Arakawa Under the Bridge - Episode 10

Health and safety is an important consideration of every-day life, even if you're living under a bridge somewhere - A fact which means that regular fire drills are a vital part of your education.

The trouble is, with someone like Sister around fire drills can become a rather more literal experience than you'd normally expect, leading in this case to Kou waking up to a blazing inferno virtually outside his window. Thankfully Sister has at least taken some precautions, but with the mayor more concerned with keeping himself fed and watered courtesy of Sister you get the feeling this blaze isn't going to be put out any time soon. It's only when the fire begins spreading that the Mayor really flings himself into action, although needless to say that isn't exactly much help either...


Heaven only knows how the fire is put out in the end, but extinguished it is... just in time for a visit from surveyors working for Ichinomiya Group who are looking into building on the land by the river - Kou's father isn't one to hang around, and thus his plan to show his son the error of his ways is delivered with both speed and force. Despite Kou's panic, nobody else seems too concerned about this state of affairs (at least it isn't nukes, right?), and it's only when a government official appears to start dishing out notices informing the residents under the bridge to leave that panic begins to set in, although not before Maria manages to teach said official some important lessons in "customer service".

As episodes of Arakawa Under the Bridge go, this wasn't the funniest instalment we've been treated to, but then again that's to be expected when plot progression takes a front seat for a large portion of the instalment. That said, Sister's concept of a fire drill alone was pretty amusing, although again even this concept wasn't perhaps explored to its fullest extent so that the episode could move on to the real meat of its story. Still, there were a few decent gags and one-liners in here, and we're now set up for a fascinating final few episodes as Kou is left needing to choose between his new friends and home and his father - It seems pretty obvious which way that decision is headed, so the big question is how can he take on his strict and able father?