Teen life is tough. And high school life is even tougher. But if you're one of the delinquents sent to Cromartie, it'swell, put it this way, it ain't The O.C. So pack your bags, put on your best tough-guy swagger, and get ... more »a lesson in insanity from the losers, bruisers, and thugs at Cromartie High.« less
"The last reviewer has no idea what he is talking about. If you look at his reviews they are all over the place.
This anime is hilarious. If you want to see one of the best parodies of "tough guy" manga, this is it! Great characters, hilarious situations, cool soundtrack. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard reading a manga. It's pretty weird and sometimes non-sequitor (Freddy mercury, gorilla, and mechazawa are really bizarre). Check out the clip (I prefer the subtitled version, but this dub is not bad) and be prepared to laugh! If you dig the clip you should definitely check out the manga."
If Seinfield was in the toughest high school in Japan.....
Coach | Texas USA | 03/04/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Cromartie HS is one of the funniest animes I have seen in ages. Beyond that its more than just sight gags (which are included) but the comedy is genuinly funny which allows for replay value. I have watched the first episode five times and always laugh out loud.
As for the reference below that this is adult material is completely false and I hope Amazon will remove it.
JB"
IS THIS THE REAL LIFE? IS THIS JUST FANTASY?
Dennis A. Amith (kndy) | California | 08/13/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"UNIQUE! My goodness, have I waited for a unique anime to come my way for many years. And it's finally here!
"Cromartie High School" is an anime that aired on television back in 2003 in Japan under the name "Sakikage! Cromartie High" and is based on a Kodansha Manga Award winning manga series by Eiji Nonaka.
Basically, a gag manga serialized in the weekly Shounen Magazine, the manga series has won many fans for it's over-the-top, bizarre humor and is planned to make its way into the U.S. on March 2nd, two weeks before the anime DVD release by ADV Films.
I had the opportunity to watch four episodes (each episode is 12 minutes long) and I was just amazed and awed by the story line because it's bizarre, and I mean that in a good way!
"Cromartie High School" is about a school which consists of the roughest, dumbest and bizarre students around.
Among these students is Takashi Kamiyama, who seems to be a student out of place in Cromartie High School.
A honors student through Junior High School, he was placed in Cromartie High School for some reason.
He adapts to the lifestyle of students around the school and writes about his adventures to his mother constantly but what makes him fit in at Cromartie High School that the other students fear about him is the unknown. Why is a normal person attending Cromartie High School?
The first episode introduces several of the key characters of Cromartie High (which includes the roughest students such as a student who likes to eat pencils, a student that most of the school can't figure out that he's a robot and a student who looks similar to Queen's Freddie Mercury and is given the nickname Freddie) and how Takashi fits in with the crowd.
The second episode features Cromartie High School's most unusual but the student that Cromartie's students look up to the most, Mechazawa.
A robot that students think is an unusual/special human being.
Takashi and friend Shinjirou Hayashida (who sports a purple mohawk) wonder if people will ever ask him if he's a robot but it appears that no one has figured that out yet.
These are just two examples of the zany story lines of "Cromartie High School" and they get even better and more bizarre in future episodes.
The animation is well done and switches to a manga style look to cool anime style that I find enjoyable.
The English voice dubbing for the characters of "Cromartie High School" was exceptionally well done.
Cromartie High School is definitely a winner!
With it's bizarre humor and unusual characters, I can't say enough that this is an anime that you should not miss! Also, a manga series that you should not miss.
So, if you want something different from what is out there, definitely give "Cromartie High School" a try."
Anime comedy taken to a new level!!
FizzWiz | Pittsburgh, PA | 04/21/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Sarcastic, witty, but sensible humor. It's hard to come up with one word to describe this anime. The anime follows the manga very closely. The manga has a few things in it which are funny that are not on the DVD version, but the video is just as funny because you really feel that the English dubbing is really these characters themselves. Unusually, the English dub is much better than the Japanese version, and at least 95% of the people who watch that would agree with that. So many unexpected characters, thoughts, and reactions come into play, and the combination consistently flows. This anime even makes fun of anime itself it's so funny! Even the intro. with a record playing before you begin an episode is cool the way it's setup.
In the first or second episode, there's a surprise of a quick flash of about 5 other characters Kamiyama can look like, and when you see it, you can't stop laughing. There's another episode where we meet one of Kamiyama's friends, Kokaku, but the difference in animation is so great that you can't help but notice and easily understand why they are so different. We are also introduced to people's love for the show Geroten and Pooten.
You may be surprised to see the rights that the anime creators obtained to portray those episodes. And of course everyone loves the robot, Mechazawa, who everyone likes to assume can fix electronics. Or the 400 pound gorilla and Freddie who never say a word, but are placed at all the right moments. There's also Yutaka Takenouchi who is really strong, but is prone to motion sickness. You see how the characters' strengths and weaknesses play throughout the series.
This comedy is so good I'd even recommend it to non-comedy fans it is that funny. And I don't normally say that, plus I'm usually not big on too much comedy. A breakthrough that you can't miss and is worth every millipenny!"
Insane!
Henrik | in the Anime aisle | 05/08/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Cromartie High School is just insane. Whether it borrows from American pop culture (Freddie Mercury, Queen, etc) or Japanese culture, it's probably closer to a higher-class version of South Park than anything else. Yes, the animation is crude (the "16 year olds" look much older to me, almost like Yakuza), but the real strength is in the writing, and the timing is just great.
My favorite character so far is Mechazawa, a "tin can" style robot who admits that he isn't good with machines, but others keep asking him to program their VCRs, fix their CD players, etc., but most of them see him as just another student.