Review of Bakemonogatari

Bakemonogatari is a breath of fresh air from animu cliches and tropes that religious ani-viewers come across on an almost every-anime-basis. It does so by giving twists to these tropes which make them unique. The most obvious and well-done as an example for this are the characters who are developed not just as what their archetypes entail of them but are given depth. This animu is dialogue-heavy, something that is unusual in the world of anime which relies heavily on forced situations or flashy scenes. Through being dialogue-heavy, it does a pretty good job at establishing who each character is. Especially that, most of itscharacters are well-fitted for dialogue. Aside from this, the use of wordplay turns out to be humorous. Have I mentioned that it has animu references?

The art style is something unique as well. Not exactly eye-candy in my case but nevertheless interesting. It certainly did a good job at delivering Bakemonogatari's atmosphere which on the surface seems serious and intellectual, but is actually more (with humor and lewdness thrown in there). This is, of course, coupled with its music.

The main protagonist, arguably, went through small character development (change), as apparent in the last episode, but it is all the more relevant with the story and his personality as someone who helps anyone in need and ends up becoming a martyr. As mentioned earlier, this animu does a good job at bringing non-1-dimensional characters to the table as we can see with Senjougahara, especially Hanekawa which makes the show all the more interesting to watch.

I definitely recommend anyone who has watched quite a few animu to pick this up and enjoy the ride.