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*THIS IS A REVIEW JUST FOR BAKEMONOGATARI, NO OTHER SEASONS*

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The more experimental and unorthodox you get with your storytelling the more polarizing reviews seem to get. While I thoroughly enjoy the 2000 anime FLCL for its wild combat, seemingly random animation styles, and avant garde writing, others dislike it for those same reasons. Many find distaste in the constantly changing animation style and vague story telling, seeing it as useless and a cheap tactic to appear more unique than it really is. For me Bakemonogatari is one of those shows. If you've watched even five minutes of the first episode you're aware of how much ... stress is put on the dialogue. Majority of the episodes result in 22 minutes of talking between two characters in a static location. You're constantly baraged with full screen text that has a "deep" phrase written on it. The minimal and abstract locations hint at more being present than shown but it falls short most of the time. The dialogue itself is often repetitive, boring, and vague, giving you a "beating around the bush" type of plot delivery. The storyline itself is incredibly simple and most of conflict in the show boils down to a representation of some sort of mental condition. The amount of prose and symbolism is not necessary for the shallow nature of the story, especially for the trade off of an uninteresting, boring, and snail-paced plot.

It is important to mention however that this is less a review of "Bakemonogatari" and more a review of Bakemonogatari subtitles. Since I am not Japanese and do not speak Japanese, much if not all of the word play and Japan-born/Japanese-speaking reliant characteristics are completely lost on me. Bakemonogatari is notorious for not having a dub as it would not fit considering the how dialogue heavy the work is. That being said there is a large following and many non-Japanese speaking fans of the show which showcases that it can still be enjoyed regardless of language barriers. All of my criticisms on the dialogue are based on the transcribers interpretation of the Japanese text. While I'm sure they did a terrific job translating and that much of my critique would carry through in the event that I learn Japanese, it would be dumb to avoid the fact that my experience of the show has been forced through a language blender.

I did not enjoy many of the characters in Bakemonogatari. They often felt underdeveloped and shallow in comparison to the reappearing Araragi and Senjougahara. Most appeared so periodically and often times wouldn't be seen for whole arcs made them feel mostly separated. The notion that they had any correlation between one another besides their relationship with Araragi felt unclear. Having a story in which new characters are introduced every arc and then disappear isn't new but posing a show like Bakemonogatari as an ensemble cast, only to not have them interact leads to many of the characters feeling lacking. A show in that style especially doesn't work when you loathe half of the reappearing duo. For me Araragi is someone who made the show very grating to watch. His constant torment of Mayoi and Nadeko made both arcs incredibly unpleasant. I don't really care for the pedophile style of comedy and it most certainly does not make me like the character who's supposed to be helping these girls. While I do not mind occasional jokes and a character like that existing in an anime, Araragi staying consistent in his torment of elementary children, combined with slow and monotonous dialogue makes both the Mayoi Snail and Nadeko Snake arcs nearly insufferable. While it's a lesser part of the overall interactions of the character's, I internally groaned at most of Araragi's interactions with the kids. One of the few character's I did not mind was Senjougahara. She was consistently engaging throughout the story and her interactions with all of the cast remained entertaining. I wish she was the plot more as a counter to Araragi, as after her initial arc in the start the season her appearance drops off.

The visuals are something that I truly believe in a different world I would love. In the state currently however, I see them as boring fluff added to fake a sense of hidden meanings. The visuals works actively with the flat dialogue to make the viewing experience a living hell. With the art and discourse being what it is, in the existence of a dub I would never look at the screen and instead listen to the dialogue in the background while doing more important work. Since an english dub has not come out yet I am instead forced to solely devote my attention to the text. Only there do I get to watch bland backgrounds compounded with aforementioned boring dialogue. I do give it props for the colors however, it keeps what little imagery is in frame interesting.

The music I give full credit for. I consistently liked all of the openings and endings and I added the score to my own personal playlist. The instrumental music is above average for the industry and I can confidently say that Bakemonogatari did good. The music fits the themes and is often new and engaging. The sounds in any given scene are consistently more interesting then whatever is happening visually.

While I did not click on the "Mixed Feelings" option I truly do believe that everyone with an interest in the show should try it out. I can see that I am in the minority in terms of my dislike and I confident that the people who rate this highly do genuinely enjoy it. That being said, I do still stand by my own personal experience of the show. The dialogue compounded with the visuals are slow and boring, that combined with unpleasant personality traits from central characters, lack of representation and interactions between the different members of an ensemble cast, and a well written score, you get a sluggish, sensory deficient show (with a good soundtrack).

