Bakemonogatari (aka Ghost Story) is a 15 episode anime animated by studio Shaft and part of the Monogatari Series written by Nisio Isin. It was directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, who also directed Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and Nisekoi. It’s no wonder that this anime is considered a masterpiece, both visually and story-wise, and I will attempt to explain why in this review. Truth be told, it has it's flaws, but they can be ignored. The main focus of the show are the story and character interactions.
Story
As I said, Bakemonogatari is part of the Monogatari Series written by Nisio Isin. Its prequels are Kizumonogatari and Tsubasa Family,
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which you should read/see before you watch this even though Bakemonogatari was animated first. The plot revolves around Koyomi Araragi, an ex-vampire and his encounters with various oddities. It's divided into five arcs: Hitagi Crab, Mayoi Snail, Suruga Monkey, Nadeko Snake and Tsubasa Cat. Each one features one female character, her story and the oddity that caused her problem. While the story itself is simply amazing, I have one problem with it. It assumes that you already know what happened in Kizumonogatari and just throws you in. That makes the start quite confusing and boring to people as it only adds to the struggle with the amount of text and flashy images on the screen. Each episode has over 400 lines of text in it, be it in images or conversations, which is absolutely mental. They tried to cram as much content as they could into this show. That doesn’t make it bad though, it only makes it unique, and when you get used to the style, you’ll find yourself loving the show. Each of the arcs has an amazing (and sad) story and Mayoi Snail stands way on top being the most heartwarming arc of them all. The main focus of the story is the pain that people experience during their life and how to overcome it, and the sub focus is the romantic relationship of Araragi and Senjougahara Hitagi.
The story gets a 9/10 just because of the first episode and because it assumes that you already know the Damaged Goods arc.
Animation
The main objective of the animation style is to keep your focus on the screen and what’s going on there. Having such an objective, you can kind of see why Akiyuki used so many flashy images and dodgy camera angles. The animation quality is simply amazing, you can literally see the pile of money that was spent on this show. While most of it consists of images of the environment and text screens, there are a few fight scenes. I must say that the fight scenes are NOT the main focus of this anime, so they mostly consist of Araragi talking his opponent’s into submission. The character and camera movements are fluid. Shinbo tends to use different art styles while portraying emotions, which is quite attractive. One advice, do NOT try to eat while watching this anime. You will simply forget about the food and won’t be able to keep your eyes of the screen. I often paused the video to catch up with the text displayed via images and dialogue. Also, this is not a show for those who suffer from epilepsy. Consider yourself warned.
Anyway, the animation gets a 10/10 being an absolute masterpiece and artwork in anime.
Characters
The main focus of the show are characters and the way they interact. Each and every character you see in this show is more complex than a differential equation and as unique as stripes on a zebra. The depth of them simply amazes me.
Let’s start by introducing Araragi Koyomi, the main focus of the show. During spring break, he met a female vampire and chose to give his life to save hers. Shocked by his selflessness, the vampire lets him live and tries to help him become a human again. Long story cut short, things don’t quite work out and Araragi becomes a vampire like human while Kissshot (the vampire) becomes an eight year old girl. Koyomi is the kind of guy who helps on impulse and prioritizes others instead of himself. His interactions with Senjougahara Hitagi, the girl he first saves are simply hilarious as she tends to tease him a lot. Koyomi, who started out as a „sexually frustrated kid“ develops into a caring and reliable boyfriend and friend.
Next up is Senjougahara Hitagi, the perfect mix between a sharp tongued psycho and sweet, caring girlfriend. She is the first woman Koyomi has ever loved. What makes her entertaining is her arrogant and masochistic nature and the way she treats Araragi. She often teases and patronizes him while making up for that by being the sweet loving girlfriend. She acts like that because she is afraid of getting hurt again. Her problem was caused by the wish to escape the burden of a destroyed family. She fell in love with Araragi because he was the first one to break her shield and drag her out of the darkness.
Oshino Meme, the laid back oddity hunter and Araragi's mentor. Meme is a man with a lanky physique, always wearing a pink aloha shirt left unbuttoned. He considers himself a neutral force, always trying to balance things out in the world. In the Kizumonogatari novel, he starts living in a cram school building and helps Araragi return to his human form. After that, he lives there with Shinobu Oshino (Kissshot) and assists Araragi in curing the girls affected by oddities.
