Arakawa Under the Bridge

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Does some things right. Very unique style of comedy that may not be for everyone, but I liked it enough. Interesting enough characters. Issue for me was the end. Throughout course of the manga there were hints of a much more sinister reality underneath the cheery facade. Unfortunately this whole plotline which makes up most of the final volume was rushed, underdeveloped, tonally confusing due to the lack of isolation from the comedy parts and lack of development, and thematically dry. Not a lot of good character development takes place and the ending leaves a lot of loose ends and dissatisfaction. Some people might say ... it adds to the surreal appeal but for me it just left a sour taste in my mouth. I would have enjoyed this manga much more if they made it a pure wacky slice of life comedy instead of halfassing some overarching plotline. I'll give it a seven for the good times I did have with it

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 you ... learn 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

Every gag series runs the risk of devolving into pure "Lolrandom" territory, where the dialogue is less a means to set up, then tell, jokes, and more a means of dazzling you into thinking something's happened in the story. I've braved through hundreds of these short chapters, trying to crack a smile as best I can, but I can confidently say that this is all pointless bullshit. Sometimes, rarely, they'll tell a funny joke, or do a funny gag, but most of the manga is basically a series of random noises and gags ostensibly tied together by the setting. The key to figuring out when ... your gag manga's gone too far is when your characters don't so much talk TO each other, but rather AT each other, and this one does that for dozens of chapters at a time.