Arakawa Under the Bridge

From the time we are young, are parents all/ teach us certain things. No matter what these deal with, there will usually be a very common theme: what society wants us to do.

Yes, from a very young age, most of us will be told to continue the flow of society's ideas, and to never question them. But, what makes these ideas right?

This is the question that we are faced with while watching Arakawa Under the Bridge, a story about, well, living under a bridge. A bridge under which almost no laws will ever reach you, with the possible exception of public indecency...

We see a romance ... that blossoms under this bridge, as Ko, a man whose parents who have installed far beyond just the rule that society is always correct, is pulled into entering a relationship with Nino, a person who claims to be a Venusian, on his belief that anything that anyone does is solely for gain and must be repaid. This belief that his father installed in him, however, quickly begins to fade as he subconsciously begins to reject the notion that society is always correct, and slowly embraces his new life under the bridge.

Our story continues, with him continuing to meet more people under the bridge, and slowly coming to realize, yet again, that he can't really know what exactly is "right" and "wrong". Indeed, our story continues to progress in this vein, with Ko growing to accept the actions of the others all living under the bridge.

All of the residents of this area also have to have a job (with the acceptation of a couple), and they all help each other in whatever sane ways they can, before their actions degrade into insanity, one of the real main sources for comedy in Arakawa Under the Bridge. Indeed, one of the most enjoyable elements of the show was all of our unique characters interacting in unique ways.

All of these unique characters served to bring something special to the show; they all served a function for the community, while also bringing interesting elements the the show. They all have some kind of eccentricity that is very much ingrained in their character, or at least something that would render them unable to live in a regular society. These eccentricities were again, the source of nearly 100% of the comedy for the show, and the main thing that kept it interesting.

However, what really disappoints is how often the characters are left completely untouched in terms of development. We don't get any back story on some of the characters, and on others, we only get tantalizing hints. This is, for some, the most irritating element in the entire show; we can almost never figure out the pasts of some of the most unique characters that we have ever seen. It is truly disappointing.

If lack of characters development holds down the show the most, the next most irritating element is the art style. As it's shaft, we can really expect to see insanity in the rat as well, and so we do. It's really quite irritating to those who don't enjoy the Shaft animation style to b subjected to these incredibly well drawn scenes being forced down to mediocrity by terrible illustrations, which can really limit and interfere with the show for those who are not true connoisseurs of the Shaft art style.

Sound also was only a slight break from the weaker elements of this show. It was really fair: there wasn't anything that really weighed it down , but there wasn't anything that really aided it in this department either. The voice actors were average, the sound effects were average; everything really failed to go beyond the average bound. Our opening and ending were also really, well, average, leaving the anime with average sound.

While sound did not contribute to my enjoyment of the show, it certainly didn't hurt it. This show was highly enjoyable to anyone who liked the style of comedy, wasn't valued away by Shaft's art, and in general likes comedies and romances. I had a great deal of enjoyment from this show.

So, now the question is, will you enjoy it? The best way to determine that is, especially if it sounds interesting, watch a couple of episodes. By that point, you will have gotten a good taste of the random art interferences and random characters that contribute to the general eccentricity of the show. You will have also seen the types of jokes told; if they seem like they'll get old, then you should leave. The jokes will often repeat, especially if the are part of a character's intrinsic personality. In other words, you will like this show if you like the first couple of episodes, aren't thrown off by the random art you see there, like the characters, and don't mind the general premise of the show in this regard. If it sounds interesting, give it a try.

So long Arakawa Under the Bridge. It's been awesome!!

Charming. This is what I constantly thought of when watching Arakawa Under The Bridge. Despite the insane plot and the ridiculous characters, this show was full of charm. Whether there was a hint of deeper meanings between it's comedic outtakes, or its abundance of heartwarming scenes, there never once was a dull moment during my time at under the Arakawa Bridge!


Story:
The story of Arakawa Under The Bridge is something that tends to turn many people off due to it's nonlinear approach. The story goes as follows; a guy who believes in never owing anybody anything gets his life saved after falling off a bridge by ... a strange girl. This creates a debt the size of well, his life! In order to repay this girl, he must show her what it means to love thus making him her lover. This sudden turn of events begins as he lives with the girl under the bridge where she and a bunch of other strange folk coincidentally happens to live! Sounds a lot to swallow? Don't worry, the story is way easier to grasp than what it seems.You see, to show someone what it means to love is such a universal topic that the entire series tends to be just about the guy and all the residents of Arakawa Bridge doing miscellaneous things each episodes. The series is jam packed with tons of comedy but also without realizing it, full of many other things. This leads me back to what I previously said; this show is FULL of charm. What Arakawa does best is to add heavy themes such as Acceptance, Regret, or being yourself while still keeping things to a lighthearted, comedic level. I loved when a funny situation would occur but at that exact same time, the main protagonist may learn something new about himself, or slowly, the girl would realize bit by bit what it truly means to love. Because of this, swallowing the insanity surrounding the show is much less a chore and much more a joy!

Despite this: although I found the story one of the greatest aspects of the show, the opposite can be said for some. For starters, as previously said, this story is non linear to a tee. There is no single episode dedicated to, "What it means to love." Instead the story is really told through the character's every day encounters and actions with the members of the Arakawa River. While I found it interesting, this in turn can make people not want to watch the show if they were looking for a more direct plot. Furthermore, when the story did try to create a straightforward scenario near the last quarter of the series, I found that to be the weakest part of the series and I was anxiously waiting when that encounter can be settled and got back to more random tasks with the residents. Also, the outrageous surrounding of the show is of course not for everyone. This is indeed a WAAY over the top comedy, with no bars held back and if that's not your cup of tea, than this show won't change your mind otherwise.
9/10

Art:
The Art of the show in general would be classed as standard fair for the anime at that time. However, since "Shaft" were the developers for this show, (Madoka Magica, Bakemonogatari) you can expect to get some eye popping, over the top art work. the opening theme is especially easy to notice; full of vivid colors and beautiful scenery. Overall, the outrageous art of the show only added to fit the whole tone the show was trying to portray. Quickly though, the live action segments with the Kappa at the end of each episode is probably some of the most hilarious scenes I have ever seen. PERIOD.
9/10

Sound:
The sound of Arakawa under the bridge is not anything spectacular. There were no background music that particulary stood out to me, and instead I found myself simply engrossed in the dialogue to even notice. The opening and endings on the other hand is definitely worth mentioning. The opening theme of the show, Venus To Jesus is a light, moderate pace tune which is easily a good listen and can be enjoyed without any context. It definitely fits the lightheartedness of the show. The ending, Sakasama Bridge is a personal favorite. this once again, is a light, moderate paced song, but the melancholic feeling it gives off, really helps to describe the feel of those more heartfelt scenes in the show. Plus it's by Suneohair, whose also done works in shows such as, Honey and Clover! Last, without spoiling anything, there's a song titled, "Losers Wail" and if the title alone doesn't convince you how funny it is, than prepare to wail yourself if you do get the chance to listen to it!
9/10

Characters:
Talking about the characters in Arakawa under the bridge is difficult. You see, each resident of the Arakawa River is strange in it's own way, but only adds to the charm. For instance, you have a a Church Sister (who's not really a sister) that came from the military and acts like the Terminator, but with more dialogue. Not satisfied? You also have a Rock Star with a Star for a head, as well as Kappa (A frog like person). At first, these different personalities might be unsettling, but really, these Character really help to bring this story to life. You see, one of the main themes that Arakawa Under The Bridge tries to tell is acceptance no matter who you are. Despite these crazy appearances, I found myself genuinely liking these characters because of just how well the chemistry these social misfits had with one another. Whether they had a comedic relationship or a serious one, I enjoyed each one of them.

