Bakemonogatari
Abstract: Bakemonogatari is not perfect, but is one of the best anime in years. It has exquisite writing talent, skilled voice acting performances, and strong, well crafted characters with great development. It takes a lot of the old tropes and methods recreates them to their full potential. While too enmeshed within the counterculture to have widespread appeal outside of the fandom, it is still a great series and is an example of how good anime can be made. The industry ain't dead yet. Final Grade: A
Genre: Romance with Vampires
Content: Excessive Blood/Ecchi/Nudity
Reasons to Watch: Unique animation style; Great voice acting; Strong writing and characters
Reasons not to Watch: Lots of talking and walking around; Lots of talking and walking around
Plot: 10
Its not easy to write about something that is good. When a show does something wrong, you can easy pick it out and explain why it doesn't work. But when something is done to perfection, how you can describe it without descending into pointless flattery? Anyway, I will try to avoid the shameless praise as much as I can. Bakemonogatari has the hands down best writing of any anime I have ever seen. It has better comedic timing than Sayonara, Zetsubo Sensei. It handles sarcasm and exposition better than Haruhi. Who can challenge it? Rurouni Kenshin?--the characters are better written. Haibane Renmei?--the plot flows better. Spice and Wolf?--the romance is much better. But enough comparison, as Bakemonogatari is so unique it is peerless. First, lets start with the sheer amount of spoken lines. Most of the action in Bakemonogatari is provided by nothing more than the characters talking. Take for example, the twelfth episode. In the twenty minute sum of this episode, we spend about fifteen minutes in a car, with Senjougahara and Araragi throwing verbal jabs back and forth. And while this could end up boring, the amazing verbal gymnastics performed make the viewing riveting, and turn this episode into one of the best. The romantic tension between Senjougahara and Araragi is one of the few anime romances that feel like real life, and makes the stupid shounen harems look like they were written by twelve year olds (I still believe that the author of Rosario+Vampire is only twelve). Love is not repeating your partner's name over and over while blushing, nor is it the unconditional forgiveness of a Belldandy. In Bakemonogatari, we have the love story of two flawed and incomplete people, with all the baggage, miscommunication, and mistakes than come with it, and these flaws are what makes it believable and all the more powerful. And I spend so much time expounding on the romance, since in it's core, Bakemonogatari is a love story. The monsters and the aberrations in the foreground only exists to give a frame to the romance in core of the story. Think about it, four of the five story arcs all involve Senjougahara at the core. The Crab is entirely about her, of course; the Snail spends more time building her and Araragi's relationship than on the aberration itself; and the Monkey and the Cat are both about love triangles involving her. And while we are on the topic, I must mention how smoothly the story arcs flow together. The progressions between arcs are simple and well designed, and there is hardly an interruptions or inconsistencies as the story transitions, as well as not a single iota of filler. And the comedy is fantastically funny – a Gaijin 4-koma joke, breaking the fourth wall with a hilarious voice acting brag, and the running joke about the radio call in show in the fourteenth episode, not to mention Hachikuji's 'stuttering' – these jokes alone would put Bakemonogatari within the ninetieth percentile of comedic anime. And the comedy is only a part of the show's overall greatness. It terms of writing, Bakemonogatari can be viewed in the same light as such Western masters like Neil Gaiman and Dan Simmons, with the same mastery of dark humor and bloody violence. A true masterpiece of modern anime. Grade: A
Art: 9
Criticism time now (and also I can't rate it with all tens). There are points where the characters designs look somewhat crude, as if the artists were taking some of the shortcuts than plague shows like K-On – shoddy and crude movements. But this doesn't happen that much, and there is plenty of great animation, including the epic level Shinobu attack in episode fifteen and that bit in episode eight where Kanbaru rips out Araragi's intestines and throws him around the room with them. The insane Shinobu attack was so awesome I had to stop and rewatch it frame by frame to really appreciate it – and not because of the infamous bandaid shot. Well, not only because of the infamous bandaid shot. And it is not only the fights that are awesome, as the backgrounds are amazingly detailed. A common theme is the constant repetition of the same 3-D model, creating a surreal effect as well as providing a contrast between the modular sameness of normal modern society and more awkward and fluid nature of the aberrations. The design of Senjougahara's apartment is a clever callout to both Pani Poni Dash and Tsukiyomi Moonphase, in both of which Shaft produced and Ms. Saito played the female lead. And the constant flashing of the viewcards throughout the story is definitely unique and a fascinating method. I am sure there is some symbolism between the red and black cards, but I haven't be able to figure it out yet. And I love the use of the cards at the start of each episode, which provide both a recap and foreshadowing, and are much to fast to actually read. Watching them in real time only gives the viewer a brief sense of the Araragi's current feelings, which I think was the writer's plan along, as it illustrators the internal confusion of the character. And I can not end this without mentioning the OPs and EDs. There are five OPs, one for each of the five girls, and each is the product of great animation and editing. “Staple Staple” is a masterpiece of 3-D modeling and simplicity. Hachikuji's theme song is so frantic my computer chokes when I try to play it. “ambivalent world” is my least favorite, but it still demonstrates the relationship between Kanbaru and Senjougahara better than any exposition could. Sengoku's is a simple, but well-animated bit in pastels colors, everything that Hachikuji's is not. And “Sugar Sweet Nightmare” has two different animations – a live-action version with a theme of traveling but not getting anywhere, and an animated version mixed, like Staple Staple, with live action backgrounds and expressing a strong sense of claustrophobia and fear. And then there is the various variations on the ED, which is done in a gothic line-art caricature which I absolutely love. Bakemonogatari is so different, so bizarre, and so amazing, nothing like what has come before. And nothing that comes after can compare to it, or capture the same feeling. It truly is a one of a kind experience. Grade: A-
Sound: 10
