Bakemonogatari

BAKEMONOGATARI

The well-recieved series, and its sequel Nisemonogatari, taken from the series of light novels by Nisio Isin.

OVERVIEW -Both series, as Nisemonogatari is essentially a continuation of Bakemonogatari, are in effect a supernatural/high school/coming of age combination, centering around and narrated by Koyomi Araragi, a teen thrust into the world of the supernatural during his spring break. While the main focus of the series are on the supernatural creatures refered to as "Oddities" there's still quite a lot of standard high-school and coming of age aspect to the story, which is why I consider it to be a hybrid of the three.

The name "Bakemonogatari" comes from combining the words "Bakemon" meaning "ghost" or "monster" and "Monogatari" meaning story, and is often translated as "Ghostory", while Nisemonogatari comes from combining the words "Nisemono" meaning "false" "fake" or "imposter" and "Monogatari", and is often translated as "Impostory" or "falstory"


REVIEW -The first thing I will say is this anime is not for the beginner, it constantly referances both the Japanese language itself and modern Japanese culture with little to no explination. Even I, a self-admitted fan of Japanese culture, have had to google/wiki-search a great deal to understand some of the jokes, humour and referances made in the course of the show. However, if you can do that, or already are heavily versed in the "otaku" culture it really adds to the already impressive depth of the show.

The story is centered around arcs, with each one introducing a unique problem caused by a supernatural oddity, with all of them save Koyomi's being "animal" themed. each arc has its own "victim" or central female character around whom the oddity is interacting. Characters from previous arcs are expanded upon as each new arc tells its story, creating an impressively well developed cast.

Koyomi Araragi is the central character, a teenage boy who during the spring break was turned into a vampire, but was saved and returned to being human by a man called Meme Oshino, refered to as a "specialist" with oddities. During this event a girl called Tsubasa Hanekawa was also involved, and is the class rep in Koyomi's 3rd year high school class. 

The first odd thing about this story would be best brought up here. While the above information is hinted at during the first part of the first episode, all of the events that happened to Koyomi are never fully explained or shown. Tsubasa's events are covered briefly in the final arc when she has a relapse. It was due to this bizarre chonology that I actually spent a good deal of time trying to find the film/series that came before Bakemonogatari, only to find its not even been made yet! and will be in a forthcoming feature film with the subtitle of "Koyomi vamp". 

The first arc is "Hitagi Crab" and deals with Hitagi Senjōgahara, a girl who had her weight taken away by a crab. It details the painful events of Hitagi's life, and goes some way in explaining her "Tsundere/Kuudere" personality and her initial violence. It also showcases how wordplay is integral to the whole series, as the crab (pronounced "Kani") is in fact a god (pronounced "Kami") and in taking Hitagi's feelings (pronounced "omoi") it also took her weight (also pronounced "omoi" but spelt with a different Kanji).

The second arc, "Mayoi Snail" deals with Mayoi Hachikuji, a ten or eleven year old girl who was lost that Koyomi tries to help, but is in fact a "lost snail" or lost cow (again, wordplay on the Kanji) a type of wandering spirit who causes those around them to become lost too. Koyomi and Hitagi eventually help her find her way home after a decade of wandering as a spirit. It is in this arc that Hitagi and Koyomi begin dating as well.

Next is "Sugura Monkey", introducing Hitagi's former "underclassman" Suruga Kanbaru, star of the basketball team. She is in possesion of what she initially thinks is a "monkey's paw" (google the term for an explination of the famous ghost story) but is in fact something much nastier. Her unrequited love for Hitagi and jealousy of Koyomi causes the arm to graft to her and control her movements at night. In the end, in an amazingly "tsundere" display it is Hitagi who resolves the problem. 

Moving on to "Nadeko Snake" we're given a little more backstory into Meme Oshino and his work, while being introduced to Nadeko Sengoku, a former childhood friend of Koyomi's sisters who harbours an obvious crush on him. Due to a curse that shouldnt have worked, and Nadeko's own amatuer attempts to remove it, she is in danger of being killed by a supernatural snake. Koyomi, with help this time from Sugura, eventually resolves the situation. 

