Cromartie High School [Manga]

[Ragnar]

Cromartie High School
Eiji Nonaka

 I checked this volume out of the library (I know, my library rocks) after seeing it on the shelf and recognizing the title. I had seen two (dubbed >_>;) episodes of the show at the 2005 Otakon, which were both ...very interesting. I think it would have been much better in the Japanese, but at least it didn't make my ears bleed. Actually, this volume comes with a DVD of those first two episodes (dubbed, about 15 min. each) included in the back. Nice move, ADV!
  This story takes place in a Japanese public high school, Cromartie High. Cromartie is a school famous for the delinquents that attend it, and smack in the middle of it is our protagonist, Kamiyama Takashi. Kamiyama is your average high school student with a solid academic record who only attended Cromartie to prove to a friend that you could learn and study in any atmosphere. The only thing he hadn't counted on was that his friend was unable to pass the entrance exam.
  Eventually, the other lovable characters are introduced: the mohawked Hayashida, Maeda Akira (he has no nickname, and therefore is treated with some contempt by others), Freddie (not his real name. He looks like a pro wrestler, and doesn't talk. It's unclear whether he's actually a student.), and ...a gorilla. Surprisingly, the gorilla seems to be one of the smarter members of the school. We are also introduced to Mechazawa; interestingly enough, Kamiyama and Hayashida seem to be the only ones who notice that he's a robot.
  The situations that Nonaka puts the characters in are bizarre but hilarious, such as the motion-sick kingpin of the school who always finds himself on some form of transportation. The storytelling is roughly continuous, but mainly random (think of the kind of continuity in Azumanga Daioh. There are also abandoned scenarios interspersed throughout. Altogether, a great read.

Score: 6.5 / 7