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Cromartie High School #1
Cromartie High School, Vol. 01
After befriending a motley crew of thugs, a gorilla, and a trashcan-shaped robot, Takashi Kamiyama won't just learn his ABC's --- he'll learn everything there is to know about being a juvenile delinquent. Age 13 and up.
158 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
June 6, 2021
Random, in the very specific early C21st sense of the word - gorillas in unexpected places, men in dresses, vicious gang leaders with secret feminine sides, and so on. Chapters are 6 pages, setup and gag, setup and gag, hundreds of times. And he’s not very good at drawing movements. And most of the characters are pretty similar - credulous, chatty, pedantic, loveable thugs. (Maeda is sensible and so put-upon by the cracked logic of the comedy world.)
But it’s actually funny, actually earning its fourth wall violation and dumb nonsequiturs. Half of the comedy might be in how deadpan everyone is. I don’t know anything about the genre it’s parodying and I still loved it.
But it’s actually funny, actually earning its fourth wall violation and dumb nonsequiturs. Half of the comedy might be in how deadpan everyone is. I don’t know anything about the genre it’s parodying and I still loved it.
January 8, 2023
Full series review: 3/5?
Despite this being a comedy manga about really dumb badasses partaking in nonsensical jokes, written by someone whose music tastes would probably make him friends with Araki, I couldn't help but being occasionally reminded of Blue Spring while reading it.
It starts off really well with a lot of unexplained hilarious incidents, things like the school having a mute Freddie (Mercury) character, but that sentiment wears off along the way as, at 17 volumes, Cromartie just missed its chance to end. Over-repetition of jokes, more and more additions to the cast, plot points that are completely forgotten (whatever happened to the sumo club guys?), there was even an entire volume dedicated to a planet of the apes rip-off!
I really commend the author for managing to make 17 fucking volumes of gags in a setting with absolutely no plot and no sense of GETTING ANYWHERE. That shit's hard. But at the same time, there was a lot of boring stuff (lol) along the way.
When I was in the first half of this series I wrote "The wide cast of characters in tandem with the nonsensical nature of this manga allows for some good joke variety. I mean, I can read almost a full volume of this in a row and not get tired, unlike other comedy series which, no matter how good they are, keep repeating the same jokes with only a handful of different characters." I suppose I was thinking of The Way Of The Househusband as a comparison. In truth I generally am not a big fan of comedy.
But the thing is, while that was true at the beginning, I'm not so sure it held up towards the end. It did start to feel like the same jokes were repeating over and over again, especially when it came to Fujimoto. Somehow the mascot trick still worked even at that point and Banchou-san was a delight, but it didn't save the series.
Overall, I quite enjoyed the uniqueness of Cromartie High School. The ocasional jokes that left you wondering "hold up, is this meant to be a comment at the series itself?", and other meta moments were great (loved the story about the second masked guy showing up!). The decision to completely ditch the main plot in the first handful of chapters was very powerful. And the chapters about the author himself always brought a fun change of setting.
I'd say it's worth checking out!
Despite this being a comedy manga about really dumb badasses partaking in nonsensical jokes, written by someone whose music tastes would probably make him friends with Araki, I couldn't help but being occasionally reminded of Blue Spring while reading it.
It starts off really well with a lot of unexplained hilarious incidents, things like the school having a mute Freddie (Mercury) character, but that sentiment wears off along the way as, at 17 volumes, Cromartie just missed its chance to end. Over-repetition of jokes, more and more additions to the cast, plot points that are completely forgotten (whatever happened to the sumo club guys?), there was even an entire volume dedicated to a planet of the apes rip-off!
I really commend the author for managing to make 17 fucking volumes of gags in a setting with absolutely no plot and no sense of GETTING ANYWHERE. That shit's hard. But at the same time, there was a lot of boring stuff (lol) along the way.
When I was in the first half of this series I wrote "The wide cast of characters in tandem with the nonsensical nature of this manga allows for some good joke variety. I mean, I can read almost a full volume of this in a row and not get tired, unlike other comedy series which, no matter how good they are, keep repeating the same jokes with only a handful of different characters." I suppose I was thinking of The Way Of The Househusband as a comparison. In truth I generally am not a big fan of comedy.
But the thing is, while that was true at the beginning, I'm not so sure it held up towards the end. It did start to feel like the same jokes were repeating over and over again, especially when it came to Fujimoto. Somehow the mascot trick still worked even at that point and Banchou-san was a delight, but it didn't save the series.
