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The story of 'Arakawa under the bridge' revolves around male protagonist Ichinomiya Ko, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, an elite of society in every regard (good at everything), and has strong family tradition to never rely on anyone. The opening episode is him on this bridge crossing over the river. Much like how he is progressing forward, but crossing over what true "life" is.
In an unexpected turn of events, Ko meets the female protagonist Nino who saves his life. Feeling indebted to Nino, Ko attempts to pay her back and follow the family policy of never relying on anyone. Oddly enough, Love becomes the one thing that bind Ko to Nino. The other residents of the river are slowly introduced and thus begins the crazy daily happenings of Life under the bridge as Ko learns about himself and people under the bridge, develops to a different human being, and as he fights of his father's plots to take him back.
The only flaws to the story I found was that it didn't quite settle on a solid "plot" or a "slice of life" direction. Many episodes seemed to be uncorrelated and had no continues plot, while other had more serious plot ideas (ie. v.s the Ichinomiya group). If there was a more serious direction it may have been more easy to follow.
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The art for the series is quite beautifully and uniquely done, particularly as it involved drawing irregular characters, like buff nuns, frequently. Directed by Akiyuki Shinobu (Negima!, Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei), and animated by Shaft Studio (Monogatari, Negima!, Sayonary Zetsubo Sensei) I expected no less than absolute quality, which they did deliver.
The clarity of the animation style (thicker outlines) combined with the environmental designs had me hooked from the beginning. The detail used in the setting (the bridge, river, grass) was exceptional, but cannot be compared to Makoto Shinkai (5cm per second). Overall, I really enjoyed Shaft's output and consistency in animating the odd characters while maintaining environmental clarity and integrity.
The only issues i found with the animation was the lack of diversity in environment. This may be a "me only" thing, but I found that they used the same settings for pretty much everything, that the "backdrop" for a scene "here" or scene "there" would be used over and over. It'd barely noticeable, but for me I'd like to have a larger diversity of areas.
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The sound for the series never disappointed me. To begin, OP "Venus to Jesus" by Etsuko Yakushimary caught my ear. The opening had a very unique feel to it and the song is a bit awkward but yet sounds great. It caught me unexpectedly as I'm usually exposed to the more cliché opening (ie. j-rock/hip). Aside from the tender opening, the ending was interesting as well with "upside-down bridge" by Suneohair producing a contrast from the opening, but really helped to close the episode off. The random OP in a certain episode also added to the comedy.
The sound throughout the series was great, background themes worked well and weren't over used, coupled with the character voicing that were consistent with the characters made this series have the irregular slice of life atmosphere I appreciate. It also helped to mediate the plot in areas where silence or other themes would've been awkward.
The only issues I found with the "sound" was that nothing really "stood out" beyond what is said above. There isn't the strong immortalized emotional melodies during emotional scenes, or distinct "theme" music for characters per se.
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The characters were a broad and diverse bunch who carried unique pasts (most of which we'll never know about) and who provide very critical social commentary. A brief introduction of the characters will prove to show the diversity and commentary.
Protagonist Ichinomiya Ko, nicknamed "Ric" or "recruit" is the new addition to the riverbank and the story flows showing his development as he expressed the usual and societal ideologies of "life" and "values". Being, in reality, a super successful elite, he represents what regular people aspire to. Oddly enough in the upsidedown world of Arakawa, he is meerly the a "leech" in the least. His confrontations with his short comings and with other things he finds valuable in life are the key points of his developement and will keep you thinking. Voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya (Teiria-Gundam00, Izaya-Durara, etc), the expressions of Ko to situations is diverse and draws attention and sympathies.
Female protagonist, Nino, is the self proclaimed Venusian who brings Ko, as a lover into the group. Little is known about her and her past. But she expresses the purest form of humanity, much like a child she accepts things and takes things oddly seriously. Her love for Ko is uniquely expressed and her lack of expression makes her very interesting to watch. She directly contrasts Ko in both values and traditions as she knows seemingly nothing of the surface world, or its values. She knows of love and caring for other people, sometimes blissfully ignorant of many facts. Her comments about Ko's responses to kindness, or forcing him to show it provide insightful commentary for how society perceives those around them.
The village chief, or the kappa, is a self proclaimed Kappa who is obviously some guy in a costume. The general hilarity of seeing a character completely believing in their own decided existence makes him fun to watch, particularly how his character does not change. Kappa, dare I say represents nature or the earth. Part of life, yet barely recognized (and recognized less and less though the years).
Hoshi, or Star, is the rival of Ko for the love of Nino. He is also a musician. The comedy of him and Ko's onesided rivalry is fun to watch in itself. But, truly it is his expressions in situations and how he completely delves into the world of Arakawa and combines it into his rivalry that is the most interesting. I think he is a major reason that Ko is able to integrate into the community, and an even greater reason that Ko is able to truly appreciate Nino. Hoshi represents one extreme of expressionism, muscianship. In society, those that pursue music to an over extent are critqued and excluded.
Other characters that are introduced each present their own very unique expressions of reality and uniqueness. Each commenting on individual ghosts of past and on societal reconciliation with said people. For the sake of length, I've excluded an indepth analysis of the other Characters:
- Sister (the Military male Nun)
- P-ko (the cute gardener girl)
- Iron Twins (the two kids with iron helmets)
- Maria ( sadist, and farmer)
- Stella (the little girl)
and other minor characters (Takai, Billy, Jacqueline, Last Samurai, Shimazaki, father Ichinomiya, etc).
If you'd like to hear my opinion about these characters please PM me.
The only flaw I found was that the characters were used very "on and off" the only character that was used consistently was Ko (expectedly). There are episodes that will no even touch upon characters for a long time. Billy, Jacqueline, and Last Samurai for example, do not even get fully introduced until the last episode of this season.
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I really enjoyed this series, not only because it had me laughing, crying, or nervous at the right times, but rather because of it's awkward uniqueness that resonates with the human soul. I started this series hoping for nice rom-com, which is supplies, but I found a deeper social commentary in the series. I was, throughout the series, reflecting on where my sympathies lie, and like any other anime fan ... What would I do if I met these characters in reality?
The abnormalities of the people in the series, in real life, would be the people we deem to be crazy, that we can't spend another day with. Indeed, having done lots of work with people in poverty, there are many people with delusions out there. In reality, we cast them aside, or rather acknowledge their insanity. Even though they live in crazy communities, we neglect their reality.
So when did crazy become so normal? I don't know at what point in the series that I finally accepted the Mayor as being a Kappa, or that Hoshi was a star, or Nino was actually from Venus. In fact, near the end I became part of Arakawa, finding Ko's surface level ignorance to be odd, finding that Ko was the crazy one.
So this was most enjoyable to me because It actually made me realize how immersed is was in the world or Arakawa.
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Overall, an amazing first season. PM me if you have any thoughts or comments about my review. I hope you check this series out.