A flaw to these characters however is that they're really isn't that much character development. Aside from our main lovers, Ko and Nino; despite how much screen time the rest of the cast received, they remained static from start to beginning. You may get a bit of story from the individual characters, but they don't really grow as a person. If there was a particular person you might not have liked then unfortunately they will most likely stay that way until it's comedic conclusion.
8/10

Overall/Enjoyment:
Arakawa Under the Bridge is INSANE! (In the good way of course!) Going into the show, I was a bit skeptical due to the amount of pure outragousness it posed. While it was still there, everything seemed bearable and in fact, better than what I expected it to be. I was also anxious to figure out what the crazy people of under the Arakawa Bridge would do next, and even though it's not genre breaking, it's originality and heart should be something that grabs viewers and drops them into unfamiliar, but wonderful territory! Welcome to Arakawa Under the Bridge!
9/10

'Arakawa Under the Bridge' is about Ichinomiya Kou, an elite (someone who holds a high ranking position or works in a blue-chip company. A "winner" in Japanese society) who's been taught to never get indebted to anyone, gets careless one day over Arakawa and gets saved by a girl. The girl's name is Nino, who turns out to be a denpa-kei (people with "overactive imagination" or nutcase, e.g. Nodame) who claims to be from Venus, and doesn't want anything in return. After a long debate, she tells Ichinomiya that there is one thing that he can do for her: "Let me fall in love." ... And so, Ichinomiya starts living under the bridge in Arakawa as Nino's boyfriend in order to repay his debt.

Arakawa ("Rough River" in kanji) is a major river that runs through Tokyo. This is the river you have to cross to get to Saitama, and I can tell you it's very wide river that you do not want to fall into.


STORY/CHARACTER: 5/10
I must admit that my expectation for this show after the first episode was really high because the setting of an elite suddenly living the poor man's lifestyle, and the general atmosphere was really similar to 'Koi ni Ochitara', a dorama series that's very dear to me. I found 'Arakawa's setting to be very intriguing with both Ichinomiya and Nino having interesting personality, and a funny encounter.

The story and character setting had a great potential. This show could've gone three directions:

1. Focus on Ichinomiya and Nino's relationship as a romance anime.
2. Focus on Ichinomiya alone for discovery of small joys in life and gradual change of character belief, slice of life.
3. Focus on side characters for pure comedy.


Instead, they went for no focus or central theme. Just a bunch of weirdos doing random things in the riverbank with very limited story or character development. Humor in this show was mostly physical, unintelligent slapstick, but wasn't really funny because the pacing is too slow for that. The side characters were a ridiculous bunch that had no distinct personalities that made them particularly lovable. They were all cardboard characters who received zero character developments. In the end, it seemed like the author was trying too hard to make unique characters just to make this show different.

I have to say episodes 1, 4, 8, 12 where they focused on romance (#1) or slice of life (#2) were very strong and moving episodes, but otherwise all fillers. Story and character development was way too slow to be interesting.


ANIMATION: 6/10
General animation by Shaft, there are lots of eye zoom-ins, but otherwise nothing out of the ordinary. The peaceful atmosphere of Arakawa riverside with vivid, light colors was visually pleasing.

Animation quality was very inconsistent though. Episode 1 and some slow, dramatic scenes have movie-grade background detail and attractive characters, but the rest is super-simple (difference especially noticeable in sky grass texture).

The two main characters seem somewhat realistic despite simplicity. The style is really similar to 'Nodame Cantabile', but the character designs for 'Arakawa' is actually better. The rest, while they are supposed to look out of place... never grew on me. It just seemed like a cosplay contest in a really unlikely place.


SOUND: 8/10
Ridiculous number of big-name and experienced cast, even for the minor characters. Overall, voice acting is pretty good, but it doesn't really sound like any of them really put in too much effort.

BGM is pretty average, but used in all the right places.

Theme songs, on the other hand, were excellent. OP was cute and fun with retro graphics that worked really well to boost Nino's character. ED is a really good song that makes you reflect back on the episode.


ENJOYMENT: 5/10
'Arakawa Under the Bridge' had the potential to become a really touching and inspiring show if only they just focused on romance or slice of life. Instead, it became something I can't exactly describe, in a bad way.
Something went really wrong with series composition that ruined a good original work.

Pretty much only 4 episodes of material was in the first season, dragging on to the next. This is one of a rare non-prime-time anime series that I actually wished was shorter. I will be watching the next season in hope of a major turnaround.

Never judge a book by its cover, or in anime's case, never judge an anime by the first episode. Arakawa under the Bridge started out (for me) as a fairly pretentious and rather bland series, and I fully expected that I would be ready to drop it by around episode 5 or maybe even sooner. Now that isn't saying the first episode was bad by any means, it just didn't stand out at all to me, it was a regular opening describing the 2 leads and giving a good amount of exposition. As the episodes progressed, I slowly began to enjoy Arakawa more and more, ... and began to see something special in this anime.

Lets start with the characters. Arakawa has a vast array of characters, adding new ones almost every episode to add to the viewers pleasure. Every character is, at first glance, rather one dimensional. As is standard with most comedies, every character will have some sort of "gag" around them that is generally hyped upon every time you meet that character. For example, the main character has an issue with owing people favors, and as such, there are many scenes in which he will need to rely on someone and will go to any great lengths to repay the favour, and really almost every character is like this in their own way. Now really, for a comedy this isn't a bad thing, the laughs may be a little obvious but its still always funny to see the guy freak out at having to pay back Nino for saving his life or whatever the favor of the moment is.

That being said, there is something peculiarly special about the cast of Arakawa. As the series progresses, little "hints" thrown about a lot, about the past of the character in question. This is especially prominent in Nino, the heroine, but is noticeable in many of the side characters as well (Sister's apparent past war ties, or the school kids apparently being experimented on). Whenever I notice one of these hints, I like to imagine what was it that brought this person to live under a bridge. What was his / her past life truly like? Was it a long journey to finally find this home? These questions build up and will probably remain forever un-answered but that's just part of the charm. The bit of mystery surrounding each character really helps build a strong connection with them, and greatly increases the viewing experience.

One final thing that really showed me a better side to Arakawa is the plot of the thing. Now you could say, "But how is watching the daily lives of some quirky characters living under a bridge that exciting. As far as anime goes, its not exactly revolutionary." And while this is true, the plot isn't going to wow anyone, does one thing right, and that's make one reflect on their own life. As you sink into this show, you begin to see that a lot of it is comparing normal life to the random lifestyle that the folks under the bridge follow. This is particularly emphasized by the fact that the protagonist is a Rich boy at the head of society. When comparing the two, one starts to realize that maybe this insane, random lifestyle of weird people in funny masks is really the less "insane" of the two. It shows us, that really, life should be lived how you want it to be, not whats necessarily best for you. We see that Kuo is at the head of the world, rich, handsome, with a silver tongue, he seems to have it all. And yet, which does he enjoy more, teaching under this god forsaken bridge, or following in his father's footsteps. Well its only 7 episodes in as I write this review so only time can tell, but I can be certain that this is the main message of the anime: Look at yourself and decide what you want to do... then do it!