Final score 3/10

Seeing a lot of reviews for this be mainly critiquing the fight scenes for being boring, the characters for being annoying, and the show for walking you through everything that happens. While those elements do exist that's what happens in most shonen you see from Kill la Kill to MHA to literally anything in Shonen and so I don't really see that as an issue with Demon Slayer as much as it the genre as a whole (in which case if you dont like it don't watch shonen??).

While I can't say I enjoyed every aspect, I found Zenitsu's whole simp/crybaby gimmick annoying and Inosuke's hot-headedness ... grating they were never central. There would be a 10 second bit from them every couple episodes, never enough to be detrimental to the show. Often times episodes would focus on Tanjiro or Tengen for long enough where you never really had to deal with them being aggravating so it never felt like a problem.

Personally while the fighting makes up more than half the show and having one 11 episode arc could be grating I still found the show enjoyable. Time went by fast and the long fights were never boring. While I do prefer S1s shorter fights/arcs the big 5 episode~ final fight kept me engaged. The villains felt threatening and considering Rengoku dying during the movie I was genuinely split on whether Tengen would die or not making the fight more tense.

To kinda wrap up: I didn't think Demon Slayer was anything incredible but I do think its a well made Shonen. The visuals have been talked up the wall I'm sure you know that but even outside of them the fighting and characters were still fun and enjoyable. I found myself not looking at the timestamp like so many shows make me do and the season was a breeze to sit through and watch in nearly 1 sitting. The show was enjoyable enough to watch casually and I would recommend it to Shonen, casual, and even non-anime watchers.

Final score: 8/10

Came into this thinking it would be a show like Nagatoro or Uzaki-chan where you ended up hating the main girl by the end. That or it would be filled with annoying fanservice and boob jokes or something.

I was pleasantly surprised that it has next to none of that. The main romance between the two characters never feels weird and is very wholesome. Its a sweet romance and Takagi while teasing is always respectable towards Nishikata and it never felt annoying or mean spirited. That and the whole fact that she likes him and keeps giving him hints helps create the cuteness factor

Only gripe was ... sometimes I found myself skipping through episodes as it was a little boring but thats kinda how slice of life shows like this go.

Overall 7/10

Very sweet would recommend to romcom/slice of life fans.

// Light Spoilers! //

I found out about this show through the music. Super Shooter by Rip Slyme was my first introduction to this show, found in some guys anime bangers playlist on Youtube.

The music in the show is beyond anything I've ever seen. Beat Crusaders Alt-Rock and J-Pop embodies one of my favorite genres of music: messy, fast paced, and guitar centric rock. Watching this show felt like watching a show built around music, the plot made up as an excuse to play such incredible tunes. It's very rare where I genuinely notice music in an anime besides a couple songs, and rarer that ... I listen to them on my own time, Beck has broken both of those. I regularly listen to this anime's OST and have been listening to some of the music before I even watched the show.

Besides the music, the show strikes a believable story of a band rising to stardom. Starting by playing in clubs and cheap bars, the band eventually grows and grows, finally having each member recognised for their genuine talent and dedication to the art form. Nothing feels like plot convenience, instead everything feels earned as we get to see Koyuki learning a new instrument, and the band slowly start to form. Working off old chinks, and getting through issues, rising above their rival band and their small pond.

Art is ok, its unique in a weird way. It fits the grungy, dirty style but I hesitate to call it "good" art. It sets it apart and is kinda lovable but not something to write home about.

VA is funny, broken english always enjoyable and I never felt like it detracted from the story.

To wrap, Beck is a show centered fully around its incredible music, its art and VA all fit its tone in a dirty, messy kinda way. If you don't plan on watching it at least give its OST a try.

// Light Spoilers! //

Despite a lot of the backlash this show and some characters/plot points have gotten, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this show and it second season.

The concept is charming and sweet. Kobayashi and Tohru are dynamic and entertaining. Kanna and Saikawa balance each other and are very cute to watch. Later Ilulu and Taketo are also cute.

The entire show has an essence of sweet play and cuteness. It also escapes some common pitfalls of SoL where it becomes monotonous and boring, it does this by continually introducing new concepts and characters. Never too vigorous but always advancing and keeping the same ... sweet charm.

My only problems lie with Lucoa and Shota and a little with Ilulu. While the shotacon/pedophilic esc relationship between Lucoa and Shota bothers me to some degree, this isn't my first rodeo and it doesn't bother me to the point of ruining the show. However, it does make it a pain to recommend to the point where i rarely do. I often found myself skipping parts with them and it actively detracted from the show to a degree I can't really ignore. Ilulu also had this to a lesser degree, her face is childish especially in some shots and it can make the show difficult to recommend (even though she's my favorite character).

In the end, the show has a couple flaws and its hard to pitch but there is an incredible level of cuteness and joy to the show. The concept is inventive and engaging enough to set it apart from leser SoLs.

I would def recommend to SoL fans and most anime watchers