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Mama mia!



Title:
  Cromartie High School vol 1 - Cromartian Rhapsody

UK distributor: ADV Films

BBFC Certificate: PG

Suggested Retail Price (SRP):
£19.99

Episodes: 1 - 8 (of 26)

Audio Options: English 5.1; Japanese 2.0

Subtitles: English

Reviewer:  Tom (Webmaster)

 

When I first heard of Cromartie High School a few years ago I thought that there was no way it would ever be released in the UK.  Here was a show which featured a school of delinquents which, amongst the hardened dumb thugs, included a robot, a gorilla and Freddie Mercury.  On top of that the plots of each episode were very bizarre and all the DVD covers were hilarious parodies of famous albums covers.  Surely it was just to weird to be released in the UK, but, thankfully, I was wrong. 


The plot of Cromartie begins when model student Takashi Kamiyama enrols at the dead-end Cromartie High School, a school full of punks and delinquents where he sticks out like a sore thumb.  How Kamiyama ended up in this situation is only explained in the manga and the first episode will tell you to read the manga, rather then explain what the hell is going on.  You may think this is frustrating but I can confirm that, having read the manga, it does not really matter as Cromartie concerns itself more with irreverent and bizarre situations rather then character development and backstory. 



I see a poor man from a poor family...
 


The first few episodes introduce the viewer to the bizarreness of Cromartie with the introduction of characters such as Freddie (a huge dumb look-alike of Freddie Mercury), Gorilla (a gorilla) and Mechazawa (a robot).  So far you may be imagining that Cromartie belongs to the same comedy ilk as Excel Saga but it is a little more unique then that.  Where as most anime comedies rely on hitting the viewer with as many visual jokes as possible and bombarding them with as many over-the-top situations as it can in a single episode, Cromartie is the opposite by taking a more slow-paced deadpan approach.  This approach unfortunately makes Cromartie one of the most hit and miss shows I have ever seen as the episodes tend to focus on just one joke, so if you do not like the joke then the episode becomes a laugh-free fest. 
 


...spare him his life from this monstrosity!

One such episode revolves around one character attempting to remember the title of a song by humming it to his fellow pupils.  No pupils know the song so the number of them humming the tune steadily grows until the entire cast is humming it.  Whoosh! That one went over my head, but on the other hand another episode revolving around a punk's effort to keep his motion sickness secret is brilliant.  The punk unluckily suffers on many vehicles and his determination to keep his secret his very funny as the show tells us what he his thinking throughout his suffering, while showing the misinterpretations of those around him. 
 

The examples I have just given may show just how hit and miss Cromartie can be, but there can also be several random occurrences that can make the viewer smile as well.  There are often background events which can go unnoticed if you are not paying attention and, due to their bizarreness, will make you laugh at their stupidity. 

Cromartie High School may not be particularly clever or consistently funny but it is an unique show in it's style and I feel a series worth sticking with.  Having read the manga and seen the live-action film (currently unavailable in the UK), I know that the show does become better even though that not be obvious in the first volume.  The hit and miss comedy can make this hard to recommend though as there are few other shows to compare it to and many may not enjoy the slow style where as others may find it a refreshing change. 

At the end of the day this show is the Marmite of anime - you will either love it or hate it. 

Extras

As well as the usual trailers the extras include credit-free versions of the opening and closing sequences as well as a very handy cultural notes and comments sections, which explains the obscure cultural references of the show. 

The DVD also contain an excellent booklet which interviews, character profiles and more cultural explanations.  Thankfully the writing style is in the vogue of the show, which makes it all the more enjoyable. 

Ratings

Feature: Extras:
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