I'm in "Arakawa Under the Bridge" mode lately, and it so happened that it had several adaptations and I checked them all out, so I'm gonna be considering it as a Fandom Blurb.
Arakawa Under the Bridge
of Shaft; Originally By Hikaru Nakamura; Directed By Akiyuki Shinobu
Kou: You have saved my life. I always repay to all people I'm indebted to. What do you want me to do?
Nino: Live close to me.
Kou: Okay... and you are... ?
Nino: I'm a Venusian. But you can call me "Nino".
Kou: ....Venusian?
Nino: Yes.
Kou: ......
Nino: But I get along with you, Earthlings, just fine. Don't worry.
Kou: ..........................
| SETTING: Under the Bridge. Contemporary. ELEMENTS: Venus. Debt. Weird. Fish. Sister. Kappa. Samurai. Yakuza. River. Star. Work. GENRE: Comedy. Romance. DEMOGRAPHIC: Seinen. |  RATING: B+ (IMPRESSIVE!)  FAVORITISM: 4 Hearts ---> ADORATION |
At first I thought that it was too weird for me, but after reading more I've realized how impressive it actually is underneath the silliness. It makes you wonder what's really "normal" and "common sense". It's a social commentary that deals with quite a number of psychological/ethical/moral issues as well. Though they're presented in extremely absurd ways, they had somehow reflected reality. There's genius behind the nonsense if you think outside the box; I like that.
Besides, it had been very entertaining. Moreover, I seldom see character development on gag manga, so I'm happy that even a little, the characters here had a chance to shine (even if they're a little late).
My favorite's the love story. (Unfortunately I torture myself in shipping non-mushy pairings *mopes in a corner*) It's more acceptable for me if the main couple's so ignorant about love if they're that weird and idiotic, haha! Besides, they're really cute and sweet~ Roc x Nino and Sister x Maria forevah =3
 Arakawa Under the Bridge (Season 1) A-4.5 Hearts | ANIME The first few chapters of the manga weirded me out, but watching the whole first episode of the first season was what finally drew me into this series (which covered more than the chapters I've initially read). I like the directing. I'm fine with majority of the changes in the anime. I like the opening and ending themes of the first season more though. I also like the first season more in general. That one had better more story and character development. There was more romance and drama, but the second season focused more on just comedy and action. |  Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge (Season 2) B4 Hearts |
Ric x Nino!!! Oh so sweet~ YAAAAY!!!
Alright, what actually got me hyper to this series lately is... the....
LIVE ACTION DRAMA
FAVORITISM: 4 Hearts ---> ADORATIONOnly three episodes out at the moment. I'm fine with the changes so far; the story narration's somehow improved even (the minor characters weren't left out but were introduced as early as episode 2). Some additions seem a little cliche, but I think those will help in speeding up character development so I think they're okay.
("I want to be with Nino forever" [AniManga] to "I only want Nino" [LiveAction Drama].... squeee xD)
Too bad it isn't as wacky as the animanga counterparts though... but the original's weird enough so the drama's would be able to grasp its insane genius, haha. Besides, it looks like there's going to be more romance in the drama (which most live-action adaptations usually do) and I totally want that *_* Fufufufu~
(Feel Maria's power. Haha. Poor Sister~)
CG's pretty lame though. The dance in the ed theme bores the hell out of me (if seen more than twice). And I don't like the summaries and the Kappa's intermissions . They're freakin' long =_= I don't hate Kappa, but too much of him doing recap is getting annoying. But the part of Ric calling him by his actor's name was pretty amusing xD Oguri Shun seems so popular... for a popular actor to be casted as a mascot character... so fun, haha.
(More weird poses please xD)
I'm loving the live action drama so far. I'm not that impressed with the directing (lacks insanity!!! xD) but storytelling seems pretty good. Actors did okay... I just wish Ric had been more overreacting xD (Not enough screaming... and not as amusingl as Kamiya Hiroshi voices Ric, bwahahaha!) I hope they lessen the episode intros, trivia notes (too texty), and the music video-ish scenes.. but the background tracks were great~ Heck, even Hoshi's supposedly epic fail songs sound cool, haha!
