*SPOILER FREE*
So, I've decided to make my first review on one of the most influential anime series of the 21st century: Bakemonogatari. In all honesty, it wouldn't be surprising if you've heard of this series before. Are you familiar with the "Renai Circulation" opening theme? Same series. As most people (who haven't watched it, of course) aren't familiar with the style and overall theme of the series, allow me to give you a quick synopsis:
Bakemonogatari follows the story of a young man in his last year of high school who just recently survived a vampire attack. After
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becoming human again (being cured of his vampirism), he tries to return to his normal life, though still has underlining effects as a result, meaning he is not entirely human. Because of this, he runs into many supernatural phenomena relating to people in his town and ventures to help them with the assistance of an oddball yet all-knowing man who resides in a cram-school and a donut-loving vampire. Most of these supernatural phenomena actually relate to real-life issues and the psyche of the person experiencing them.
While this plot may not sound extraordinary or even unheard of, the thing that really makes this series stand out is its contents, characters, and overall writing style.
Story (7/10):
Bakemonogatari is only the first installment of the series, so the whole entire Monogatari franchise doesn't exactly follow this same storyline.
The story is fairly well-written for a 15 episode anime series as it doesn't disclose too much about its world, but gives you the basics about what's really going on. As it is a supernatural mystery series, this is clever and somewhat hard to achieve, especially in the anime medium. Bakemonogatari is split into five arcs, each focusing on a different main character, though the narrator stays the same throughout this particular cour. Hitagi Crab, Mayoi Mai Mai, Suruga Monkey, Nadeko Snake, and Tsubasa Cat, respectively. They each have different feels to them and main themes change constantly. Opening themes, also, change arc-for-arc and suit the style of the arc, saying a lot about the characters. Bakemonogatari is also told through dialogue, so if you don't have the patience or attention span to watch it, I wouldn't recommend it. Due to the story not being fully expanded yet, it may feel like there is something missing and thus is why I rated it a 7/10. If you continue the series from there on, questions will be answered.
Art (6/10):
While Bakemonogatari and SHAFT in particular has such a distinguishable and curious style of animating, art, and transition screens, the actual presentation itself isn't that neat. Sometimes there are huge animation boosts, but other times, the screen seems still. One fascinating thing that I believe stands out is the ever-changing colour palette. In Bakemonogatari, tones, lining, overall colour, and even art style will change almost every episode. One example I can give is hair colours, and my example character will be Hitagi Senjougahara. Gahara's hair is primarily purple in the anime, although, this is not the case in the original novels. Her hair has changed to black, to a crimson red, a violet/navy blue, and even a mint green turquoise. These colour changes can take place during any given moment and actually enhance the experience in my opinion.
The back drops are drawn nicely and neatly, also playing with colours and helping characters stand out. They also make specific locations memorable due to how it's different from any other place in structure, colour, and simple drawing techniques, as you'll most likely be seeing it again.
The character designs themselves are pleasing and one thing that makes them stand out is how the characters change their clothes every episode (sometimes even more). This is VERY rare in anime and is a delight to see when characters introduce you to their wardrobe.
It must be confusing why I gave it a 6/10, then, if the art and animation is executed so well? The answer is right there: animation. Bakemonogatari had such a low-budget that, while sometimes it can rely too much on its presentation (not that I mind, though), its animation can look very unappealing and "bad" because they hadn't the money and technology to make it look nice. Now, what really saves this series, is how they experimented with different techniques in order to stay within their budget but still make a cool show. This is why the series accompanies famous, or infamous, flash text screens, carboard cut outs, real life depictions, and of course the colour palette and art style changes that I mentioned earlier. To save money and effort. It still surprises me to this day of how prolific this anime actually is.
