Review of Bakemonogatari

Literary mediums being used as something to just make you forget about your life is nothing uncommon. You just want to get sucked up into these worlds, hoping for some solution to just appear right in front of you. I know, because I've felt that way many times. However, watching the Monogatari series makes it clear that such a miracle is few and far between and hammers home one point: the only person who can ever truly save you is yourself. This is my first review on this site and, as such, I'd like to talk about a series that is just one of thoseworks that resonated with me strongly. This is going to be a review of the entire franchise. While the arcs obviously differ in quality, it is also apparent that the basic execution of the show stays the same for the most part (though there is only so much you can do stylistically to rectify arcs purely intended for fanservice *cough* Nisemonogatari *cough*).

STORY:
The premise of the Monogatari franchise is simple; 1/10th vampire Koyomi Araragi is tasked with helping those experiencing problems with supernatural entities known as aberrations. The initial episodes allude us to his past before he was turned into a vampire. These episodes however, can feel slow and uninteresting, as the lack of context will most likely confuse a first time viewer. This can mean that it has great rewatch value though, since you may want to revisit the subtle hints they display as soon you see the surprises the show has in store. That being said, Monogatari is a character-driven narrative. If you're looking for a gripping or engaging plot, this is not going to be for you. A majority of the emotional scenes come from a character's personal decision and resolution. There are certain bits of comedic or out of topic dialogue, but they never do anything more than to flesh out a character's perspective or worldview. Internal conflict takes center stage here. We see the character's struggles with the aberration, how it escalated to that point, and their initial approach to it. Even the external conflict is used as a device to give further exposition to a character's internal conflict, usually Koyomi's. Overall, it is a decent premise and there aren't any illogical events as far as anyone's concerned (as illogical as you can get in-universe anyway). Conflicts are resolved realistically and help further a character's progression.
OVERALL: 7/10

CHARACTERS:
Being character-driven, Monogatari's narrative entirely depends on its characters. While not perfect, its characterization of the main cast is some of the best I've seen in the medium. I'll go through three central characters: Koyomi, Hitagi Senjougahara, and Tsubasa Hanekawa in detail.

Koyomi Araragi - Koyomi, at first glance, seems like your typical anime protagonist. He has special powers in the form of being part-vampire, is incredibly nice, and girls like him because of it. However, underneath those traits lies a more guilty and cynical side to him, as he constantly judges himself as a useless person undeserving of what is given to him. He constantly sacrifices himself for others as a result. He believes himself to be unimportant and chooses to put others over him, making him seem like a false hero.He is without a doubt one of my favorite leads in all of anime and his character arcs just highlight why he feels guilty about these things excellently.

Hitagi Senjougahara - At first glance, Hitagi comes off as just another tsundere with an abrasive tongue. She is helped by our protagonist and begins to open up to and develop feelings towards him. If that sounds one-dimensional as fuck, I can agree with you. But what makes her an amazing character is the exposition given to us in her arc, Hitagi Crab. She also seems aware of Koyomi's lack of care for his own well-being, as she tries her best to return the favor for him helping her. In doing so, we learn three things about her character: her playful nature, her intuition (for noticing Koyomi's complex), and her pride.

Tsubasa Hanekawa - Hanekawa is an interesting subversion of your perfect student council president. She's nice, smart, and beautiful. Koyomi himself states that she is the most perfect woman you will ever meet. Like Koyomi though, there is a lot more to her persona than what meets the eye. She actually faces a lot of pressure from maintaining her image. However, she's never let out all this pent-out frustration, and instead manifests into an aberration known as Black Hanekawa, her alter-ego which voices out the real Hanekawa's stress and frustration and often goes to extreme lengths on order to remove the source of it. Her character arc is another one of the best parts in Monogatari, as she must learn to accept her faults and internal problems in order to truly grow as a person.
This would be an easy 10 if some characters didn't get the shaft (no pun intended) and instead had their stories turned into character arcs for our leads, but I digress. Such an approach would've made certain side characters more than just their external behavior, but considering that they rarely appear, I suppose it is better this way.This would be too long if I gave more character descriptions, so I'll just say my other favorites include Kaiki Deishuu, Ougi Oshino, and Nadeko Sengoku.
OVERALL: 9/10

ART:
Ever since Akiyuki Shinbou came into SHAFT, they have molded their identity as a studio in his image. I am no animation student, so I cannot discuss his choices in full detail, but I would like to say the Monogatari Series tries to be good in a different way. Tatsuya Oishi, one of Shinbou's proteges, gave Monogatari the aspects that made Shinbou's previous works so weirdly endearing and turned it up to 11. From the action cards, shading, shot composition, shift between animation styles, Monogatari, at the very least, looks memorable in how it tries to be different. There are also subtle visual metaphors that I cannot mention as they are considered spoiler territory, but try to mind how each scene is constructed with regards to the perspective of each character. This is best showcased in Monogatari Series: Second Season. Not everyone will like this animation style, but this is definitely something that appeals to my tastes.
OVERALL: 10/10

SOUND:
This is a purely subjective part of the review. In my opinion, the majority of the OP's are memorable and are animated fantastically, while the ED's are less so (though Kimino Shiranai Monogatari in Ep. 12 was just on-point and was an amazing conclusion to one if not the best episode in the franchise). As for the background music, I don't recall anything of note other than Kaiki Deishuu's theme. As for the actual sounds themselves, I can't really comment since I'm not adept at technical audio aspects such as sound mixing or sound design. The most I can say is that each episode sounds fine and don't feel grating to my ears.
OVERALL: 8/10

ENJOYMENT:
I'll keep this really short, since none of you should (rightfully so) care about my personal enjoyment. Yeah, you can probably tell from my profile picture, my username, and my MAL profile that I just absolutely love this show. The wordplay and dialogue is hilarious, and the characters are endearing and memorable. The really weird art style added a lot to my experience.
OVERALL: 10/10

FINAL SCORE: 9/10
I know this isn't a series for everyone, but if anything in this write-up interested you even remotely, then please go ahead and check it out. If for nothing else, the animation style will stand out as something different from your average show.