Overall, I quite enjoyed the uniqueness of Cromartie High School. The ocasional jokes that left you wondering "hold up, is this meant to be a comment at the series itself?", and other meta moments were great (loved the story about the second masked guy showing up!). The decision to completely ditch the main plot in the first handful of chapters was very powerful. And the chapters about the author himself always brought a fun change of setting.
I'd say it's worth checking out!
June 12, 2016
This was such a weird manga. It was really all B.S. and crack situations without any substance to it at all. It's not a manga that I can take with any seriousness because there's perhaps one moment where that seriousness can be applied at the beginning of the volume, and then after that measly eight pages, we see it pop up maybe on one other page throughout the entire volume.
The entire read is a series of normal situations that are made ridiculous by a constant run of the same bad--and eventually, old and tired--jokes that get recycled throughout the entirety of the volume. Considering the handful of lines for the preview to the next volume is promising nothing much else either, I can say for certain that this is a manga series you should read if you're absolutely bored and want something with nothing to offer you in order to fill up the time. I laughed a couple of times at a situation or two, but it was such a brainless event that there's really nothing to come away with from this.
I'll probably take out the other volumes if I ever see them. Probably it'll be one at a time, just to randomly read some blatant bull in between books with actual stories to offer. But it's a series I would never consider buying, at all. If for some reason this changes as I lazily stroll my way through these every so often, I'll let you know, but for the time being, it's really almost not worth your time to even pay attention to. Unless, that is, you're looking for some mindless (and I am emphasizing the 'mindless' for a reason here, folks) distraction.
Don't waste your money on this one. Library it if you're really curious. And I'd say don't even buy it if you like the first one. It's not worth risking your money on if it continues to be the same crack it's been in this first volume and you grow bored of it.
Recommended then? Not really. There are other things to read. This is like the mental moment of rest between things that actually require me to pay attention or care.
Either way, happy reading!
March 27, 2008
OK, so this manga -does- grow on you. At first, I felt that the erratic and disjointed style was distracting. I couldn't get into the story or the characters. There was no flow. No development. No chapter continued the story from the previous chapter, but instead was built upon several episodes that occur. Then, as I continued to read it, I began to understand. Eiji Nonaka, the author, is developing his characters as he goes along, and we are learning about them through the adventures and misadventures that befall these hoodlum misfits.
Cromartie High School is a school that attracts the lowest and least intelligent of students. The only admission requirement is that a student can do basic addition and subtraction, and even that requirement doesn't seem to be strongly enforced. As a result, hoodlums and badass tough guys make up the student population. They are not interested in studying, they are mostly concerned with their next fight. In fact, among the attendees are students that may not even be registered, including several that are not even human. (For example, one of the "students" is a gorilla, an actual primate, who is often depicted as more intelligent than several of the other Cromartie students.)
As stated above, chapters are presented as mini-episodes. The events that occur do not necessarily relate to events previously shown. But as they unfold, a clearer picture of each of the students emerges. And these episodes become quite unreal, leading to improbably funny situations. As I became more interested and involved in each of these characters and their quirks, I found myself shaking my head and laughing out loud at their antics.
I'm surprised. I like it. I'm going to read Volume 2 soon.
Cromartie High School is a school that attracts the lowest and least intelligent of students. The only admission requirement is that a student can do basic addition and subtraction, and even that requirement doesn't seem to be strongly enforced. As a result, hoodlums and badass tough guys make up the student population. They are not interested in studying, they are mostly concerned with their next fight. In fact, among the attendees are students that may not even be registered, including several that are not even human. (For example, one of the "students" is a gorilla, an actual primate, who is often depicted as more intelligent than several of the other Cromartie students.)
As stated above, chapters are presented as mini-episodes. The events that occur do not necessarily relate to events previously shown. But as they unfold, a clearer picture of each of the students emerges. And these episodes become quite unreal, leading to improbably funny situations. As I became more interested and involved in each of these characters and their quirks, I found myself shaking my head and laughing out loud at their antics.
I'm surprised. I like it. I'm going to read Volume 2 soon.
August 29, 2009
Straight up hilarious. It's stupid humor, yeah, but it's so over-the-top that it works really well. The concept of a school filled with nothing but thick-headed tough guys didn't strike me as a recipe for hilarity, but it's that very intensity that makes things funny. I'll definitely read more if I can get my hands on it.
