Review of Bakemonogatari

Bakemonogatari is beautiful, fun, and emotional. The art design and animation direction are almost unparalleled in creativity and innovation. The only "better" looking anime that I can think of is Casshern Sins. Do you know how every anime, including action ones, consist mostly of characters standing around talking with one another? That's just the nature of manga, so it becomes awkward when translated into anime. Bakemonogatari takes these "characters awkwardly standing around and talking" scenes and fully embraces them. And, given Bakemonogatari was adapted from a light novel, this is all the more impressive. There are epic dialogues and monologues all over the place aidedby massive flashing walls of text. Bakemonogatari manages to keep it from being boring by having extremely clever and dynamic cuts. All scenes are very uniquely crafted by some mad genius. It's kind of hard to explain, just watch the first episode to see what I mean by this. Not to mention, the budget and overall visual quality of the anime is huge. The character designs are intricate, the linework is precise, the color palette is creative, the attention to detail is impressive; all things that come with having a huge budget utilized by experienced artists.

The entertainment/enjoyment value of Bakemonogatari is also almost unparalleled, at least to me personally. The only anime I enjoyed more was Neon Genesis Evangelion, but that was for completely different reasons. Bakemonogatari appealed to me for its comedy and cute character designs *cough* the fan service *cough cough*... I found them very, um, tasteful. Maybe I'm just a pervert, but I really enjoyed that aspect of the anime.

On the emotional side, Bakemonogatari appealed to me on a very personal level. Without getting too much into my personal life, I'm at a point where I spend a lot of time thinking about love. Understanding that about me, the character of Senjougahara did... um... things for me? I can't think of how to put it, but her being so much like me and viewing love like me gave me a lot of inspiration. Her character, in general, appealed to me greatly because of that reason.

The 5 arc nature of Bakemonogatari was the most unappealing factor for me; that is, it is solely what brought down the score so much. As well crafted, directed, paced, written, developed, and finished as all 5 arcs were, I feel like I didn't quite get enough of each character. Especially my anime crush Senjougahara. Maybe this perception of Bakemonogatari will change as I watch more anime in the series and I will be able to look at it more as a base for the series. But as a standalone anime, this is how I feel.

Edit: Hello, review from the past. Damn, you suck lol. I’m writing this bit after finishing Zoku Owarimonogatari, which is the “End Story Sequel” to the series. I wanted to write my ending thoughts to the Monogatari Series as a whole and concluded this would be the best place to put them. So here it goes:

The Monogatari Series means more to me now than any other media ever other than Evangelion (Evangelion will be the exception to just about everything I write below so I’ll note that here instead of writing “Except Evangelion” a hundred times). The experiences these characters have had seem as though we’ve had them together. Never have I sympathized with characters or cared about them and their feelings as much as I do Monogatari characters. The Monogatari Series has managed to break the fourth wall for me; not in the traditional sense, but it has definitely obliterated my suspension of disbelief. These characters and their experiences feel real to me. That is the highest praise I can give a work of fiction.

I know I gave most of the series 7’s, but I truly love this series. Just because it doesn’t feel right to say the Monogatari Series is as ‘good’ as Legend of the Galactic Heroes doesn’t mean it didn’t matter or affect me just as much, if not more. The manner in which I’ve critiqued anime so far has been rather formulaic: Plot, Characters, Themes, etc. Is the plot comparable to something like Legend of the Galactic Heroes or Monster? No. Are the characters as meaningful and deep as His and Her Circumstances or Code Geass? No. Are the themes as complex and philosophical as something like Serial Experiments Lain or Texhnolyze? No. What about as deep and interpersonal as something like Cowboy Bebop? No. So I simply couldn’t score it as high. Tell you what though, my only anime with an enjoyment score of 10? Yes.

In short: I have loved, cried, and laughed with the Monogatari Series, and if you trust me and watch it, you will too.