Anime Hajime Review: Bakemonogatari

Series Synopsis

While walking to class, Koyomi Araragi (voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya) is taken by surprise when he sees fellow classmate, Hitagi Senjogahara (voiced by Chiwa Saito), falling from the top of the stairs. Without thinking, he catches Hitagi, discovering her secret; she is virtually weightless.

Attempting to keep Koyomi quiet, Hitagi threatens him to stay away from her. Surprisingly undeterred, Koyomi says that he knows a way to cure her condition and offers to help.

Koyomi recognizes that Hitagi has come into contact with a powerful supernatural being known as an oddity. He knows this because until recently, he was one of these mysterious creatures; a vampire to be exact.

After helping Hitagi, they form a strong relationship; first as friends, then eventually becoming a couple. They soon begin to meet several other girls who have come into contact with some kind of oddity.

Series Positives

I had a lot of fun with this series. Never was there a dull or uninteresting moment. There was always something to grab and hold your attention.

The Story/Stories

Koyomi Araragi

There is a ton to this show. It's able to take on so many different genres and masterfully blend them together to create one of the most unique and beautiful stories I have ever seen. The series is simultaneously funny as well as creepy, romantic yet dark, goofy but still thoughtful. Everything feels natural, everything is well timed, everything fits.

Not to mention there are ecchi moments throughout. (Don't say you haven't been warned)

Hitagi Senjogahara

Overall Bakemonogatari does have a single linear story, but it's broken up into five different arcs. While all the concepts, characters, and events do cross paths and interact, there is no mistaking one for the other. Each one is its own separate pillars supporting the bigger picture.

The Arcs

1) Hitagi Crab: Koyomi first meets Hitagi and must help pacify the oddity that is causing her weightlessness.

2) Mayoi Snail: Koyomi runs into Mayoi Hachikuji (voiced by Emiri Katou), a grade schooler who is unable to find her mother’s house no matter how hard she tires.

3) Suruga Monkey: Suruga Kanbaru (voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro), Hitagi’s junior and best friend since middle school, seeks a way to cure her arm that has recently become disfigured.

4) Nadeko Snake: Nadeko Sengoku (voiced by Kana Hanazawa), a friend of Koyomi’s sisters, is suffering from the effects of a powerful and dangerous curse.

5) Tsubasa Cat: Tsubasa Hanekawa (voiced by Yui Horie), Koyomi and Hitagi’s classmate, is showing the symptoms of an oddity that was supposedly removed a while ago.

All of these segments are outstanding in their own right (my personal favorite being the third one). Never do they feel bland or repetitive.

A Visual Spectacle

To say Bakemonogatari is stylized would be an understatement. The show doesn’t go five minutes without changing its art style and animation. Often times I can only describe it as breathtaking.

There's really no way to explain it; you just need to see it for yourself. That does sound like an easy cop out, but the show is not consistent enough to list all the variations of imagery.

But what I can say is its effective. The visuals are able to bring out some of the creepiest, darkest, funniest, saddest, most memorable moment in the entire series, while at the same time never overwhelming the story.

There is so much symbolism and so much interpretation, but it is all very understandable and never beyond comprehension. You never mistake what you are seeing. It’s a great example of how anime can be an outstanding display of visual art.

Mayoi Hachikuji

Series Negatives

Bakemonogatari is solid. I believe it is that great of a show. However there are some definite problems.

Dialogue Heavy

There is a fair amount of action sequences sprinkled throughout, but there are also moments when the characters are just conversing for long periods of time.

Suruga Kanbaru

I am not going to say that a show is bad if it is mostly talking. In fact I love well written and engaging dialogue, and Bakemonogatari does a fantastic job with providing that. In fact I would go so far to say it hits the right notes many times. The problem is, it asks for too much of the viewer’s attention without providing enough stimuli to warrant it.

Nadeko Sengoku

Now I know what you may be asking yourself, "Isn’t it true that if you are going watch an anime, doesn’t it deserve your full attention?" That is absolutely true, but Bakemonogatari is an example of a show that will punish you if you are to look away for even a single second.

Tsubasa Hanekawa

Let’s say you are watching and someone walks into the room. You quickly look up to see who it is and immediately go back to the show. By then it is already too late.

If you are not paying full attention you will miss something important. The characters talk quickly and spew a lot heavy material. The show can get very philosophical, very quickly. There is so much to take in, making it easy to get lost

The Final Three Episodes

The last three episodes of Bakemonogatari were released as ONAs. Now since I binge watch anime, this is a non-issue. However this is not the problem with the final three episodes.

Throughout the series, Koyomi’s past as a vampire is always hinted at. Although he is now human, Koyomi still retains some of his vampire abilities. So the whole time you are waiting to learn more about what Koyomi was like before the show. Instead of the final episodes going into it, they go ahead and add new stuff to an already mysterious character.

In my Battle Programmer Shirase review, I've already gone into why this is a stupid thing to do. Basically it is the biggest "middle finger" a show can do to a viewer.

While it is annoying, Bakemonogatari does have a chance to redeem itself. Unlike Battle Programmer Shirase, this show did get picked up for a second season. Actually to be more specific, this show is the first chapter in the Monogatari saga, which I will cover.

But as a stand-alone series, Bakemonogatari has no business adding new material right at the end. In fact the last three episodes feel like add-ons and where just made to extend the series. This would make sense because the show had a great ending...in episode twelve.

Final Thought

A solid anime; Bakemonogatari is great fun with an awesome story and beautiful animation. It’s funny, creepy, sad, happy, dark, and romantic all at the same time and never does it feel like a jumbled mess.

Despite its problems, particularly the ending, I am able to look past it because it is the first in a long series of anime. But as a solo piece, it truly stands firm on its own.

My favorite part about watching anime is how I pick the ones I want to watch. I usually choose at random and know very little about a show before diving in. While this system is not guaranteed to find the best there is to offer, every now and then I come across a gem like this one.