Sound (8/10):
From the soundtrack, to the OPs, and the ED, the sound in this series is actually amazing. Due to it being a primarily dialogue-driven story, there is a lot of talking and conversations can drag out entire episodes, which requires superb voice acting. Studio SHAFT has a thing for bringing back seiyuu that worked on their previous series as they know that they can work well together (or not) and measure their skill based on what they did prior to what they called them in for. Hiroshi Kamiya is the voice actor for the protagonist/narrator of the series, Koyomi Araragi. Kamiya-san is an outstanding seiyuu who has probably voice acted in some of your favourite shows (Bungo Stray Dogs, Mr. Osomatsu, Shingeki no Kyojin, for example). Same thing can be said for every other voice actor in the series. The voices match perfectly to their characters and flow with emotion, almost as if they were really experiencing them. One thing that is truly incredible is how perfect their articulation was with whatever they said and it was always clear. There is a lot of wordplay in the series and in some cases tongue-twisters that seem impossible to even try to achieve pronunciation of, yet the voice actors did this wonderfully. The only thing I will nag on in Senjougahara's voice in the first episode, as it doesn't really fit her character, but Saito-san made adjustments.
Music-wise, this series is a hit-or-miss. Its soundtrack and background music fits very well and changes precisely according to the feel of a character, scene, or area. On the contrary, its opening themes aren't always as pleasant-to-the-ear, and are hit -or-miss in the way they sound. Now, the lyrics and the visuals are very thoughtful and you can tell the creators really wanted to make a series with a lot of depth. Its ending song is one of the best in all of anime and it's visuals actually change (very slightly, I feel like I am the only one who noticed this) every episode, in which in later arcs change completely appearance-wise.
The sound effects are decent and match with what is happening on screen (like foot tapping or a gush of wind). They aren't the greatest I've seen but they definitely are not poor in quality.
Character (7/10):
Bakemonogatari has a fun cast of eight characters and three side characters. This includes the protagonist, class president of class presidents Tsubasa Hanekawa, a sketchy middle-aged man who seems to know everything about the supernatural, a mute donut-loving vampire, a snide weightless girl, an elementary school student, a sports fanatic with a secret, and the childhood acquaintance. The side characters aren't important enough to mention, though in later seasons they do have major roles. Each character is explored in depth and are very unique despite what they may seem upon first glance. Each character is also just as important as the other which makes banter between them quite enjoyable to watch. This series can get surprisingly dark and question ideas such as purpose, meaning, and self-worth, relating to the characters themselves, so be wary. Due to the whole Monogatari franchise not being concluded yet, at least in these fifteen episodes, the characters are not fully developed and this serves as, essentially, and introductory season. I can't really talk in detail about anything without getting into spoilers, but all I can say is that one of the main themes of this series is investigating the idea of why people do the things they do.
Enjoyment (9/10):
I loved this anime upon first watching it and it will always hold a special place in my heart. I had read the original novels before it came out, or, you know, what novels had been released (five, I believe), and was very excited to see this as an anime. Of course, my expectations were very low upon first hearing about it as the novels themselves seemed impossible to adapt. And then I heard it was SHAFT. This took me as a surprise as they generally animated comedy series, but after thinking about it I decided to give it a try because I was always a fan of Shimbo's work. Cut to eleven-or-so years later and it is one of my favourite anime series of all time.
Overall (8/10):
The series may have its flaws, but in all honestly, it is difficult to seriously shit-talk. It is extremely difficult to recommend for so many reasons, but if you think you'll like it, then by all means take the plunge into the insane universe of Monogatari.
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May 28, 2021
Bakemonogatari
(Anime)
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*SPOILER FREE*
So, I've decided to make my first review on one of the most influential anime series of the 21st century: Bakemonogatari. In all honesty, it wouldn't be surprising if you've heard of this series before. Are you familiar with the "Renai Circulation" opening theme? Same series. As most people (who haven't watched it, of course) aren't familiar with the style and overall theme of the series, allow me to give you a quick synopsis: Bakemonogatari follows the story of a young man in his last year of high school who just recently survived a vampire attack. After ... |
