Monday 27 December 2010

Arakawa Under the Bridge x2 - Episode 12

This may be the penultimate episode of Arakawa Under the Bridge x2, but it still has no time to dally with Nino and company's forthcoming trip to Venus (or wherever the Hell they're actually going), instead going off at a complete tangent in the name of comedy; as expected from this series, arguably.

The tangent in question involves an idea of the Mayor's to play a "king game" between the residents under the bridge, with the winner getting to request a single "royal decree" which the other residents have to ensure comes true.  So begins an epic (and of course absurd) battle between all of the residents to see who can come out on top of the tree.


Despite some seemingly fierce competition, the preliminary round of the contest ends with a surprising winner, with P-ko claiming some impressive scalps by first targeting Jacqueline (taking Billy out of action in the process) before unintentionally putting paid to both Star and Ric's chances of progressing.  This sets her up for a far less savoury place in the ring next time around, up against the likes of Sister and Stella - it's okay though, only one weapon is allowed per competitor.  Come the end of the episode, only two are left standing, which means we have to wait until next week for the climax to this battle royale.  Hey, hang on a minute guys, what about Venus?

In fact, that question does hang over this entire episode somewhat - seriously, what about Venus?  I'm hoping there's at least some effort made to wrap up this all-important plot point next episode given the build-up that it's had, and it seems to odd to ignore it given the way the first series panned out and ended with so much time afforded to its major storyline in its final episodes.

Still, you can never be too sure exactly what Arakawa Under the Bridge intends to throw at us next, in this second series in particular, and putting that to one side there were a few big laughs to be had from this episode as it proved to be entertaining throughout.  Now, about that whole Venus trip thing...

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