Arakawa Under the Bridge

TL:DR Good comedy with fun characters but a weirdly serious ending that it a major departure from the tone of the rest of the serious that sours the end of the manga. I recommend this if you can ignore that - you don't come to gag manga for a great plot anyway. Story: 6/10 The manga is mostly episodic with each chapter being centred around a funny situation. There is some continuity with scenarios influenced by previous events. The manga slowly adds more characters and shows different sides of other characters so it never feels stale. Overall, it's a good comedy. Despite being tagged as romance on MAL, it'snot a particularly sappy manga, they don't expect any emotional scenes. There is a mystery around Nino that stays in the background for the most part until the end of the manga. After hundreds of chapters of being dumb fun, it decides to really dig into the mystery. The last 10% of the manga tries to be serious but also not that serious, it takes it self seriously enough that it's not funny but there's enough silliness that I can't get invested in it. It makes for a really weird tone where it feels like the author can't get away from the tone they've already set and it doesn't work. it's not a great ending, it comes a bit out of nowhere and it rushes through some super dramatic backstory that's only been hinted at until then. It's takes up a noticeable chunk of the manga and it sours the ending. However, I didn't really expect a great ending from a gag manga and that section is short enough that I don't think the ending ‘ruins’ the manga or anything. I mean, did you read the synopsis and expect Shakespeare? Characters: 8/10 All the the characters are likeable and have their own central gag. Kou is my favourite character. In any other manga, he would be a Mary Sue: the handsome, rich CEO of a successful company that's great at anything he applies himself to. And he's humbled down by being the only normal(ish) person surrounded by utter lunatics who don't care about any of that. It's great, Kou makes for a great straight man to everyone else. Everyone else has a completely different sense of ‘normal’ and a tenuous grasp on reality. Nino is convinced she's a Venusian and has about as good a grasp of earth norms as you'd expect from that fact. Hoshi is… actually pretty normal aside from wearing a mask all the time. He's also Kou's rival because he loves Nino. It's makes for a great dynamic where he keeps trying to win Nino's heart except she misinterprets or ignores any advances while butting heads with Kou. Sister is a warlike nun who sets booby traps around the riverside and is also a man. His super-dramatic backstory is often brought up for comedy and he's pretty fun. There is also mercifully few “eww man wearing girl clothes” jokes, as you'd usually expect from a crossdresser in a manga. Maria's is the most normal person here and her whole thing is being mean to everyone. It's great. The mayor is a guy who wears a costume and insists he's a kappa. Mostly he just comes up with reasons to do fun things. P-ko is someone who seems normal but we slowly learn is one of the most crazy person under the bridge. There are some other, more minor characters but I'll leave that for you to discover. Art Distinct, characters designs. Good art for comedy, nice reaction panels, art accentuates the craziness. Most backgrounds are bland white spaces or generic skies and some buildings. Overall: 7/10 Pretty good! Aside from the weirdly serious ending, I enjoyed myself when reading this manga. If you can ignore a late-stage tonal shift, then you'll enjoy yourself.

Chapter 1-5 spoilers* Arakawa under the bridge is a story about a high social status person who one day almost drowns. After having been saved by a girl, he promises to repay her by becoming her lover and so he suddenly starts living under a bridge with a group of very bizarre people, including his lover who claims she's from Venus. Just with this premise, it kinda seems like shit but don't be fooled. It's a very good seinen manga with a lot of comedy (if you're into this type of random comedy). All the characters, behind their bizarre personalities and appearances have hidden backstories which youlearn more about as the story goes on. Their sanctuary, their place of comfort is under the bridge. The whole mystery is developed really well and each person has their own unique past and demons, especially our MC's lover, but... As the story goes on, about halfway through the story, it's as if the author had no clue what genre she wanted this manga to be. Whether she wanted this to be seinen, mystery, or just comedy or sci-fi. It ended up being a pretty big mess, which is a pretty shame since this manga could've been a really huge masterpiece