Arakawa Under the Bridge/Characters

A list of characters from the Shaft series Arakawa Under the Bridge, a Widget Series about an eccentric group of homeless people that have formed a community under a bridge on the Arakawa River.

Recruit (Kou Ichinomiya)
Voice Actor Hiroshi Kamiya

The main character. A straight-laced young man who is good at everything he tries, he follows his family's mantra, “Never put yourself in debt to anyone” to the letter. Unfortunately, this is what lands him in the strange community of Arakawa. He's a teacher in the river village.


 * The Ace
 * Actor Allusion: In Episode 10 of Season 2, he mention how he's in despair.
 * Berserk Button: When Hoshi's song came out, Kou had his name quickly switched to “Leech”. He didn't take it well. They changed it back.
 * Bishounen: Takes it Up to Eleven after completing Jacqueline's weight loss program.
 * Bishie Sparkle: In Episodes 8 and 10 of Season 2.
 * Bookworm
 * Brainwashed and Crazy: In Episode 8 of Season 2, he was by charmed by Amazoness's tengu henchmen to fall for her.
 * Butt Monkey
 * The Comically Serious
 * Common Sense: Seemingly the only person with any at times and that's fleeting.
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Embarrassing Nickname
 * Fauxlosophic Narration: At the beginning of each episode.
 * Fish Out of Water
 * I Owe You My Life: What happens if he ever becomes indebted to someone, though he will try to rectify that as quickly as possible.
 * Iconic Item: His tie with his family's mantra embroidered on it.
 * Kansai Regional Accent: Pops up when he's really angry.
 * Limited Wardrobe
 * Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Feminine Boy to Nino's Masculine Girl, to some extent.
 * Neat Freak
 * No Guy Wants an Amazon: Literally, his reaction to Amazoness wanting to date him.
 * Non-Idle Rich
 * Not So Different: As the time goes, he starts teaming up with Hoshi sometimes and being just as petty.
 * One Head Taller: To Nino.
 * Only Sane Man
 * Teacher-Student Romance: He teaches Nino.
 * Also has a 'Sensei and Ninomiya-kun'-like episode with Amazoness. Yes, it's gross.
 * "Well Done, Son" Guy

Voice Actress: Maaya Sakamoto
Recruit's love interest and the reason he lives under the bridge. A strange girl who believes she's from Venus. She has a strange obsession with fishing and provides them for the community.


 * Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny
 * Berserk Button: Listening to her tapes without permission makes her mad enough to climb a telephone pole.
 * Trying to take Ric from her gets some interesting responses, too.
 * Blue Eyes
 * Cloudcuckoolander
 * Expressive Hair
 * Force Feeding
 * Hair of Gold
 * Heroic BSOD: After Hoshi . With responsibility going to Ric, obviously.
 * Hidden Buxom
 * Human Aliens: If you buy that Venusian story.
 * Innocent Fanservice Girl: She used to bath normally outdoors, but after a police visit she began to use a Modesty Towel.
 * Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Masculine Girl to Kou's Feminine Boy, to some extent.
 * Megaton Punch: Is quite capable of taking out her anger on someone.
 * No Sense of Personal Space
 * Oblivious to Love: Subverted in that while she ignores everything Hoshi throws her way, but if Kou does something romantic, she's touched. If she notices.
 * Selective Obliviousness
 * Parental Abandonment
 * She Cleans Up Nicely
 * Snot Bubble
 * The Stoic
 * Strange Girl
 * Teacher-Student Romance: Well, she is a student in Kou's class.

Voice Actor: Keiji Fujiwara
The head of the Arakawa community. An odd man that constantly wears a kappa suit, he manages to corral and lead the members of the village with a good amount of (misguided) skill.


 * Bunny Ears Lawyer
 * Cloudcuckoolander
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass
 * The Faceless
 * Full-Body Disguise
 * Line-of-Sight Name: How The Mayor names people once they become citizens of the community.
 * Obfuscating Stupidity: The Mayor has had moments of deep insight at times, belying the aloof nature he normally sports.
 * Oblivious to Love: Seemingly everyone knows that P-ko loves him but him.
 * People in Rubber Suits
 * Team Dad
 * Team Dad

Voice Actor: Tomokazu Sugita
A former musician who hit rock bottom and now lives under the bridge. He's always seen wearing his trademark star mask. He's also in love with Nino and always tries to make Kou look stupid in front of her. Under the bridge, he provides all the music for events.


 * Crazy Jealous Guy
 * Dogged Nice Guy: Only to Nino. A Type 2, but has hints of Type 1 in his actions at times.
 * Expressive Mask
 * Fun T-Shirt: ORE NO T-SHIRT.
 * Hopeless Suitor
 * Jerkass
 * Even Evil Has Standards:
 * Karma Houdini: He messed up Nino's tape and Ric gets blamed for it.
 * Not So Different: Has more in common with Kou than you'd expect.
 * The Resenter: Towards Ric, oh so much.
 * Secret Identity: Hoshi used to be a singer that even made it to the Oricon charts, but he lost his inspiration and became Hoshi to get away from everything.