Finally for Bakemonogatari is "Tsubasa Cat", where Tsubasa Hanekawa is once again possesed by a "bakenekko" or ghost/monster cat, much as she was during the often hinted at golden week. This arc resolves much of the history of Tsubasa, often seen wandering the streets in the previous arcs, and brings in one of Japan's most loved anime situations, a love triangle. It is also a pivotal point in the evolution of the overal story, with the "ruined former vampire" who, up till this point, had simply appeared in the background at Meme Oshino's place and was shown to have been a large part in what happened to Koyomi (though never really explained) first vanishing, then re-appearing from out of Koyomi's shadow, saving his life. It also marks the point where Meme Oshino leaves the town. 


Nisemonogatari revolves around Koyomi's sisters, Karen, the older of the two, and Tsukihi. Known locally as "the fire sisters" they are mentioned a fair few times in Bakemonogatari and often seen at the end of the arcs attempting to wake Koyomi up (normally after he's been out all night saving someone and is tired). The two arcs of Nisemonogatari reveal Koyomi's feelings that his sister's acts of trying to help people are simply games, and that they are "imposters" not actual "Friends of justice" as they proclaim. 

The first arc, "Karen Bee" deals with how the fire sisters are trying to locate the person behind the curse that affected Nadeko, and apparently is causing other problems in the lives of all the middle-school students in the area. When Karen confronts the person responsible, its revealed to be a man called Kaiki with deep ties to Hitagi's past and her violent, angry personality. A man she hates so deeply that she physically kidnaps Koyomi to prevent him from interacting with him, to "protect" him. Eventually Koyomi, with help and advice from Shinobu (the "former vampire" once known as "Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade", the name shinobu being written in kanji as "heart" under the character for "blade") manages to save Karen from a supernatural bee-sting and confront Kaiki along with Hitagi, resolving the situation in the middle schools and giving closure to a lot of Hitagi's past.


The second arc is "Tsukihi Phoenix" and centres around the youngest sister, Tsukihi. A new "specialist" arrives in town, attacking and seemingly killing Tsukihi before revealing to Koyomi that what he thought was his sister, was never "really" his sister, but an immortal oddity. While the specialist calls it a phoenix, Shinobu reveals it is in fact a cuckoo, who re-incarnates into "a human nest" before a child is born. Koyomi decides that regardless of if the person he knows as his sister is human or not, she is still his sister and he will protect her, having a confrontation with the specialist.



One of the biggest things about these series is the sheer surrealism of the animation. Time, Space, distance, physical limitations of architechture are all fluid, dynamic and prone to change, it makes use of realistic backgrounds, near-psycodelic backgrounds and ones that could pass as masterpieces of surreal art as well as real-life photo montages, full-screen text cuts and cartoon physics. It is not meant to appear realistic in any way shape or form, and uses that freedom impressively. It can make it hard to follow at times, and often sections are presented out-of-context, out of chronological order or are cut together in odd ways, but this is part of the style of the anime, not because of poor production. Its this odd, unique sense of art that makes this such an appealing anime.

Another major plus to the series is the music, each arc features a different opening theme, sung from the context of the arc's female "hero", nearly always relating in subtle ways to their oddity and always referancing the causes behind their interaction with the oddity (normally love/relationship related). the score is also stunning, powerfully emotive and so well done. For example many of the moments between Koyomi and Hitagi will have a subtle referance to her opening theme worked into the music, Oshino has a theme that always plays, and with many of the other female "heroes" their theme will be worked into the background music during their scenes. There's also pieces that work so well with the surreal aspect of the animation, adding weight to odd moments, helping them stick out as bizarre. The score alone is worth listening to even without the anime, and several tracks from it have made their way into my personal playlists.

Finally, i will talk about how well the characters have been designed. Its noted in the series that the oddities have reason to attach/target the people they do, that there is something about the person that is attuned to what the oddity is. This is carried on in themes and aspects of each characters personality and styles. Hitagi, targetted by a crab, is often referanced with staplers, that represent its claws, while her personality is hard, aggressive looking on the outside but soft and tender once past her "shell". Mayoi, with her over-sized backpack and hair-style is obviously snail-like, and her meandering, wandering appearances also suit the image. Sugura is athletic, lithe and nimble, very monkey-like, and her cheeky, playful personality is also much like a monkey too, Nadeko's initial appearence is remminiscent of a cobra's, and her sly, sneaky but intelligent manner could very well be a huge threat to Koyomi's relationships, like a "snake in the grass". Tsubasa is noted in the series as "being made to have cat ears", her stand-offish, almost aloof personality a well known trait in cats, and i'll be honest, when possesed by the cat-spirit, she is just so damn cute! (case in point.. http://youtu.be/wyV3SksAKRY ) Karen's choice of clothing is obvious (yellow with black stripe) and her "always on the go" personality suits a "busy bee". The only one I have trouble with in this regard is Tsukihi, as if she's fitting in with an animal stereotype based on birds I have no real point of referance in regards to japanese/far eastern stereotypes. Its worth noting however that her bed appears to be in a type of cage-design. I suspect that the same is also true for her character as well.

