Tag: Arakawa Under the Bridge

2010: A Year of Great Openings

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When looking back at this year, I was struck by how many great openings came to mind so I thought,”hey, let’s call that out in a post!” And the way I see, to have a good opening you need a good song, good animation, and both of them need to fit together distinctly. When watching an opening, I’m looking for a feeling, it should set a tone and a pace for what I’m about to watch. I think openings can have a lot of power so I have to give props when they are done well.

A good opening draws you and sets a tone for the anime. It can be the vanguard and frontman for a series giving you your first impression of what the show is about and what mood you should be feeling when you watch. Plus the animation on the opening usually at least one level higher quality than anything in the show itself so most openings are a joy to watch. There are some exceptions to this rule but we are not here to talk about them today. Today we will discuss some of the best openings of 2010 and why they stand out.

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #091

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hisuiconNo matter how much Akiyuki Shinbo shows might feel like Akiyuki Shinbo shows you cannot mask the quirky trademark humor of Hikaru Nakamura in Arakawa Under the Bridge. I did notice after a while my enjoyment of segments really depended on which characters were in them. Scenes with Nino, Hoshi, Sister, Stella are usually excellent where as Maria and P-ko usually fall flat. Everyone else is hit and miss. I did notice in reflection Nino does not show up nearly as much as you think she would especially in the second half of the anime. I know some people found Kou annoying but I thought it was an excellent straight man to the rest of the cast. Episodes 10,11, and 12 have a story that has a decent conclusion with Kou having to confront his father over the development of the land under the bridge. There is a big confrontation with nothing really changed. But that is usually how you best deal with an ongoing comedy series like Arakawa. Also after episode 13 they announced a second season so they had to maintain the status quo. Overall I enjoyed every episode and always looked forward to watching the latest episode. Arakawa Under the Bridge is not as spectacular as Saint Young Men from what I have seen but always made me feel good after watching an episode. I hope the 2nd season can continue that feeling.

I had mixed feelings going into Arakawa Under the Bridge, while I thoroughly enjoy the humor of Hikaru Nakamura (also the manga-ka of Saint Young Men), Shinbo makes me wary. However, I found myself laughing heartily for most episodes and feeling an overall satisfaction with the show. The wacky premise of a colony of misfits living in a community under a bridge combined with the neurotic Kou joining their circle almost makes you feel at ease in the bizarre. Eventhough much of the humor relies on unexpectedness, the series has the ability to keep taking bigger leaps which allows for fresh moments to appear despite knowing characters’ schtick. Though some of the humor begins to fall flat at moments that rely too heavily on Kou being surprised. The first half is better than the second mostly because some of the resued jokes start to lose their luster and the later half deigns to tell us a semi-serious story which isn’t very compelling. The attempt to insert a plot to cap off the show was valiant but could have been better served by just bringing Kou and Nino closer together without all the rest. In fact, many episodes have just a moment of poignant brilliance (“We want to know who you are not what you have.”) which struck a better balance. The strange humor of Arakawa is certainly worth checking out even if it does ebb and flow at the end.

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Spring Roll: Spring 2010 Anime Guide

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And so the clouds parted and the moe besieged anime fans wept when the darkness cleared and they saw written on the sky: Not that much moe anime this season. The spring season as always has a whole slew of new shows but this year also has a wide variety. Moe is still around but it is equal partners with other types of shows. We easily picked out 13 shows to give a chance this season and did not break a sweat in choosing what we did. We only reviewed 11 shows in time for the preview but we will look at the remaining 2 shows in the Ongoing Investigations. I am not sure how many of the shows will live up to their first episodes but I was impressed how many started off very strong. Maybe just maybe anime will not die or stagnate into nothing but K-ON season 24: The Reunion Tour and The Retirement Plans of Haruhi Suzumiya.

To me each season means a new chance for anime to surprise me, though it does that all the time anyway, and a chance to grab things while they are hot. It also means that a few of the shows I had been watching wrapped up making some perfectly timed space for new goodies. It can’t be denied that it’s just plain fun to check out all the new stuff and in a way have to pare down what I’ll have time to watch on a weekly basis. I am happy to say that anime is back ladies and gentleman, and the spring is looking impressive indeed. As a reminder, we don’t review ongoing series or anything that we are more than likely not going to like.

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