Review of Bakemonogatari

I'm still relatively new to writing reviews so forgive me Bakemonogatari translates to "Ghost story" and its not hard to see why. Like a lot of people, I came to this anime because of the ever infamous Renai Circulation, but I stayed for so much more. Story The plot of this anime revolves around one half-vampire half-teenager trying to make the lives of his friends better, it's not a very uncommon story idea but the way this anime executes it is unique beyond words. Each problem/girl our protagonist Araragi encounters always involves an animal and a motif, and it's his job to explore the lives of these girlsto reveal that motif and quell the animal. Of course, each animal is a symbolic representation of these motifs, which is further represented on the character's clothing or tools. Each arc is conveniently divided into 2-3 episodes, making it feel like a series of Monogatari as well.

Art and Sound
I'm grouping these two together because they both tie into one "feeling". It's an almost eerie, yet ethereal feeling that I get when watching this.
When it comes to art, one of the biggest things people immediately notice because it's right there smack dab in the middle of the first arc is the integration of real life pictures into a fictional setting. While initially offputting, It helps deepen this abstract and ethereal feeling, I will actually be getting into this when I talk about the characters in detail.
Another thing people immediately notice is the insertion of numbered infographic slides in the middle of some scenes, these were taken directly from the manga, and I personally feel that this is a very subtle yet smart decision to give the watchers a feeling that they are this spirit-like thing watching our characters advance on their journeys.
Last thing to take not of is that the art is not perfectly smooth, it's deliberately left slightly fuzzy to invoke this feeling of, once again, ethereal beings. Once again this helps tie in to the feeling of either seeing this as a spirit or seeing it in a dream or memory, further enhancing the whole Monogatari vibe

The sound helps with this too. The OST is almost exclusively piano, and the lack of instruments gives this feeling of spaciousness, which once again makes the readers feel as if they are reading a story or experiencing one through a dream. This is one of the most consistent feelings I feel when watching this anime and it is absolutely ingenious

Characters
I find that ultimately, the characters overlap with a harem-style anime, as there is only one guy in basically this entire series and several girls.
Regarding our main protagonist, he is the one who receives the least development, he's as flat as a piece of paper in terms of character development and is only there to help the girls develop. That being said, he is surprisingly good at talking and is really good at making odd jokes that force a laugh out of the watchers
Regarding the girls, there's one girl in particular that must be discussed. Senjougahara. She is basically the one and only character that uses real-life pictures in anime, and it serves to further her character. Her character revolves around the crab, so much of the pictures are designed to represent crab appendages. On top of that, she is distant and cold, a sore thumb, if one would say, which is why I believe that the decision to use real-life images to represent her character is a good call because it shows that she is physically distant from everyone in this world, and as she develops, the use of these images decline, showing her re-integration back into society.

Enjoyment
Overall, it's interesting to see how Araragi deals with each girl/problem, and how each one ultimately ties back to him. There's a few running gags such as Hachikuji mispronouncing Araragi and his subsequent Hachikuji abuse but overall the anime focuses on emotion, and manipulating emotions to solve problems. Its very enjoyable because it makes us question just what emotions we possess shaped us into the way we are now, and its very refreshing to think about how we can change by changing our perception of things.

Overall, I believe that this anime stayed true to its name, a wonderful mix of storytelling and minor harem shenanigans.