December 13, 2018
I don't know somethings just find you. Cromartie is such a thing. It's just too weird not to be appealing to weirdos. It starts off simply enough a guy goes to prove that if you study hard enough you can obtain a quality education even in a school for ruffians. But somewhere between the Freddie the gorilla and the machine kid, the plot is lost. (and good riddance)
October 11, 2010
This was hilarious! I love that the characters never smile and there are no chibis, yet they get themselves into the most ridiculous situations, very tongue-in-cheek. This manga was great from the get-go which I really appreciate and the humor has been translated well.
January 27, 2009
Hilarious!! It's just about a normal guy going to a high school full of punks. Randomness ensues!
January 25, 2011
AH Cromartie High. Such a wild bunch of goons.
December 20, 2014
Cromartie High School is simply epic...
June 4, 2022
The idea of jokes not being punctuated with goofy, over-the-top expressions is a very radical idea for a gag manga in 2000. Great stuff. The part in the first chapter where the guy eats one pencil and then a handful of pencils is still incredible. The quality of jokes can waver chapter to chapter and sometimes get a little too text-heavy but I am never having a bad time.
Side note, how did this the US never finish publishing this series? And more importantly why haven't any current US publishers scooped up the rights to this?
Side note, how did this the US never finish publishing this series? And more importantly why haven't any current US publishers scooped up the rights to this?
November 26, 2018
Very humanizing to punks. Laugh out loud hilarious.
Admittedly, the old style of this book originally put me off reading it, but when I started, I was delighted, in a way a macho masculine Azumanga Daioh would! I was also reminded of "It's Your Guys Fault I'm Not Popular" in its awkwardness humor.
Admittedly, the old style of this book originally put me off reading it, but when I started, I was delighted, in a way a macho masculine Azumanga Daioh would! I was also reminded of "It's Your Guys Fault I'm Not Popular" in its awkwardness humor.
August 24, 2023
This is cute, it feels like a webcomic and not just because of the short page counts. The absurdist “how dumb can these guys get” gags are funny but I feel like they’d be funnier if you only read them every once in a while (again, like a webcomic) instead of all at once in a collected edition.
May 25, 2018
Weird humor at it’s finest, not your typical manga, even if you don’t like manga and love bizarre humor, you’ll probably like this
October 29, 2018
I got a little chuckle out of it, but it's not for me.
August 31, 2019
Most important piece of literature in 10 generations.
September 9, 2019
I would have loved it a bit more if the main character didnt break character every now and again.
August 13, 2021
Many short funny stories, chapter 12 made me laugh
March 13, 2023
โคตรตลก ตลกแบบหาสาระไม่เจอ ตลกจนคนข้างๆงงว่าบ้าหรือเปล่า หัวเราะตลอดเวลา 5555
January 11, 2025
This is so stupid. I love it.
July 13, 2016
Cromartie Koukou is a high-school in Tokyo with loose entrance requirements. How loose? A gorilla (an actual simian primate) and a middle aged man (that resembles a certain deceased rock-star) are students there. Not even the worst students mind you; Cromartie has a collection of the dumbest and most hardcore delinquents in all of Tokyo.
A good premise for a gag manga, but where is the straight guy? Enter Kamiyama, a painfully mainstream character that makes the dubious choice to attend Cromartie. The mangaka, Eiji Nonaka, has created a good setting and takes advantage of both his premise and his inspired drawing, to deliver the comedy.
Cromartie students try to further cement their school's status as the most badass, gorillas keep filling the classrooms, aliens invade, and no one knows where the teachers are. Amidst all this chaos, Kamiyama approaches each situation with a cool head and tries to set his fellow classmates in order.
If you are into comedy you are going to laugh hard, and if you are into absurd comedy you are going to love it. I always looked forward for the last page of the chapter for the mangaka to deliver the punchline along with some excellently drawn reactions.
It's all fun and laughter for the first chapters, but after a while the humor's quality and the number of laughs decreases. When the number of chapters reach triple digits, the quality has reached a low level and for the next 100+ chapters the manga is just running of fumes, delivering a single dry chuckle every few chapters.
My suggestion is to start reading the manga, but whenever you enter a 10-chapter dry spell, just drop it. It is not going to pick up the pace for you ever again. If I had dropped it at around chapter 110 I would have given it an 8. I persevered until chapter 223, so 6.0/10.
