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R2 DVD Reviews
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Written by maehara
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Monday, 25 June 2007 17:00 |
 Six more episodes of Cromartie High School provide more of the same, really, as the delinquents continue their usual philosophical discussions and probably never even think of getting down to the important business of studying. At least Gorilla looks like he has a career in mind...
21 - A Trip for Heart
Takenouchi's finally made it back to Cromartie after hs unplanned trip to the US - just in time to join the guys for another class trip. And as usual, that means a trip-long fight against his usual tendency to be travel-sick - on a train where he just can't seem to get into the toilet. Meanwhile, Yamaguchi's also stuck on the train, and can't help but see the comedy potential in the conductor's accouncements, while thanks to Kamiyama the guys miss their stop in Kyoto. Just a shame he can't manage to get them to believe him...
22 - You Never Gave Me Your Name
One of Hokuto's lackeys is planning on quitting the Hokuto Corps - which raises the problem of what everyone's going to call him if they can't use "Hokuto's Lackey" anymore. After all, it's not like anyone know his real name - and real names aren't acceptable anyway when a nickname's just as good. Meanwhile, Kamiyama's more interested in getting Hokuto to fight to keep his lackey than he is about worrying what to call him, while getting Freddie to help out with the fueud with Bass High proves harder than you'd expect...
23 - Stone Cold Crazy
Kamiyama's been pondering why he's come to have the image of a hard man around the school, when he's not really (and coincidentally, why Hayashida seems to be considered a softy, when he's clearly not). To try and prove his point, he carries out a number of experiments in class, hoping the others will see what he means. It's all in the head, you see - and as you'd expect, his classmates are too dumb to understand what he's trying to tell them. Meanwhile, Yamaguchi's in a good mood after one of his postcard gags earned him a prize. Celebrating by buying lunch seems a good idea - until he realises the chef's a gorilla...
24 - Gorilla Sushi
Gorilla's suchi store is quickly becoming the talk of the town - he's a natural in the kitchen. When Gorilla Sushi's premises become the target for a low-life landshark, though, it looks as though his career as a chef could be cut short. When he finds out the landshark is the restaurant owner's son, though, Gorilla gets involved in a little family repair...
25 - A Hole in Lotta Love
After Kamiyama starts an Animal Lover's Club (if you can find it in your heart to love animals, he reckons, you can love anyone), the classroom quickly becomes something of a menagerie as everyone starts bringing their pets to school - Freddie's horse, Hayashida's python, Gorilla's gorilla. But not everyone finds tending to the animals as soothing as Kamiyama had planned...
26 - Suda!! Cromartie Girls' High School
What if Cromartie High were set in an all-girls school instead? Would we be watching something more like Maria-sama ga Miteru? Like hell we would - here's your chance to find out, but while the ladies of Rosy Cromartie Girls High may have the outfits down, in pretty much every department they're downright scary. Welcome to Takako Kamiyama's Fancy Club. Please try not to scream of the way through. Back at the real Cromartie High, meanwhile, the boys are beginning to think of their futures...
Mechazawa fans will feel a little short-changed as the metallic one doesn't make any substantial appearances here, but apart from that the usual suspects all get an outing and one last chance to prove just how daft they can be. Bizarrely, perhaps, Gorilla looks like being the student most likely to earn a living after graduation, thanks to his new-found skills in sushi-making and resolving family differences, although I'm with Yamaguchi when it comes to his reaction to seeing a hairy primate making his lunch. It probably wouldn't do great things for the appetite.
The highlight of the disc is the Girls' High episode, which takes the guys and puts them in uniforms that are scarily similar to those from Maria-sama ga Miteru. The story itself is pretty much a rerun of episode 1, just with female characters. As a short it works really well, but it's probably a good thing that they didn't drag the gag out too far.
Otherwise, the episodes here are pretty much as you'd expect – Cromartie settled into its routine very early on, and hasn't really tried to go off on a tangent or do anything different since then. With each episode being so similar in tone, this isn't a show you'd want to marathon – even doing a single disc in one sitting can be a bit of a stretch sometimes – but if you can appreciate the show's sense of humour, there's plenty to like.
All the stories here play to the same off-beat sense of humour that has set Cromartie High School apart from the high-school comedy crowd, so if the previous volumes have worked for you, this disc will be equally enjoyable. If they wound you up the wrong way, then stay away. The series doesn't end on anything spectacular, just another run of episodes in the same comic vein as the rest of the series, but what Cromartie does, it does quite well.
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