Hachikuji Mayoi, a fifth-grade elementary school girl trying to reach the home of her mother. She is cheerful, energetic and inquisitive, makes a lot of spelling mistakes and has a habit of mispronouncing Koyomi's family name. On the other hand, she does not easily trust strangers, and will even fight back against them if they become too nosy. She lived with her father after her family broke apart. Because she was afraid of forgetting her mother, she decides to visit her. Araragi and Senjougahara help her achieve that goal. Gosh... talking about her without spoiling anything is hard...
Suruga Kanbaru, star player of the school's basketball team and one of Hitagi's acquaintances from junior high school. She usually keeps her left hand covered with bandages to hide the oddity that’s affecting it. Araragi describes her as erotic. She is a lesbian and a lolicon, often reads yaoi. Hidden from others, however, is her tendency to be jealous of others to the point of thinking about revenge.
Sengoku Nadeko is the childhood friend of Araragi's sister Tsukihi. She met Koyomi after a long time while trying to cure her oddity curse. She is quite shy and easily amused.
Tsubasa Hanekawa, Koyomi's classmate and class representative. She is known at school as a model student. Her kindness hides the fact that she is under constantly under a lot of stress. That stress caused her oddity problem. Her story starts way at the beginning, in Kizumonogatari, as she helped Koyomi and saved his life. Koyomi is therefore bound to her, always looking after her in order to repay his debt. Oshino Meme finds her quite scary because of her kindness. The brighter someone shines, as he says, the greater the shadow within him.
The characters get a 10/10
Soundtrack
First of all, I must thank Kousaki Satorou for creating these beautiful OST and SuperCell for creating that ending song.
Each arc of the series has its own opening, featuring the girl in question. What i really like about that is that each song describes the personality of the girl in question. The openings are Staple Staple by Chiwa Saito, The Road Home by Emiri Katou, Ambivalent World by Miyuki Sawashiro, Renai Circulation by Kana Hanazawa and Sugar Sweet Nightmare by Yui Horie. The ending song Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari was composed by SuperCell, and is one of my favorite songs to day. Even standing alone, those songs are beautiful. I actually first heard the soundtrack and then watched the anime.
The soundtrack gets a 10/10.
Notes
In order to fully enjoy this anime I highly recommend that you first read the novel Kizumonogatari. It has about 260 pages and is currently online on baka-tsuki.
Should you watch it in release or chronological order? – Well, I prefer the chronological order because it’s easier to get used to the story and style that way.
The release order of the series is: Bakemonogatari, Nisemonogatari, Nekomonogatari Black and Monogatari Series Second Season (the Kizumonogatari movie is not out yet)
The chronological order is: Kizumonogatari (the novel), Nekomonogatari (Black), Bakemonogatari, Nisemonogatari and Monogatari Series Second Season
EDIT: I would ask you to give me feedback on the review if you have disliked it. I find that quite important as it helps me become a better reviewer. Ty in advance
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Feb 24, 2014
Bakemonogatari
(Anime)
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Bakemonogatari (aka Ghost Story) is a 15 episode anime animated by studio Shaft and part of the Monogatari Series written by Nisio Isin. It was directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, who also directed Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and Nisekoi. It’s no wonder that this anime is considered a masterpiece, both visually and story-wise, and I will attempt to explain why in this review. Truth be told, it has it's flaws, but they can be ignored. The main focus of the show are the story and character interactions.
Story As I said, Bakemonogatari is part of the Monogatari Series written by Nisio Isin. Its prequels are Kizumonogatari and Tsubasa Family, ... 
Jan 21, 2014
Lucky☆Star
(Anime)
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Lucky Star is a 24 episode long adaptation of the manga written by Kagami Yoshimizu. As a comedy anime, its main goal is entertaining the viewer. The action is revolving around the lives Konata and her high school friends. Before I start the review, I want to tell you that the score's I will give certain aspects are my raw opinion of them, without any personal feelings involved. We have the enjoyment section for that. So, if you don't want to see me criticize the show, head to the Enjoyment section.
Story Lucky Star portrays the high school lives of Konata and her closest friends. It ... |