A good premise for a gag manga, but where is the straight guy? Enter Kamiyama, a painfully mainstream character that makes the dubious choice to attend Cromartie. The mangaka, Eiji Nonaka, has created a good setting and takes advantage of both his premise and his inspired drawing, to deliver the comedy.
Cromartie students try to further cement their school's status as the most badass, gorillas keep filling the classrooms, aliens invade, and no one knows where the teachers are. Amidst all this chaos, Kamiyama approaches each situation with a cool head and tries to set his fellow classmates in order.
If you are into comedy you are going to laugh hard, and if you are into absurd comedy you are going to love it. I always looked forward for the last page of the chapter for the mangaka to deliver the punchline along with some excellently drawn reactions.
It's all fun and laughter for the first chapters, but after a while the humor's quality and the number of laughs decreases. When the number of chapters reach triple digits, the quality has reached a low level and for the next 100+ chapters the manga is just running of fumes, delivering a single dry chuckle every few chapters.
My suggestion is to start reading the manga, but whenever you enter a 10-chapter dry spell, just drop it. It is not going to pick up the pace for you ever again. If I had dropped it at around chapter 110 I would have given it an 8. I persevered until chapter 223, so 6.0/10.
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 28, 2013
Cromartie High School turns normal school stories inside out. It takes place at Japan's most thuggish high school, which the author makes clear couldn't possibly have been named for former baseball player Warren Cromartie, who sued over the name of the series. But I digress.
The central character, Takashi Kamiyama, is not a thug. He only applied to this high school to be with a childhood friend, to keep him from being lonely. Unfortunately, his friend was too stupid to even get into this school, and so now he's stuck in a school with strongest-man contests, a look-alike for the late Freddie Mercury, a gorilla, a robot...okay, so it's not just a normal high school for thugs.
The manga version is even funnier than the anime in some ways, because with the manga the jokes can be more complex and weird...although with the manga version you don't get the sound effects for Mohawk's hair.
Still, part of the humor comes from the fact that many of the characters see nothing odd about their surreal surroundings.
Think of it as Welcome Back Kotter meets Mork and Mindy in a Japanese high school...it still won't help you to understnad the chaos, but think of the idea anyway. It will keep you from noticing that Mechazawa is...but that would be telling, and nobody talks about that, because he might be embarrassed.
The central character, Takashi Kamiyama, is not a thug. He only applied to this high school to be with a childhood friend, to keep him from being lonely. Unfortunately, his friend was too stupid to even get into this school, and so now he's stuck in a school with strongest-man contests, a look-alike for the late Freddie Mercury, a gorilla, a robot...okay, so it's not just a normal high school for thugs.
The manga version is even funnier than the anime in some ways, because with the manga the jokes can be more complex and weird...although with the manga version you don't get the sound effects for Mohawk's hair.
Still, part of the humor comes from the fact that many of the characters see nothing odd about their surreal surroundings.
Think of it as Welcome Back Kotter meets Mork and Mindy in a Japanese high school...it still won't help you to understnad the chaos, but think of the idea anyway. It will keep you from noticing that Mechazawa is...but that would be telling, and nobody talks about that, because he might be embarrassed.
March 8, 2009
Kamiyama decides that he is going to go to the most badass high school around because his best friend may be able to get in there. The school is named “Cromartie” and it’s filled with a bunch of tough degenerates – including the normal thugs, as well as a guy named “Freddie” who hasn’t ever been observed to speak, a Gorilla (no name), and a robot dude who no one seems to notice isn’t human. Kamiyama is just an ordinary guy, but the Cromartie students seem to think he must be REALLY bad if they can’t figure out what his agenda is. He figures that he can learn anywhere, though, he really hasn’t had much time to study all term what with all of the excitement Cromartie has to offer.
Really very amusing manga. Some people have said that the humor is possibly hard to grasp – too subtle. I don’t think so. It’s right there, and the author even has funny asides within the story. It’s not too bad ass even though it plays the tough guy – very little profanity, and no sex. Very amusing. Will probably appeal to both sexes.
Really very amusing manga. Some people have said that the humor is possibly hard to grasp – too subtle. I don’t think so. It’s right there, and the author even has funny asides within the story. It’s not too bad ass even though it plays the tough guy – very little profanity, and no sex. Very amusing. Will probably appeal to both sexes.
