The comedy timing here is so absurdly precise that it lands jokes that shouldn't work, ones built on nothing but a character's face contorting at exactly the right frame. Tenma and Harima's triangle never resolves because that's not the point, the show knows that the funniest thing isn't a confession, it's watching them fail at one over and over. If you want plot progression, you're in the wrong place; if you want 26 episodes of pure comedic chaos where characters become rubber-faced versions of themselves the moment something goes wrong, this is your show.

Tenma is a clumsy second-year student caught up in unrequited love. The object of her affection is Karasuma, an odd classmate who never seems to notice her efforts. The clock is ticking: Karasuma is set to move to another school within a year, and Tenma still hasn't managed to tell him how she feels. Meanwhile, Harima, a notorious delinquent, is secretly in love with Tenma, and his attempts to confess keep failing just like hers. What unfolds is a comedy of missed connections and misunderstandings, played out between classes, friendships, rivalries and pastimes. Tenma throws herself into ever more outlandish schemes to get Karasuma's attention, and they never seem to land. School Rumble finds the comedy in high school life, where genuine emotion collides with adolescent awkwardness in funny and occasionally touching ways.