First of all, mad props to the visual style. Shaft went all-out on this. The very medium feels like it's aggressively weird, and it fits the content of the story so perfectly that it's hard to hate it, even though avant-garde styles tend to rub me the wrong way personally.
Aurally, the show is a delight. Each OP, of which there are a whopping five spread out over 15 episodes, is powerful and revealing. Big ups to Nadeko's "Greed Circulation" which is probably the best one of the bunch, with the fluffy upbeat tune and imagery hiding the poisonous words in the lyrics, foreshadowing the truly terrifying girl underneath the cute demeanor. The ending song is also wonderful, tying into an extremely touching scene toward the end of the season.
The voice cast, littered with all-stars like Kana Hanazawa and Chiwa Saitou, put forth a stunning performance from start to finish. From Hitagi's blunt seriousness to Suruga's genki girl fighting spirit to Koyomi's reluctant diligence in helping others, everyone puts up fantastic performances.
The characters of Bakemonogatari spring to life, none moreso than Hitagi Senjougahara, who seems less like a manga character and more like an actual, real-life person. Traumatized without being overdramatic. Serious but not boring. Lovable but very decidedly not moe. She's the star of the show, a standout in a series full of great characters, and steals the scene nearly every time she enters the frame.
Storywise, well...this is only the first season. It's meant to show you how this group of oddity-fighting comrades came together, and it does so in a fashion that keeps you engaged even if it is rather formulaic. Outside of Koyomi's own interactions, and Suruga's ties to Hitagi, the girls don't get much chance to interact with each other through the 15-episode run, which is something to look forward to in the future.
Each arc of the story focuses on a different character, and the oddity making their lives miserable. What do you do when a crab made of spirit steals your weight? What do you do when your left hand has suddenly become a grotesque monkey's paw? These are the problems that Koyomi has to deal with, and they're tackled in a novel way: talking and planning, not direct fighting, is more often than not the way to take these supernatural forces down, and despite that the show never bores. The guys at work at Shaft never fail to excite with visual metaphors and haunting imagery to keep up the pacing even during even the most lengthy of dialogues.
Koyomi's inner monologues are the main source of exposition throughout. They are alternatively humorous, insightful, cutting, and sometimes a little risque. Still, he's what makes this machine tick, and despite his obvious faults as a human being, he's still very much a sympathetic and dare I say awesome character. You want him to succeed in spite of his flaws, and that's what every protagonist should be.
I have no complaints outside of the inherent limitations of translating a work that places a serious premium on beautiful wordplay from its original language to English. And I can't fault the work for that. The translators have done all they can, but some things are inevitably lost in translation if you don't have something of an ear for Japanese. Still, that shouldn't keep anyone from checking out one of the best, most intellectual and yet emotionally charged stories I've seen in the anime world.
