So bakemonogatari...one of the first anime, where after seeing the first episode left me asking myself 'what did i just watch?' now let me be clear by no means was this a bad thing, but i should just say this now: this is not a show for everyone, and ill explain that more at the end, but if anything i say from here on out peaks your interest well you'll be in for quite an enjoyable ride.
Story 7:
I would say the story is the weakest point. the story is about a guy who survived being a vampire (Koyomi Araragi) and more or less goes around helping other people that have an apparition lurking around them. I wont say more than that, there is more but i'll just leave it brief and let the synopsis on the site do it's job. The show is somewhat episodic, find the apparition and neutralize it, and once you know the formula you can more or less expect what will generally happen in each episode. Now while the show is episodic each story can range from 1 to 4 episodes per arc and whats great about these arcs is that there's enough development per story for you to understand what going on. I'll leave this point short mainly to avoid spoilers but I tend to love character dialogue and there just so happen to be quite a bit of dialogue between characters in this anime, so much so that some could consider it too slow paced and can't get into it because of that. I'll leave it to your judgement on whether or not this is a bad thing or good thing for you.
Art 10:
Alright well here's where i would probably just fangasm, the art is probably the best (if not then a top 2) thing I enjoyed from this anime. It's very easy to see how how much effort the studio (SHAFT) put into making this anime look amazing. From everything i've seen, so far, bakemonogatori is probably my favorite when it comes to how fluid everything looks, how realistic everything feels, and just how engaging the colors and the characters look, something that will truly leave you breathless at higher resolutions. However, be prepared because what initially made me go 'what did i just watch' is mainly due to the art style, the angles used in this show is something you really need to get used to, or just initially enjoy. it's hard to explain with words and would best be described as a 'you'll have to see it to see what im talking about' sort of deal but it's something that i've noticed that not everyone appreciates. Basically put, if you're someone who likes fluid animation bright colors, and honestly something different from the norm, than you'll enjoy this.
Sound 8:
I'll just put this out there ...staple stable
Everything in this anime just seemed to fit the mood at all times, there was never anything that truly feels out of place, especially episode 12...just sayin... but seriously if i had to say anything bad about the music, well it would be that i can't really point out a track that i'd want to put on my playlist, aside from staple stable.., and just listen to it on it's own. The music is overall solid an never a detriment to the show. As for voice acting well i can honestly say that at the time that i first watched this there was never anything that stood out to me, but now i can safely say that the voice acting is without a doubt top tier. No matter the situation everyone just seems to portray the emotion of their character just right and it's never something that looks awkward as it's played out. that and the fact that im a major Hiroshi fan and he just always delivers no matter the role and does an exquisite job on araragi.
Characters 9:
The characters have a wide range of, shall we say, troupes. We have the tsundere, smart girl, loli, and well the wtf is with this girl (kanbaru). There are more but i just want to focus on a few specifics as learning about each character is half the fun. So our main lead Araragi Koyomi, one of the craziest MCs that ive ever seen but one of my absolute favorites, what makes him so unique is basically how believable he comes off. I always feel like alot of MCs out there just act the part and don't have enough individuality to seperate them from anime to anime, but araragi just stands out, he's an outlier that's completely welcome. He's never afraid to do just be himself, it's weird because whenever i think about araragi i always think about him as an actual character and not just an outline/place holder for your obligatory MC, all i can say is that he's as real as they come.
Secondly we have Hitagi Senjougahara, real waifu material if ive ever seen one. She is, without a doubt, one of the best female character in anime, that ive seen so far, period. If you ever want to see a female character that just makes a name for herself and is complete badass all around, well here you go. Yes she is tsundere, but that takes nothing away from the great writing that is put into her character to give her a more realistic personality. i want to leave it at that for her and just let you watch for yourself and enjoy what this character has to offer.
Araragi and senjougahara have really interesting chemistry with one another, ranging from those lovey dovey moments, to holy shit one of these two is completely crazy, but that's what makes these two such great character as leads. You're never feeling dull because you never know what they'll do next. The rest of the cast isn't lacking either as everyone has a realy good amount of time to shine but i'll let you see for yourself.
Enjoyment 10:
Without a doubt a 10/10 for this. I can't deny just how much i enjoyed watching this anime episode after episode. I truly love this anime and thank it for letting me experience something different, something genuinely unique. It does have it's fault and it's not something i can say is perfect or anything like that, but i got something out of this that i wasnt expecting comming into this: I got an experience. The character interactions, the the art, the crazyness all brought about, and even the story that tries to be just a bit more than it is, it all just truly gave me a good time.
Overall 9:
Finally, like i've said before, if anything ive said sounds interesting to you than the show is worth a shot at the very least. I left some things out, just to try and not make this too long, but it is a show that some people will absolutely love and others just won't, and both sides are fine this is not a show for everyone but it is definitely something more unique than not and deserves a look at if it ever enters your mind.
