As you might expect, much of the story is centered on the crazy bridge community and their random events. Want to see a “bee” and a “parrot” talk about love and adultery? Or find out who really is the strongest? Maybe you would like to see Hoshi being forced to be Kou’s new BFF? It’s all here.
Even with Kou trying to inject a dose of reality into his fellow bridge residents, he can’t help but be swept up in the others’ pace. But it’s not as if he’s solely being corrupted by everyone; we see at points he wants to be a part of the community, a part of a “family” since his was so messed up. I like how Kou isn’t always made to be the butt of the jokes in the manga, which means the Mayor and Sister have to wave their flags in defeat sometimes.
However, Arakawa Under the Bridge volume 3 also has to add main developments to the story. First is the addition of a new character: a manga artist-turned-Earth-defender. “Captain Red” hasn’t become an official member of the community, but Kou’s attempts to drive him away end up backfiring. Now the self-proclaimed Earth protector thinks he needs to defend the planet from Venusian invaders Kou and Nino. Combined with his preference for sci-fi epics versus the moe manga he is being forced to draw, the Captain has the makings of a fun, recurring character or permanent addition to the cast.
More importantly, Nino’s background is becoming a bigger part of the story, and it may be more than her being a space addict or longing for a magic-inclined lineage. Kou listens to a portion of Nino’s treasures, cassette tapes, addressed to the “beloved Venusian Queen”, and Nino gets uncharacteristically angry. Bigger clues emerge when Kou’s father’s secretary-slash-spy has trouble researching Nino’s background, and she confesses to Kou she will have to move soon. Considering Shimazaki receives a threat from a mysterious stranger, Nino’s story could be anything from a parent wanting their runaway child to return home to an international conspiracy. Nino’s extreme reactions to her past life also helps emphasize the slow shift in Kou from being a boyfriend out of obligation to truly wanting to support her. Arakawa Under the Bridge may be a comedy starring eccentric characters, but there is more than just a bucket of laughs here.
If there’s any downside, it’s that I wish there were more detailed translator’s notes, and that they were all gathered in one location. For the former, for instance, Hoshi misunderstands when Nino says she’ll be fine without stars, which, as many of you know, is “hoshi” in Japanese. The Crunchyroll version reminds readers of this with hoshi in brackets after the word star, but Vertical’s version feels more like a jump from not needing stars in the sky (or ex-celebrities) to not needing Hoshi, the star-mask guy.
When translator’s notes are needed, they’re as footnotes, and I would have loved to have everything in a normal-size font all together in one location. There are even some concepts that could have been elaborated on: a traumatized Kou mentions the “donut phenomenon”, which I assumed had something to do with money since I’ve never heard of it before. Well, Googling taught me there is an American equivalent: the doughnut effect. (Notice the difference in spelling.) A translator’s note would have not led me to jump from “donut phenomenon” in my search to “donut effect”, which included a definition and auto-complete suggestion that definitely was NOT what I was looking for.
Those complaints aside, Arakawa Under the Bridge is still awesome. Whether the next volume will focus more on Nino or feature more interactions between the riverside inhabitants, I don’t know, but I’m hoping it will be just as much fun as this one.