First Look: Arakawa Under the Bridge

Title: Arakawa Under the Bridge Genre: Romance, Comedy

Summary: The story is about the strange courtship of a successful executive in life called Kou and a mysterious woman called Nino who lives under a bridge. It all begins when Kou almost drowns in a river but is saved by Nino. For saving his life, Kou fulfills Nino's desire to have a boyfriend. Thus, Kou becomes her boyfriend, but has to live with her under the bridge...

First Look: Arakawa Under the Bridge is probably my most looked forward to anime out this season. The comedy and story are refreshing, and the strange personalities of all the characters brings a whole new game to anime. I couldn’t help but remember Bakemonogatari, a twisted comedy with a little ‘romance’. Although this anime has a much lighter atmosphere, the sudden change of scenes and tricky to follow dialogue really brought back memories. I hate to compare anime, but for anyone who is a fan of random/strange comedy with a confusing romance story than you will fall in love with this anime. The soundtrack and opening match the puzzling anime perfectly. I enjoyed watching random scenes of fish floating across the screen, or Nino diving into pink water, all with a catchy song playing in the background. The art style doesn’t quite compare to some of the animes I have watched, but it isn’t too bad either. I can actually see this as a plus side. Considering quite a bit of funding is focused toward art, a simplistic design may actually allow the producers to FINISH this series. Plus the completely different designs for each character is a unique art style within itself.

Final statements: As I stated before Arakawa Under the Bridge is my most looked forward to anime this season, so it is obvious that I will have it on watch. Hopefully the comedy and strange circumstances keep rolling, can’t wait!