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REVIEW: Arakawa Under the Bridge DVD/Blu-Ray


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johnmora



Joined: 18 Dec 2006
Posts: 74
PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:46 pm Reply with quote
At the very least, thank you for calling out the series for its irresponsible perspective on homelessness. As someone that has actually worked with the homeless, it's grating to see something try to make light of a very serious social phenomenon.
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Sanosuke_Inara



Joined: 23 Nov 2009
Posts: 1662
PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 7:43 pm Reply with quote
Good to see that the show nailed such a positive review. I've never actually seen it, but it looks like a fun enough--albeit weird as hell--series. I'll probably end up picking it up eventually, though I don't know if I'll spring for the Premium Edition.

I did, however, shell out for their other recent release, the Volume 1 PE of Katanagatari, which is gorgeous in both packaging and blu-ray quality. Finished it earlier today and am now seriously anticipating the 2nd volume in Sept.--overall, the show's great so far.Cool

Hope a review goes up for it soon.
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here-and-faraway



Joined: 21 Jun 2007
Posts: 1528
Location: Sunny California
PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:03 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
From a purely stylistic standpoint this is one of Shinbo's most successful works, not just because his penchant for visual excess finds its match in the series' own excesses or because that peculiar jumpy rhythm of his is a perfect fit for the manga's short chapters (faithfully reproduced here, complete with sub-titles), but because it all serves a higher purpose than stylistic masturbation.


I've read some reviews which criticize the show's "cheap" look, which kind of irked me because I found the visuals to be quiet appropriate and striking. Also, thanks for pointing out the bugs in the Blu Ray. I couldn't figure out if it was just me or the disc.

Although not a masterpiece, to me, this is a fun little show which was worth the price of admission. I hope NIS releases season 2.
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potatochobit



Joined: 26 Aug 2009
Posts: 1373
Location: TEXAS
PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:16 pm Reply with quote
I am very tempted to buy this series just because it was released on bluray.

I want NIS to do well, but I am just not sure about their business model.
I refuse to touch toradora or waganaria even though I enjoy those series.
I love the extras they have included with the releases but as a matter of policy, I do not buy downscaled anime on DVD. the end. well, unless it's on clearance or a budget thin pack or originally aired in SD, of course.

arakawa is a weird show and though I love comedy it didn't appeal to me last year for whatever reason. But now I think it is a great time to give it a second look. I do not like the funimation esque part 1 and 2 releases, but if it helps get the price down some it's understandable. We all want affordable anime but we all want to support the creators as well.

oh, that reminds me, I still need to order sakura wars for the Wii from NIS but for some reason I just cant bring myself to take the Wii out of the closet... maybe when the new zelda comes out.
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ss-hikaru



Joined: 16 Nov 2010
Posts: 269
Location: Western Australia
PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:46 pm Reply with quote
I forgot that this was picked up! Those NinoxRic/Rec moments are really touching... I think I'll wait for the standard edition though, not such a big fan that I'd want the premium edition and all it's extras, especially since it probably won't fit on my shelf -_-

I haven't really been interested in any NIS titles so far, but I hope they do well.
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wyntre_rose



Joined: 16 Aug 2009
Posts: 111
PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 10:45 pm Reply with quote
Are the commentaries extras on both DVDs and Blu Rays? Since I don't personally have a Blu Ray player - yet, working on it - I'll be a very sad panda if I can't listen to them on the DVDs. It's what I've been looking forward to the most about this release.
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chrisb
Subscriber



Joined: 07 May 2006
Posts: 617
Location: USA
PostPosted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 3:02 am Reply with quote
Are all NIS anime releases this expensive?! Nozomi has similar extras and their releases are nowhere near this pricey.
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CCSYueh



Joined: 03 Jul 2004
Posts: 2707
Location: San Diego, CA
PostPosted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 4:47 am Reply with quote
wyntre_rose wrote:
Are the commentaries extras on both DVDs and Blu Rays? Since I don't personally have a Blu Ray player - yet, working on it - I'll be a very sad panda if I can't listen to them on the DVDs. It's what I've been looking forward to the most about this release.

I've finished the first disc & there are 6 commentaries on the 7 eps on the dvd (2 each for the 3 sets of 3 commentators. Nino/Rec/Chief have 1&2. Rec/Hoshi/Music Company guy on 3&4, & Sister/Stella/Maria on 5&7. I thought Koyasu's group had the best rapport on the commentaries.) & I'm watching the dvds since I don't have a blu ray in my room yet & didn't feel like stealing my daughter's PS3 while she raided on WoW Sunday evening.
But that also meant with all the reading, I could only take commentaries on one day & had to put off the show until the next day (I always listen to commentaries first since they often point out little things & I really don't mind spoilers. With a show like this, there really isn't spoilers. I think I appreciated Maria's song a bit more after listening to the comments on it. And in the date commentary, they point out the Chief watching from the river.)
johnmora wrote:
At the very least, thank you for calling out the series for its irresponsible perspective on homelessness. As someone that has actually worked with the homeless, it's grating to see something try to make light of a very serious social phenomenon.

