Review of Bakemonogatari

If you were to personify the numerous parts that make up anime as a group of friends, then fanservice is that one guy that can’t take a hint and constantly tries to join in, even though everyone hates him and are always talking shit about him behind his back. The point that I’m trying to make is that nobody takes it seriously, which is a real shame in fanservice’s case, since it’s actually a great tool that anime writers have at their disposal. Unfortunately, the majority of people who watch anime not only won’t acknowledge this, but will even go so far as to criticiseany usage of said tool, regardless of the context it’s presented in.

Of course, the first thing that comes to mind when fanservice is brought up is some shitty light novel adaptation where we see protag-kun walk in on a group of girls changing for the hundredth time, in a “joke” so overused that any impact we might have felt is now completely missing. Unfortunately, the popularity of low effort shows that do this has led to the overuse of this cliché. I think this is the main reason why the majority of people treat it as that friend who can’t take a hint, believing that all fanservice is this basic level of lowest common denominator shite.

Which just isn’t true.

There are numerous examples where fanservice has actually enhanced the overall experience of a show and made it better, often giving a series its own unique and recognisable aesthetic. If you want to know the easiest way to tell the difference between productive and lazily done use of fanservice ask yourself “What purpose has it actually served?”

Just look at the first 10 seconds of Bakemonogatari, which used fanservice in a completely upfront and in your face way. It doesn’t tell us much about our main characters, or anything interesting about the world we’re in, but that’s okay. We have 15 whole episodes, and all of its sequels to do that. Right now, all it has to do is create intrigue so that the viewer will continue watching the series.

And I find it impossible to not be curious about what happens next.
If you’re the kind of person that enjoys seeing high school panties, (and you know who you are) then you can get that basic perverse reaction that you want out of this opening shot.

You have a boner, congratulations.

What makes this opening shot so great is that you can still get a lot of enjoyment out of it, even if you’re not that kind of person. Shaft has one of the weirdest visual styles ever put to animation, and it makes even dumb things like a panty shot make you invested in what’s to come. And once you’re in, you stay in.

What follows the panty shot is a summary of Kizumonogatari, a prequel which eventually got its own adaptation in the form of three movies, with a total running time of over 3 hours. All of this content was summarised without words in the next minute of the show and it makes as much sense as an autistic man-child analysing a panty shot and passing it off as a review.

This creates interest. Now you’re hooked. You’ve gone from a completely over the top and unnecessarily intense panty shot, to a trippy, violent series of events and you have no idea what the hell is going on. But you have to find out.
You have to find out what some guy seeing a girl’s knickers has to do with all the crazy shit you just saw.

You have to find out if this show will emphasize panty shots, the confusing tone that was created, or the extreme levels of violence you just witnessed. (It does all 3)
You have to find out what happens next.

Opening a show with a panty shot is hardly a new idea. It’s the way that Bakemonogatari uses this fanservice to draw us in that’s interesting, and we see that throughout the entire series. The show often uses fanservice in a way that’s productive for the characters, themes or ideas being presented.

For instance, there’s a running gag where the protagonist will greet a 10-year-old girl by molesting her.

And here comes the police, great.

Before I get arrested, at least here me out. There’s a reason for this. I acknowledge that what I just said is weird and creepy, but I also think that was the point. It was used as a criticism of how the anime community constantly sexualises girls well below the age of consent by giving an over the top example of just how bad this behaviour is, in a way that otaku couldn’t ignore. I think that this ability to use fanservice to criticise anime culture is something the show should be praised for, not taken as a sign that its weeaboo trash.
…
Yeah, I know it might be a stretch, so what. The fact that I even tried to justify is proof enough to me that the show did something right with its fanservice. I’m not even saying I liked it. Aw, come on, who threw dildos at me-that’s just weird.

To prove my point, let’s go back to that opening shot and compare it to a similar show, called Strike the Blood, (specifically it’s sequel), that did the same thing, to show how a complete lack of thought put into a show’s use of fanservice can actively make a series worse.

Granted the example I’m showing you is the opening shot of season 2, so they spend a while doing recap, but since it took place before the opening credits, I would say it plays a similar enough role for this comparison to be justified.

