Otaking 8

Talk about the Occult. Maybe it's a popular subject within the anime genre. With that in mind, any type of genre concerning fantasy is the norm anyways so I shouldn't be suprised. I liked Occult Academy so why not this right?



What the heck does a "Tsundere" character mean? Ooooooh...




Well, I stumbled upon this one just browsing through some streams. The first thing that obviously catches my eye is the art style. I mean, you can pick a show based on its synopsis but I'm more of a visual type of guy, haha, so this caught my eye.



Bakemonogatari. Way cool.



I'm thinking of a show that combines Occult Academy with the wittiness of Teen Rom Com presented to the mature male demographic. It's not as funny- let me rephrase that. It's a different type of funny, it's more mature, maybe even dark at times but it's hilarious within the context. Also, this is show is a Harem, which means a male main character with lots of female friends around him. It's almost like the Bachelor. Also it is centered around school and everyone gets to go to festivals and the main character is also a pervert. Seems familiar ehh. What's nice about this show is the fact it has the cliches that I have talked about in Anime but in this case, this show presents it the best it can.



The characters and the directing. That's what this show does well. Very well. The series itself is broken up in several parts that details its eccentric characters following their troubles with their inner demons. Each character presents a different type of problem for Koyomi Araragi, a former vampire himself. The rest is up to you to watch and watch you will.



Kanbaru! My favorite character! Because Basketball!

The directing is what sets this show apart from the others. The transitions, the stills, the short animations, the short subtle messages, the colors, the environments, the expressions, perfectly held for the viewer to unconsciously view this show in a different perspective. Kind of reminds me when Sprite did their subliminal messaging commercials. Anyways, Ya there are small pauses within each episode that enhances the stories of these females infested with aberrations, it's almost a dictionary of its own. It can be a metaphor, or a simile that the viewer can see from a different perspective. The animations, yes I always have to talk about the animations of an animated show of course... It's great! Especially the subtleness of each movement without cutting corners. The fight scenes are a special treat too overflowing with dynamic movements and colorful sequences.

I do have to say some of the dialogue, while witty, can get convoluted at times. I don't know. In some moments it feels like extra to the situation being addressed. Yet some of the best parts of this show is the exchange of words between Koyomi and the many female characters that challenges him to a hilarious extent. Oshino is another quite intriguing character who is perfect side kick for Mr. Araragi.

Overall, this show was amazing. It extended my fascination of Occult Academy while showing me a totally new series with great directing filled with awesome and weird characters. Bakemonogatari is one of the many shows from the Monogatari series and I can't wait to watch more.

9.0/10

NEKOMONOGATARI

This is the only non spoiler picture I could find..Yes it's weird...

And watch more I did! This one is four part series detailing events that happened before Bakemonogatari yet it was released after the series ended? Well, this sort of thing happens a lot. I can actually recommend you to watch this before starting Bake but it's totally up to you. Actually, nvm, I'm too lazy to delete the last sentence. Watch this after haha.

Anyways, nothing too different here from what I have talked about in the review. In some cases, it's the same things happening in solving a violent mystery causing trouble to the local folks in town. As I've said before, the confusing dialogue here might be worse than in Bake with so many theories coming from left and right. It was pretty hard to follow through but as usual, the animations and directing is top notch!

8.0/10

As a side note, I have no idea where the oversexualization of young females in anime came about. There's literally no female in this series nor in a lot of shows that I can think of, that was not planned to be just average in looks. Everyone has to be cute!

Next for this series I guess is Nisemonogatari. Ciao!
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