Mar 28, 2021
Bakemonogatari ('Ghostory') was not supposed to be an anime. Bakemonogatari was a light novel series that was supposed to be impossible to be animated and adapted to a show. Even then, it would have been practically impossible to translate so it can be consumed by a wider audience, namely western audiences. Bakemonogatari's dialogue is nuanced yet there have been some amazing attempts out there to transiterate the multiple-layered entendres of each line to english so nothing is lost. That's where Bakemonogatari's beauty shines the most. In its dialogue and character interactions with each other.
STORY (7/10):
The story follows the life of the 17-year old Koyomi Araragi,
...
an ex-vampire that is willing to help anyone that is trying to face the same problem he used to have, bieng affected by some sort of 'oddity'. This is not a story driven anime so it is only natural that it is a bit lacking when it comes to a coherent storyline. The only reason that everything in bakemonogatari makes sense is due to the characters leading the way for it through their interactions and for what it is I give it a 7
ART (8/10):
Bakemonogatari does not follow the 'show and don't tell' principle. It does the complete opposite of that. It tells much more than what it shows with each episode being at least 90% dialogue. However, that does not mean that the little that it shows cannot be beautiful. The show mostly takes place in serene yet detailed environments for the characters to chat with each other trying to deal with situational problems they may encounter. The show does a perfect job immersing us into each environment by showing us detailed illustrations of the main characters' surroundings while they conversate. Nevertheless, action scenes are not entirely absent in this show with a number of liquid and fluently animated fights taking place throughout the show which can be quite impressive taking into consideration the genre and year this show was made. 8/10
SOUND (10/10):
Bakemonogatari presents us with a wide variety of different songs that fit into each character present at any given moment. Each theme is really distinct from each other with usually upbeat melodies that go perfectly well along with each character's personality and traits, also serving as a way to help us differentiate each character much more distinctly.
With so much dialogue going on in the show it would be an understatement to say that the voice actors have worked hard to reach the final product. A wide range of emotion is displayed by everyone throughout the series and it leaves the watcher only impressed at the vocal performances to say the least.
CHARACTERS (10/10):
This show probably has some of the most complex main characters I have yet seen. From Senjougahara to Nadeko, everyone gets a great deal of character development up until the final episode and that can be accurately displayed by the way they talk with each other and by the way the deal with different situational problems that may come up either in their own relationship or the lives of the people they are trying to help.
Araragi is a man that wants to help everyone. Senjougahara used to be someone that was in desperate need of help while also havign huge trust issues and having great difficulty opening up to people due to childhood trauma which she projected onto other beings, more specifically onto the giant crab that showed itself to her and Araragi was the one willing to give that help to her while unknowingly helping her overcome her issues talking about her emotional burden. That way she started seeing Araragi as someone dear that gave her the one thing no one else would give her. So consequently Araragi got what he was longing for the most, namely love. That leads to the two constructing a unique relationship where both of them are on equal grounds and are only driven by their sole happiness they give each other. 10/10
Overall this has been a really enjoyable show that I finished in less than 2 days due to each episode being so engaging and interesting that even with more than half of the show being dialogue, I couldn't stop watching. I definitely recommend giving it a watch.
OVERALL: 10/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
