Review of Bakemonogatari

This is an anime you have to go into where you can't just 'watch'. You've got to pay attention, and that's one of the things that makes it so endearing. The characters are well rounded, but still hold mystery, the art style is wonderful- switching between styles for either comedic, artistic, or referential effect, and the presentation of the material takes en-medias-res to its zenith. The biggest thing that could be called a negative, the quickly transitioning screens with pertinent information, is also mostly covered (in my opinion, a bit cheekily) by being an artistic statement (noting that the source material is a light novel,and that the information is a fleeting dalliance while maintaining it's importance).

Another thing you would think impossible, is that throughout the series, every single character is shown to be equally important in the mythos as a whole. Being referenced later based on the chronological order of the books, despite the fact that they may not have been covered or even mentioned. It was a wise choice to release Nisemonogatari as an animated movie last, in my opinion. I'm not a fan of light novels, but I was so intrigued by what happened on this spring break that I powered through the whole thing in a half a day. Think about that: this is a medium that forced me to experience it through an entirely different medium, and lost absolutely none of its appeal.

One of the last things that I like about the series is that it completely dehumanizes anyone who isn't an important character. Parents of the high school/junior high students are hardly acknowledged, even when playing large roles in their childs life. Passerby aren't drawn in so much as given an outline with a splash of color and a kanji. It shows how isolated the characters are in their own story, and how isolated the apparitions have made them. Even the Fire Sisters who do socialize and keep the peace, so to speak, are never shown doing so, and never bring it up in conversation beyond vaugities.

I will say that conversations tend to take circuitous routes that none of the ages represented would establish, but at the same time, further add to the feeling that the characters live in a little bubble world away from us boring people. And really, a story about interesting people is what we're here for, not the boring world they can't interact with. If I was that interesting, I wouldn't want to interact with the normal world either.

So long story short: fantastic story building, story structure, ideal-yet flawed and human-characters, and a great experience overall.