Forum - View topicArakawa Under the Bridge (both seasons) (TV).
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ninjapet
 Posts: 1517 |
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I found episode to be just "meh" for me.
The animation was great (unlike some of Shaft's other broadcast copies of shows) I enjoyed the voice acting a lot, so if anything I will keep watching for that alone. I mean everything was easy to follow, nothing crazy like in Zetsbou Sensei with half the jokes flashing before your eyes and you don't take notice. Over all I just found it kind of boring for me, then again a lot of shows are boring in there first episode. I'll just have to see how Shaft decides to handle this one once they have a opening and ending in place in a few episodes. |
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Miranox
 Posts: 247 Location: Montreal, Canada |
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Not bad for a first episode. The premise is creative. Although this type of show isn't really my cup of tea I'll give it a shot.
Would be funny if the blond girl really did come from Venus but I doubt it since this show is leaning more towards romance than sci-fi. Though if she was from Venus she would be freezing since it's over 400 degrees Celsius there, not to mention the atmosphere is full of sulfur and 90 times thicker. Oops, I forgot to turn off astronomy geek mode. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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I enjoyed the first episode. It was completely Out There, but you have to just accept things, otherwise you'll be going "WTF WTF WTF" all the time. I do appreciate that all the jokes were easy to follow and yet quite humourous.
The two lead Seiyuu for the show are quite accomplished I see. Hiroshi Kamiya seems to be getting a lot of work lately; Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (both seasons), Kobato., Bakemonogatari, Angel Beats, and of course Arakawa Under the Bridge. Maaya Sakamoto has had a few big roles, plus she's done a a number of theme songs as well. I confess that I am finding it a little hard to reconcile her almost deadpan delivery as Nino with some of the awesome songs she's sung. I mean, I never would have thought until I visited the Encyclopedia just now that she was the singer of Hemisphere (RahXephon's OP). I guess that's versatility to you.
Maybe in the final couple of episodes there might be some actual romance, but this show looks like a wacky and random Comedy through and through. An actual plot or romance is of secondary concern. |
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Kevin R
 Posts: 10 |
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I liked the OP in this second episode, i dont know if i didn't notice it or if it wasn't there in the first but i saw it now and it was cool.
spoiler[He screamed, that was hilarious! And there was a bit of a hint of romance in this one.] |
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Mister V
 Posts: 1000 |
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To borrow an old British expression - great jumping mackerel! I thought I had the wrong show for a minute. This looks like it was straight out of shojo
 Unexpected, but not bad. It does look like the
Their usual comedy style is sometimes getting on my nerves. It was great in SZS, but there's a time and place for everything. That said, I do like the romance part. But I don't buy the old crazy-people-going-against-crazy-world theme. But then the seiyuu are great... This show's definitely perplexing. |
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Spastic Minnow
 Bargain HunterExempt from Grammar Rules  Posts: 4620 Location: Gainesville, FL |
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The problem with Arakawa in its first two episodes is it's singular character focus.
The guy doesn't meet characters so much as get's accosted by their presence. The part that had the potential to be good in this second episode was when he tried to talk to Nino. We almost got to know something about her, not if she's really a Venusian but if she's lonely, if she actually likes him for some reason, whether she wants to talk to him. Instead, little dialogue, everything that went on, went on in his head and it went nowhere. I said earlier that the show reminds me of Cromartie High School. It still does but so far it is all "Kamiyama" and nothing of his friends. It's Cromartie if all Kamiyama did was wander around and find characters like Freddy or the Gorilla. You can't talk to the Gorrila, it's just "OMG! it's a Gorilla!" It's weird, it's funny but it doesn't go anywhere without a cohort like Hayashida for him to play off of. Or at least the characters have to have a personally instead of a small list of quirks and an odd appearance. To compare it with the m ore recent Zetsubou-Sensei, the weirdos also need to think for themselves, they have to have a real opinion about the main character and have to have a reason to be around him. He needs a chort, someone to hang with even if the guy is a weirdo. So, until our hero can actually talk to and relate to Nino or the mayor, or he can find a "Hayashida" to help move a story along, the "OMG! GORILLA!" OMG A GUY IN NUN DRAG WITH GUNS!" approach isn't going to carry me beyond a couple more episodes. Hopefully this episode ends our general introduction period and we can move on. |
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ninjapet
Posts: 1517 |
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I haven't gotten a chance to see episode 2 yet (my internet has been cutting out randomly the past few days due to a hardware problem )
But I saw the opening and ending. Only took one episode to get the opening and ending in it. (surprising seeing as Shaft seems to take there time and tends to get it out 2/3 episodes in for some series ) Well the opening was quite, how do I put it? After seeing the Zan SZS OVD opening epicness that Shaft can bring to the table. I can only say it was like a colorful drug trip with out the health effects. The ending theme was peaceful I think, great use of showing off characters I think. |
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egoist
 Posts: 7762 |
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At first I thought the opening was quite weak - but then I remembered that it's always like this between Shaft and me. Major example is neko mimi mode, which actually took me three episodes to realize how adorable it was, after that I didn't miss a single opening. The ending sounds rather generic though.
