Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge – 10

After ep9’s lacklustre offerings, ep10 in all its ridiculous glory was a joy.  It was nice that they remembered about Venus, and even if the tangent we were sent down had very little to do with progressing the plot, it was still a lot of fun!

First off though, we had a new OP – of the Kou worshiping, Takei variety!  I wish it had have been subbed, but I think I got the gist of things (well Takei has quite a limited field of interest, all revolving arround his beloved Kou-sama!).  Unfortunately this OP was probably a one-off, like the Maria OP from season one.

 

So with Sister’s declaration that Nino’s Venus bound rocket can only carry 500kg (roughly translated as 5 Sisters), the race is own for the other residents to lose some pounds to accommodate the muscle-bound crossdresser.  The results were hilarious – Arakawa was on top form this week for ridiculous humour……completely plotless and random, but lots of fun.

P-Ko suggests that she, Nino & Stella go on a ‘strawberry only’ crash diet – which predictably doesn’t really cause anything but problems for the girls.  Oh P-Ko, for a girl so obsessed with veggies, you sure don’t know the meaning of ‘healthy balanced diet’! Of course since the girls are all pretty svelte anyway, they don’t actually need to lose any weight – which just makes their suffering all the more pointless!

Ric in his infinite vanity decided to head to Jacqueline’s health spa in order to tone up his physique, and the Mayor tags along too since this is by far the most laid back method of weight loss (the Mayor is nothing if not lazy!).  The results are equal parts stunning and horrifying – the image of Ric in those micro shorts and cropped t-shirt is burned into my retinas!  He also seems to have been involved in some sort of glittery/bubble explosion given the sudden spike in bishie sparkles surrounding him…..however the most disturbing part is the posing – please don’t shimmy about like that Ric!  I loved P-ko’s reaction to Ric’s new look – it was part revulsion, part pure jealousy…..poor girl.

The other fellas end up drafted into Sister’s bootcamp, and end up weighing even more than they did before hand thanks to the extreme amount of muscle they put on!  I half died laughing when Hoshi, Last Samurai and the twins descended from the sky on ropes looking like rejects from a Schwarzenegger movie!  Sister could make a fortune marketing this bootcamp workout of terror – the results speak for themselves!

Of course Hoshi & Last Samurai quickly revert back to their usual forms when all that working out and clean living gets too boring for them.  One of the twins quickly gives up too, but the other one turns into a muscle nutjob and subscribes to the cult of the muscle…..much to everyone’s (except Sister) horror.

This being Arakawa everything quickly spirals out of control and takes off for some weird dimension where children shape-shifting into muscle-bound hulks is commonplace.  Sister is thrilled but Ric, Hoshi and Last Samurai just want to pretend its all a bad dream!  This entire segment was bizarre, from the fact Ric was teaching sex-ed, to the disturbing state the twins outfits were reduced to and the ultimate resolution of the twin’s muscle issues…..it was all very off the wall and strange; but very, very funny.  The crazy camera angles and reaction shots were priceless and the dialogue was hilarious ‘Stella is the only one fit to be mother of my children!’ ‘My DNA is reserved for Sister’ ‘he’s beloved by the god of muscle’….. 😆

Not much else to really talk about with this episode – it was pretty plotless in the grand scheme of things.  The post credits segment with Jacqueline running a sculpture class made me giggle, simply because of the things the class chose to make given the theme was ‘love’ – Jacqueline predictably chose Billy, but Nino made a big round ball (WTF? – does her love encompass the entire world…or just Venus perhaps?), Sister made a bazooka (of course) and The Mayor produced a cucumber (LOL)…….all together the sculpture produced was impressive.  And by that I mean that its impressive that Billy looks cool no matter what situation he’s in!

So I liked this episode, but am more than ready to get back to the serious business of the central plotline – I really want more on Nino & Ric’s relationship and  this whole Venus deal.  Gag episodes are all well and good, but what I really love about Arakawa is its more serious & romantic side – I hope we glimpse that side again soon.