Title: Arakawa Under the Bridge
Published by: Nippon Ichi Software America
Based on: The manga series under the same name released by Hikaru Nakamura
Genre: Comedy and Romance
Audio: Japanese Dub
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio – Bluray: 1080p AVC MPEG-4 (16:9)
Aspect Ratio – DVD: 480i MPEG-2 (16:9)
Runtime: 316 minutes
Cost: $55.99
Classification: As I am not based in the US, I am uncertain of what the classification is for this title.
Blurb: An enjoyable series that is less focused on the storyline and focuses more towards the comedic nature of the characters and the setting, with a community of people who essentially, live underneath a bridge. With a cast of very different characters, every episode is sure to make you chuckle and enjoy all the quirks of the characters. The design isn’t the greatest but is comparable to the quality of most SHAFT anime titles and features some decent music and voice acting.
Special Thanks: Special thanks goes to Nippon Ichi Software America for providing me with a sample of this title.
For those who have not heard the news, Nippon Ichi Software America has been dealing in Anime for a number of months alongside their normal game distributions. They have chosen a smaller number of series then most publishers seem to, as well as only release non-English dubbed titles. However, these series have so far proven to be some excellent choices, and allowed them to focus on improving the overall quality of their product as shall be discussed later. I would like to make my first NIS America anime review Arakwara Under the Bridge. This series is from the anime developer SHAFT, known for their release of series focusing more on quirks then storyline and has proved successful for them so far. So… is Arakawa Under the Bridge any good? Read on to find out!
The stage is set on the banks of the Arakawa River. A self-proclaimed “winner at life,” Ko Ichinomiya (aka Rec) finds his fate suddenly entangled with a self-proclaimed “Venusian citizen,” the beautiful and oddly homeless Nino. The love story between these two youngsters is often humorous, sometimes bittersweet, and always on the edge of insanity. This surreal comedy depicts the exciting lives of these two and all the other maniacal residents of Arakawa under the bridge.
The series title is evidently a parody of the character ‘The Troll who lives Under the Bridge’ from the story ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’ where the troll traps the three goats in an attempt to eat them. The storyline of this tale however is slightly more literal, as it follows a community of people who live under a bridge and manage to make protagonist Ichinomiya, Ko (Hereforth known as Recruit) a member of their society. It follows Recruit who is rescued by the beautiful (Alien??) girl Nino, and as she saved his life, is morally obliged to make her wish come true… this wish is to be loved.
This is a tale of romance between Recruit and Nino, however you will find that the storyline deviates from this plotline almost constantly leaving the storyline to develop all the residents of the Bridge somewhat equally. The first thing you will notice, which is becoming increasingly rare in animes is that Recruit is not a meaningless male protagonist. Instead, over being nothing but a moving target for a girls punch, the storyline involves more character development towards him then any other character. You will also notice that the number of characters are significantly high. This does end up being a slight downfall of this series, as there are more characters then episodes which I feel didn’t leave the characters enough time to develop their personalities to the fullest extent (However there is a second season).
For those who have watched other SHAFT series such as Negima!? or Pani Poni Dash, this will not be unfamiliar territory for you as this is the style they do well with the strangeness reaching all new highs whilst maintaining a more light-hearted nature then most anime series. If anything, the characters make this story what it is, and they are indeed a very diversified bunch even for a series of this genre and style.
The cast of characters features a female protagonist who believes she is an alien from Venus (Aka. Venusian), a Village Chief who is a humanoid Kappa, a rock star with a very similar shaped head, a male priest who sports the nun attire, a loli who has aspirations of dominating the world, a sadistic female farmer and a pair of twins who wear buckets on their heads are just some of the characters that flow in and out of the storyline and leave you wondering if they are human and if their stories are all part of some delusion or are purposeful.
As I stated above, having a cast this large does cause some issues to the storyline in my opinion, however they are slowly introduced as the episodes progress and whilst each may not have much of a focus every episode, it is hard to deny that they are some of the most hillarious mismatched group of characters that each have their own quirk or joke source which is enjoyable. Going back to the romance storyline…. it is not a major focus of the story but a means of progressing it with no form of resolution in this series.
