Review of Bakemonogatari

Bakemonogatari ranks in at my top 3 despite not being a perfect 10 by any means, but still in my memory as being one the most thoroughly enjoyable watch throughs my first time around and still juicy to rematch. The show's strongest points go toward it's character designs, excellent dialogue, and some of Digital Shaft's best implementation of their signature style. The plot is not bad by any means, but mainly serves as a stage for our characters to interact. The music throughout the show is fairly simple but very effectivein complimenting the mood of the scene often relying on an ensemble of acoustic guitar, catchy piano riffs, and some light to medium percussion hits.
While the show can be technically classified as a "harem" it remains to this day the only series bearing the label that I consider to be genuinely good. What I think will make most people fall in love with the show are the interactions between our male centre, Koyomi Araragi and the 5 other heroines. Each character can be seen as some existing archetype (the tsundere, the loll, the tomboy, ect.) but are executed in a refreshing way. For instance, arguably the most popular girl, Hitagi Senjougahara is the shows tsundere, but is easily the most elegant tsundere ever conceived. Her character does not get lost in the archetype. It is very prevalent but she has plenty of rich development.
The dialogue I can best sum of as being some of the most snarky wordplay between characters I have ever seen on screen and it makes for both intriguing moments, as well as being both humorous and fun. The actors deserve major props on this one with everyone giving incredible performances. I could go over their pedigrees but you can just as well go look at the cast list yourself. Out of bias I am going to give the award for best performance to Saito Chiwa for her role as Senjougahara, who's voice has me glued to the audio every time she was on screen.
Last note is that of the animation. It is Studio Shaft so you know you are going to be in for extremely pretentious style changes as well as that delicious neck tilt. Jokes aside, Shaft puts their style to good use here, inserting quick subliminal messages and great use of color and framing to go along with the mood and dialogue. I have the series on Blu Ray and let me say on the big screen it is eye candy.
The monogatari series is not for everyone, but if you have love for good characters, ad]nd art and language, give it a try.