Let's see; I heard bad things about the second episode, so I thought it'd be pretty bad. But then again, I suppose I just read some young fella's sharp tongue talking without his brain's aid, considering that the second episode had the same execution value as the first one(perhaps a little weaker, still). Second episode could do better with more Shiki, err, Venusian lady, I mean. Last week I nearly had a fever just thinking about her voice and how I miss it. Hurry up with the third episode! |
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tarheel91
 Posts: 128 |
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Goes nowhere? Apparently the massive changes the main character has been undergoing has completely escaped your notice. The introduction, exchange with the priest, etc. Everything is reshaping him. He comes from a world where one's background is very important. Thus, his heritage--his family's outlook on life--is essential to him, and he's constantly reminding everyone of his position at the top of society. The issue is that this society under a bridge doesn't care about such things. As he quickly learned, no one cares where you're from, only who you are. They accept people for who they are and respect them. They don't care that the sister has battle scars and is a man. If he wants to be a sister, he can be one. |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15513 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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I guess you are right, the focus is meant to be pretty much what his past was (how he was raised), and where he was heading (becoming like his father). But now with the bridge he is in a totally different world, right now he is mostly just observing others, as he is still pretty much the same person, but he is or will be changing little by little, for example that people do favours for others without wanting anything in return.
I have to say I found the Sister hilarious, it explains one of the strange pictures for the show. I found it pretty funny how spoiler[he asked if anyone had done anything bad, then said that since no one put their hand up they could go, the joke being he was going ti shoot anyone who put thier hand up. And how he was handing cookies out, reminds of the phrase "join the dark side and get a free cookie".] |
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Spastic Minnow
Bargain Hunter Exempt from Grammar Rules Posts: 4620 Location: Gainesville, FL |
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Well, I never actually said it "goes nowhere." When I say we need to move on I mean we need to move on from the introductions and get some real interaction. I might say it's "going too slow" but I didn't really say that either. I agree that he can't help but change, the thing about revealing who he is instead of what he has was good. But I wouldn't say it's a "massive change" either. He still resents his situation, he still considers everyone as unrelatable weirdos. The most he has become is civil and it's because he is forcing himself to be. Until he can relate to others and make friends so we get past the narrow focus of only his insecurities this show is going to continue to shed viewers. Eventually the goal is obviously to make him realize he can rely on others without being indebted to them. Well, that cannot be done without getting to know the other characters. More stuff like the hair washing scene please, but let us start to figure out the other characters too. Otherwise he will continue to be a conceited, selfish and boring character and the supporting cast will continue to be 800 pound gorillas. |
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Mister V
Posts: 1000 |
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Actually I thought that was a bit forced and predictable. Crazy people rejecting the values of the world above, the name change, and above all, him accepting it all without a second thought... As I said, I'm not a fan of the theme, but it might get better if some kind of actual plot is going to start at some moment in time (like, I dunno, a city renovation decree threatens to erase the crazies and the main character uses his contacts to stop it; again, somewhat predictable, but at least it'll move somewhat). Also, I'm sure that this is not the end of the introductions, we haven't seen a couple of other characters. |
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TatsuGero23
 Posts: 1277 Location: Sniper Island, USA (It's in your heart!) |
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I think I've said this about other series (massive case of deja vu right now) but something about this series just doesn't synch with me which is weird since I liked Pani Poni Dash, Negima?! and other series with similar styles of execution. I kind of lost interest half way through ep. 1 which is sad since I really like Maaya Sakamoto. I thought I recognized her voice. I have episode 2 right now, just haven't gotten to it yet. I might just stockpile this series and watch it when its all done.
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Eivion
Posts: 569 |
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Spastic Minnow, I see your point about there needing to be more interaction with other characters, but I think your being a bit hasty in your criticism as this was only the second episode and we only just introduced the rest of the crew.
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Spastic Minnow
Bargain Hunter Exempt from Grammar Rules Posts: 4620 Location: Gainesville, FL |
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On the contrary, I start off saying "The problem so far" and is only meant to be a judgment of what I have seen so far. and conclude if they don't fix it, it would be bad. I actually offered the criticism in part to encourage people to keep watching it. I probably reiterated my point too much and it seems over-harsh. But if you can explain to someone like TatsuGero23 that the reason it's not clicking is a problem in the introduction, there may be hope for them once it gets past it. It has potential. Judging this show too harshly on it's beginning may be like someone criticizing Azumanga Daioh's first episode for being too segmented and not cohesive or for Lucky Star for being simply one long stationary ramble about food. These shows fixed their early problems quickly, hopefully Arakawa will as well. On a side note, I'm actually a bit surprised to find that the show is based off of a manga and not a 4-koma. Alot of the gags certainly seem like they would fit that structure. |
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