The first thing anybody watching the show would notice about Strike the Blood would be its completely lack of any visual identity. From its boring character designs and overused setting to its minimal animation, its crystal clear that they’re not going to do anything interesting with the fanservice that you’ve come to expect from the (just as terrible) first season.

There’s no sense of intrigue, made even worse by its pointless dialogue. We can instantly tell that protag-kun and anime girl are cleaning the pool so why are we told that protag-kun and anime girl are cleaning the pool?

And then, finally, Strike the Blood gives us its own panty shot, really showing off why this cliché has such a bad rep, and allows me to further appreciate how Bakemonogatari used it. Bake was completely in your face with how it did its stupid anime bullshit. You didn’t even have context for what happens. The way the shot was framed completely focuses on her knickers, telling us everything we need to know about its personality.

The show has fanservice. If you can’t look past that then fuck off.

Bake’s complete lack of shame, while immature, was charming. It let me know that while I was getting fanservice I shouldn’t feel bad about it and could just enjoy the scene for what it was. Strike the Blood feels like someone saw Bake’s success and lazily tried to copy it while completely misunderstanding everything that made the original shot great.

This is especially true in how the dumb anime girl reacts to main character guy, giving the typical “I’m blaming you for no reason b-b-b-baka”.
Guess what reaction Bakemongatari gave for its excessive fanservice.

…

NOTHING

It didn’t give any, because it knew that we’d seen the same overdone reaction a million times before. We wouldn’t gain anything from seeing it again here. And what not including it did was actually make it completely different to what these scenes usually do.

Think of it like negative space in a sketch. This is where you use the area around what you’re drawing as a part of your sketch, using the blank spaces to enhance the material. You could fill more into what you’re drawing, but if doing so makes it worse then why waste the time and effort ruining your art? In this example think of that reaction as something you could add.

The lack of a shitty joke or basic reaction in Bake means that there’s no justification for what we just saw. The audience is left to wonder if the show will ever give context for this scene, creating interest and investment in what’s happening. The show just exploited this broken method of thinking to make us care about the series. This is in addition to the “We have fanservice, Fuck off if you don’t like it” tone the initial shot created.

The show didn’t have to use this scene for the opening shot. It’s from a completely different source material, and while it is an important scene, without context it should come off as dumb. And yet Shaft chose to do it because they knew that it was a great way to tell the audience what kind of show It was as quickly as possible. They pulled it off effortlessly, allowing me to feel smart about getting to see some knickers.

Let that sink in.

I CAN FEEL SMART ABOUT GETTING TO SEE SOME KNICKERS!!!

No other series would do this, because usually when they do, they get the forgettable mess that was Strike the Blood’s opening scene.
Both scenes tell you more than enough about the personality of each of the shows, which is great. I want to find out more about the world of Bake. I know that whether or not I like the 20 minutes that are to follow, I’ll have a completely unique experience. I want to find out what exactly that experience is.

I don’t care about what happens next in Strike the Blood 2 since it’s made no effort to make me care. I have no faith in the quality of the show since they’ve completely failed to make me feel invested in what happens. I would probably drop the show if I didn’t already have some stupid connection to the series in the first place.

This is the main difference between good and bad fanservice. While Bake used it to add to the atmosphere, and later on even use it as the crux of a relationship, Strike the Blood for the most part, feels like it had fanservice for the sake of having fanservice. Which is especially odd considering how its premise should actually make the fanservice feel more important than in Bakemonogatari.

But that’s a discussion for a different video, which should be coming out soon. Emphasis on video. This is the script for a video that got taken down from my youtube channel. I figured that I’d post it here in case anybody wanted to at least read it. If this is the first time you’ve heard of my channel, feel free to watch some of my videos.

I’ll be having a more in-depth comparison between Strike the Blood and Bakemonogatari over the next couple of weeks, so if that piques your interest than go ahead and subscribe to make me feel somewhat important to someone somewhere maybe. (Also to stay updated on when those come out)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjH403VYBT6ah4dyPcMmBdg