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Cromartie High School #3
魁!! クロマティ高校 3
When a school trip goes awry, Takenoushi is there to save the day, but his hostage negotiations land him in America! Meanwhile, a masked hijacker is parading around school as Takenoushi, preparing for the All-Japan Kingpin Tournament. Kamiyama will prove to be his stiffest competition, but the only boy with brains might get sidetracked when Mechazawa falls to pieces!
139 pages, Comic
First published November 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 16, 2016
I finally got to the chapter where Mechazawa is reassembled as a motorcycle!!!
May 14, 2020
Takashi Kamiyama is a mild-mannered fellow who wants to be a good student. But for…reasons, he finds himself enrolled at Cromartie High School, a den of delinquents and ne’er-do-wells. The other students certainly look like a tough bunch, and it’s hard to believe most of them are actually teenagers (especially the guy that looks exactly like Freddie Mercury), but it turns out that fighting isn’t their main activity. Having pointless conversations is!
This absurdist comedy manga is among other things a parody of the “delinquent” subgenre of shounen manga, where thuggish young men break school rules, swagger about the streets and constantly get into fights. As part of this, it has very “serious” character design and artwork–except when it doesn’t. The characters tend towards the quirky at minimum. For example, Kamiyama looks and is very mild-mannered, but is also quite ruthless in his own way and at one point becomes “Kingpin of Japan.”
This volume opens with Takenouchi, a genuine tough guy who has crippling motion sickness, stranded in America. He’s become the leader of an American gang with his right hand man being Mr. Mercury, who looks exactly like Freddie. Mr. Mercury disavows any knowledge of Freddie, or the band Queen, but Takenouchi is beginning to suspect Mr. Mercury is having him on.
Back in Japan, Masked Takenouchi, a former terrorist who was mistaken for the real Takenouchi and (almost) always wears a mask, turns over a new leaf and gets an honest job. Moreover, he learns the secret art of making pillows soft.
Mechazawa, who is unaware that’s he’s a robot, temporarily gets rebuilt into a motorcycle, Hokuto’s henchman fails to reveal his real name, and Hayashida’s attempt to form a baseball team ends with most of the characters in jail. And that’s just some of the silliness going on.
Like many gag series, there’s a certain amount of jokes that fall flat, but with the short chapters and rapid-fire delivery, there’ll be a good joke soon.
Content notes: There is a certain amount of violence, played for humor, some swearing, and several underage (not that you could tell by looking) characters smoke.
Recommended to high school and up readers who enjoy absurdism.
This absurdist comedy manga is among other things a parody of the “delinquent” subgenre of shounen manga, where thuggish young men break school rules, swagger about the streets and constantly get into fights. As part of this, it has very “serious” character design and artwork–except when it doesn’t. The characters tend towards the quirky at minimum. For example, Kamiyama looks and is very mild-mannered, but is also quite ruthless in his own way and at one point becomes “Kingpin of Japan.”
This volume opens with Takenouchi, a genuine tough guy who has crippling motion sickness, stranded in America. He’s become the leader of an American gang with his right hand man being Mr. Mercury, who looks exactly like Freddie. Mr. Mercury disavows any knowledge of Freddie, or the band Queen, but Takenouchi is beginning to suspect Mr. Mercury is having him on.
Back in Japan, Masked Takenouchi, a former terrorist who was mistaken for the real Takenouchi and (almost) always wears a mask, turns over a new leaf and gets an honest job. Moreover, he learns the secret art of making pillows soft.
Mechazawa, who is unaware that’s he’s a robot, temporarily gets rebuilt into a motorcycle, Hokuto’s henchman fails to reveal his real name, and Hayashida’s attempt to form a baseball team ends with most of the characters in jail. And that’s just some of the silliness going on.
Like many gag series, there’s a certain amount of jokes that fall flat, but with the short chapters and rapid-fire delivery, there’ll be a good joke soon.
Content notes: There is a certain amount of violence, played for humor, some swearing, and several underage (not that you could tell by looking) characters smoke.
Recommended to high school and up readers who enjoy absurdism.
January 28, 2019
Back to form, crazy and wacky without trying to reach too too far! Again had me laughing out loud in bed and having my wife tell me to shut up!