The light novels carry on past where the anime has reached, and I am hoping that further series will be produced. As i mentioned earlier, the story of how Koyomi became a vampire, and was turned back, will be covered in a feature film, and i honestly pray that once that project is complete, they will continue to tell the stories from the light novels in series form.

While tricky to follow, and requiring a reasonable understanding of japanese culture, this is one series any semi-dedicated fan of anime should NOT miss..



 SUMMARY -

 Story - In a word, Epic. While each arc on their own is a fun, complete story, what is building behind them, foreshadowed and hinted at on occasion, seems even more impressive. Its noted several times that oddities have their reasons, and there is some reason why so much activity is centred on Koyomi, its just not been explained yet. As more and more is shown, the connections, the backstories of all the various characters are becoming more complex, yet ever so more intertwinned. Its not-always-linear style may be a problem for some to follow, but it does a good job of explaining what is a flashback and what isnt, and in showing how events connect. Strong characters with impressive evolution and growth backed by bubbling undercurrent of intrigue, it also has a great deal of humour, of almost every kind, present. 10/10

 Production - Beyond good, its surreal, non-structured style may be freeing in some ways, but its just so well put together.. changes in art style, alterations of perspective, focus and jokingly inserted moments (like a text-screen popping up saying "next, adverts!" or various almost 4th wall breaking jokes) all flow together in a manner Terry Gilliam at his best would be proud of. There are so many styles its hard to really comment on them all individually, but the overal effect of blending them together is astonishing without being overwhelming. 10/10

 

 Music - one of the best soundtracks to any anime I have come across, each character's "opening theme" was written by the talented and well-known (in japan) Meg Rock, and each one was in fact sung in full by the voice actresses of the characters. The ending theme for Bakemonogatari was performed by one of the most impressive new songwriters in Japan, Ryu of supercell, and sung by another rising talent, Nagi Yanagi. The ending for Nisemonogatari was written again by Ryu of Supercell and sung by the recently discovered two-girl group ClariS. The score used during the anime is also top notch, making use of the character themes, and really adding impact to moments. simply stunning work. 10/10

 

 Accessability -Finally a let-down.. Bakemonogatari and Nisemonogatari heavily use word-play, based on how japanese words sound and how Kanji are used and pronounced. There's almost no way I can see that all of that could be translated to english, the subbed versions I've seen require many translator's notes and often I had to use wikipedia, translation sites and google to work out what was going on. Then there's the usual type of thing associated with japanese high-school drama's and coming-of-age tales, very dependant on how a "proper" relationship should be. (i mean, who in the west would still find hand-holding something to blush over aged 17?)  A hard anime to follow without serious understanding of the culture it came from 1/10

 

 Overall Impression - A fantastic series, I for one adore it, it has its detractors, people who think none of it makes any sense, and claim its simply one step away from being porn because of Koyomi's "Assumed perversion". It bugs me somewhat that many see Bakemonogatari as a "perverted anime", simply because it has adult themes to it. The main characters are all mostly around 17, 18. If there wasnt sexual innuendo, talk of kinks, fetishes and perversions in a group consisting mainly of women and one guy whom most of them have an attraction to I would worry the show was unrealistic in its portrayal. there's no "accidental" obvious panty-shots, no deliberate "fan service" or bad excuses to draw the character naked that many anime have. That said, it has its moments and would not be suitable for young people, people with hang-ups over sex or anyone who thinks that cartoons shouldnt show people in a sexuall attractive manner.

Its story is unique, as is its way of telling it. there's a real sense of a bond that grows between the characters, and its very easy to find yourself attaching to them. The big mysteries are still waiting to be revealed, such as the truth behind the connection of all three of the "specialists" Koyomi has come across, just what happened between Koyomi and Shinobu when he was a vampire, the relation between Hitagi and Tsubasa and why all this activity seems to be centering on Koyomi.. but even as it is now, it is an immensely fun series, full of laughs, drama and emotion. I would suggest anyone who understands a bit about Japanese culture check this out. 10/10

 
 Final Score - 41/50