Bakemonogatari

"I encountered a single crab..."

“Bakemonogatari,” translated “Ghost Story” is an anime series consisting of five different character studies, adapted by the acclaimed source material of Nisio Isin. A high-schooler who doesn’t weigh anything. A young girl who can’t find her way home. A girl whose arm is like that of a monkey’s. Our main character, a high-school boy named Koyomi Araragi, encounters these girls and more that all seem to have encountered different apparitions, ghosts, and even minor Japanese “gods.”

“Bakemonogatari” is animated by studio SHAFT, and as such, I expected some pretty amazing animation and imagery. I was not disappointed. One of the best things in the “Monogatari” series as a whole is how visually inventive it is. Most scenes have constant cuts and different angles in them, allowing for constantly interesting scenes. Though some may call the constant cuts an “acquired taste,” as soon as you get used to them, they really shine.

Additionally, the dialogue is extremely well-written. Every line that characters say have some kind of meat to them that makes most of the conversations stand out. Not a single line is wasted. This, in turn, adds on to the imagery to make each new scene a unique experience.

The best thing about the series is simple: it’s an extremely well done character study. Even though the series manages to squeeze 5 arcs into 15 episodes, each character is given just the right amount of time to have their (often deep) backstory explained. Because of this, we can know as much as we can in 2 episodes instead of, say, a more traditional 5.

There aren’t that many flaws in “Bakemonogatari,” though if I had to pick one out, it would be episode 12 as a whole. Though the content of the episode itself is amazing, the placement is a little off. It’s episode 2 of the 5 episode long “TSUBASA Cat” arc, and while this arc mainly focuses on a character named Tsubasa, she isn’t even mentioned in the episode.

9/10- Filled with great imagery, dialogue, and many brilliant moments, “Bakemonogatari” is a breathtaking character study. I haven’t found myself this into an anime series for a long time.