of my statements I came off as seemingly die hard Onigiri. I wish to clarify this I don’t care who Harima ends up with so long as his relationship with her or him is genuine. However that being said I don’t believe that Eri is the ultimate goddess that her die hard fans have harped her to be. Nor do I think that Eri x Harima is as indisputable as sunrise.
    Unlike Yakumo, who is primarily liked for being presented as supposedly “perfect” (which, actually, depends more on perception than any sort of internal virtue), Eri is liked for who she is – both her virtues and her vices make her an interesting character. As a matter of fact, most of her die hard fans like her because of her flaws – and the way in which she grows and matures to overcome them, over the course of the series.

    Similarily, Flag is popular because it’s an underdog faction. It’s not nearly as likely as the ever dominant Oudou, but yet – there’s magic in their character interaction. Although the Flag moments are fairly spread out throughout the series, they always seem to overshadow everything else when they finally come about.

    >> I like Yakumo more than Eri. Part of it stems from the fact that I have to deal with characters that often act quite arrogant, yet my line of work means I must grit my teeth and do it. I have seen too many carefully laid plans be torn asunder by Eri-like people. I want to see Eri move beyond that but my patience grows thin with every retreat.

    You do need some patience, for all this. It simply depends on what you’re looking for – if you just want to see a cookie cutter character who shows all the traits that you want to see, then SR has it’s share of such characters to please your preferences. At the heart of well written romance stories, however, are characters who struggle, grow, mature, and finally overcome their weaknesses over time. The more you watch and the less you react, the more enjoyable your experience will be. In my mind, complex characters like Eri are the defining feature of every great romantic comedy.

    >>It seems that I have become the Devil’s advocate in Flag territory, but hey I’ll run with it.
    This isn’t really Flag territory. I’m just persistant, that’s all.

    >>If one hurled insults at you upon your first unarranged meeting I doubt the first thing that comes to mind is that this person loves me. Hardly, for me that person has chosen hostility as their remedy and I am obliged to give them all that they want. Uncompromising? Yes, but insults are not the best way to make friends.
    Eri’s first meeting with Harima was very plesant and civil. That was when they shared an umbrella together.

    One of the biggest strikes against Eri in the eyes of the audience is that she doesn’t make a very good first impression. That being said, first impressions can be very deceiving. Once you do give Eri a chance, though, she can prove to be remarkably likable.

    >>I apologize I did not mean that Eri is the sole source of cowardice. However if she is the heroine of this tale then why is she stuck in the same wilderness as the rest of the cast? Harima is taking steps towards his goal Tenma goes out of her way to include Karasuma; Hanai has made his declaration loudly and numerously, but what of Eri? Though she has made advances such as the one at the school festival she has never followed up. It’s like a thrust into an enemy line breakthrough is achieved but if there is no follow up the spear head will find itself cut off, thrown into a pocket, and annihilated if no support if forthcoming or forced to retire even if a breakout is achieved. A continual strategy of advance, retreat, advance, retreat is demoralizing.
    One of SR’s trademarks is that progress that characters make is often reset at regular intervals. Harima resets his progress as well, at regular intervals. You’re better off looking at their long term progress rather than their short term progress, if you don’t want to end up frustrated, that is.

    >>I also disagree that Eri is bowing out, not completely in any case and certainly not gracefully. After the Messed up Jersey incident Eri blatantly publicized what she thought was a rival’s relationship, no direct questions, just a propaganda coup to deflect attention away from her failure.
    Failure?
    I won’t say that Eri wasn’t hurt by the ordeal, but she did bow out. Didn’t you see the look that she gave Yakumo in Ep.1 S2?

    >>Even after storming off the stage at the play she still had an “I told you so” attitude, not the most mature of things, yes?
    Ah, but she did apologize and admitted that she acted immaturely, afterwards. That was the act that brings out her maturity.

    >>Harima has a Spartan mindset when it comes to threats; he tries to crush it on the spot since his diplomatic skills leave much to be desired.

    Yet, Harima’s mindset is his own. I could claim that Eri’s acts are due to her short temper and her mindset, and keep my line of reasoning perfectly in parallel with yours. Condemn neither, or condemn them both.

    >>Yakumo slamming Hanai to the ground was the result of an insult to Tenma; this is one issue Yakumo will not relent on as Eri found out to her surprise when Yakumo one upped her in ep 22. As it stands the issue of Tenma is the only thing that creates a strong emotional reaction from Yakumo.

    Yakumo’s act goes a little deeper than that – to fully understand it, you’ll need to see the flashback on the Tsukamoto sisters’ childhood. Let’s just say for now that Yakumo has a lot of repressed anger towards Tenma that she redirects towards anyone else who brings up the subject of Tenma’s incompetance. The conflict in Ep.22 wasn’t really between Yakumo and Eri – it was between Yakumo and Tenma. Eri was simply clever enough to sidestep it and entangle Yakumo in the process.

