So I recently picked up Bakemonogatari.
(get yourself ready for a semi-text heavy impression/waffling from myself)
Like how the first impression with Higurashi is the mental fanart of Rika with that knife to the head (no links), my first impression is this. What interests me is the vast abundant amount of stationeries. Obviously it’s not for usual academic purposes, more of an intention to hurt (not sure about that eraser though…..). Also the fact that it’s all hidden under her skirt makes me wonder if it’s either a action series with awesome character traits or a quirky drama.
I wasn’t paying too much attention to it other than the fact that ryo (yes, that famous Vocaloid composer on niconico) was the one doing the ED, and a good song as usual. Quite a lot of podcast/blogpost/friends/messageboard posts really recommend this series, but at the time I was more focusing on the mystery in Umineko no Naku Koro ni and don’t want to waste my internet quota on another series.
Now the TV slot season (12 episodes) had finished, and I finally get my hands on it from a friend of mine as a way to procrastinate, I managed to watch it. My thoughts? decent series, quite above average, though there are some areas that kind of drag it down a bit.
The series is mainly dealing with Japanese supernatural mythologies, while mostly doing word plays. Within the 12 episodes so far there are 5 story arcs/missions, each dealing with a certain “oddity”. Behind the flamboyant supernatural theme is just people dealing with issues: family, love/hatred, stress etc.
Pros:
I love the comedy. Whether it’s the kyon-ish comments from Araragi in reply to the spiteful words from Senjougahara, or his comments in reply to the verbal abuse from Hachikuji, or his comments in reply to outrageous behaviours from Kanbaru. Or in all just his uke personality when dealing with the strong female cast. Just totally hilarious to see he got totally dominated and with no arsenals at his disposal (except perhaps his regenerative body). The bantering between the characters is what makes this series so great. Imagine Matsurika from Maria Holic in a verbal duel with Kyon. The weird and sometimes spiteful comments provides just so much leverage for creative and hilarious comebacks.
Music. Starting from a high quality ED from supercell (ryo’s official group name, consist of himself and a lot of illustrators), and finishes off with each OP that captures each character really well. Instead of an official OP for the overall series it’s like watching character image song videos. Other than Senjougahara’s main theme (which i think is called “Staple stable”), all other OP only comes on once, and usually at the last episode of every arc.
Senjougahara. Her personality is just quite unique. To me she trends the fine line between Tsundere and Yandere. You are quite attracted to her, yet at the same time can be quite frightened of her as well. She is just so direct, almost to the point that she’s so cute in her actions, yet you won’t be thinking of telling her that. Her character development and her relationship with Araragi also is a key theme throughout this story. You see her starting out from aggressive defence consist of stationery weapons (which includes stapling to the oral mucosa) to a girl that’s slowing learning to show her self to her lover. The final scene with them lying down under a starry sky is quite touching.
As someone who can understand Chinese/Kanji, I find most of the wordplay quite interesting.
Original character design by Taiwanese illustrator Vofan~
Middle grounds:
Some say that SHAFT doesn’t have enough budget for the series’ production, well I do think their execution is rather well done. I don’t mind the sudden influx of information in textual formation at the beginning of every episode, nor the sudden change from still/repeat shot to photos within a scene. It’s quite different, at the same time quite enjoyable and a refreshing change from the traditional drawn-everything-out-to-see way of presenting an anime.
The characters all look quite interesting. Other than Sengoku it’s sometimes quite hard to simply categorise each character into stereotypes. I am yet to see what kind of role Shinobu will play in the future episodes.
For once, I don’t mind the fan services. Some of them even serve as comedy relief at certain situations. Though in some episodes the level of fan service is bit high to be recommended to beginners.
I do confess I read 2 H-doujins (happy ones) before I watch the series, so my initial impression might be distorted. Though I feel like I am really lucky to start with one that’s really fit to the characters and feels like a possible extension of the story. It sometimes feels weird when the fanworks can influence your attitude to a certain creative work. This time it’s a positive reinforcement, so I am not complaining.
Cons:
I confess I am a graphic whore~ The worst thing I want is to gaze at a still shot long enough to be disgusted by the deformity it presents. This series suffers from it from time to time, especially since it had to rely on still shots quite a lot due to the unique style of presentation. Also sometimes the transition between photo backgrounds and the hand drawn characters doesn’t quite blend in as well as I would’ve liked.
Verdict:
It’s an unique and decent series. It had the potential to be absolutely awesome. Now just waiting for the remaining 3 web episodes to fill out the final true end of the story. Congratulation to it for being possibly setting the record for the most sales. Do I think if it deserves it? possibly yes. I certainly quite enjoys it when I watches it, and got really addicted to it.
Now just looking for the fan of the original light novel readers/fans to say that SHAFT screw up the story, which I am sure won’t be many. XD
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