Review of Arakawa Under the Bridge

The setting and characters are displaced from reality but still very likeable - there’s Nino, girl in a windbreaker who thinks she’s from Venus, there’s Hoshi, (literally meaning star) a man that covers his head with a plush star mask infatuated with the Nino and love rival to the MC, and the MC, Kou Ichinomiya who is heir to a large corporation and as early as when he was just a grade schooler was taught by his father (in ridiculous fashion) to never owe anything to anyone through his father dressing up as a baby and making Kou take care of him. The animation isreminiscent of Bakemonogatari and the music has a very indie artist feel. The art is the usual anime style but with occasional flourishes of color and pop art cuts with the main characters.

The anime is about the characters under the bridge interacting with one another, usually with Kou playing the straight-man within the interaction or being teased. Other than that, not much actually happens in terms of a plot or characterization. There might be little hints here and there of the characters and what they are doing under the bridge but mainly not much happens. I could definitely see this being a problem for someone that really wants a plot or experience a story. However, that's not what this anime is for. This anime is for when you don’t want to think about stuff like school, work, personal problems, or atrocities that happen to people all the time and just want to unwind. For that purpose, I find it's perfect.