Review of Bakemonogatari

Bakemonogatari is a combination of so many themes and genres that individually it seems to be pure win. Yet in reality it is just a crafty way of pandering the audience. If you want to fully enjoy it, see it as fan service with artsy artwork and not as a thought-provoking concept with fan service for garnish. At best it can be seen as an interesting series of smart gags and wordplays in a psychedelic setting of artistic expression. Every scene symbolizes something or fools around with viewer expectations by showing him slice of life moments in the opening that never actually happen in-series. Atworst it can be seen as a big pile of weirdness that never seems to get anywhere other than throwing excuses for erotic foreplay. Here is a toothbrush.

The characters are generally drawn in a cartoony way and they often deform further or change artstyles to resemble other eras or series. They can look polished as well, but those scenes are reserved for fan service (when some girl undresses or shows off her underwear or the camera zooms to her face). Lots of people defend this as an artistic choice or even go as far as saying it is not fan service because we see the girls through the perverted eyes of the protagonist, but it still boils down to the usual sexualization of minors and the plot becomes an afterthought after awhile, so it’s not like you can remove the naughty parts to make the story better. The story doesn’t matter. It’s about some dude helping girls with supernatural curses, stuff you see in lots of datesims, but it’s not like they deal with it in some pragmatic way. They just talk, make jokes, show bare skin for a couple of episodes, and then the issue is resolved in some cheap magical way. It’s a show you are watching for all the crazy stuff happening on-screen, and a big part of them involves erotic stuff. Is there a story? Yes, but it doesn’t matter regardless of how mysterious and non-linear it presents itself. Here is a toothbrush.

If the anime community was seeing it that way and did not refuse its raunchy side, I would be a happy camper. Unfortunately the anime and its numerous continuations has garnered a large number of apologists who will insist it’s not a harem or that it doesn’t have fan service because it’s just the protagonist indulging in his sexual fantasies. But isn’t that what the ecchi genre is all about? Indulging in sexual fantasies? The anime is not critiquing it, and it doesn’t seek ways to help people move past it. This ain’t Welcome to the NHK or Lolita (the book/movie). It is just self-aware about it and revels in its naughty nature, so let’s not defend it for being more of the same, the same way we shouldn’t defend drug lords just for being self-aware when they ruin the lives of thousands of people. Down to it it’s artistic erotism and not erotic art. Here is a toothbrush.

I will give the show credit in the character department, since if you peel away all the artsy stuff and the objectification of minors you still get a cast of fleshed out characters. Since the conflict is internal and they talk (a lot) about it, you get to see how they think and act far more than your average bimbo caricature in some crappy harem. It’s not the only harem that does that, mind you, Love Hina and Ah My Goddess are famous examples of that, but it still ranks among the best softporn anime for bothering to treat the girls as something more than just meat. It still treats them as meat though. The girls are datesim-level stereotypes. Here is a toothbrush.

With all that out of the way, it’s a very memorable show thanks to its uncommon artsy aesthetics and if you are into harems it can be very enjoyable. If you happen to get all the references and the wordplays, it can even come off as competent half the time. If on the other hand you are not a fan of trolling comedy or 2D softporn, you are better off giving it a pass. Remember to brush your teeth.