Arakawa Under the Bridge

For discussion of Arakawa Under The Bridge. I think it's alright to leave this open to anime and manga, since the two seem to be pretty similar.

Anyone else watching BridgexBridge?

Best part this episode: Godzilla size Nino-san shooting laser beams on a giant horse to destroy the world, all with a giant snot bubble hanging out of her nose.

I don't like the new OP as much as Venus and Jesus, but it might grow on me. The new ED is very pretty, but the song is eh.

...bump?

I love Arakawa, I think it's hilarious. I enjoy how the secretary seems to be descending into the same kind of insanity that the other residents cultivate permanently.

Nobody can survive more than five minutes under the Arakawa bridge with their sanity intact. (Although an argument could be made whether they were sane to begin with...)

I love how this second season seems to have a much stronger (if loose) wider plot, with the exploration of Nino's origins. Whatever the actual answer is, the journey there is fun.

For some reason I found it strangely plausible that a manga artist who grew disenchanted with his own work would eventually reach a point where he would freak out and hide under a bridge to avoid having to draw more of it. Even more predictable was the reaction from his fans when he finally got his wish to make the story he wanted.

Also...poor Ric. He went from Alpha Male to shoujo heroine in the span of one season.

The shoujo heroine parts just killed me. Absolutely. Killed me. That's what happens if you go near Arakawa Bridge, kids.

Star had the same kind of backstory as the manga artist, right? He came to the bridge because there he was free to sing the songs that he wanted to sing (even though they suck). I really enjoy the wacky, crazy, nonsensical humor that the series has, and I love how much of a Cloud Cuckoo Land Arakawa Bridge is, but I also love the moments where you discover bits and pieces of the characters' backstories and hints of what drove them to varying degrees of batshit crazy.

Episode x2 #8 : Uh ? While this was pretty funny, and I'm all for more opportunities for Yuu Kobayashi to show off her new voice tricks, this really felt like it should have happened three or four episodes ago, before the whole "go and see Nino's parents" subplot started. Nonlinear storytelling can be fine when done right, but this is really hurting the plot's momentum.

edited 26th Nov '10 1:15:26 AM by Jhiday

So...are those groupies of the Amazoness actual tengu and not just weird dudes with bikini tops and masks?

They're actual tengu in the same way Mayor is an actual Kappa, probably.

So, um, I just watched the first episode of this while extremely sleep-deprived. Is this show actually that weird, or was I just hallucinating or something?

It's a comedic manga that was adapted into an anime by Shaft & Shinbo. If you were somewhat sleep-deprived, the weirdness would probably be amped Up To Eleven.

edited 29th Nov '10 7:36:51 PM by DocHaus

Yes, it IS that weird.

Episode 10...who likes short shorts? The men really like short shorts in this one, especially the midriff-baring shoujo!Ric.

Well, I'm behind on this show, but-

midriff-baring shoujo!Ric.

GETTING CAUGHT UP. THIS WEEKEND.

I am incredibly creeped out by body-builder-buff Iron Bros. In a funny way.

Episode 10 was hilarious. This anime just keeps getting stranger and stranger...

The new opening creeps me out to no end. -shudder-

Shoujo!Ric never fails to make me laugh. "Aaaah, Indirect Kiss!"

WHY DIDN'T THEY MAKE THE MIDRIFF-BARING TEE RIC'S PERMANENT COSTUME?! WHHHYYYYY

Also, tsundere!Amazoness is tsundere ROFL

Always good to see the boys acting like schoolgirls again. Also

Amazoness has the rocket they're going to take to Venus?? Since when.... Come to think of it, they showed her with it at the end of the first season, didn't they? Wow.

EDIT: Yup, just checked, and there it is. Man.

edited 18th Dec '10 2:52:30 PM by YamiiDenryuu

You know, Pair the Spares should be a highly offensive trope...

And yet here it works, somehow. Eh.

The best parts of the series is when the boys act like schoolgirls. I want to see more shoujo!Sister.

Now all we need is for Billy to do it as well for the entire show to be complete.

edited 18th Dec '10 4:05:32 PM by Anarchy