Now to start off with, like many manga/anime fans, for a long time I had only second hand knowledge of the Monogatari series. I had seen a couple of gifs from the Kizu movies when they came out, I heard of the infamous toothbrush scene and maybe an arist I followed drew Hanekawa. On a whim, I decided to read this manga because of a buddy of mine, not really sure what to expect. Needless to say, I think it surpassed whatever could possibly be expected of a manga adaptation of a light novel after it's already been adapted into an anime. That's the kicker here, this is not an adaptation of the anime, either Bake or any of it's subsequent material. This is purely Oh Great's interpretation of the LN on many levels.
Now to flat out state it, after reading the first official translation of the LN and watching the anime (just got done with the Kizu movies today), as well as starting to rewatch the anime with character commentary turned on, I think I can safely say that this is the definitive interpretation of the story, bar some scenes or the order that is down to personal preference. Not only is Oh Great's art excellent and only continues to improve, the translation being easy to follow and I think sheds some light onto confusing elements of the previous adaptations due to the gap between Japanese and English, the visual flair of Oh Great! and the elements of the story that have been added either from the Light Novel or purely from Oh Great enhance the story in fascinating ways. It is fun in the way that comics can only provide, compiling imagery and visual metaphor together to create something that neither novels or animation can fully capture, purely on it's own merit. Give it a shot.