Now no show is perfect and of course Arakawa is no exception. The music isn't that exciting, and the art is a little weird at times (but still pretty decent). While the cast is many, the amount does bite it in the behind a little bit due to being only 13 episodes long, meaning that each character doesn't get quite as much screen time as one may like. The humor for the most part is funny, with a few exceptions, but most likely you'll get a good few chuckles out of it by the end. If I had to hate one thing about this anime, I'd say its the constant cuts to a close up of Kuo's eye... seriously its kinda unsettling whenever they do that.

Anyways, enough rambling from this coot, I'll finish off by saying that I will always recommend this anime no matter how bad the ending may turn out to be. Its funny, the characters are lovable, the premise is interesting, and overall, it holds together extremely well. Enjoy

So, this show is a random humor enthusiast's heaven. It is sometimes funny, sometimes stupid, and often both.

That could be the end of my review right there, but there's always more to talk about. For example, the art. The art is great. It is produced by shaft, directed by Akiyuki Shinbou, and is typical of Shinbou/shaft. If you are unfamiliar with shaft/Shinbou style artwork (most famous for Bakemonogatari), it is basically a collage of unconventional anime styles, that shifts around depending on the story. Lots of random fast cuts to land/city-scapes, sudden changes in the detail of animation, etc. It all is used in ... a way that seems to compliment the zany and random story. Also, in a great innovation, we now have windmill hair!!!

The music is fun, even though the lyrics are silly. I'm a huge fan of the OP, not just for the song, but for the artwork that goes with it. The characters? Well, they are a bit cardboard, more or less used as gags to perpetuate the random humor. The story? Once again, just used to perpetuate the random humor. There is an underlying message in this show, that we don't have to do what society tells us, and sometimes it's better just to be ourselves, no matter how crazy that is :) Not a particularly deep message, but it goes well with the focus of the show.

Enjoyment? Well, here's our problem. Everything in this show is sacrificed for the sake of random humor. Now personally, I wasn't too amused. I have trouble finding stuff amusing just because it is random. I mean, sure, when it's completely left-field, randomness is funny, but in this case it became a constant barrage of randomness and ceased to be terribly funny. It was still often funny despite this, but just as often it was stupid. My brain definitely turned off as I watched this.

Many have recommended it to all Bakemonogatari fans, and I can't really agree with that. Bakemonogatari was a much smarter, character driven, and creative anime. Many fans will be dissapointed. That said, if you like Bakemonogatari, you might like this, so give it a chance. If you like random humor, then you will love this show. If you only like intelligent anime, then this show isn't for you.

Often times people like to think of themselves as “the normal one.”

At least this is the case for Kou, a self-proclaimed part of the “elite.” From the day he was born Kou was taught to never be indebted to someone. For the most part Kou does a pretty good job of it too, that is until he loses his pants and falls into the Arakawa River. Now we have one indebted Kou, and a savior named Nino that wants Kou to help her experience love. He accepts, and begins living under the Arakawa Bridge with a group of bizarre social misfits.

It sounds a ... bit absurd I know; but this absurdity is what makes it so great. Arakawa Under the Bridge uses a unique mix of absurdism and slapstick humor with a few deeper messages added along the way to bring you a really nice comedic experience overall. The story itself is lacking as show isn't episodic but can appear to be that way at times because of the absurd things happening. The story really takes the backseat and suffers to let everything shine through in this anime.

As for the artwork found throughout this series... well, this is SHAFT we are talking about here. They are a studio known for their odd visuals and cinematography. You know, the people that brought you Bakemonogatari and Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. Although it is less experimental in art style than the previously mentioned series, it is still up to standard with any of their works and at times can even make for some really nice scenery porn.

The Arakawa Bridge is called home by a village chief that thinks he is a Kappa, a killer nun, a literal rock-star, a Martian, two runaway guinea pigs from a laboratory, and of course the main character Kou. All of the characters are as absurd as they sound and maybe even more. They are the focal point in which many, if not all of the jokes in Arakawa come from. As you can tell the cast of characters found throughout Arakawa are not your average run of the mill people, and although they lack depth they are definitely the highlight of the show.

The sound in Arakawa Under the Bridge is suiting. The soundtrack wasn’t mind-bogglingly amazing but it was still good. The background music enhanced the comedic moments so they did their job quite nicely. The opening of Arakawa Under the Bridge is definitely more satisfying visually than musically and I felt the same way about the ending too. As far as sound goes the voice acting was definitely the highlight, the voice actors did an absolutely incredible job making the jokes told in the show that much more memorable.

It is true that people often think of themselves as “the normal one.” But after watching Arakawa Under the Bridge I think it is safe to say that normality is relative. It constantly wears this theme on its sleeve while presenting is odd, yet surprisingly pleasant form of absurdist comedy. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll be the first to say that I don’t like absurdist comedies. I have just never found them that funny, but Arakawa Under the Bridge was a pleasant surprise. I found myself laughing from the beginning of one episode to the end, which is a huge win in my book. I strongly believe this anime is a must watch for all comedy lovers.
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Story- 4
Art- 8
Characters- 8
Sound- 8
Enjoyment- 9
Overall- 7.4

Well, this show has its share of eccentricities and requires some suspension of disbelief. The humor can be hit and miss, so it's hard to recommend this show after one or two episodes. But I like the voice acting - Maaya Sakamoto (Haruhi from Ouran Host Club, Ryougi Shiki from Kara no Kyoukai, Lightning from JPN FFXIII, etc.) acts out Nino, and I enjoy her brusque voice so I'll be following this series for a couple more episodes.

One last tip: There's a reason why Nutbladder's subs appear first, and that group's work is clearly a speed sub. I'm hardly in the place to criticize anyone's ... work, and speed is a factor too, but I would watch another group's fansubs for better translation of finer grammatical points. I'm watching with Formula subs right now and rewatching the first ten minutes of the first episode, there's a pretty vast difference in quality. I haven't checked out other groups' fansubs, but I'll eventually get around to it and let you guys know.

There being only one episode out so far, there is only so much to say. That being said, if you enjoyed FLCL, it has a strangely similar feel to it. Basically, the story, art, sound, characters, nothing really matters. Its basically a series of jokes.

There is a character that has a "normal" outlook on life, but has one major restriction on how he lives it, and another who is anything but normal, and is unintentionally abusing his restriction on life. As such the entire show thus far is Set-up, Gag, WTF, Gag, Set-up, Gag, WTF, Gag.............

If they could actually keep that up for 13 ... episodes I would be genuinely surprised, I expect this show to tank after around 3 or 4 eps, but the this first one was certainly interesting, and worth watching, and worth checking out episode 2 when it comes out.

Arakawa Under the Bridge Review Part 1

[STORY ELEMENT PRESENTATION 7/10] [GOOD FOR A ROM COM]

Arakawa Under the Bridge from the title itself is the main setting of the story, almost all major chain of events and interactions take place here. A strange setting to circle a romance comedy. The joke has somewhat a modern take in the presentation, for it uses a combination of interchanging camera angle views, a wholesome amount of different color pallets to intensify emotional symbolism, and continued with a constant stream of jokes that built upon a major punch line. Put all this recipe together, you would have a very charming ... and engaging style of comedy from start to finish.

For the most part, the comedy itself is more of a satire commentary on criticizing societal norms, it ranges from simple discrimination, public indecency, what society thinks is acceptable, and many more but in a shallow sense to make the humor light-hearted than offensive.