    >>As for Ichi-san’s first act of violence I fully understand the need to crush so called “players” such as Imadori was making an unwarranted advance and Mikoto needed help. Ichijou merely delivered what was long overdue; though jealousy was involved the cause was just. Also yes in the context of Imadori I am very biased and take a sadistic glee at his merciless beatings, it is a shame that he cannot be simply bludgeoned to death. If I could I would rip out his balls to stop him from contaminating the earth.

    Once again, your verdict is completely arbitrary. How do we decide who deserves what? These acts are all the same – the only difference is in the light in which you portray them. Condemn none, or condemn them all.

    >>I hardly see how Yakumo enduring the gossip and wild speculation of her relationship with Harima was not selfless.

    As we saw in the OVAs, Yakumo doesn’t really notice gossip. Nothing to endure there.

    >>She honored her promise to keep it a secret and was willing to endure the back talk that was bound to occur. Honoring her promise cost her; mere compliance such as taking orders does not take an emotional toll unless the task is monumentally great.

    Where was this emotional toll shown? Could you direct me to a few specific instances in the anime, perhaps?

    >>I believe that politeness is part of consideration; hardly anyone can claim to enjoy being yelled at and denounced.

    Is Harima inconsiderate, then?

    >>What you decry as mere compliance can also be taken as a sign of friendship since friends help each other out. Personally I help out my friends even if it causes me a minor headache to do it, because I know that they would do the same for me. My friends are not perfect, far from it they are horribly flawed as am I, but I like the bastards I don’t know why but all that matters is that I do.

    Friends do help each other out. When was the last time that we’ve seen Yakumo help Sara out? Sadly, that relationship is rather one sided.

    >>At the very least Harima considers Yakumo to be a friend and confidant, as for Eri mostly as an on again, off again foe. In this regard Yakumo has superiority if only in Harima’s perception.

    Harima considers Yakumo as his little sister-in-law. In this regard, Yakumo is completely off-limits, if only in Harima’s perception.

    She isn’t a confidant because Harima is completely unwilling to tell her about his feelings for Tenma, and the one secret that they do share, the manga, is merely a result of the fact that Harima just wanted someone who wasn’t in his class to give him feedback. Let’s also not forget that once the secret was revealed, there are no secrets that they share.

    >>I disagree in ep 25 of the first season Yakumo saw through Harima’s poor deception and his accusation of mind reading amounted to an admission. His obvious reaction to Yakumo pointing this out makes it hard to think other wise since there is obviously no disdain for Tenma on Harima’s part.

    Based on later incidents in the story, it seems like Yakumo didn’t succeed in putting two and two together. It’s obvious for the audience, of course, but sometimes characters can miss hints like that.

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26. 

    Crusader
    September 9th, 2006 - 15:51

    >>The range and speed of a staff is influenced by the position of your hands. The further you move your hands away from any given end, the greater your reach and the greater the resistance of that end to rotation (or a higher moment of inertia, if you prefer). As such, if you keep your hands on the midpoint of a staff, you divide the staff into two equal parts, each with the same amount of rotational resistance – allowing the staff to be easily spun. If you move your hands towards one end of the staff, the staff is divided into two unequal pieces, the longer one offering a large amount of rotational resistance, and a smaller one offering very little rotational resistance. In this position, the staff offers a greater range for thrusts, but requires much more force to rotate.

    >>Watch the head on shot of Yakumo deflecting the blows, early on in the fight. Yakumo is holding the staff like a walking stick, with two hands close to the top of the staff. The problem that this creates is that the length of staff below her hands is rendered useless – at the effective distance for Eri

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27. 

    Crusader
    September 9th, 2006 - 19:12

    One more thing the first meeting one on one Eri had just blasted some faceless drone in a glorious barrage of self esteem destroying Flak. Harima voiced his disdain at what she did, thus although physical violence was not there, suspicion and loathing were. Harima was kind enough to share an umbrella, but he has his moments and it did not have a heavy dose of romantic overtones.

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28. 

    Swampstorm
    September 11th, 2006 - 19:53

    >>While the physics of it seem reasonable to a non-physics major (High School and lower division only) it does not hold up to my understanding of fighting techniques and sword play (militray close combat, police suppression techniques, basic martial arts, and fencing). Assuming that Eri

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29. 

    Crusader
    September 12th, 2006 - 18:41

    >>If the material is strong enough that it doesn

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30. 

    Swampstorm
    September 13th, 2006 - 05:35

    >>Eri was already trying to hit Yakumo why the hell would she have hade her

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31. 

    Crusader
    September 13th, 2006 - 18:41

    >>It wasn

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32. 

    eurys
    September 22nd, 2006 - 09:12

    >>Other than some minor character, only couples that will survive is the Hanai-blessed Mikoto X Asou

    SPOILER!!!!!
    *reads chapter 194* T_T
    God, KJ, I hate you. The only real positive couple is the first one to break? But yeah, happiness and love must come with misunderstandings in your ugly twisted world! *shakes fist*

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