Review of Bakemonogatari

Most stories tend to have a certain lingering effect upon completion. Like the soundtrack that you find yourself recalling days after you thought or should have already forgotten. I find that the theme capturing ones attention throughout this whole series, rather be of self exploration. The anime uses a heavy based dialogue approach, which naturally brings you into the mind of the protagonist. This is achieved through the socratic method of argumentative cooperative discussion. The moral of the story brings into light the complex reality in which we inhabit, hidden in the shadows of illusory perception. Sometimes...... or to be precise, all the time. Thingsnever seem the way they are. The supporting characters illustrate this by providing simple situations of dilemma. This may be a reason why we see a repetitive plot in each episode. This recipe of questioning the characters moral values to the very core reinforces the existence of an ugly undeniable truth. You could say the climax was a trap not to prove the naivety of the character but to transcend to the realisation that there is always more than meets the eye. Apart from the philosophical side of things, I appreciated the distinctive presence of different personality characters and enjoyed subtle simple effects of abstract drawing, like the bamboo forest. Things that are not my cup of tea but obviously for a certain type of audience is the over-sensualized cliche of weird Japanese erotism.

Memorable line from the series Ep6 and a line that metaphorically hints the outcome of the story Ep12.

「 知ってる？溜め息1回につき幸せが1つ逃げて行くそうよ」「私の前で溜め息なんてつかないで欲しいものね。煩わしいから」
「煩わしいと言っても、恋煩いよ」- 戦場ヶ原ひたぎ

"Did you know? Every time you sigh, a little bit of happiness escapes" " I would prefer you didn't sigh in front of me. It's troublesome."
"Well even if I say it's troublesome, it's really just a sign that I'm lovesick." - Hitagi Senjougahara

「 どうするかって？阿良々木くんの中の判断基準、価値基準を揺るがせておくのよ。そうすれば神原のことなんて、むしろ純粋無垢な女の子に見えてくるわ」- 戦場ヶ原ひたぎ

"What am I going to do? I'm going to sway the basis for your judgment. If I do that you will think of Kanbaru as a pure and innocent girl." - Hitagi Senjougahara