First Impressions – Bakemonogatari

I pretty much decided after episode one that I was going to follow Bakemonogatari, but I wanted to get a few more episodes in before writing a post.

I’m not sure I would call the animation stunning, but visually the show is very striking. The dialogue is intelligent and its easy to find yourself engrossed in the verbal sparring between Araragi and Senjougahara.

Both characters are more than they appear to be on the surface. Going by his conversation with the class president, Araragi seems to be a normal guy, lusting after the school hottie as he pumps the president for information about Senjougahara.

Similarly from the President’s description, one wouldn’t expect Senjougahara would be one to shove a knife and stapler into Araragi’s mouth and yet she does.

She’s not your usual resident piece of eye candy.

And Neither is he. Turns out he’s a former Vampire and after an encounter with a kami, Senjougohara has lost all her weight.

But after she gives Araragi a chance he takes her to someone who can help her with her little problem. Of course it turns out weight isn’t just referring to her body, but also her soul. She had a pretty crappy time of it and so the kami took away all of the troubles ‘weighing’ her down.

Which is where I start to like this show, like Kakashi sensei is always fond of saying. You’ve got to look underneath, the underneath. (Its amazing how he’s able to pick up such Philosophy from the pages of Icha Icha XD )

Really its so stark and simple and yet I’m really drawn to the style of it.

The simplicity of the background helps you focus on the characters and stands in stark contrast to their conversation which is anything but simple.

Senjougohara weaves an elaborate tale, baiting Araragi into accepting her as his girlfriend. The dialogue twists and turns and you just get so immersed, that it doesn’t really matter little else is going on.

One wonders though, if Araragi should just try and keep his distance, becoming friends or maybe more with Senjougohara might not be worth the loss of his sanity.

If you like something that makes your brain tick and you like interesting visuals, I recommend you check this one out. I know I’ll be sticking with it.