May 17, 2014
Cromartie High School - which I came into because of the anime - is one of those series that you either love because of its absurdity and lack of coherent plot or hate because of its absurdity and lack of coherent plot. I haven't read past this volume in the manga (don't own any others), but the anime (made up of 12 minute or so "episodes") doesn't ever settle down to a plotline like say Excel Saga, Vol. 1 does so I doubt this ever develops a serious plot line.
Which you know sometimes is a good thing. Each chapter is really short and other then some character situations that make more sense reading chapter to chapter (like why Maeda is looked down upon, why Kamiyama is considered a 'badass', who the hell "Freddie" is) you can randomly start a chapter and read it and drop the book again for weeks or months. I had apparently read as far as chapter 4 in the book before I put it away (years ago) and picked it back up again with little problems.
Which you know sometimes is a good thing. Each chapter is really short and other then some character situations that make more sense reading chapter to chapter (like why Maeda is looked down upon, why Kamiyama is considered a 'badass', who the hell "Freddie" is) you can randomly start a chapter and read it and drop the book again for weeks or months. I had apparently read as far as chapter 4 in the book before I put it away (years ago) and picked it back up again with little problems.
December 28, 2015
Mumpung lagi kepingin baca delinquent-manga, akhirnya baca ini juga.
Tapi dibanding manga lain yang isinya berantem, manga ini malah full gag-manga. Nggak ada adegan berantemnya sama sekali (kalaupun ceritanya ada, di-skip sama mangaka-nya, para pelakunya tahu-tahu sudah kena skorsing). Malah, boleh dibilang, kebanyakan isinya percakapan.
Dan tentu saja, absurd pol.
Nggak cukup ada anak-anak nakal yang kurang meyakinkan bad-assnya dibandingkan sekolah anak nakal lainnya seperti Suzuran atau Hanasaki, kita juga mendapat murid sekolah Freddie (Mercury?), gorilla, dan robot segala.
Belum lagi Eiji Nonaka demen menempelkan nama selebriti pada karakter-karakternya.
Yutaka Takenouchi? Ken Hirai?
Gimme a break. LOL.
Tapi dibanding manga lain yang isinya berantem, manga ini malah full gag-manga. Nggak ada adegan berantemnya sama sekali (kalaupun ceritanya ada, di-skip sama mangaka-nya, para pelakunya tahu-tahu sudah kena skorsing). Malah, boleh dibilang, kebanyakan isinya percakapan.
Dan tentu saja, absurd pol.
Nggak cukup ada anak-anak nakal yang kurang meyakinkan bad-assnya dibandingkan sekolah anak nakal lainnya seperti Suzuran atau Hanasaki, kita juga mendapat murid sekolah Freddie (Mercury?), gorilla, dan robot segala.
Belum lagi Eiji Nonaka demen menempelkan nama selebriti pada karakter-karakternya.
Yutaka Takenouchi? Ken Hirai?
Gimme a break. LOL.
December 30, 2017
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.
April 25, 2016
Cromartie High School is a great comedy show.
I started reading the manga after rewatching the anime, which was, by the way, extremely well done. Although I liked the anime more, the manga is not far behind.
The only thing that bothered me is how the mangaka disrespects the fourth wall and immersion by talking to the reader on every few pages.
If you are into absurd, surreal humor, you should give this a try.
I started reading the manga after rewatching the anime, which was, by the way, extremely well done. Although I liked the anime more, the manga is not far behind.
The only thing that bothered me is how the mangaka disrespects the fourth wall and immersion by talking to the reader on every few pages.
If you are into absurd, surreal humor, you should give this a try.
December 4, 2007
it's totally stupid. funny, but sometimes feels like a waste of time. self-reflexive in a really great way.
the characters are pretty one-dimensional, but the book/series seems to be aware of and interested in touching upon the construction of masculinity and gender dynamics. at times it is totally absurd, which is quite appropriate.
the characters are pretty one-dimensional, but the book/series seems to be aware of and interested in touching upon the construction of masculinity and gender dynamics. at times it is totally absurd, which is quite appropriate.
January 17, 2009
I just finished this book this morning and can't wait to begin volume 2. The characters are funny and unexpected, lots of references, many of which I didn't catch until I read the translator notes at the end of the book but a number of which I did catch and thought were clever, and lots of snickering fun.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews