Sometimes it’s really easy to point to a specific part of a show and say, “This is where it went wrong.” Sometimes, a show is just bad from top to bottom, making it even easier to categorize a show’s flaws. Mekaku City Actors [SHAFT, 2014], appropriately for the studio from whence it hails, is not such an easy case to deal with. Straight up confusing at times, genuinely emotional at others, and just plain weird frequently, it feels like a classic case of misused potential. Even after twelve episodes of generally feeling ambivalent about the show as a whole, I still think Mekaku City Actors was trying desperately to tell an important story, and to be different enough that people would listen. Good intentions aren’t always enough, but for what Mekaku City Actors tried to be and for what it was, I’m giving the show a 6/10 (Ranking).
With my completion of Monogatari Series: Second Season (Monogatari), I have watched over 50 episodes of Nisio Isin’s Monogatari franchise. That’s a lot of time to spend with the same group of characters, and yet my experience of watching Monogatari Series: Second Season (SHAFT, 2013) was utterly unlike my previous encounters with Bakemonogatari, Nisemonogatari, and Nekomonogatari: Kuro. Part of the tag for Monogatari Series: Second Season was as follows:
“Their soliloquies, confessions—and goodbyes.”
If the previous entries into the franchise were beginnings, Monogatari Series: Second Season was most certainly a story of seperations, of departures, and of change.
I’ve said it before: I’m quite susceptible to pretty colors, cute things and fun. Niskeoi (SHAFT, 2014), based on the Weekly Shounen Jump manga by Naoshi Komi, has all of those things. Now, having all those things in your show does not a good anime make, and at times Nisekoi kind of teeters on the edge between being a good show and a not very good one. But, fortunately, Chitoge and company land on the good side more frequently than they do the other. And so, for looking pretty, being pretty and for having Nao Toyama as Chitoge, Nisekoi garners a fluffy 6/10 from me (Ranking).
As might be expected, considering my recent review of Bakemonogatari, the next review down the pipe is of Bakemonogatari‘s sequel, Nisemonogatari.
Sadly, I found Nisemonogatari to be inferior to Bakemonogatariin a number of ways, as well as more troubling in terms of the fanservice and sexual content of the show. For that reason, I have decided on a 6/10 rating for Nisemonogatari, and you can see exactly where it stacks up against other shows on the Ongoing Anime Rankings Page.
Let’s just put it this way: after I finished Bakemonogatari (by finished I mean watched all 15 episodes in one day), everything on my currently simulcasting list looked like utter crap & I didn’t want to watch any of it (sorry, Nobunagun and Wizard Barristers). Put another way, I now understand why a lot of people swear by the Monogatari series, because Bakemonogatari was an incredible experience, one I truly feel blessed to have been able to have.
I ended up giving Bakemonogatari an 8/10, but to be honest, I’m not incredibly happy with that rating. There may need to be some revisions in my rankings as I continue with the Monogatari series (Nisemonogatari is up next).
Like my favorite anime, Blast of Tempest, for which you’ll notice I’ve never written a review, Bakemonogatari is difficult to review because it has the “it” factor in spades. It’s not a show that you watch from a distance; it grabs you and pulls you in. I will do my best to break it down into tangible pieces as I work through this review, but forgive me if I occasionally break down into incoherent babble. But before that, I present you with the gorgeous first opening of the show: “Staple Stable,” sung by the voice of Hitagi Sanjougahara, Chiwa Saito.
Structurally, Bakemonogatari is set up in five distinct arcs, all held together by the main character, Koyomi Araragi, who has recently been turned into a vampire, then restored (9/10 of the way, at least) to being a human. Each arc focuses on the aid he gives five different girls as they deal with supernatural problems of their own, each derived from a different part of Japanese mythology and folklore. Sadly, I am quite ignorant of the myths to which the show refers (as I suspect most are), but happily no prior knowledge is necessary to enjoy the show.
Bakemonogatari rings in as the third show that I have seen from the anime studio SHAFT (the previous two being Madoka Magica and the currently broadcasting Nisekoi), and these three shows are definitely all from the same studio. SHAFT’s distinctive style and director Akiyuki Shinbo’s violent direction combine with the story and characters to create a visual production that is unlike anything I’ve seen before, differing even from the previous SHAFT shows I have seen. Characterized by dramatic poses, imposing facial expressions, sharp cuts and bold color pallets, the animation is pretty much inseparable from the story. They are one and the same. I can’t really adequately describe them, so have a few screenshots instead
Sonically, the highlights among the four OPs are the already linked “Staple Stable” and Hana Kanazawa’s “Renai Circulation,” as well as supercell’s ED, “Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari.” The soundtrack didn’t really catch my ear most of the time, but there were also a number of time when it grabbed me like a monkey hand and plunged me even deeper into the show. The fact that these occurred occasionally (usually at critical moments of the story) just proves how good the music is.
The tone and atmosphere of Bakemonogatari, derived from the music, direction and animation, are splendid, evocative and unique to the show. That’s all that can be said.
