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First and foremost I'll say this, Bakemonogatari is not for everyone especially if you have photosensitive epilepsy... just saying.

If you're just starting to watch Anime do not watch this first, do not. Watch this when you have a respectably sized repertoire and can actually see for yourself that this anime is truly unique. I personally really enjoyed this anime, but it varies between each person and I can see why some wouldn't like it either.

This review is by no means a work of an expert and should not be taken as one. This review is made by an average viewer that is considerate to the average viewer rather than critics that are bluntly critical about absurd things that most people don't really notice. (Some Spoilers, I tried to reduce the amount of spoilers just in case someone is just looking for an anime to watch and are just skimming reviews)

Without further ado...

Bakemonogatari in a nutshell: bizarre but well structured, for those who've seen this anime will now exactly what I mean and those that haven't should know that I mean bizarre in a good way.

Story (10/10): From the very start I was hooked because in the very first scene I saw a girl's panties... just kidding. I was hooked by the montage of random chaotic scenes of action, words, gore, abstract images, and the menacing music used. When I saw this I knew right away that I am in for a surprise. I do not have a large repertoire of anime so I can't really say this with much credibility, but this anime is the most original I've seen, ever. The anime is broken up into different story arcs, but they do it in a way that doesn't conflict with the relationship between the two main characters Senjougahara, Hitagi (Female Lead) and Araragi, Koyomi (Male Lead). Each arc is completely different from each other, but follows the same theme that it has to do with a myth or legend about a god or other supernatural entities and that Koyomi is involved. The viewer has to really pay attention to the dialogue because there is a lot of information being thrown around.

Art (10/10): Watch this for yourself, because the art is what makes this anime so bizarre. It's not really something I can explain so I'll make this short. Fast cuts, a lot of different angles, abstract art, chaotic atmospheres, and vivid colors.

Sound (10/10): The ambient music matched the mood so I can't really take points away for it if everything felt the way it should. I discount the intro/outro music purely because I don't really watch them sorry I either skip it or leave the room to grab a drink or use the bathroom, so professional reviewers will probably despise me even more for that, well that's if they continued to read this review for this long. I am in the process of rewatching this series to listen to the voice acting, but from my first viewing of this series the seiyuus seemed to really sell their roles so this will most likely stay unchanged.

The dialogue between the characters is really the selling point to this anime, in my personal opinion. I loved all the back and forth banter. I loved all the information that was being thrown around. Every time the two leads had a conversation together I wanted more. All the conversations between the characters had a lot of flow and there wasn't any awkwardness that I could tell. I mentioned that there was a lot of information being thrown around, and for that reason the viewer should pay a lot more close attention to the dialogue. The dialogue is sometimes fast paced and for those that don't understand the Japanese language nuances, not just for the vocal language but for the written language as well, they explain different kanji symbol meanings, could really be taken back a little bit. As for the references, there were subtext for my subbed version I had but when you explain a joke it takes away 80% of the joke most times, some are based on the Japanese culture so I couldn't understand a few of the references but points will not be taken out because of my inadequate knowledge of the Japanese culture.

Character (9/10): I won't go into extreme detail, but the characters are undoubtedly the most unique I've ever seen. Almost every character has their own back story, and each back story is well written and well translated in this anime so it makes it easy to connect to any one of the characters, of course you'll have your favorites and least favorites. There is only one particular character that doesn't have a back story and that is Oshino, Meme which sort of bugged me because he is a very interesting character. I haven't seen the sequel series to this anime so I am not sure if his back story is given. Other characters that don't have a back story are Koyomi's sisters and Shinobu. Like I said I still need to watch the sequel series maybe these characters will have a proper back story. (editing this review after watching the sequel series: Shinobu becomes a bigger character and the sisters have a proper story).

Enjoyment/Overall (9/10): I think that this anime is great. It has a lot of things that I like, and very very little that I didn't like. There wasn't a part in the series where I felt like I could have done better. The art is the craziest I've ever seen, the story is a lot different to what I am used to watching, the dialogue is the best I've watched in a while, and I am really looking forward to watching the sequel series. read more

This review is by no means a work of an expert and should not be taken as one. This review is made by an average viewer that is considerate to the average viewer rather than critics that are bluntly critical about absurd things that most people don't care about. (Some Spoilers, I tried to reduced the amount of spoilers just in case someone is just looking for an anime to watch and skimming reviews)

Gosick in a nutshell: ghost stories, urban legends, master detective, love triangle, and tsundere lolicon.

Story (6/10) - Well I'll admit that I did initially enjoy the story I later found that outside the ghost stories/legends it was rather repetitive and boring. The problem with this series is the main female protagonist Victorique. Now I understand that they explain that her race (Gray Wolves) is renowned for their intellect, but because of this she is hardly faced with any kind of challenge. If there was a case that needed to be solved she would be able to solve it if the right clues were present, and they always turn up usually with the help of Kujou (the main male protagonist). As for the love triangle it's nothing special, textbook and predictable. The only reason why Kujou and Victorique's relationship grew is because Kujou is feared and has very few friends (4 if I recall towards the end) and Victorique gets bored and uses Kujou, nothing special. The ending is blah... I'm just content that they ended the series. The last arc was the best part because things were finally coming together and making sense. As for the very end I thought it heavily brought down the last arc, because it's basically your cop-out happy ending (it's really up to the viewer also I personally didn't like how they ruined Victorique's loli appeal). Also keep in mind that an anime with an end is like a luxury because some anime that desperately need one don't or won't have one (School Rumble; although I read School Rumble Z and was content that they had ended it, but some viewers won't go as far as reading the manga leaving casual anime viewers clueless).

Art (8/10) - Looks good, the average viewer probably wouldn't notice the details of the Victorique's clothes, background inconsistencies, average forgettable faces of minor characters, accuracy of the Victorian period art, and also its Gothic atmosphere. The intro I think is a bit too colorful for an anime with a pretty good Gothic vibe, but meh I just skip it or walk away till I hear the opening song ending. The outro is more appropriate. Not too many people pay too close attention to intro/outro so points were deducted for such reasons.

Sound (7/10) - Aside from the pretty upbeat tempo of the intro, everything seems to fit. Unless the viewer has a keen ear for Japanese acting, they won't really notice the over/underacting that was done.

Character (6/10) - The two main characters are pretty bland nothing too innovative, although Victorique's redeeming quailty is her back story. There are also other characters with decent back stories. I just had a problem with Victorique, and how she was always able to solve everything. As for her logic behind her reasoning and conclusion for each case the audience has to accept that it was said and done regardless of whether its factual or not.

Enjoyment/Overall (6/10) - It's not bad, like I mentioned before outside the ghost stories/urban legends it's pretty repetitive and boring. Initially it was very interesting, I was actually getting into it and then I realized that I was able to predict the outcome (case presented, find all clues, gather party involved, reveal logic and reason, case closed; basically like most detective stories). In the end I just watched it because of the ghost stories/urban legends. Though I think others will enjoy it more than I did. read more