Voice Actor: Takehito Koyasu
A former soldier that became a man of the (wrong) cloth once he came to Arakawa. He constantly carries all manner of guns with him and clearly still holds a military mindset. He provides church services under the bridge.


 * Blue Eyes
 * A Father to His Men
 * Hair of Gold
 * High-Pressure Blood: Out of his scar
 * Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: To every woman in the village. Amazoness is a notable exception.
 * Living Lie Detector
 * Love Martyr: To Maria
 * Mad Bomber
 * Nun-Too-Holy
 * One-Man Army
 * Perpetual Frowner
 * Person of Mass Destruction
 * Phenotype Stereotype
 * Real Men Wear Pink: ...Or nun habits. And they run orphanages and feed the community with cookies.
 * Scars Are Forever
 * The Stoic
 * but Not So Stoic when his Jerkass crush's insults get to him, which results in High-Pressure Blood.
 * Trigger Happy
 * Wholesome Crossdresser

Voice Actress: Chiwa Saito
A young girl from England who was raised by Sister in an orphanage. She has a noticable crush on him and appears sweet in general, but she is actually highly skilled in martial arts and is rather accomplished in several underworld trades. She can also transform herself into a musclebound man three times her size thanks to Sister's training. She serves as a yakuza boss for the community.


 * Blue Eyes
 * Clingy Jealous Girl
 * Deliberately Cute Child
 * Dragon Girl: Humorously subverted.
 * Enfante Terrible
 * Girlish Pigtails
 * Hair of Gold
 * Hulking Out
 * Little Miss Badass
 * Limited Wardrobe
 * Precocious Crush
 * Yandere: Towards Sister.

Voice Actress: Miyuki Sawashiro
A former spy who came to live under the bridge. A sadist at heart, she delights in emasculating every man in the community, especially Sister, with whom she has a history. She runs a sheep farm for the community.


 * Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
 * The Bully
 * Cool Big Sis / Onee-Sama: But to the girls exclusively.
 * Double Standard Abuse (Female on Male)
 * Faux Affably Evil
 * I Shall Taunt You: Her hobby addiction.
 * Not a Morning Person
 * Pet the Dog: Her treatment of Stella after their "duel" (though possibly she just wanted to Troll Sister and team up with local Enfante Terrible to create more possibilities of bullying people).
 * Rose-Haired Girl: Of the strong and passionate variety.
 * The Sociopath: Comedic Sociopathy at most, but in the episode 7 of season 2.
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: Save the technically "dark".
 * Tranquil Fury
 * The Gadfly
 * The Vamp

Voice Actresses: Yuko Sanpei (Tetsuo), Ryoko Shintani (Tetsuro)
A pair of brothers always seen wearing iron helmets. They claim to have been experimented on and have psychic powers, which are only kept in check by the helmets. They are very lively and run an oil drum bathhouse under the bridge.


 * : Subverted in Episode 10 of Season 2.
 * Deliberately Cute Children
 * Expressive Masks
 * Hulking Out: In Episode 10 of Season 2.
 * Power Limiter: Their masks. Or so they claim.
 * Psychic Powers: Or so they claim.
 * Theme Twin Naming
 * Wonder Twin Powers

Voice Actor: Hochu Otsuka
A former salaryman who now lives under the bridge. He can't go anywhere unless he's able to walk on a white line, so he always walks with a field striper.


 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass
 * Disappeared Dad: Hasn't seen his wife or daughter for six years, though they don't seem to mind and fully encourage his dreams of becoming a champion liner.
 * Nice Guy
 * Oblivious to Love: From.
 * Super OCD
 * Smarter Than You Look

Voice Actress: Chiaki Omigawa
A young woman who lives under the bridge during the growing season. While cute, she's horibly clumsy. She has an unrequited love in the Mayor. She runs a vegetable farm for the community.


 * Actor Allusion: In episode 10 of season 2, when the girls start coming with weird ways about losing weight she mentions human souls while wielding a scythe
 * Adorkable
 * All Love Is Unrequited
 * Butt Monkey: The first one among the girls.
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Dojikko
 * Banana Peel: Taken Up to Eleven with Slippery Skid in her first appearance.
 * Drives Like Crazy
 * Hair Decorations
 * Or Idiot Hair, as it's unclear what that thing on her head really is.
 * Expressive Hair: Or hair ribbon
 * Fiery Redhead
 * The Heart
 * Legal Jailbait
 * Naive Everygirl
 * Older Than They Look: 22 years old according to the official info but looks somewhat Loli-like.

