Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge – 05

Manga! Gangster birds! Ninohei! Killer bee armies!

As shows start to reach the halfway mark, we really seem to be getting a lot of awesome episodes. It’s like everyone decided “let’s give them something good so they’ll want to watch it to the end” all of a sudden. Not sure why I’m saying this when Arakawa is awesome EVERY week and still isn’t at the halfway point just yet, but…I did. IT’S TOO LATE NOW.

It seems all of Ric’s happy moments never go uninterrupted. Waking up to a strange man in your bed is never a good thing (well, for some of us, at least). Ric freaks out as he finds Captain curled up in his bed, and quickly brings him to the Mayor. Although he initially wants to see if the guy can survive for a month before naming him, he’s easily swayed by Captain’s doujinshi. Well, that was easy.

Yaoi? In MY Arakawa?

He draws a doujinshi about everyone, casting them all in a super positive light so that they’ll like it. Too bad he made Ric look like a bum and didn’t even bother to draw Nino one. After all the commotion, Ric is calm enough to notice the level of detail and talent put into these gifts, and begins to suspect him of being a professional manga artist. Fueled by his desire to blackmail him with the secret of his pro manga life, Ric tries to trick Captain into revealing his pen name. This is one of the few situations where Ric actually manages to outsmart a crazy person. He has learned well.

Ric ‘googols’ the name Potato chip Kuwabara to get a better look at the guy. He is a moe manga artist whose latest work was some Peanut Twin thing. Is this insinuating that moe anime is becoming too tasteless? Anyways, Ric goes to Sister to complain about Captain’s odd fixation on Nino, only to find him being treated like a first class guest as he draws his manga. Too bad they’re taking good care of our manga-ka at the Church…

That doesn’t look like a very comfortable drawing position

Bakuman is just so good, it’s leaked into Arakawa now. Nino puts Takagi and Saiko to shame with her mad manga skills, making weeaboos everywhere cry at their inability to effortlessly create such genius art. Nino wins, you lose, we can all give up drawing forever.

NINOHEIIIII

Ric decides to reveal Captain’s secret right away, starting off by asking him why he escaped from his manga drawing life…to draw more manga. This is supposed to be where he draws whatever he wants, not just things to please the audience – but now he’s doing that even more to please the mayor, P-ko, Ric…etc. It’s a nice little revelation, actually. Following the tails of that serious note is Captain’s editor, begging him to come back and draw whatever he wants to. We have a dramatic Mayor moment, and we’re good to go!

…I forgot how tall Sister was @_@

Now that Captain realizes his home isn’t under the bridge, he creates his manga masterpiece!!! Much like his wild interpretation of Venusian Nino, his manga is yet another crazy alternate universe, sci-fi Arakawa. Everyone is fighting against Nino, the Queen of Venus (hey, how did he know that?). The highlight of it all? Sister as a woman with a man-woman voice. SISTER WITH BOOBS. THAT IS ALL.

Whew, no more Captain. Here I was thinking we’d be getting a Hoshi chasing after Nino episode when it opened up with Hoshi making up lame anniversaries for Nino. I was wrong, as the theme quickly shifted to Billy and Jacqueline’s anniversary. Once we learn the truth that Billy rescued Jacqueline from her hive, fighting off an army of killer bees, how could you NOT go and spy on them? It’s for the sake of learning about looooove~

Everyone is hiding behind a bush (convenient things, those bushes, when one wants to do some spying) to watch Jacqueline waiting all alone. Just when P-ko comments on how she’s waiting so patiently, like a true lady, she snaps and practically crushes a bird’s ribcage. She then proceeds to hit a hive, and talk to the swarm of angry insects as if they were her ex-lover. Of course, they’re bees, and don’t know what this crazy lady is talking about, so they proceed to assault her.

STOP UNDRESSING ME WITH YOUR COMPOUND EYES

While Jacqueline is convinced Billy will come and save her, it’s Ric and Hoshi who jump in to ward off the bees. Sister suddenly appears with bad news (which P-ko takes the wrong way. P-ko, stop trying to act all pure.) and a character who looks like Billy, but with a sparrow head. (Actually, I think it’s a swallow, but whatever)

Sparrowman sobs about his aniki being surrounded by hundreds of mafia birds, and how he’s about to get killed. Ric is surprised that Billy was a famous mobster, but I think everyone else kind of automatically assumed it. What with the suit, guns, and everything. Nonetheless, Billy is now officially pretty badass.

It turns out the mafia is after him for going after their boss’s woman….who is none other than Jacqueline herself. she whips out a kimono, giving a speech about using her sting to kill the boss in order to give up her life for Billy. This is where Billy staggers in, ragged but proud, with his overly-romantic one-liners. He settled everything with the godfather, at the expense of having his wings clipped, and now everyone is happy. Except for Sparrowdude, whose life mirrors Takai’s now. Awww, poor guy.

The gag contest is basically everyone making fun of Kamiya Hiroshi’s really good “WTF!!!!” cry of despair he always does. Maya Sakamoto imitating Kamiyan? 8D SO GOOD!!! Sister was actually very good, I was so proud of him lol. Don’t forget to watch this after the ending (especially if you’re like me and tend to skip the ED and preview).

How to Draw Manga:

Step 1: create a lovable loser as your main character

Step 2: add in something badass to keep the audience interested

Step 3: get rejected by your editor

Step 4: give up and draw yaoi doujin

End Thoughts: Did anyone else feel like Captain acted a lot different than he did in the first episode he appeared in? He just seemed like a really mousey doujin artist, as opposed to the brash young man who shouted accusations at Nino when he first woke up. It was weird to see him so…normal. His fidgeting was cute and all, but with a personality like that in ARAKAWA, he might as well be wallpaper. Not even nice wallpaper, just the kind they put in waiting rooms. His segment was, as a result, not as exciting except for his manga masterpiece. This really has me worrying about these new characters.

I actually really like Jacqueline and Billy, so a segment dedicated to them is always welcome. At first, I expected an ordinary anniversary thing. I never learn do I? I should’ve known Billy would be a mobster and that Jacqueline was…was…wow. I can’t say the backstories fleshed out the characters, because they were just RIDICULOUS, but they certainly made me see them in another light. @_@

While this episode wasn’t terribly LOL worthy, it was still wacky and caught me off-guard a lot. It was just a fun little episode giving some attention to the new and lesser-known characters. Plus, more Sister in an outrageously androgynous situation is always welcome. ALWAYS.

About Overcooled

A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.