Traditionally the show presents drama via internal monologues and dialogues to relay the main point towards the audience to think through. There was never a right or wrong on both sides of the argument. It was always left for the audience to decide whether to agree or disagree. I like how they put a decent amount of pacing between the comedy and drama, they don’t overlap on each other and thus it enforces the main point of the narrative in a much clearer to understand manner. It is nice to have something to learn after a good laugh and this Arakawa selling point in making its humor memorable.

[SOUND & MUSIC INTERPRETATION 8/10] [MEMORABLE]

For the technical stuff, I say the OP song Venus to Jesus is a wonderful opening sang by Etsuko Yakushimaru. Its wacky demonstration of absurdity that transcendence beyond belief. An interesting way in introducing the audience what kind of anime they are about to watch, it’s unique and I love it. While ED song Sakasama Bridge by Suneohair has a natural and relaxing atmospheric vibe to it. Both songs are completely opposite of each other but to be brief, the OP represents the bizarre premise while the ED constitute to the in-depth look of the characters

The voice acting of Sugita, Tomokazu, playing Hoshi, is a plus. It’s fun to hear. He reminds me of Gintoki's ironic shenanigans in Gintama.

OST is enjoyable and good to listen to. There times you the atmosphere of easy-going comedy and there are times when the narrative is serious in a meaningful way, it catches that mood accurately, making the show well pace between humor and short character moments.

[AESTHETICS 8/10] [CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE]

The settings design and attention to small details are impressive. I can make desktop wallpaper in every cutout scene the show has. It has a lot of good camera shots on natural scenery around the bridge. Arakawa has some interesting symbolism and Easter eggs, especially when it comes to character design.

The character here is not defined by the color eyes or the size of the hair. Their overall design defines their personality and interest. For example, Hoshi wears a star shape mask not because he’s a weirdo but indicates that he is a “rock star!” that he always plays music to enforce his character trait. Similar things can be said to other residents of the bridge.

The cut transition scenes of Arakawa under the bridged doesn’t appear to be meaningless cut-outs to save some animation budget but a sense of insight in understanding what is the current tone of the situation is. This creates a mundane scene, like a simple conversation, more engaging, and entertaining. It doesn’t stray away from the audience in comprehending a particular scene.

[CHARACTERS 8/10] [ENJOYABLE AND LIKABLE FOR A ROM COM]

Arakawa has a specialty in introducing and fleshing out its weird set of characters. Characters in this show are at first glance seems like forgettable gag fillers, but as the story progresses there are a certain amount of depth and meaning about their motives and behavior, though if they got a moment of serious monologues and dialogues, the outcomes resulted in looking a bit pretentious because of the irony of the narrative being a comedy but still I was able to always deliver its messages in the right moment coming out as pay-off in every day to day every interaction.

The encounters of each character are dynamic. Character in the show has a sense of purpose and place to belong in the setting. They each share a good amount of life lessons to influence in the development of our main protagonist character growth. Every encounter comes out different, there is always something new and completely unexpected development happens. Thus making it very enjoyable to watch.

[CHARACTER ANALYSIS] [WARNING!!! SPOILER DETECTED AT THIS POINT][YOU CAN SKIP THIS PART IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE ANIME YET] [CONTINUE TO THE FINAL THOUGHTS]

Kou Ichinomiya, in the Arakawa Bridge Resident, nickname as Recruit because of his corporate attire. Looking at the surface, “Never be indebted to anyone” is Kou Ichinomiya's motto in life, a motto that his family embedded with him since childhood. This motto made him become independent and self-sufficient. He’s the model elite of the current society. He has an impressive track record and achievements that everybody should dream to be like him and adore him for it. He has complete pride in his capabilities that the entire world is within the palm of his hands.

But even all the prestige, intelligence, and power, He still a flawed character. He lacks some common sense and basic communication skills to other people outside his corporate profession, which ultimately became his biggest weakness. This is further supported by the fact of how easily his pants was stolen by a bunch of hooligans and how awkward his interactions with the residents living near the bridge. Once his family motto was broken by his own arrogance, he goes overboard to pay-off the favors which nobody asked him to do so. Because of his stubborn ego, Kou experience negative predicaments towards the bridge residents.


He also has a prejudiced mentality, the unfair feeling of dislike for someone or something like race, sex, religion, etc., because it is not reasonable or logical. Because of his high confidence of himself, he even admits that he is special, blessed with innate intelligence and privileged upbringing not only in capabilities but physical experience having a nice body and attractive face. He’s totally arrogant and a jerk on the people around him. He thinks he's the chosen one. His first impression is always the outside appearance that resulted in misjudgments that will result in him to reap what he sows. Every time he goes with an argument base on shallow assumptions, he never wins. An innocent satire of human discrimination will always result in negative consequences on how people perceive you.

Despite his bad personality, He is actually a nice person deep inside. He is straightforward, sincere, and caring for others, once you got know him. He knows how to adapt and learn his flaws. He already made a helping hand compensate for his lack of etiquette to the local bridge residents.

Going Deeper Kou is a genius in the business world but when it comes to the mutual relationship he’s barely a middle schooler. There is a psychological reason for this and it is all linked to his childhood; Kou’s complicated relationship with his father. He idolizes and admires his father for being the top of the corporate ladder. At such a young age Kou is already been taught an iron hand about the business world that ultimately distance his relationship with his father. The cold parental love drives him to become an elitist that will someday make him as his father’s successor. Even with a bright future ahead of him, he was lonely and empty inside. Kou only wanted to earn back his Father’s love and affection.

In the end, Kou’s and his Father's relationship reached the conclusion that both father and son are just too embarrass and prideful to admit each other’s inner feelings to one another. Kou’s father is not the cold person that he was made out to be but it just Kou’s being too intimidated to approach his father. Where in fact both wanted to talk and bond with each other as father and son. For it’s pretty a nice way to bring up family issues without being one-sided. The conflict was concluded quite nicely; in the end, both father and son are just too prideful in admitting each other’s inner feelings. Characters in this show are not what they look in the surface.

Kou developed his character over the course of the series. After meeting Nino and the residents of the Arakawa bridge, he no longer needs desperate attention for love. He already had it while spending his time with Nino and others. From being a try-hard elitist jerk to being a humble and respectful person. He knows what he wanted. He eventually breaks the curse of his family motto, by being able to ask favors that totally surprise the people around him. Indeed a positive character development, even the supporting cast has a decent amount of growth over Kou adventures; they don’t remain as jerks in the remainder of the series but became one of the friendliest neighbors that you can share your life with.


Nino-san, a surreal character at the surface. She is the sole reason for Kou’s character growth but pretty much a hair head at times but has a heart of gold that is adored by the residents living under the bridge. Her intentions are pure and selfless where she almost symbolizes as a goddess of sorts, though she not perfect and has little knowledge when it comes to the outside world. She is Venusian apparently so I may buy that as an excuse of her being an alien because of her awkward behavior. She doesn’t know what is a date or other fancy stuff common for girls, giving Kou a very hard time deal with her but she has a right sense when it comes to critical moments, her decision and action is on the right place for the people she loves and cared for, that even Kou agrees with her without a doubt.


When it comes to Kou and Nino’s Relationship, they both have good chemistry, which most of the time is comfortable and adorable. There is a harmonious atmosphere between them. Their simple conversations made way to better understanding each other's strengths and weaknesses. Overtime their emotional connections grow stronger which is a lovely sight for a romance.


