Review of Bakemonogatari

Bakemonogatari... is okay. It's just. okay. It's okay. But it could have been so. much. better. It's not the story that holds it back: the story is actually pretty alright, besides from some insanely drawn out entire blocks of dialogue in episodes, that, honestly, don't have to be there. The music certainly doesn't hold it back: one of the most impressive parts of the show, actually, is the music. It really does the show a great service having such stellar musical choices, and really elevates it to a unique standing. The animation is beautiful, and I didn't mind the flash cards as much as others. I thinkit was because I sort of didn't pause or anything to read them, so they kinda set a tone instead of giving background - I paused a couple and they didn't really say anything super important other than some chuckle-worthy banter.
The characters are alright, even though they fall so so so hard into tropes. Like, Senjogahara is a tsundere, and even if the show admits it, it's still really basic. I do appreciate the backstory they give her though, helps to explain her overall personality - a lot of shows actually don't even do that, so props to bakemonogatari there.

WHAT HOLDS IT BACK
IS THE FANSERVICE.
IT IS THAT BAD.

Look, I don't like fanservice to begin with, but Bakemonogatari does it in a way that made me so physically uncomfortable I could not focus on the story or the characters. It also served to mess up characters for me, namely Araragi. I don't see why the show tries to set him up as a protagonist who likes to help everyone and has a heart of gold BUT ALSO SOMEONE who casually sexually harasses little girls. Every scene with any girl who is younger than Araragi made me cringe more times than I could count. It's almost like the writers couldn't help themselves but to sexualize everything Araragi comes into contact with, and they didn't draw a moral line. To illustrate Araragi's teenage hormones, the writers could have done anything other than what they landed on. It got to the point where I walked away from the show not thinking of the overall message, but about how weird these scenes in question made me feel.

I enjoyed Bakemonogatari to an extent, but I won't be watching the rest of the Monogatari series. Apparently the fanservice gets worse from here. Can't really see myself fully enjoying that at all.