Forum - View topicBakemonogatari (TV).
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Bakemonogatari (TV) Genres: adventure, comedy, drama, mystery, psychological, romance, supernatural Themes: absurdity, dark comedy, fanservice, harem, magic and occult, spirits, vampires, youkai Plot Summary: Although there are still traces of the brief period he became a vampire, third-year high school student Koyomi Araragi is human again. He happens upon others with their own supernatural problems and finds that he can empathize. Koyomi becomes involved in their lives, seeking to help them and occasionally asking for advice from Meme Oshino, the homeless man who helped him become human again. ---------------------------------- Index: Episode #02 Episode #03 Episode #04 Episode #05 Episode #06 Episode #07 Episode #08 Episode #09 Episode #10 Episode #11 Episode #12 Episode #13 Episode #14 Episode #15 -------------------- Episode One Well well well, I haven't personally seen an Anime this strange since Boogiepop Phantom. People said Eden of the East was the most unique and original series in the Spring Season gone by, but it doesn't hold a candle to this one. The first (and only, thus far I think) panty-shot came in approximately six-and-a-half seconds into the episode, which is a brilliantly crazy way to start a show. It was in slow-motion no-less, and lasted several seconds. Hitagi is an insanely vicious girl who carries around a comical amount of pens, scissors and knives on her body (even a stapler for crying out loud). She is also a genre-conscious Tsundere who wonders if a guy called "Meme Oshino" (get it?) is Moe. She even literally slipped on a banana peel; how often do we see that at all, especially when it isn't played for comedic effect? Oshino (as he's known) could be Urahara's twin wearing Chad's shirt (I'm talking about Bleach). We also get a small dose of Lolicon in Shinobu, but she (it?) doesn't talk (doesn't even make a sound) and doesn't act cutesy. Which is a relief after hearing Maria from Umineko no Naku Koro ni. The camera angles often depart from the norm. Sort of reminds me of some of the techniques used in Schindler's List. There are silhouettes, an instance of upside down (the camera, that is), plenty of insane close-ups (such as inside of a mouth, and of a box-knife), several first-person perspectives (when they happened the character's voice was changed; a nice touch), and just quite a number of shots from generally uncommon angles. We have distorted backgrounds, the little-used (and under-appreciated) camera-in-wall technique, and liberal amounts of shadowing. This is a series that knows how to effectively use light and dark. Now, the backgrounds are incredibly luscious in places (especially the school), and deliberately styled to look unfinished in others (like in Oshino's building). The minimalist feel is slightly reminiscent of Revolutionary Girl Utena (the fantastical staircase Hitagi fell from being a notable example). The stretch of road with what looks to be seventeen, count them seventeen different street signs was whimsical to say the least. The animation, when we get it, is straight-out gorgeous, and the characters are very nicely drawn (Tsubasa even looks like she belongs in Boogiepop). It does seem like it has a good technical production budget; if you look closely, even the grain of the wooden floorboards is lovingly detailed. Yikes. I don't have a good ear, but even the music felt appropriately varied, ranging from creepy tones to a light-hearted harmonica. Of course I saved the best two for last. Though the closer is quite traditional (and also quite nice, I thought), the OP is just weird. I didn't even know it was the OP until it was halfway done; it had no vocals, and sounded like plain old "battle music". It even kept the sound effects from the various action scenes present in it. I don't know if I like it, but that isn't the point. Like it or not we sure aren't going to forget it, especially the image of Oshino holding a (beating) human heart, and all those entrails lying on the floor. And the last was, well, all of the VERY strange images we were treated to, such as text appearing all over the place (including in Araragi's eye), food (real, not animated) spilled all over the screen in place of Araragi's brain, and the numerous times minimal amount of text replaced everything else on the screen. When Araragi was introducing the audience to Tsubasa we saw her in sexual poses, as if we were seeing her through his fantasy rather than a dispassionate impartial observer. Ultimately, this series is just so strange that even though my brain is flabbergasted by what is going on, I cannot help but want to watch more. The dialogue towards the end got sort of boring, but with all the bizarre and wacky stuff going on, who cares? If you want to see the weird picture with the food, well here it is: 
I think Boogiepop Phantom has some competition. Last edited by dtm42 on Mon Jul 22, 2013 3:28 pm; edited 23 times in total |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18458 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I also thought this one way incredibly weird.
To give Boogiepop a run for its money it also has to show in-depth character analysis, though, and I don't see any sign of that so far. It seems to be emphasizing a cool degree of weirdness moreso than story or characterization. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Oh, I wasn't comparing the quality of the two shows. Not only have we not seen enough of Bakemonogatari to do a proper comparison, having a debate on how good Boogiepop Phantom was is a can of worms I don't want to open, certainly not here. No, I was just commenting on how Bakemonogatari is likely the strangest and weirdest show I've seen since Boogiepop Phantom, and could conceivably surpass it in that one category. I realise that Boogiepop Phantom probably isn't the strangest Anime show overall, but remember I was speaking from a personal perspective. |
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Westlo
 Posts: 1684 |
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The OP is a sort of recap of the events that happen prior to Bakemonogatari that was covered in the prequel novel Kizumonogatari. Bakemonogatari 1 - Hitagi Crab, Mayoi Snail and Suruga Monkey Bakemonogatari 2 - Nadeko Snake and Tsubasa Cat Kizumonogatari - Koyomi Vamp Nisemonogatari 1 - Karen Bee Nisemonogatari 2 - Tsukihi Phoenix |
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Seljuk
 Posts: 139 |
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Maybe it's been too long since I've watched something by Shaft, but the amount of scene cuts in the first few minutes left me dizzy, actually literally. I'm glad they slowed down the pace later though, let me focus more on the focal points in the scenes rather than random images flicking by (not a very effective maneuver when not used for a visual gag, like in zetsubou).