For honorable character mention, Personally, P-ko is the Best Girl for me. She is a dangerously clumsy, a bit naïve at times but aside from Nino, P-ko is one of the lovable girls in the series based on my reference. Her motives in providing the bridge residents with freshly farmed crops with love is admirable. She is adorable and naturally innocent. I will surely help her out to look for seeds in the winter. She reminds me of Little My and Snufkin's personality from the Muumins.

[FINAL THOUGHTS] [ENJOYMENT 9/10] [GLAD THERE IS A 2ND SEASON]

Arakawa Under the Bridge for me is a special romance comedy. It’s an unconventional setting for a romance with a nice set of bizarre characters. The cinematography is well-crafted on maximizing the aesthetics and it blends well with music and sound. It matches the theme of its absurd premise, definitely amazing for me. I love the moral values it showcases in valuing mutual relationship, it informs us to stop being a judgmental person. We should not be seeing a person outside appearance but through their actions and inner quality. We must see a person who he is and not what he achieves.

Respect people’s choices in life and never discriminate them just because it against your own principles in life. Be tactful on people living a simple life and don’t brag achievements that have no meaning to them. It will only destroy your character.

Arakawa Under the bridge is enjoyable to experience. It has plenty of feel-good moments that is both relaxing and soothing at times. It’s more of a slice of life than drama. But sometimes I wish there are more character development in the show but because the characters are a great addition to the comedy to work, I’ll give a pass in flying colors. It rare for me to like all the side characters in a romantic comedy given how eccentric the supporting cast in the first place.

The anime humor is not for everybody, its alienating nature could be an uncanny valley for some. But if you are tired of the same troupe on romantic comedies, It wouldn’t hurt to try Arakawa Under the Bridge. You might love it. I know I do.

Looking Forward Watching the 2nd Season

[OVERALL 7.7/10][A UNIQUE TITLE]

This is my first review here and I'm writing after watching the fifth episode. For me SHAFT is a hit or a miss. I liked Bakemonogatari but hated Vampire Bund so when it was Arakawa's turn, I was quite apprehensive of what to expect but from the first episode, this series has surprised me with a twisted storyline and weird characters that turn weirder and weirder still - in a good way though.

Of course, Hiroshi Kamiya and Maaya Sakomoto are total win under the skins of Rec and Nino. Being the main pair, they still have a lot of ground to cover around each ... other as Nino's a Venusian(!) and Kou's a stickler for not being indebted. I even like the supporting characters: Star, Chief, Sister, Maria, Stella and P-ko - not in any particular order.

This is for those who enjoy something different that is much more situation driven rather than character driven. There's lots of comedy and funny moments that make you LOL more than you thought it would.

So, overall 9 for personal liking of the show.
Story - 8
Art - 8.5
Sound - 8
Characters - 9
Enjoyment - 9

[Updated: Eps watched -5]
SHAFT is the producer of Bakemonogatari, and uses similar presentation methods in this series. The problem is: Bakemonogatari is more of occult, suspense and mystery while Arakawa Under the Bridge is something like gag humour.

Note: After ep 2, the anime seems to fare better in its own style.

Story:6
To be honest ep 1 and 2 gave me a headache. A wide variety of characters introduced, the main characters were presented, and tons of poorly used impact-scenes. From ep 3-5 the story seems more smooth and less gag-likke. Which is good, since some fundamentals had finally been touched on.

Unfortunately, too many characters had been ... introduced right from the start, some airtime for each side character sometimes are only a few secs or none at all. Control of characters were pretty good, although overall, the story just seems to be too unstable. Scenes sometimes skipped here and there, little coninuation at times and most importantly, travelling too much between gag, slice of life and romance.

Art:8
Normal for SHAFT I believe. Good graphics and animation. But why do bubbles seem to come out anywhere and everywhere? Eye scene is overused, reminds of Bakemonogatari. Certain impact (animation aspect) destroyed the mood for laughter (aka light mood).

Sound:6

OP: Ep1-4's OP's animation was unique, and light, but made relatively no sense in contrast to the series' storyline. Song was good. Ep 5
s OP seems to be made in a jokingly manner, but was really interesting, some ppl might download the scene and worship it (lols).

ED: Both animation and song were good. It introduces several characters from "under the bridge".

Voice acting was mostly good, but sometimes were over-done, especially the cries of shock from "Recruit".

Sound usage is gradually getting better.

Character:5
Interesting. But interesting doesn't cut it. Most characters aren't unique in their own right (As in they are not defined by their personalities, more of their physical differences). But some character development has already being done on "Recruit", and his past slightly explored into. This is a huge bonus, since we will be seeing him often in the series.

Up to episode 5, we can see some unique personalities, but as usual, side characters get very little scene coverage, as the storyline jumps here and there still. Bad thing here is that too many characters seem to be introduced, and some were rarely utilised. Character development seems to be slowing down.
Yes, knowing their personalities is good, but I would prefer to see a deeper character formed than many shallow ones.

Enjoyment:6
Up to ep 2, I really didn't like it much. Cause of the very choppy manner the show was presented. A lot of things were unexplained, impact was used a bit too much, and most importantly, it seemed like serious gag humour.

Ep3-5 gradually included more serious scenes, and the story has become much stable (compared to till ep2). More work still needs to be done though, since this show is moving in a few ways, can't decide what genre is it focusing on.

Overall:6
Overall, I do wonder how does Recruit live his outside world. Lol, in realistic terms that is completely impossible, since he's a CEO or something.

On a side note, I may have wrote my previous review (up to ep 2) a bit too harshly. I do hope this updated review would give you readers a better insight into this series.

Thank you for reading;)

5.0/10
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

There are certain tropes that exist within the realm of anime, well, less obviously, comedy anime. Said tropes seem to inhabit the majority of these programs and, to my dismay, negatively influence my enjoyment of these products. Tropes are not inherently bad, as they are a kind of backbone for every piece of entertainment. However, certain tropes you, as a viewer, can grow to harbor an inner disdain for.

Comedy anime, especially of the romantic nature, tends to exude and indulge in these tropes to the point where they instantly put me off of a show. One of said tropes is the idea that our ... protagonist needs to have some kind of moral or ethical restriction or rule imposed upon them by nothing but their own will or experience, which often rings hollow since it is such a preposterous idea, to begin with. This trope, I'll agree, is present in a lot of anime, especially Shounen action, but it also persists in comedy for no reason other than to create over-the-top situations, naturally.

This is just one of those tropes that always rubs me the wrong way because it never breeds situations that I believe or find funny, and while comedy is generally unbelievable, there does need to be an air of verisimilitude that inhabits the scene for it to work in context.

With this knowledge, we enter "Arakawa Under the Bridge".

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

[Character, Delivery, Execution]

The trope here is utilized of course. Our protagonist, Kou Ichinomiya, kindly nick-named "Rec" or "Recruit" early on in the series, is a rich business elite who grew up with a tough, no-frills father that seemed to not care much about him at all. He taught him one lesson, to never take favors from anyone as you never want to be indebted.

So here stands Rec, on a bridge, pantsless, and wondering what he did to deserve to be stripped by a group of schoolboys. Here comes Nino, fishing his pants up from a hanging railing and handing them over to him. At first he rejects her assistance but then comes around to accepting her favor and is therefore forced to become indebted to her. She asks him to be her lover and well... you can probably guess where this goes. He is forced to be the lover of this surprisingly attractive strange girl who lives under the bridge. Woe is Rec.

