Storyline (10/10)
The story follows Koyomi Araragi, a High school student, who has returned to being a human after being turned into a vampire. He now finds himself back into the world of the supernatural after meeting Hitagi Senjoughara, who has a condition that has left her weightless. Over the course of the show he helps out four more girls. Mayoi Hachikuji, a young girl who can’t get to her mom’s house and keeps getting lost. Suruga Kanbaru, an old friend of Hitagi who starts stalking Koyomi for a personal reason. Nadeko Sengoku, a friend of Koyomi’s sister who is suffering because of a curse. Tsubasa Hanekawa, she can’t remember being possessed by a cat during golden week because of the stress. The story has been well made as each case is interesting and has twists and turns that will take the viewer interested in the show.
Art (10/10)
Bakemonogatari uses an animation style that is created from quick sketches to beautifully drawn artwork and a blend of dark and light colors to create a unique and creative animation for the viewer. The scenery in the show has been beautifully created and each scenery is easily recognizable to the viewer. The Monogatari Series is well known for using camera angles a lot to symbolize parts of a scene; in Bakemonogatari they are used to great effect to really make the scenes symbolic and memorable to the viewer. Each character has been given a unique look to make it easy to tell the characters apart.
Sound (10/10)
Bakemonogatari’s soundtrack is amazing and its use in the show is well-done. Each background song fits great with that is on screen at the time. Each case has a different opening song, Staple Stable by Chiwa Satio, Kearimichi by Emiri Katou, Ambivalent World by Miyuki Sawashiro, Ren’ai Circulation by Kana Hanazawa and Sugar Sweet Nightmare by Yui Horie. Each opening has lyrics to fit its case and helps the viewer to understand the feelings of each person the cases involved. The voice for each character sounds great and interesting as each voice displays powerful emotions in them.
Characters (10/10)
Bakemonogatari follows Koyomi Araragi and 5 girls as the main characters.
Koyomi Araragi was voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya. He is a third year high school student that was attacked by a vampire during the spring break and was turned into a vampire. He was able to turn back to being a human; however, he still has some of his abilities from the past. He meets Hitagi when she just falls into his arms and finds out she weights nothing. He goes out of his way to help her cure her weight problem.
Hitagi Senjoughara was voiced by Chiwa Saitou. She is in the same class as Koyomi and has a disease that is seen to be incurable. The so called disease leaves her weightless and she hides it from everyone. By accident, Koyomi finds out it and offers to help, which starts a life changing experience for her.
Mayoi Hachikuji was voiced by Emiri Katō. She is a young girl who Koyomi runs into at the park on the mother’s day on her way to her mom’s house. Koyomi offers to help her but finds out the reason why she is lost in the first place and haven’t been able to find her mom.
Suruga Kanbaru was voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro. She is an underclassman of Koyomi and old friend of Hitagi. She is the Star player of the basketball team. Her left arm is always wrapped up, to hide a secret which Koyomi finds out after she stalks him.
Nadeko Sengoku was voiced by Kana Hanazawa. She is a friend of Koyomi’s sister and hasn’t seen her for years. She meets again when he and Kanbaru go to a shrine, later Koyomi finds out she been cursed and offers to help her.
Tsubasa Hanekawa was voiced by Yui Horie. She the class representative of Koyomi’s class and helps him out when he was turned into a vampire. She doesn’t remember golden week, where she was possessed by a cat because of her stress of her family. Now something else is causing her a lot of stress and only Koyomi can help her.
Enjoyment (10/10)
Bakemonogatari is anime that has a very interesting story. Its art style amazes the viewer with its unique art style, animation, and display. Its soundtrack displays an array of emotions in its music as each op is great to listen to. The characters are really interesting as they each have unique personalities and connection to each other. Bakemonogatari’s message it gives the viewer is “The only one who can save you, is yourself”.
Overall (10/10)
Bakemonogatari is a great anime, its story is one of the most interesting ones out there. It’s easy for people to pick up and watch as it explains things very well. So if you are looking for a great story that has its fair share of twist and turns, then I recommend Bakemonogatari is a wonderful anime to watch.