Senjogahara might be my favorite character of the season so far though. Her aloof yet self-aware dialogue is a fairly unique type that we do not see too often. I'm actually not sure where to place this expectation-wise. I know I'll watch some more, but I really have no idea what to expect from this show. |
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Symmetrical_Magician
 Posts: 274 |
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Regarding the episode titles... is that supposed to be Hitagi Crab?
animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10196&page=25 Anyway, having recently watched several supernatural horror series, and looking for more, this will probably be exactly what I want. The fact that Araragi was spoiler[previously a vampire] is what shocked me the most, and it would be nice if they would go into more the details surrounding that. Also, Oshino's character struck me as unusual. He seems remarkably knowledgeable for a "tough-guy." We'll see how that holds up... And Hitagi really spoiler[slipped on a banana peel]? I didn't realize that wasn't a lie until after the episode had finished.  It was indeed a unique move.
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Blackpeppir
Posts: 234 |
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While a bit on the odd side I really enjoyed this series, but for some reason it really reminded me of Zetsubou Sensei especially in the scenes when they first enter Oshino's place. Guess Araragi and Itoshiki having the same seiyuu doesn't help much though. Regardless, I'm really impressed with the first episode and lately I've found myself gravitating towards more and more supernatural/horror manga, rather than my usual school life and whatnot.
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 7584 Location: Wales |
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Have you never seen a Shinbo/SHAFT show before? Personally I've got to the point that I can never get beyond one episode of one of his shows. |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15576 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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I was finaly able to watch it, I had heard it would be simular to Zetsubou, so after going through all of the seasons of Zetsubou (except for Zan which I am watching after writing this post) I was pretty much expecting anything to happen. I guess one of the main things I found interesting was how they at times whent at a nice slow pace, then at others would sudenly throw in something realy big without much warning, like what she did when she thought he was threatning him or that he was a spoiler[vampire]. I was thinking it would be a plain comedy but it definetly feels like there is substance to story, and the animation looked nice. The fact that it is done by SHAFT kind of makes me expect that they will probably do shout outs to other anime especialy their own, especialy Moonphase or the supernatureal elements of Natsu no Arashi.
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Mistypearl
 Posts: 517 |
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One of the girls in Natsu no Arashi (or someone that had a similar hairstyle like hers) was in the middle of one of the student crowds, I can't remember where though. Definately interesting show, Staples Girl is definately crazy awesome I hope she is a reoccuring character. |
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Westlo
Posts: 1684 |
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Hitagi is the lead female character and while it will be focusing on other arcs she will be appearing still. Tsubasa's arc will get the most amount of focus though, having 5 episodes. Tsubasa also appears in the prologue Kizumonogatari as you can see from Ep 1's OP. |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7994 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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This show reminds me of Kemonozume if you ask me, and that was a good one so I think I'll probabally enjoy this one too. If you like Bakemonogatari's strange style and want a similar combination of serious and absurd supernatural stuff, then I would highly recommend that show to you.
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tarheel91
 Posts: 128 |
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There were a lot of shots of plain text, and the version I watched fail to translate them. Was that the case for everyone? Could someone comment on whether they were important?
By the way, absolutely love the anime, and I don't have much to say beyond that that hasn't been said already. |
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Mike On Top
 Posts: 298 |
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Well, this explains it, because I am positive I have been seeing Tsubasa as an image annotation to the series on several sites, and then suddenly spoiler[Hitagi] steals the first episode, depiste the fact that spoiler[Tsubasa actually knows Oshino Meme and Araragi's relation to him]. The series apparently plays quite well with seeding dubious information about the story, or its time line, and the characters' profiles, which I enjoyed immensly. For example, Araragi spoiler[being a vampire], along the fact he spoiler[has bite marks on his neck]. And the thing about the Golden week? It seems to me the events of the intro are connected to the Golden week (and perhaps the spoiler[shapless loli and the torn to pieces blonde chick]), although the first episode sets the events later (spoiler[with a culture festival's preparation]). Since the writings on the background weren't translated, I couldn't enjoy more of Shinbo's style, but the episode was reach in visual details feeding surprise - like spoiler[counting the milliseconds of seeing Senjogahara's panties ;D, her Greek foot.]. The series makes direct references to other anime - notably, spoiler[transcribing the "equivalen exchange" theme in FMA into a neurotic defense mechanism of (non)verbal aggression in Hitagi, references to one of Jigoku Shoujo's usual lines, the lurking ecchiness of Kyon, perhpas, and covering eyes from perspective (Araragi with the pencil, when talking to Tsubasa), reminding Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.] Anyway, I am pleased with the series and I'll keep with it. (And, yeah, is a good show). |
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HellKorn
Posts: 1669 Location: Columbus, OH |
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Maybe it's because I haven't seen it in years, but I don't recall Spielberg and crew doing anything like this; it's more akin to exaggerated touches used by Anno and Ikuhara (with some editing by a drugged-up Shinkai). Don't know what I think of Bakemonogatari so far. What would normally be an typical anime premise is treated in an unusual manner (though I don't know how much of this is due to Shinbo, and how much because of NisiOisin). Shinbo's rhythm kind of deflates the more dramatic scenes, but it's not much of an issue now. |
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