Under the bridge, Rec meets a group of equally strange and zany characters that have all kinds of odd interests and hobbies. Ranging from a man in a Kappa costume who believes he's actually a Kappa, serving as the chieftain of this little group, to a man who is perpetually in love with Nino whilst also wearing a star-mask and making bad music. The designs here are all distinct and quite good, actually, specifically the gun-toting nun and peppy, yet clumsy farmer girl. This group of somewhat loveable and oafish characters don't get much development, as the series' thirteen episode stretch is more oriented around sketch comedy.

Unrelated skits backend each episode. These episodes are split up into multiple "chapters", each one signifying a different theme or concept and play out in one to ten-minute sketches that don't correlate with one another until the main psuedo-arc of the series comes into play. It's a cute format that is in-line with something like Nichijou, a favorite of mine. Unlike Nichijou, "Under the Bridge" doesn't have as much diversity or prowess in its execution, and unfortunately, a lot of the comedy falls flat. More on that later.

Ultimately, these colorful characters are not at all detailed enough, in my opinion. It's not like they have to be since there are plenty of comedy series' out there that don't have three-dimensional characters, but they make up for that in pure wit and amazing comedic chops. With "Under the Bridge", there is a specific effort for emotional moments and moments of actual romance, and unfortunately, they all fall flat.

Which is sad because the series is definitely at its best when it is being funny. Even if it isn't always funny. The first episode, also, doesn't feel like anything else in the series because it is substantially better paced and entertaining than anything else in this series, which is somewhat low on highlights and more just showing blips of inspiration a few moments of joy every episode.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

[Comedy in Anime]

Since I don't have too much to say about this series apart from "it's okay" and "occasionally funny" and "somewhat unremarkable", I rather focus on the broad experience I've had with comedy anime and the "style" is is often off-putting for me. I don't even think it is a cultural thing since there are plenty of anime that have had me laugh and there are plenty of Japanese films that are equally hilarious as some of the better productions coming out of Hollywood.

No, it's something more. It feels like so much comedy in this series, as well as a lot of the comedy anime I've seen hits the same way, with the same delivery, and the same kinds of shots and effects and even voice acting. Honestly, a lot of it seems very repetitive to an almost ludicrous level.

The same can be said for the way humor is handled at all. Jokes seem to go on for far too long, their punchlines run their course and instead of cutting, they either repeat the punchline or exposit the punchline, which makes it far too obvious and very clunky to sit through. It happens a lot. For example, a scene would lead up to a pretty decent punchline, and then, for no reason other than to explain to the viewer what is happening, the main character or whoever else would just yell out exactly what the punchline was.

This is what I call 'reactionary humor', where the writers try to add another moment of comedic timing and delivery through a character's reaction to the piece of comedy, however, it is so rarely funny. Especially since it is delivered the same way every damn time. It's always yelled loudly with a multi-colored background and action lines. It doesn't look good, it doesn't sound good, and quite honestly, it ruins the joke.

This problem persists throughout this series and throughout a lot of comedy anime because I guess a wacky face that I've seen a hundred times in a hundred different anime is enough to be a punchline now? So there's the problem, this odd, clashing style really detracts from the punchlines. I suppose it works for many, this very abrasive, loud, and reaction-based style of comedy. However, for me, it really doesn't do anything and "Under the Bridge" was brimming with it.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

[Aesthetic and Sound]

This is all solid. The SHAFT style is ever present. It feels a bit too much like Monogatari at times, but I suppose that style is what defines studio SHAFT at this point. It is especially jarring when the protagonist, Rec, is voiced by the same VA as Araragi from Monogatari.

The style here, while visually solid, isn't really necessary. I never felt the indulgent need for it, similar to Monogatari, and it very rarely actually affected the core of the show, which is the comedy. There are some pretty scenes, but in general, the entire show takes place in one, very green, very bridge-oriented location that isn't all too interesting after the first couple episodes.

The OP and ED are both solid, providing something that wasn't outstanding, but definitely is worth noting as a positive for this show's sound. Then again opening and endings in anime tend to blend together for me, so who am I to judge.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

[Conclusion]


It's okay. That's the best thing I can say about this series. There were stretches where I was bored and genuinely uninspired by what's happening on screen. There were moments where I enjoyed seeing these characters interact and seeing their little world grow, and there were, very rare moments of actual, laugh-out-loud comedy that was delivered well. Unfortunately, this makes for an unremarkable package that I don't see myself recommending to people who aren't already fans of anime-style reactionary comedy.

Describing this series, one of my friends called it "Monogatari-lite", and in a way, it is. The style is not as interesting, neither are the characters, or the setting, or anything, really, but the presentation is in line with what SHAFT has done with Monogatari and I, for the life of me, can't figure out why. There is no reason to include this kind of aesthetic in a show like this, and SHAFT shouldn't be pigeon-holed into over-relying on their developed style, which was pioneered by Shinbou. They are perfectly capable of utilizing something different like with Madoka Magica.

The music is solid, and the voice acting is generally really unremarkable. The most impressive voice work has to come from Chiwa Saito, who plays the cute young kid, Stella. Thi character is a brat and often changes metaphoric forms, which prompt the VA to have quite a few different inflections for this character that are not only endearing but are bordering on funny, too.

"Arakawa Under the Bridge" is a fairly unremarkable series wrapped up in the guise of something better. The style doesn't seem to fit, although it is visually pleasing, and everything from the story to the characters tends to flatline more so than anything else. Even if the characters themselves are well-designed. The attempts at romance fall completely flat due to the totally ridiculous premise, which fits the show's comedic tone but doesn't actually make for a believable romance or likable romantic prospects. The father/son relationship is a bit more interesting but honestly isn't explored enough to call well-done. Overall, it's "just there" as a series that I think doesn't do enough to actually maintain interest through the meat of its execution, which is the humor and characters.

The presentation is fine, although ill-fitting, and the music is decent, too. But ultimately, there's a dissonance between what works and what doesn't, and I will always find myself wishing that this series portrayed a more captivating world.

At first, I thought this anime is like a normal love story.
But when I watch the first episode, the story was totally ridiculous.
But in the fun way.

There's a lot of weird people under the bridge.
Although, some of them looked normal.
You'll totally laugh after watching this anime. Their stupidity is the best!

All the charcters are well create.
Their attitude is somewhat unique.
... All their past life is a mystery.

Don't know where they come from, who are they, what's their background, and why did they live under the bridge?!

Thanks for taking the time to read my review of Arakawa Under the Bridge!

Story: I found the premise of the show to be very intriguing. After the first episode, however, it's clear that the main focus of the story is the people who live under the bridge. While Ko and Nino bond throughout the series, Ko's interactions with the secondary characters are the main attraction. The short mini-story format to each episode helps keep the whole feeling of the show light and easy-going.

Art: An interesting mix of styles are used throughout the series. You have some very beautiful backgrounds and character portrayal during the ... more moving parts, and silly faces for almost every other time. The constant switching suits the zany feel of the show. The character designs are all varied, and interesting.

Sound: The opening song is very upbeat and cute. The background music and sound effects were suitable for the various situations Ko found himself in. The voice acting was excellent, and I think the actors captured the feeling of their characters perfectly.

