Review of Bakemonogatari
SPOILER FREE REVIEW I want to preface this review with a disclaimer; This show takes work and effort. It's not very easy to wrap your head around, there is no dub, they characters speak a lot and really quickly, and you will have to rewind and rewatch parts or whole episodes to understand what happens. This show is literally a walking collection of mythical metaphors, symbolism, vague references to japanese mythology, culture, and history, there is just a lot to unpack because everything is done with meaning, and its not always evident when that meaning will take place, this episode, or next season. Now that we havethat out of the way, if you are still interested in watching this show, I would like to explain why this show is my #1, above all other shows. It is not one I recommend to everyone. Heck, I don't recommend it to anyone at all since there are other shows you can watch if you are either new to anime, or just want to enjoy anime. This isn't a show to enjoy, its a show to fall into like a black hole.
1. The story: Its very convoluted, and since each season is out of order chronologically, it feels kind of strange, but this is a good thing. Please watch in release order. If you ever get confused on what happens, you can always just rewatch one of the seasons to "progress" the time line. I have rewatched it in release, and in chronological order, and release order is by far the BEST especially if you have already seen the whole show once. The story has so much to unpack its insane. You can watch this show a dozen times and find new meaning in it. Its all about meaning, all about experiences, all about growth and evolution. The character cast is extremely minimal, keeping the show both straight forward, yet vague at the same time. The story really don't want to just feed you the info. Things happen as if they would in real life, with fog of war ON. So many unpredictable and random things happen, but that is what makes this show feel so real. Its not meant to be a show where each character has to scream an ability and then have a half dozen flash backs before actually throwing a punch of something. This is an adult show with adult themes, for adults.
2. The art is lovely and simple. Personally the symbolism in the art is fantastic, and the meaning behind every line, color, pen stroke is thought out. The art helps keep the show laser focused on the characters and nothing more, removing anything and everything unnecessary.
3. The music is so memorable. You will never forget it, not because it is made to be memorable, but because how it literally fits in with both the art, story, and character on screen. Everything in this show including each sound loop and track is perfectly tuned for that episode, for this specific scenario.
4. The characters literally make this show. They are the show. And when you finish it, you feel like you lost a bit of yourself with them. Sometimes I want to rewatch the show because the characters just feel so comfortable.
5. Enjoyment? What enjoyment, you signed up for a day job, this is what you get. I watched this show trying to be relaxed, and even though the music can literally make you fall asleep, you can't afford to miss a single pixel on screen. You want to pause and read and reread and understand. But that is what made this show so great, is the level of investment and the amount of pay out you get for your work. Unlike some shows that are high investment that simply force you to watch 100 episodes before making you feel like you might as well keep going for the sake of not feeling like you wasted time, this show is high investment because you want to understand, you want to know, you want to progress. It is worth it.
This show isn't just another pick up for your watch list. This is a conscious decision to give up a part of yourself to this show and its world.