Now that I’ve more or less covered the presentation, I want to talk about the part of the show that I care about the most: the characters. They are the heart and the true stars of the show, along with their voice actors, all of whom are excellent, at the very worst.
While Kanbaru, Hanekawa, Nadeko and Hachikuji are all wonderful characters in their own right, and excellent and welcomed members of the cast, the real stars are Araragi and the transcendent Hitagi Senjougahara. Dangerous, mysterious, beautiful and riveting, Hitagi falls for Araragi soon after he saves her and they become a canon couple in episode 5. Hitagi, sadly, is pulled out of focus for the remainder of the show, with the important exception of episode 12, which was my favorite episode of the entire 15-episode series, and her permanent influence on the rest of the show. Much like Aika Fuwa from Blast of Tempest, Hitagi is a force in the show, even when she’s not on screen.
To really give the characters of Bakemonogatari the analysis they deserve is beyond the scope of this review. They are just so competently able to speak for themselves over the course of the show that the best I can really say is to just watch it and see them for yourself. There are numerous scenes which consist of just the characters standing in one place and talking, and it speaks to the depth of the characters and the strength of the writing that these moment are just as, if not more, gripping as the action.
Despite all its strengths, there were two definite issues that I had with Bakemonogatari. If you have been reading my reviews at all, you can probably guess what the first one is. Yup, fanservice. Now, that’s not to say that all the fanservice in Bakemonogatari was fanservice that I despised. For example, the fanservice that arose in the second episode at Hitagi’s house came across to me, if not as tasteful, at least as appropriate and even necessary to the character. Sadly, I cannot say the same of all the fanservice moments in the show, and some of the worse ones did detract a bit from my enjoyment of the show. My second issue was one that was somewhat appeased as the show wore on, but even by the end of Bakemonogatari, there were still some moments of comedy that just seemed out of place in the overall tense and dark tone of the show. There are also a couple of really out of place moments involving younger female characters, and all I can really say about them is that it is a huge shame that they are in there, because they are exploitative and inappropriate for a show that shines in so many other ways.
With that being said, it’s to the credit of everything else in the show that I still feel that Bakemonogatari deserves its high rating. I’m in the business of finding shows that are worthwhile to watch, and even the morally bankrupt scenes, my distaste for the fanservice in Bakemonogatari and the occasional awkwardness of the humor were not enough to knock this show anywhere below an 8/10.
RECOMMENDATION:
You just have to watch Bakemonogatari. That’s all there is to it. The show is a work of art: gorgeously animated, sonically lush and expertly written. Despite the obvious differences, it does remind me of Blast of Tempest, which is high praise indeed. Bakemonogatari is a unique experience, and if you like anime or art at all, you owe it to yourself to watch this incredible series. I’m out of words. I can’t praise this anime enough. Just beware of the sexual content that crops up here and there.
Reasons to Watch:
Unbelievably gorgeous artwork, a beautiful soundtrack and exceptional voice acting.
Characters of substance and depth.
Excellent writing.
Quality from top to bottom.
It’s an experience in and of itself. Even after over 1000 words, I still feel that I have failed to truly capture what it is like to watch Bakemonogatari.
Because I told you to, and I know what I’m talking about (at least this time).
Literally just finished Puella Magi Madoka Magica within the last hour, and here is my first response to the show as a whole. Knee-jerk ranking can be found here. It is impossible to justify putting PMMM any lower than tier II.
It’s incredibly difficult to really gather my thoughts on this show so soon after watching, but there was no way I was going to be able to just sit on it without typing out just a bit. This was my third attempt at watching this show (the first attempt ending after two episodes and the second after only the first), and I did kind of have to gut it out through the first three episodes. After the fourth, however, I was sufficiently engaged to finish out the series and the final 6 episodes were the first in a long time to get me to legitimately marathon something, one episode after the next. I don’t know that it is fair to say that it has a slow start, it just took a while for me to engage.
Part of the reason, I think, for this is that I am get a bit nervous when shows start fooling around with fate–but it’s not really even possible to divine that from the first couple episodes. Maybe it’s not something I can explain, but it’s just a fact that the show took a while to grab me.
That being said, Madoka Magicahas a sense of atmospheric creation unlike anything I’ve seen before. Almost from the beginning of the show, I had an intense feeling of doom and foreboding, a sensation that only grew as the show went on. Looking back, I cannot point to anything specific and say, “That was the reason.” It just was, and it was an incredible experience and impressive to see.
Problems I had: what felt like an information dump in the final few episodes. I felt like I went from knowing nothing to being given everything, rather than have it revealed in pieces. And the ending came across as poorly explained. Not rushed, just something that was given to the audience to see and believe. Because it was so without precedent in the show (and so transcendent in nature) I felt a little left out in the cold, not really sure if I could accept the way things ended up.
So, to sum it all up for now, did I think Puella Magi Madoka Magica was a good anime? Yes, I did. It is excellent. Did I like it? Now, that’s another question and its still up in the air. I haven’t decided yet. Perhaps the movies will help me decide, but for now I am not really leaning one way or another.
Mage in a Barrel 