Character: The cast is an interesting collection of weirdos. I loved the different histories, personalities and energy each player brought to the show. Whether it was Star's constant competing with Ko, or Sister's "badass nun with guns and cookies" attitude, each character was a pleasure to watch. I was not surprised by the lack of character development, since the crew is so zany; any attempt to change them would take away form the fact that they are all so strange. Ko goes through some development, and the second-to-last episode was very touching.

Overall: Not really reading anything about the show, I went into it thinking it would be more dramatic, or romantic. I was happily surprised by the more comical, slice-of-life approach. I was laughing every episode, and I really enjoyed watching Arakawa!

TL;DR 5 words/phrases to describe Arakawa Under the Bridge:

hilarious, random, silly, weird, touching

Comedy is a tough aspect to grade, since it is largely subjective in nature. Just because I find Kramer and Jerry arguing about the trajectory of someones spit on Seinfeld hilarious, doesn't mean others will. Likewise, just because someone else finds a guy walking into a woman's bath by incident and getting knocked into the stratosphere for it amusing, certainly doesn't mean I do.

But, and I think most other people will agree, some of the best comedy is stuff that actually has an underlying message to it. When humor can actively facilitate an overall message that the work in question has, then it all ... works on multiple fronts. And, well, this is something that Arakawa Under The Bridge does well.

Arakawa starts with the protagonist, Ichinomiya Kou, standing on a bridge completely pants-less. It is here when he meets a rather strange girl known as Nino and it is also here where we learn of his fear of owing anything, and I mean ANYTHING, to anyone what so ever. It is readily apparent from the on set that Kou has some rather deep sitting issues with his father, almost a sort of phobia if you will.

Now, don't get me wrong. Arakawa is most definitely a comedy first and foremost, but themes such as running away from problems, parental issues, and so on are lightly, and rather effectively, touched upon during the course of the series. But, it certainly never becomes heavy handed in this matter at all.

Visually, Arakawa is a treat with very well done character design, particularly Nino and the other female characters, and just overall interesting visual touches here and there. Shaft has the usual visual touch, but not quite as heavily as Sayanora Sensei, EF, or their other works.

Sound wise, the musics generally pretty good. But, the voice work in particular is striking with some very big names in the series particularly Sugita Tomokazu (Haruhi, Gintama), Fujiwara Keiji (Baccano, FMA), and many more.

The characters are very likable, with pretty much every one of them having some sort of..personality quirk. Whether you have the cross dressing "Sister", The Kappa costume wearing Village Chief, The rockstar wanna be Star shaped mask wearing Hoshi, the insult throwing Maria, and so on..it's almost guaranteed that you'll find something to amuse you in some form.

Which brings me to my biggest issue with the series, the characters don't change and we just don't learn anything at all about the vast majority of them. Not that Kou doesn't try to learn, it's just that the other characters either avoid his questions or outright lie to him. It's arguable, of course, whether or not this is an actual fault or not...it's just the way these people live their lives and it effectively ties into the central plot point. But, it still hurt my enjoyment a little bit.


Story: 7
At it's heart Arakawa Under The Bridge is a sort of coming of age story in which Kou tries to come out from under his fathers shadow and live his own life under the bridge. Some of the comedy is random in nature, but most of it seems to hit on the underlying message. It isn't deep stuff, but this series did very effectively what it intended to.

Art: 9
Well done character designs, good background art, and very consistent animation. The Shaft "style" isn't quite as glaringly obvious as most of the shows from the company, except for the OP, ED, and a few other instances.

It has to be said that Nino is probably one of the most obviously beautiful female characters I've seen. The other female characters are well designed as well.

Sound: 7
Solid music, with well know voice actors doing the same great work they always do. Not much to complain about here. Though, there also isn't anything particularly amazing in this compartment, either.

Character: 8
The characters are likable, memorable, funny, and just overall well done. Unfortunately, they go out of their way not to talk about themselves and Kou is pretty much the only character to go through some form of change. Still, nothing to complain about.

Enjoyment: 9
Consistently funny unlike most comedy series I've seen and the characters are very likable. I enjoyed the message this series brought to the table as well. An easy series to marathon.

Overall: 8
Memorable, funny, and many other things. Arakawa is a great comedy series up there with stuff such as FMP: Fumofu, Minami-ke, and a few others. Definitely recommended for those looking for a good time.

When I heard the premise for "Arakawa", I was immediately attracted to it. Something so strange, but yet simple. One man living under a bridge, and the small community that he spends his time with. It received plenty of positive reception from the reviewers on MAL, so I dove right in. And what I found was a charming, albeit eccentric slice-of-life that quickly became one of my favorites in the genre.

First and foremost, this is a character driven show. By no means will anything happen beyond the two main conflicts (the main character's acceptance into the community, and the other big one, which I won't ... mention for the sake of those who have yet to see "Under the Bridge"), and your enjoyment of this series will rest solely on your ability to enjoy this type of show.

If shows like "Azumanga Daioh", "K-On!/!" or "Minami-ke" were your cup of tea, then by all means hop right into AUtB. However, if you fall into the group of individuals who found these shows completely pointless and a waste of your time, you might want to sit this one out. Having said that, this one in particular is heavy on the comedy, and if it can't make even the most stone faced of otaku crack a smile, then give up on life. Or lighten up, life doesn't always have to be about epic battles and heart-wrenching love stories.

Short Review:

A show with soo much promise ruined by amataur animatiors, apart from the great characters nothing else is that good, the story which i like didnt progress from the first episode and made this feel cheap and tacky, it seemed like they knew that season 2 would follow and didnt really bother with this show apart from getting the viewer to understand the characters for next season.
Also i have to add the art in this show is dreadful one of the worst i've EVER seen.

Longer Review:

This show looked so unique from the Preview so i decided to watch this, and i felt this could ... be the "Dark Horse" of the current season, a series that could be amazing that many would of not watched or planned too.

I want to keep this short, i have so many negitive views about this show, for one the Art (apart from last episode) has been TERRIBLE, one of the worst ive ever seen, too much repetitive animation (eye scene closeup seen over 100 times) it makes this show look to me the first animation this company has ever done (which isnt a compliment)

Also nothing happened and with the Bridge the only place they go its hard to keep it fresh and you can see even the company behind this show dont know what to do they delve into randomness (build a home on a pillar/amusment park etc...), the characters are AMAZING thought they are become so well known to me quick, i knew all there names and attributes off the bat (which is good for any show to make these impressions on me) if the characters werent soo watchable i would of stopped viewing this show.

Also shouldnt characters progress? none of them have apart from Kou (Recruit) all the rest have stayed the same from the whole 13 episodes which makes the show seem more amaturish, to me the unqiue story was wasted they didnt develop it and nothing happened of any note, understand the characters and thats all you will get from this show as season 2 was annouched maybe things MAY happen in that, to sum it up this shows lacks substance, a preview that offered such a unique storyline and characters was just ignored for some RANDOM events (MUCH like K-On) so its a hit and miss, for me this average i have seen 100's of better and enjoyable shows (so maybe n00bs to anime may love this show anyone who has watched more than Bleach/Naruto may find this a bit dull.

As with any anime that's only aired one episode, it's hard to say whether future episodes will be worth checking out. That being said, if the remaining episodes can manage to keep up the enjoyable, absurdist humour that the first has offered, then Arakawa Under the Bridge should be another enjoyable series for this year.