Voice Actor: Cho
Kou's assistant from his company. He came searching for Kou when he never came back to the office. He is steadfastly loyal to his boss, but also has a very unhealthy obsession with him. He oversees the running of Kou's company in his absence and helps Kou with his projects under the bridge.


 * Everyone Can See It: Everyone knows he's in love with Kou...whether they want to or not.
 * Incompatible Orientation: With Kou
 * Man Hug: He goes after them often with Kou.
 * Megane
 * Papa Wolf: Very protective of Kou.
 * Invisible to Gaydar
 * Subordinate Excuse: At least he sometimes is useful.

Voice Actress: Rie Tanaka
Takai's assistant, a beautiful, but somewhat shady lady, who seems to play her own game under both Kou's and his father's heads.


 * Beauty Mark
 * Enigmatic Minion
 * Single Woman Seeks Good Man: In the second season falls at first sight for after he helps her to get out of Sister and Maria's trap. Admittedly there was a bit of Comically Missing the Point involved, too.
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo

Voice Actor: Rikiya Koyama
Kou's father and CEO of one of the most powerful companies in the city, if not Japan. He firmly believes in never being indebted to anyone and has instilled that in Kou. A cutthroat businessman, he gets what he wants when he wants it and proudly stands tall over his accomplishments.


 * Disappeared Dad
 * Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Subverted. He's very harsh and curt with Kou, but he does have some love for his son.
 * Humiliation Conga / Break the Haughty: Subverted in second to last episode of the first season. He leaves all classy and looking so cool he annoys the policeman.
 * Megane
 * Papa Wolf
 * Scary Shiny Glasses

Voice Actor: Yuuichi Nakamura
Once a master hairstylist and attractive man, he got sick and tired of his lifestyle and ran away with little more than a katana from his family's house. After an accidental meeting with the Mayor under the bridge, his "samurai spirit" was awakened, and now he speaks in an older Japanese dialect and wears a topknot as he lives with the community by the Arakawa river. He still uses that same katana to cut the hair of the Arakawa people.


 * Keigo
 * Samurai: The last of them, obviously.

Voice Actor: Fumihiko Tachiki
Rumored to have once been the boss of a Yakuza-like gang of bird-headed people, and supposedly betrayed their trust when he fell in love and eloped with the bee princess Jacqueline. It's debatable how much of that story is true, but what is known is that he is deeply in love with her.


 * Always Save the Girl: As long as the girl is Jacqueline.
 * Even the Guys Want Him: Or at least cannot help swooning over his manliness in Ric and Hoshi's case.
 * Interspecies Romance: Both him and his lover seem to be insane enough to consider their relationship as this.
 * Rated "M" for Manly
 * Satellite Character: To Jacqueline.
 * Sickeningly Sweethearts: With Jacqueline.
 * Single-Target Sexuality: With Jacqueline.
 * : Apparently.

Voice Actress: Yūko Gotō
A girl in a bee costume who fell madly in love with Billy and is practically inseparable from him. She runs a day spa called Queen Bee under the bridge.


 * Blue Eyes
 * Damsel in Distress: Quite helpless, which allows Billy to always come to the rescue and show some manliness.
 * The Ditz
 * Dragon Lady: Prior to coming to Arakawa, if her story is to be believed.
 * Hair of Gold
 * Interspecies Romance
 * Satellite Character: To Billy.
 * Sickeningly Sweethearts: With Billy.
 * Single-Target Sexuality: With Billy.

Voice Actor: Tomokazu Seki
A Mangaka who publishes his works under the pen name "Potato-chip Kuwabara." A total sci-fi geek who likes to think of himself as a space captain defending the Earth from aliens. He becomes interested in the people living under the bridge when he sees Nino, who he thinks is a Venusian plotting to destroy the planet.


 * Captain Space, Defender of Earth!
 * Creator Breakdown: Ran away from his career as a mangaka when his editor kept forcing him to draw Moe manga instead of sci-fi.

Voice Actress: Yuu Kobayashi
A mysterious Amazon woman who lives down the river from the community. Her personality constantly shifts from that of an intimidating warrior to a high school girl. She's rarely seen without her cell phone and has a love of all things made in Saitama. She works for an unknown person and is often surrounded by a trio of "tengu" (guys with tengu masks and bikini tops worn over their t-shirts).


 * Amazonian Beauty
 * No Guy Wants an Amazon
 * Stripperiffic: Her outfit goes along with the Amazon warrior theme, but it leaves very little to the imagination.
 * Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: To Kou.
 * Tsundere: Lampshaded by Kou and as creepy as it sounds.
 * Uncanny Valley Makeup
 * Valley Girl: What her Saitama dialect is translated as.