Arakawa Under the Bridge is a gag series that follows the wacky daily lives of an eccentric cast of characters who have sought refuge under a bridge to be free from societal pressures, burdens, norms, and expectations. Through oodles of riverside shenanigans, the enigmatic pasts of the colorful residents are slowly uncovered, an unusual romance gradually blossoms, and strange fantasies inexplicably become even stranger realities. The comical episodic stories, which compose the overwhelming majority of the work, rarely miss the mark; however, the overarching story rooted in romance and drama--although vital in providing depth to the series--may ultimately leave readers wanting more, as the series haphazardly ends with far more questions than answers.

The primary focus of the series is comedy, and it consistently delivers on that front. The creator, Hikaru Nakamura, essentially develops each chapter as she would a joke. The stories/setups are relatively brief, spanning only a mere handful of pages, with the conclusions/punchlines coming at the end of chapters. Chapters are generally episodic in nature, making the manga incredibly easy for readers to pick up and put down at their own conveniences.

Whereas many similar gag comedies are content in prospering solely as laugh-fests, Arakawa Under the Bridge refuses to be a one-trick pony by also incorporating romance and drama in its overarching story. This change of pace is much appreciated, as it grants readers an intermission from the usual zaniness that is typically found from chapter to chapter. Unfortunately, even though the main story arc begins promisingly, it concludes quite abruptly and unsatisfactorily. Throughout four hundred chapters, readers are given small glimpses into the mysterious histories of the major players of the story, which predictably piques readers' interests and raises countless questions. However, these burning questions that are relevant to the main narrative never dwindle and instead only accumulate and fester, as they are never adequately answered until the end, or, in some cases, never answered at all. Consequently, in the last few concluding chapters of the series, readers who have been largely kept in the dark up to that point suddenly find themselves inundated with a flood of half-baked exposition that resolves only some, not all, mysteries.

Whether or not the main story unfolds as Nakamura had originally intended is unknown (i.e., the series may have ended sooner than she had planned for), but the work as a whole unquestionably suffers because of how it is. Still, despite that, Arakawa Under the Bridge may nonetheless be worth readers' time. After all, it should not be forgotten that Arakawa Under the Bridge is first and foremost a work of comedy, so readers who are simply satisfied with strong humor, which the manga has in spades, may find the experience to be completely worthwhile. Of course, those who require a deeper, well-constructed narrative may want to approach the series with caution or even pass on it entirely.

As an aside, readers who wish to start the manga may find greater overall enjoyment by first completing the anime adaptation. Based on Nakamura's end-of-volume notes in the manga, she was highly involved in the process and seemed to be extremely happy with the final product. The voice acting, in particular, is exceptional, and for me, those same voices carried over into the manga as I was reading it, which gave it an unintended--but very welcome--additional dimension.