Review of Bakemonogatari
Note: This is a review based solely on Bakemonogatari Bakemonogatari tells the everyday life of the semi-supernatural human Koyomi Araragi and his encounters with apparitions. These so called apparitions are fundamentally psychological problems that end up gaining physical form or are expressed through real life situations, resembling the anime "Rascal does not dream of Bunny Girl Senpai", although you could say that Bakemonogatari is the better anime using that concept, taking it's supernatural components to a more refined level. Story 6/10 I need to start by saying that this is not an anime that you should watch for the plot since it's a character based experience, as such,a more intense story could deviate from the development of the cast. However there are still some bits of story that end up being told as back-stories for each character, since it's just that, the greater plot ends up being absent of progression making it seem like there's really no beginning nor end to it.
Art 9/10
Bakemonogatari originally came from a light novel, as a consequence, it's a dialogue heavy show, to emend that, some clever takes where applied like a quick pop-up of light novel quotes or words that would describe something in the act, dynamic camera zoom-in's and a constant switch between unprecedented camera angles to not let you get distracted with something else other than the characters.
The color paletes are also well used in the sense that the three primary colors (red, blue and yellow) are more dominant when it comes to broad daylight and all the other three secondary have their specific purpose: Orange being the color used at noon time, Green at night time and Purple (and pink) tones for most of the side characters.
Sound 10/10
Since I've just spoken about the art and how it dynamizes the intense dialogue, I should already say that the SFX also help in that sense, going along with the quick flash pop-ups and camera zooms. The other SFX, just like the voice acting, don't deviate in quality like the wind, pen taps or school materials. And I can't skip on mentioning the 5 openings that this 15 episode anime has, all 5 of them being a decent listen. But what shines through all else in this category are the OST's and the piano played OP's, you might not realize how great they are but once you finish Bakemonogatari, you can hear these songs and instantly think of a specific scene in the show in which the sentiment of that OST is transmited.
Characters 10/10
Since it's a character driven show, it's obvious that those said characters are well developed, with each one having 2-3 episodes that focus on their apparition, story and psychological problems. For every apparition there's a different problem at hand and the viewer can eventually relate or enjoy at least one of them:
⁍ Hitagi Senjougahara: An aggressive and dominant tsundere that carries the weight of burden and guilt from her past.
⁍ Mayoi Hachikuji: A happy childish character that represents the feeling of being an outsider to a family that you don't care about except when it's too late.
⁍ Suruga Kanbaru: The cheerful sportive girl with a deep down grudge against those who obstruct the path to her wishes.
⁍ Nadeko Sengoku: A shy girl that has a complex about her body and age, wanting to grow up as quickly as possible.
⁍ Tsubasa Hanekawa: The typical studious class president that feels ignored as a person by the protagonist and consequently ends up not containing the amount of stress that those feelings cause.
It might not be easy to understand the meanings right away but just like a real life person, it takes some interpretation to get behind their mask.
Enjoyment 7/10
I know I said that there were some tricks used to help with the dynamic of the show but its still a slow paced anime and you need to be in the right mood to watch it, so don't watch monogatari if you aren't able to dispose some of your attention to it. In the end, it might not be the best anime you've seen but it will be something that will reside within your memories.
🦀🐌🐒🐍🐈🦀🐌🐒🐍🐈🦀🐌🐒🐍🐈