Despite how easy it sounds, voice acting is like any other profession; People with substantial skill turn out substantially better performances. And Bakemonogatari is stacked. Shaft has kept a number of their standard actors, and again they go on to display chemistry and talent. The ever solid Kamiya Hiroshi gives a great performance as the male lead, Araragi, again pairing him against Saito Chiwa, one of the best actress out there and a personal favorite. When a lot of voice actress get by on simply repeated the same voice over and over again (cough...Kugimiya Rie...cough), Ms Saito has some of the best vocal ranges out there. The famous (or infamous) Hirano Aya gives voice to the chibi vampire Shinobu. The voice actor of Kagami from Lucky Star, Katou Emiri, does a remarkable performance as the foul-mouthed, violent ghost Hachikuji, and the always talented Horie Yui turns in another stellar performance as Hanekawa. Ms Horie is rather unappreciated, in my book. She is a great singer and she has yet to give a poor performance, but she doesn't seem to command the respect some of the more popular actress get. But if she keeps this up, I think that will change. And then there is the music. There is a some real great background music in this show. The frantic beats at the start, the quizzical sounds while Araragi struggles with the mysteries, and the heavy fight music that really feeds the tension of the moment. Background music is often overlooked, but the music here definitely deserves a second listen. But as good as it is, it is well outshined by the OPs. Each OP is a really a character song, sung by each of the five girls. “Staple Staple” is a solid rock number and “Kaerimichi” is absolutely amazing and can only be described as insanely fast. “ambivalent world”, while the weakest of the five is still a fine tune, while Hanazawa Kana outdoes herself in the Bubblegum Pop style “Renai Circulation”. And Horie Yui shows off her talents again in the beautifully dark “Sugar Sweet Nightmare”. And we finish up with supercell's J-rock anthem Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari for the ED, which the producers really do a job in integrating into the show itself. Bakemonogatari has some of the best music since FLCL, and the best ED since Haruhi. This alone should make it a classic. Grade: A
Characters: 10
If you want a strong, solid character, you need to give that character a strong, solid background. The background is the foundation the character is built upon, and weak or simple background leads to weak, inconsistent characters and undercuts any development you try to do. But give a strong foundation and you can build the characters of which epics are made of. And Bakemonogatari is an epic. The backgrounds of the characters are well designed and this leads to great development and interaction in the present storyline. The foundations lain allow for the stories of Kanbaru and Sengoku to be told without any suspension of belief that show up in so many lesser shows (as wonderful as they are, Clannad and Kanon often suffer from this problem). And Senjougahara's backstory really defines how she acts with Araragi, combining the fear of losing him with the fear of sexual abuse. She really is a highly detailed character, with very complex motivations and emotions. Her sexual temptations of Araragi can be seen both as a test of him versus her preconceived idea of men, while at the same time a desperate attempt to keep him close to her the only way she knows how. Senjougahara basically is as close as real life would get to a tsundere character to begin with. And that is the best part of the character development is how real they feel. The characters of Bakemonogatari are not as much characters as they are real people with real emotions. And then there is the core of the story, the romance between Senjougahara and Araragi. As I mentioned in the Plot section, the romance is the most un-anime romance I've every seen, and as such makes it the most real life romance I've seen (Although I do have to admit that Saikano is also a great description of true romance, but not quite as good). And the final arc with Tsubasa has great character interactions; While the true cause of Tsubasa's headaches was foreshadowed for several episodes, it still came as a bit of a surprise and what could have been an average, cliche anime ending turned into a solid cap of a great series. Grade: A
Value: 10
Watchability: Despite being divided into five arcs, the story is smooth and flowing between them, helped in no little part by its internal consistency. The longest arc, Tsubasa Cat, is somewhat over long, but its great ending makes the wait worthwhile, and the arc is split by the epic twelfth episode, which really helps by taking the focus off of Hanekawa and sets the stage for the final showdown. Grade: A
Re-watchability: From personal experience, I can tell you this show has great re-watchability, since I have rewatched myself multiple times now. There is always some more seen, new visuals to be explored, new connections to be made. Grade: A
Historical Value: In the waning months of the decade, Bakemonogatari makes a strong argument for best anime of the last ten years. Especially with the current financial problems within the industry, Bakemonogatari was a significant moneymaker, and there are good reasons for that. But Bakemonogatari really does not belong in the last decade, but in this new one. With the collapse of the anime bubble and the regression of the moe cancer, the question this show poses is a simple one: is Bakemonogatari a beacon pointing the way forward, or is it the last stand for quality anime? Grade: A
Enjoyment: 10
Lets put it another way. There is nothing in Bakemonogatari I did not enjoy. And there was so many ways to go wrong too. They could have destroyed the romance, or changed into a stereotypical anime love story, but they didn't. The could have tried to give it the standard pointless tragic anime ending, but they didn't. They could have turned it into a silly harem show, but they didn't. They could have let the surrealist humor break the strong plotline, but they didn't (As much as I love Pani Poni Dash, this is one of it's biggest failings). The producers took risks, they challenged the status quo, and they experimented. And it works. I'm not going to say Bakemonogatari is perfect, because it is not, and I am not going to say it is for everyone, because it is not. But I will say this. Bakemonogatari is the reason why I watch anime—it is the kind of story you will never seen anywhere else. Grade: A
Errata:
Again, I write a bloody book of a review. I watched the TV episodes with gg's translations, then the Blue-Ray with the CoalGirls release, which used Koharubi, I believe. I love stories with vampires, as long as they don't fricken sparkle. Saito Chiwa is one of my favorite actresses, and I tend to be biased toward her. All reviews are done independent of the original format or other adaptions.
Final Grade: A
