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<\/p>\nI\u2019ve never really gotten that into the harem subgenre of anime, since honestly, I\u2019ve never been that interested in it. If anything, I thought it to be one of the least original genre out there. I mean, you\u2019ve got you\u2019re one male lead and he\u2019s continually surrounded by no one else but females for no apparent reason. I mean at least with an action series or a thriller, there\u2019s some kind of logic behind everything. For a harem series, just what could you possibly get other than what\u2019s at face value?<\/p>\n
Enter Bakemonogatari: Ghostory<\/p>\n
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Based off a light novel series of the same name (they tend to be doing a lot of these \u201clight novel to anime\u201d releases, nowadays, huh?) Bakemonogatari centers on completely normal \u201cemo\u201d high-schooler Araragi. Er, that is, \u201cnormal\u201d until you find out he\u2019s just recovering from a vampire attack a while back.
\nNow, I\u2019m sorry, but I\u2019ve got to stop right there. Let me first apologize for using the term \u201cemo.\u201d Yeah, I know it originated underground with music and it\u2019s now been appropriated and bastardized into the term all wannabe-misunderstood twelve-year-olds use today, but I just can\u2019t seem to find any other word appropriate enough to describe my first impressions of this guy. I mean, not only do we see little to no lively interaction between him and the other characters, but<\/p>\n
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… just lookit him! It\u2019s looks like that that just scream for the term to be used, no matter how much I hate using it. Furthermore, it looks like we\u2019re delving into the vampire sub-genre. Now, not to hate on the originals like Dracula (and I guess Count Chocula and Sesame Street\u2019s Count, too) but whenever I go to the bookstore and look through the manga titles available, whenever I see anything related to vampires, it always ends up being some kind of bland-looking teen drama about some hyperactive female lead and some dark, \u201cmisunderstood\u201d male lead. So, watching the first episode of this series only to come across these two things, I was surprised I didn\u2019t stop watching right there.<\/p>\n
Part of the reason why I actually continued through the series would have to be because for one, it\u2019s the first episode. Also, (because \u201cfurthermore\u201d just seemed a little predictable, I guess) Araragi mentions this random vampire attack like it was nothing more than a footnote in the corner of the screen. Sure, there are some references to him being bit later on, but they are never major enough to draw that much attention and don\u2019t even relate to the plot (at least at the time being). From what I can tell, the only up-side to Araragi\u2019s attack is the quick healing factor that came along with it, making things like injuries easy to deal with, serving as less than speed bumps (whatever that would be… a yield sign?) to the particular episode\u2019s plot. Which reminds me…<\/p>\n
Episodes are not exactly contained in a single 25 minute period, nor are they told over the course of the entire series. Rather, each story is contained in an arc, lasting around three or so episodes. Now what would these arcs be about, you asked to the rambling blogger? Well, that\u2019s when the whole harem genre rears its ugly (okay, maybe somewhat attractive) head.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i734.photobucket.com\/albums\/ww348\/DaemonCorps\/Bakemonogatari-02-Large15.jpg\")
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Each arc basically has Araragi encounter some attractive girl who happens to have some kind of \u201ccondition\u201d in that they\u2019re cursed or haunted\u2014you know, supernatural kind of stuff that makes up the \u201cghost\u201d portion of \u201cGhostory.\u201d Again, I\u2019ll admit this seems like the most superficial of things, but each girl does end up serving some kind of purpose other than well… looking good. And just how would our protagonist end up helping these fine-on-the-eye girls? Enter the second reason why I continue to keep up with the series.<\/p>\n
To try and help each girl with their problem, Araragi doesn\u2019t summon some kind of crazy-deus-ex-machina vampire powers to punch the demon out of them or smooth talk his way to their hearts only to kill them when they\u2019re most vulnerable; What Araragi does to help each girl is to simply talk to them, which is something that is very much underappreciated in well made shows in general these days. Most episodes are made up of conversations about nothing in particular. Perhaps one second, the topic is story structure and the next is stuttering. This may not seem like all that big of a deal, but when it comes down to it, an anime can come up with some of the most bizarre things out there, but in the end it won\u2019t matter at all unless the show makes me care to continue on and accept all this bull to begin with. That\u2019s where Bakemonogatari shines.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i734.photobucket.com\/albums\/ww348\/DaemonCorps\/Bakemonogatari-05-Large22.jpg\")
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What first comes off as one of the shallowest anime to date redeems itself with some of the most interesting lines of dialogue I\u2019ve ever heard (er, I guess read via subtitles). Combine this with the ability to seamlessly incorporate character backstories as well as your occasional jab at similar (but really, not) anime out there and you\u2019ve got quite the smart show on your hands.<\/p>\n
But dialogue, as witty as it can get, can only go so far in the realm of television, where actions speak louder than words. The third reason why I continue with this series: imagery overload. For the sake of everyone\u2019s sanity, Bakemonogatari doesn\u2019t take on the \u201ctalking heads\u201d approach when it comes to conversations. Rather, artsy little slideshows are had, depicting the conversation as it\u2019s held. Now, doing this every time a character speaks would just be overkill (not to mention obnoxious), so the episodes take a 50\/50 sort of approach, animating around half the episode normally and the other half like it was done by someone on deviantart. It makes for a nice change of pace, I guess.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i734.photobucket.com\/albums\/ww348\/DaemonCorps\/Bakemonogatari-03-Large19.jpg\")
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As of this blog posting, Bakemonogatari is currently six episodes in, and while the story can be hard to get into from the first episode alone, I really recommend this series. It\u2019s like watching pop art… but animated and with good writing, t\u2019boot.<\/p>\n
Originally posted on Saturday, August 15, 2009.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve never really gotten that into the harem subgenre of anime, since honestly, I\u2019ve never been that interested in it. If anything, I thought it to be one of the least original genre out there. I mean, you\u2019ve got you\u2019re one male lead and he\u2019s continually surrounded by no one else but females for no apparent reason. I mean at least with an action series or a thriller, there\u2019s some kind of logic behind everything. For a harem series, just…<\/p>\n