Bakemonogatari Collection [Blu-ray]

First of all the writing is IMHO genius. These stories have a good balance of drama, the supernatural, comedy and fanservice. The artwork improves throughout the series and the trademark unique editing style is fun and creative. Not everybody is drawn to anime ( haha get it? ) but my bet is that anyone who is considering Bakemonogatari will not be dissapointed. Re the second season I hear tell of a box set in the works instead of 1 blu ray per arc. Do not I repeat do not pull the trigger on buying the second season as multiple disks as Nekomonogatari white cannot be bought for love nor money. I ended up buying the italian version, ripping it to MKV , adding srt subs off the web and burning to disk to complete my set. Sad face.

It was really enjoyable seeing the colorful, intense and slightly pervy world of Monogatari in Bluray quality. Well worth the purchase!

Amazing series from an amazing Studio.

Great dialogue and top-notch animation. Excellent.

Bakemonogatari is the first iteration in one of the wittiest and most visually striking anime franchises in recent memory. Based on the novels of Nisio Isin, Bakemonogatari is essentially a supernatural show drawing on elements of Japanese mythology. However, it differentiates itself from the crowd through its truly unique aesthetics and the strength of its characters and their interactions. The series is split into several mini-arcs, with each of these seeing the protagonist Koyomi Araragi helping a different girl with her supernatural problem. On paper, many longtime anime fans unfamiliar with this particular show may be rolling their eyes at this point, but I should clarify that while there are certainly elements of the so called "harem" and "ecchi" genres in this, it is done in a way which is so knowing and self referrential that it virually turns such tropes on their head.Really it is hard to put the appeal of Bakemonogatari into a review, as it is such a sensory feast that to do so doesn't do it justice. For instance, in a particular episode, the entire bulk of it is taken up by two characters simply having a very interesting conversation while the animation itself makes an occasionally bewildering (but never boring) series of abstract jump cuts which often flash reams of text from the books themselves at a breakneck pace. You become so enamoured with the interesting conversation and the out there animation that it slips your mind that really you have just watched 23 minutes of two people having a protracted (but very witty) chat. As the synopsis would suggest, this show does indeed have its moments of action, but they are absolutely not the main draw of the show as a whole, although they are beautifully stylish. Bakemonogatari (and the Monogatari franchise as a whole) places itself head and shoulders above anything which could be classed in the same genre (although really it's hard to pigeonhole it into any one particular genre). Through the strength of its dialogue, its amazing visuals, and its interesting and relatable characters, Bakemonogatari is virtually unique, and I would implore anybody reading this who has not seen it yet, to watch it immediately. Due to the strong aesthetic appeal of this show, if you have the option I would strongly recommend buying this Blu-ray version, as having seen it in both HD and sub-HD, I can assure you that in this case the extra money is well worth it.

A review for the whole season.Koyomi Araragi is a third year high school student who after a brief time becoming a vampire during spring break is almost human again. When one day a classmate of his, the reclusive yet beautiful Hitagi Senjogahara (girl on the front cover), falls down the stairs into Koyomi's arms, he is baffled to discover that Hitagi weighs nothing.Hitagi threatens him to keep away from her and her problem, but Koyomi offers to help her and introduce her to the person who cured him of being a vampire, Meme Oshino a strange middle aged man who lives in an abandoned school building.This anime is very enjoyable with elements for your eyes, ears and brain to feast upon as they try and keep up with the show.The artwork can change styles rapidly and inserts visual message boards even more rapidly, they can be extremely fast, so if you are trying to read them all you better have the pause and rewind buttons on standby. The message boards at times when characters are saying one thing, the true meaning of what they think can appear at the same time and be gone the next moment making you have to keep up the pace with the show, even harder if your watching the sub. At other times the characters can be speaking and a board pops up, but it says nothing of relevance and you cant help but read it anyway. The actual animation artwork is extremely well done, and changes to fit the current situation, so if the characters are acting childish the artwork will appear more simple, if the characters are trying to appear more mature and sophisticated the artwork will be more in depth, and everything in between. Your eyes never get tired of all the changes.The character dialogue is fast paced and there are many play on words that some people will not fully get unless they are more familiar with Japanese customs and writing methods, so for this anime it might be best to watch the subs as this will help you "see" the joke a little clearer.The characters are brilliant and you see elements of nearly all the stereotypical anime character traits, and that is part of the joke of the series.Without giving away spoilers the series is divided into smaller sections, each part dealing with a particular spirit problem all represented by an animal (crab, snail, cat etc), with each episode flowing from one to another smoothly, and the overall plotline is cleverly woven together.With not much "action" in the show some people might be bored and put off, but for me the sheer joy of this show was the verbal sparring between the quirky characters characters, and the stimulation of an ever changing and odd artwork, and will soon watch it again for that reason.