Loved the mechazawa and game show parts :D
Loved the mechazawa and game show parts :D
May 13, 2008
Overall Rating: Manga - B? / Anime - A-
Synopsis: Cromartie High School by Eiji Nonaka, is a comedy manga centered around High School first year Kamiyama who begins attending Cromartie High to stay with his delinquent friend after junior high. Unfortunately, his friend isn't even able to make it into Cromartie, despite frequent references to how easy it is to get in. The school is populated almost entirely with delinquents, including a robot named Mechazawa (though most students treat him like he's human), a gorilla, and Freddie, a mute (who looks uncannily similar to Freddie Mercury.
This manga, and the anime based on it, is insane. Most of the time, that makes it fucking brilliant, and makes me laugh my ass off, but sometimes it's too bizarre. Part of the problem is that there is no real plot to the series, which makes some of the scenes disorienting and hard to follow.
That being said, both versions of the series are hilarious. Cromartie High is the school that the dumbest and toughest youths in the area go to, and they spend most of their days worrying about status, and who has the coolest nickname. Along with the thugs and gang members, Cromartie is also home to some stranger students. This includes a technophobic robot named Mechazawa, who most students are too dumb to figure out is a robot, a gorilla that's smarter than the rest of the students combined, and a mute that has an uncanny resembelence to Freddie Mercury that rides around on a giant horse named Kokuryu.
If you're looking for plot, skip this one, but if you just want a good laugh, Cromartie High School kicks ass.
For more manga and anime reviews, please check out Hobotaku.
Synopsis: Cromartie High School by Eiji Nonaka, is a comedy manga centered around High School first year Kamiyama who begins attending Cromartie High to stay with his delinquent friend after junior high. Unfortunately, his friend isn't even able to make it into Cromartie, despite frequent references to how easy it is to get in. The school is populated almost entirely with delinquents, including a robot named Mechazawa (though most students treat him like he's human), a gorilla, and Freddie, a mute (who looks uncannily similar to Freddie Mercury.
This manga, and the anime based on it, is insane. Most of the time, that makes it fucking brilliant, and makes me laugh my ass off, but sometimes it's too bizarre. Part of the problem is that there is no real plot to the series, which makes some of the scenes disorienting and hard to follow.
That being said, both versions of the series are hilarious. Cromartie High is the school that the dumbest and toughest youths in the area go to, and they spend most of their days worrying about status, and who has the coolest nickname. Along with the thugs and gang members, Cromartie is also home to some stranger students. This includes a technophobic robot named Mechazawa, who most students are too dumb to figure out is a robot, a gorilla that's smarter than the rest of the students combined, and a mute that has an uncanny resembelence to Freddie Mercury that rides around on a giant horse named Kokuryu.
If you're looking for plot, skip this one, but if you just want a good laugh, Cromartie High School kicks ass.
For more manga and anime reviews, please check out Hobotaku.
March 27, 2008
Still laughing at the knuckleheaded antics of the hilarious hoodlums that make up Cromartie High School's main characters. This time out features Mechazawa being converted to a motorbike. And the brains of the bunch, Kamiyama, wins a major hoodlum title. Kamiyama also manages to get arrested twice. Huh? what's up with that? He's supposed to be the "good" student!! *grin*
More story development of Masked Takanouchi as well, the hijacker that took student Takanouchi's place. Nobody notices the switch! *laughing*
It's so hard for me to review humor - ya really gotta be there to get it. So, pick up these books and read if you want some good chuckles.
More story development of Masked Takanouchi as well, the hijacker that took student Takanouchi's place. Nobody notices the switch! *laughing*
It's so hard for me to review humor - ya really gotta be there to get it. So, pick up these books and read if you want some good chuckles.
September 17, 2015
Silly. Just silly. This is the only manga series I've ever read, and it was a little strange at first reading it backwards. But this was definitely one of the funniest series I've ever read. It's the sort of comedy that's just random. I can see if people thought it tried too hard but for me, I loved it. :) I feel the same way about all three books so I'm copy and pasting my review. It's one of those rare series where all three are great.
August 5, 2011
hahaha This series is off-the-wall hilarious!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews