Arakawa Under the Bridge: live-action drama review

I had watched both seasons of the anime and when I heard that there would be a live-action drama for Arakawa, I was shocked. How is it possible to portray the eccentric characters of Arakawa in live-action? The idea sounded absurd. Oh, but how wrong I was. With appropriate casting, clever direction, fitting music and beautiful cinematography, it’s possible to produce not only a convincing live-action drama, but an excellent one too.



Casting: I felt that they did a fine job as they felt like one big Arakawa family. What I really appreciate were Hoshi and the Village Chief. Did you know that applying makeup onto their faces takes up a few hours each time? Kudos to the actors!



Direction: I got to admit, the director did an awesome job adapting the story. In the anime, the focus was on comedy and gags but for this drama, we actually got to see more backstory. Want to find out about Billy and Jacqueline’s past? Watch this. Want to know more about Riku and his father’s backstory? Watch this. The insertion of flashbacks scenes during emotional scenes was well-done.



Music: A variety of whimsical, eccentric, emotional, light, spirited pieces of BGM fits the show well.



Cinematography: Wow, this is perhaps the best aspect of the show for me. The cinematography is absolutely stunning. How should I say this? Okay, think of the anime. Anime, is well, produced by drawings and animated frames, and many impossible things can be made possible. However, live-action is not that simple. You need the correct settings, props, lighting, camera angle, camera movement and etc. While watching this drama, there were some scenes which completely took my breath away as they were simply so aesthetically beautiful. Take a scene from episode 6 for example. The sight of the paper boat drifting down the Arakawa river, while fitting music is played in the background, simply tugs at your heartstrings and make you think how beautiful it is. Stunning.



Overall, this show was unexpectedly good. Fans of the anime may want to give this a try to discover another aspect of Arakawa which was not depicted in the anime. If you’re new to Arakawa, you may want to give this a try too, for the beautiful cinematography and you may just end up liking the quirky characters.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.