THIS REVIEW IS SPOILER FREE
-"You really know everything, don't you?"
-"I don't know everything. I just know what I know"
And what I know, is that this show is one of the best anime I've seen in a long time. It's been a long time since I've seen an anime that had me watching it episode after episode without being able to stop, and Bakemonogatari does just that. Now, take into consideration that this is the first time I'm watching the monogatari-series, and therefore don't have any knowledge about the other parts.
Story: 9/10
The story is something that started out slowly and very confusing, as I was about to drop this show after the first few episodes. And to be honest, I couldn't be more glad I didn't. The story centers around our protagonist Araragi Kyoumi, who is one tenth of a Vampire. He gets into trouble with a Senjougahara Hitagi, who is an interesting combination of a tsundere and a yandere. After their meeting the story starts to unfold and more characters appear. After about 5 episodes the story started getting very intense and had me hooked for good.
Art: 10/10
I've always like Shafts work, for example Nisekoi, but bakemonogatari is something completely different. The strange cuts, use of camera angles, the use of real photographs and trippy visuals make this show visually very good. The backgrounds are simplistic and give more attention to the characters that way. All in all Bakemonogatari is one of the visually most pleasing shows in a long time.
Sound: 9/10
Bakemonogatari has some really amazing music with it's 5 openings, not to mention the amazing ending song, which I found myself never skipping. Also everything is the show from the voice acting to background music to even the slightest of noise is very well executed and deserve a fair score of a 9.
Character: 8/10
Now this is the weakest point of Bakemonogataeri in my personal opinion. The characters are not really anything new. We have the tsundere, the bookworm, the loli and the cliched over-caring MC. But that doesn't mean they're bad. Cliches are not bad at all if you know how to execute them properly, and this is exactly what Bakemonogatari does. At no point did I find myself getting bored of the characters, and their interactions with each other are made very well.
Enjoyment: 10/10
Bakemonogatari is a show I personally enjoyed very, very much. So much I can't give this any lower of a score than 10.
Overall: 10/10
Bakemonogatari is a series I would recommend everyone to check out and make their own opinions about. I don't really have much to say, since I think I've covered everything in this review. All I can think of is that don't drop this show if it starts slowly, just wait and it will get A LOT better. Overall a great anime, would recommend for everyone.
-NekoNoBaka