Overall, I enjoyed every episode of this series, and as I was watching it whilst doing an intensive week at university, I think it was one of the things that helped me relax. The characters were indeed charming, and it is hard to believe they were able to get such an assorted jumble of characters to work so well together. There were a few messages in this series surrounding loyalty and acceptance, however it is better to not think about them and enjoy this unique experience.
Considering that this is a title by SHAFT and more specifically, with Akiyuki Shinbo as director, I would have to say that this is perhaps one of the more realistically designed series they have released – but that isn’t saying much. Series such as this have always been about presenting the most effective design for the comedy then the most effective comedy for the design. The environments wouldn’t win any awards in my book, but they do the series well with vivid colours that give off a realistic appeal to them. Considering that most of the characters have differing personalities, they have been designed to suit them. I enjoyed the characters designs except for P-ko’s, which I thought differed too much, and whilst looking cute, her appearance was too heavy on the eyes in terms of colour choice. The choice to design the Chief as a humanoid over more towards an actual Kappa was the winning design for me.
Opening Sequence #1
Venus to Jesus by Etsuko Yakushimaru
As this series mostly takes place alongside a riverbank, this is an appropriate form of animation to use in this sequence, but i am not entirely sold on it. The song Venus to Jesus was one that I didn’t mind listening to, however it wasn’t as good as…..
Opening Sequence #2
Title Nante Jibun de Kangaenasai na
…. Opening Sequence #2 which was without a doubt the more enjoyable of the two. This opening was only shown in Episode 5 due to the arrival of Maria in the previous episode. I think this sequence is appealing in the same way that the opening for Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan was…. it had an upbeat tune to the song whilst having a sadistic style in the animation, this time with a mannequin version of Sister being the victim.
Ending Sequence
Sakasama Bridge by Suneohair
This ending sequence is above average in comparison to others, however the choice of song wasn’t that I would consider an enjoyable listen to, perhaps due to me contrasting it to the two opening sequences. The animation however was well designed, despite starting off bland.
The music within the series features an average variety of songs, however lacks that diversity that I would have liked. That being said, it was the style of music I was expecting (More simplistic and less over the top) and went well with the scenarios they were used in. In terms of voice acting, I still have not got much of a comparison list for Japanese dubs as I do English, but I think all the voice actors/actresses were appropriate for their role, with Hiroshi Kamiya (Durarara!!, Moon Phase) doing a great job at voicing Recruit.
In terms of extras, I think there is enough content in this set. The winning inclusion was the Art Book for the Premium Edition, which was more of a reference guide then anything else, featuring details of all the characters, interviews with the cast and staff and other bits and pieces that made this stand out. Also included on the disc were audio commentaries for most of the episodes between different voice cast members which whilst being in Japanese, were also very enjoyable. Also included were ten TV Spots which were a nice touch but unnecessary in my opinion.
For the packaging, the collection comes in a big hard-covered box for storage and features Nino on one side and Recruit on the other. Inside, alongside the artbooks are two slim DVD cases (Only see them in US anime titles – not too sure what type of case they are) which are designed only simply and inside each, consist of a Blu-ray and DVD copy of Disc 1 and Disc 2. Of course, I am unable to watch the Blu-ray copies due to region locks but the DVD’s are still of a suitable quality.
Finally, my personal opinion. Generally I enjoy storylines that have some structure to them, and it isn’t uncommon for me to occasionally doze off if it does not have that. However, there are times where I prefer a good ol’ comedic series, and this is a series I would highly recommend to anyone who wants to watch a series they can have a few good laughs at. Overall, an enjoyable watch and I hope that NIS America eventually releases the second season of it.
Just a quick note to my Australian readers. As noted at the top of this review, there is currently no distribution of this title in Australia. However, you are able to order the Premium Edition off the NIS America online store found HERE as they do offer shipping to Australia. Do note that the Blu-ray discs will not function on Australian Blu-ray players.
Final Score
Storyline/Character Development: A-
Design: B+
OP/ED Sequences: B+
Music/Voice Acting: B
Packaging/Extras: A
Personal Opinion: A
Overall Score: A-
