Sep 21, 2022
Akiyuki Shimbo and Nisio Isin's grand return! Surely this is just like Monogatari? No.
Before I get to my whining about how things aren't the way I remember them back in my day, I will say this is a very well written and creative series that is far more newcomer friendly than Bakemonogatari. If you are going in expecting a fun new mystery series, you won't be disappointed. If you come in looking for Bakemonogatari II, you probably won't enjoy it as much.
Bakemonogatari was a ridiculous firehose of visuals and banter pointed directly in your face, stuffed with pebbles of Araragi's skeeviness. I doubt anything can
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trump the variety and aggressiveness with which Bakemonogatari tackles casual conversation. It's borderline incomprehensible (thanks in no small part to how much they cut out from the novel) but that's what people like about it. Pretty Boy Detective Club also uses new and interesting visuals at times, you can still tell Akiyuki Shimbo was behind this, but not to the devastating and overstimulating extent of Bakemonogatari. All this is to say that people calling this "literally Bakemonogatari" clearly haven't watched Bakemonogatari recently.
Pretty Boy Detective Club also falls short as an adaptation of the novel. Partially because they can't have an internal monologue 24/7, but Dojima's characterization is underwhelming. In the novel she was constantly judgmental and self-loathing, which would certainly turn away most viewers in an anime, but it also makes countless jokes, specifically those about Sakiguchi and Fukuroi, feel out of place (especially when they reference Dojima's internal monologue directly). More generally, this anime got rid of a lot of humor. Revelations that made me burst out laughing when I read them were played off as serious.
So after all my relentless criticism, should you watch this? Yes. All the issues I raised are only issues for diehard Nisio Isin completionists, and you've already watched this show. If you're looking for a fun show to watch, your friend said this show has a bunch of hot dudes in it, and you think Bakemonogatari is the love story between the girl with the green hair and the guy with the black hair, you'll love this. It's creative, well written, visually interesting, and just plain fun.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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