I assumed the review writer is maybe unfamiliar with homeless populations because I sure recognised some mental disorders involved. Whitey's white lines sounds like Obsessive/Compulsive. The guys with the masks also possibly have issues. Chief staying in the water all that time & being devoted to his story of being a Kappa certainly sounds like a person refusing to accept his regular life & creating a more exotic one. The 2 kids (Tetsuo & Tetsura? Too lazy to look up at this moment) most definitely seem to cling pretty hard to their fantasy. In fact, it's Ko's reaction to them that they aren't mentally ill but normal people faking it is very typical of the masses reaction to homeless people. I've heard people insist my mentally ill clients have nothing wrong with them when I can tell there's an issue. Maria, Stella & P-Ko have the greatest chance of the characters we've gotten to know in the first 7 eps of being "normal", but Nino certainly seems to be avoiding something in her past. She might actually be a Venusian, but there's also a strong argument she's created an exotic past to cover something she doesn't want to deal with.
But heaven knows Hollywood has had its share of fun with the mentally ill. (Dream Team comes to mind).
chrisb wrote:
Are all NIS anime releases this expensive?! Nozomi has similar extras and their releases are nowhere near this pricey.

Nozomi has no listing under Blu-Ray Discs by Publisher at TRSI.
Funi wants $75 for a Blu-ray/DVD set of Casshern Sins. Dance in the Vampire Bund & Baka & Test are both priced at $65 for a "regular" Blu-Ray/DVD set & $70 for the premium set with the "premium" being the chipboard box it comes in.
NIS dvd sets seem to pretty much run $60, but their going price seems to be around $44. The issue comes down to do you want the fricken anime? I'm not buying a title I don't want just because it's cheaper than one I do. The sets I have for Arakawa & Persona are as nice in their way as the TRSI sets I have for Rental Magica, Antique Bakery & Junjyo Romantica, but the issue is I WANT those titles, just as I plan to acquire Pandora Hearts sometime soon. I paid $45.44 for this set strategically combining Got Anime coupons & discount & I fully expect to enjoy it more than Baka & Test which I ordered for $35.09 for the regular Blu-ray/dvd set
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23770
PostPosted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 5:43 am Reply with quote
johnmora wrote:
At the very least, thank you for calling out the series for its irresponsible perspective on homelessness. As someone that has actually worked with the homeless, it's grating to see something try to make light of a very serious social phenomenon.


Rolling Eyes What a nauseating piece of politically correct claptrap. But yeah, you can pretty much count on Carl to ring that bell every time. It's one of his greatest weaknesses as a reviewer.
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v1cious



Joined: 31 Dec 2002
Posts: 6202
Location: Houston, TX
PostPosted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 10:07 am Reply with quote
johnmora wrote:
At the very least, thank you for calling out the series for its irresponsible perspective on homelessness. As someone that has actually worked with the homeless, it's grating to see something try to make light of a very serious social phenomenon.


I never really got the impression the characters were homeless, they just seemed like a bunch of eccentrics living off the land. Kind of like a commune.
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wyntre_rose



Joined: 16 Aug 2009
Posts: 111
PostPosted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 10:50 am Reply with quote
CCSYueh wrote:

I've finished the first disc & there are 6 commentaries on the 7 eps on the dvd (2 each for the 3 sets of 3 commentators. Nino/Rec/Chief have 1&2. Rec/Hoshi/Music Company guy on 3&4, & Sister/Stella/Maria on 5&7. I thought Koyasu's group had the best rapport on the commentaries.) & I'm watching the dvds since I don't have a blu ray in my room yet & didn't feel like stealing my daughter's PS3 while she raided on WoW Sunday evening.


Perfect! Thanks so much! Very Happy
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Penguin_Factory



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 732
Location: Ireland
PostPosted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 1:44 pm Reply with quote
I don't have any interest in this series, but I just wanted to say that that's some really appealing boxart.
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bravetailor



Joined: 30 May 2009
Posts: 817
PostPosted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 2:53 pm Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
johnmora wrote:
At the very least, thank you for calling out the series for its irresponsible perspective on homelessness. As someone that has actually worked with the homeless, it's grating to see something try to make light of a very serious social phenomenon.


Rolling Eyes What a nauseating piece of politically correct claptrap. But yeah, you can pretty much count on Carl to ring that bell every time. It's one of his greatest weaknesses as a reviewer.


To be fair, he (Carl, that is, not the posters here) was simply noting that the series indulges in a sort of fantasy realism so it didn't sound like he was holding it against them. Though calling it "irresponsible" may have colored it like he did.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23770
PostPosted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 3:10 pm Reply with quote
Ah, I see. I just skimmed the review myself so I sort of assumed the poster I quoted at least was characterizing Carl's point accurately. My bad. It seemed quite plausible considering that Carl went apeshit on Death Note because he felt the creators were implying it was okay to kill convicts and a lot of crime is caused by things like poverty.
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kamanashi



Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Posts: 65
PostPosted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 5:51 pm Reply with quote
I switched to the DVD version since the subs on the BD version were rather small and were hard to read for me. I really wish I could watch it on BD without having a hard time reading it.
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