The art in this anime was generally quite impressive; the animations flow nicely and drawings are polished and detailed. The same can be said about the sound as well, with the music and effects suiting the light-hearted feel of the story well.

Kou instantly reminded me of 'Zetsubou-Sensei' (regardless of the fact ... that they have the same voice actor) which was nice from a SZS fan's perspective, but the two other characters that were shown in this episode (Nino and 'The Chief') both felt like characters you might've seen before somewhere else, but with something new and fresh that keeps things interesting.

Generally speaking, the first episode of this anime was pretty enjoyable and I hope I can say that again at the end of this series because this is definitely a show with potential.

Note: This review will cover both seasons.

Common sense. It is the set of knowledge and comprehension of the world that society expects you to have. Now imagine a place containing a seemingly jumbled society of unique characters where common sense is naught. The phrase itself hasn’t even entered its lexicon. And yet, strangely, the society is perfectly functional. This is the Arakawa riverbed.

Arakawa Under the Bridge starts off as a rather bizarre romance. Ichinomiya Kou, a self-proclaimed elite, all-around prodigy, falls into the Arakawa River and nearly drowns. He is saved by Nino, an enigmatic young woman who proclaims that she is a Venusian. However, ... Kou was always taught to never be indebted to another person, and now, he owes the biggest debt of all to Nino for saving his life. As a result, Nino has a simple yet imposing request: to fall in love and live with her under the bridge. Thus begins one of the most unique romances in anime history.

Well, it had the potential to be anyway. Alas, the romance is awkwardly paced and its progress is minimal. The series is mainly an absurdist gag comedy fueled by the ridiculous antics of its equally ridiculous (but far from unfunny) characters. Despite its interesting, auspicious premise, there really isn’t much of a plot. It just follows the daily lives of the citizens of the Arakawa riverbed. Sure, the second season features the “trip to Venus” plot, but it was abandoned midway and was rather unfulfilling. That said though, the comedy, on the other hand, is hilarious. Over time, the humor did begin to either stale, feel forced, or just become plain stupid, even by Arakawa’s standards. Certain jokes began to feel predictable. However, at its best, Arakawa had a number of side-splitting moments (in both seasons) where I just burst out laughing uncontrollably. Few anime can do that to me, so I commend Arakawa for that.

The show has an eclectic assortment of interesting and peculiar supporting characters. The Village Chief, a man in a green costume who claims to be a 620-year old kappa, despite the obvious zipper running down his back, and also gives each person living in the Arakawa riverbed their name (Kou becomes “Recruit” or “Ric”). Sister, a bellicose yet ironically calm muscle-man who dresses like a nun. Hoshi, a man wearing a star-shaped mask who vies for Nino’s affection. These are just some of the oddities you’ll find in Arakawa, and most of them, save a few (such as the Amazoness), are endearing characters. A few characters do get tiring after a while though, especially since some of the gags become overused.

The character development is fairly limited. Kou gets the most since he’s the one forced to adapt to new conditions, and we also learn quite a bit about Hoshi, but no one else other than Nino, who ultimately remains an enigma even after the second season, gets much development. Given the nature of the show, that’s fine, but I really would have liked to see more from the Chief and Nino. You see, Arakawa contains some unexpectedly dark implicit themes. They are subtle, but they include failure, rejection, and disillusionment from society and reality. These are people living under a bridge, away from society, after all. They must have some sort of dark past, as evidenced by Hoshi. Understanding the Chief’s reasons for establishing this place and deliberately lying about his true self is key to understanding this society. Maybe that’s too deep for a comedy as outrageous as this, but Arakawa also likes to insert some philosophical crap in the beginning of each episode, so maybe not…? Either way, with its premise, I definitely wanted to learn about Nino’s past and the truth behind her Venusian origins. Unfortunately, the second season never resolves what it starts and the Venus storyline is instead replaced by a shitty fighting tournament.

Anyway, the animation is a bit inconsistent. It can be crisp and beautiful, but it can also be dull and uninspired at times. Also, whenever a character is walking directly towards or away from the camera, they never seem to gain any distance. I know this has been a problem in many anime in the past, but you would think animation studios would have figured out how to correct this by now. Furthermore, there’s an odd tendency for the animators to zoom in on people’s eyes, especially Kou’s. As for the music, it’s average and very forgettable, except for the OP’s and ED’s. I don’t generally care much for OP’s and ED’s, but these ones are notable. The two ED’s by Suneohair are fantastic indie rock songs, and in fact, I have one of the songs, “Sakasama Bridge” from the first season, on my iPod, one of only two songs from anime on it. The OP’s are both decent pop listens as well.

Ultimately, Arakawa is a hilarious comedy with an enjoyable, intriguing cast of characters. The humor of the second season does drop in quality and become more hit-or-miss, but there are still a few laugh-out-loud moments that are sure to please. As a comedy, this is one of the funniest anime I’ve seen. But if you’re expecting the mystery behind Nino to be answered, you’re in for a disappointment. While the possibility for a third season is viable, since the manga is still ongoing, I don’t think the humor can take another hit.

Story: 6
Art: 8
Sound: 7
Character: 8
Enjoyment: 8

Mini Review (After 5 Episodes)
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A synopsis from the Preview list looked interesting but has Arakawa Under the Bridge lived up to what i hoped for... no, but in some aspects they have good things (Characters/Sound) shame that one half is doing well but the rest is doing quite badly (Art Style/Story) but with many more episodes to go its hard to judge how this will pan out, but lets say i have less optimisium than i did before this show started.

I don't get some people, how is this series funny it tries to be i cant remember one part i've laughed at, and the OP ... is pointless (animation wise) the music is alright but still why is the graphic style of this series feel soo retro (in a bad way) it looks horrible in 720p.

Overall another dissapointing episode the only good thing i compliment them on is the character development is quite good with the main characters (Recruit/Nino) and even the subcharacters (Star, Sister) I like this aspect of Arakawa but the rest is lacking a once bright and unique synopsis has not really developed (plot wise) all that much.

Characters 8.5
(Good character development from learning the male protagonists past (Recruit), Nino is a very enjoyable character and some other characters have good promise (Sister,Star) and with the good development they still want the viewer to keep wondering "Why is Nino living there", so yeah nothing really to complain about "Character" wise its just all the rest thats the problem.

Art Style 6.5
(Too much re-used footage, i've seen that eye blink close up about 400 times its soo pointless, also do they think the grass strands look really good? im still puzzled on why is soo prominent from the undergrouth if they only used the same few grass textures surely they would of made a good one! which this one isn't!!!!!!!!

Sound/Voice 8.5
(Nice voicing from especially Nino and Recruit, cant really fault them on this apart from the little Brothers with the metal masks is a bit too annoying thats about it.

Overal: 7.5 - Nothing special by all means but in places they have good things going for them, but this is in short supply, it seems this reaches people with a Young sense of humour (which is a person who laughts histerically at a Penguin falling over) i mean im only 20 so not too old but this Humour is very poor and would only be thought of as "Funny" to little kids.
So if your a little kid and cant put up many bad points (Art Style) etc... i would somewhat recommend this to you.

(Note scored are different i just rounded up/down accordinally)
(Also Sorry, people do find "Mid Reviews" a bit annoying but i just had to make this review im tired of seeing the 2 reviews being a 9, which is FAR TOO high for this show as it's average at best and i want to hopefully not let people hoping for a series that scored a 9 and seems a interesting synopsis to get fooled by the promise)