Arakawa Under the Bridge - Episode 11

Having moved fast to snap up construction rights for the area under the bridge, it's looking like the end of the road for the Ric and his handful of not-so new-found friends... even the under-bridge residents all appear to have given up their home without so much as a fight.


All, that is, apart from Nino, who point blank refuses to be budged from her current home - An impassioned plea which moves Kou into action against his father. His plan is a simple one, using his own powerful company to put in a rival bid for construction of the area in question; a bid that he's confident that he can win simply by catching his father and his firm unaware. Of course, given the psychological distance between father and son, it's perhaps understandable for Kou to underestimate his father, and indeed that's exactly what he's done, as come the end of the episode we find that his plan is already on decidedly shaky ground as contractors refuse to work with Kou's company against the Ichinomiya group. It appears as though there's only one option left... For Kou to speak to his father directly. But is he man enough for that challenge?

Despite the more "serious" (and I use the term loosely - This is Arakawa Under the Bridge after all) subject matter of this episode, thankfully there was still time to inject some madcap humour into the instalment, the highlight of which was easily the poor contractor who was mistaken for a returning Kou, only to be "greeted" with a combination of raw fish, a guitar solo from Star and a "massage" from Stella... A combo attack that I wouldn't wish upon anyone. The returning Takai was also on top form, if only for the mention of his new business cards that give his position as "more than the CEO's secretary, but not quite his daddy".

Away from the show's natural turn to humour, it was Nino who stole the show here, reminding us again of what an enigma she is - What exactly did she mean by saying "I don't want to be chased or pulled away any more"? There's a clear suggestion of Nino's history here, and it rears its head a few times this episode, but we still have no direct view of what that history is. This also puts a little further spin on her relationship with Kou - We see her evidently missing him throughout this instalment as he leaves the bridge to deal with business, yet at the same time she struggles to hold any real memory of him. Is it Kou that Nino loves, the fact that Kou is willing to fight for her place under the bridge, or simply the idea of having someone like Kou beside her? As ever, the simple folk of Arakawa Under the Bridge are proving to be anything but, and I can only wonder how many (if any) of these questions will be answered explicitly before the episode ends.