Genre - Surreal, comedy, weeb-as-fuck
Fanservice - Plenty
Premise - A boy wants to be a manga artist, but his father wants him to take over the family candy store instead. A crazy big-boobed chick comes to town and conspires with the father to get the boy to do just that.
Ok, look, I like oppai and everything, but even fanservice alone can only hold my attention for so long. Despite attempting surreal humor, this... show... is... so........ *yaaaaaaaaawn*.
Couldn't even finish the first season, it was so sleep-inducing. Learned more than I ever wanted to about Japanese penny-candy, though.
Genre - Surreal, comedy, weeb-as-fuck
Fanservice - Plenty
Premise - A boy wants to be a manga artist, but his father wants him to take over the family candy store instead. A crazy big-boobed chick comes to town and conspires with the father to get the boy to do just that.
Ok, look, I like oppai and everything, but even fanservice alone can only hold my attention for so long. Despite attempting surreal humor, this... show... is... so........ *yaaaaaaaaawn*.
Couldn't even finish the first season, it was so sleep-inducing. Learned more than I ever wanted to about Japanese penny-candy, though.
im sorry you didnt enjoy it, I loved the interactions between the two girls and the MC. How they both Like him, and both are growing to love him. The wacky hi-jinks were enough that I pre-ordered S2
im sorry you didnt enjoy it, I loved the interactions between the two girls and the MC. How they both Like him, and both are growing to love him. The wacky hi-jinks were enough that I pre-ordered S2
Genre - Supernatural, Drama, Romance, Harem?
Fanservice - some, mostly tasteful
Premise - Supernatural aberrations are everywhere, and they cause problems for human beings. Nobody knows this better than Koyomi Araragi, a 3rd year high school student who was attacked over spring break by a vampire, which has led to complications that will affect the rest of his life. Even moreso, his friends (and even complete strangers upon whom he happens by chance) have a tendency to run into these aberrations, and he feels compelled to help them all - be they an unpleasant tsundere, a lost elementary school student, or the very vampire who attacked him. And, of course, being as it is his last year in school, he has to decide for himself what his future will be, and who he will spend it with...
This is a very excellent anime. It has a unique art style and an unconventional storytelling method that draws you in and keeps you invested and thinking. The characters themselves are rather stock, but the story is excellent and the dialog is marvelous. I wish there was less "quickly flashing and disappearing text" on the screen, but that's an aesthetic choice I suspect, even if it plays havoc with subtitles. I really wish there was an english dub. But even the subbed version is good enough for me to go through the trouble to track down the umpteen individual parts of the sequel serieses and watch them as well. I highly recommend this one, even if it does come pretty close to climbing up its own ass once or twice. But that's forgiveable.
you know that is not always a bad thing, many animes I've finished and thought, that could have been condensed to 13 episodes and would have been much better. Hell, re-watching older series from before it was decided 12-13 episodes would be the standard I considered that when the amount of effort required to animate a show, and thus less things got animated, its amazing they did 26-52 episode runs. although that may be an economy of scale argument.
I've seen the toothbrush scene in other places already, but I haven't quite gotten to that episode yet. Still, the Shinobu bathtub scene was probably enough alone to get me put on multiple lists.
I've seen the toothbrush scene in other places already, but I haven't quite gotten to that episode yet. Still, the Shinobu bathtub scene was probably enough alone to get me put on multiple lists.
Genre - comedy, high school, satire
Fanservice - occasional tantalizations involving the male physique (hey, girls need fanservice too)
Premise - Sakamoto is not a normal high school student. He’s smart, he’s dashing, he’s popular with girls - much to the dislike of the male population of his school, who tries every trick in the book to mess Sakamoto up. But in the end, Sakamoto comes out of every trap with style and makes himself look cooler. Does he do this for popularity? Is this just who he is? No one really knows, but haven’t you heard? He’s Sakamoto.
A nice short series, proficiently executed (and with a decent localization). While I wouldn't say it's exactly a classic or anything, it's a fun, brief watch that makes few mistakes. Few mistakes, but one big one -the all-too-common failing of the invincible protagonist. Since it's abundantly clear that Sakamoto cannot possibly ever lose, no suspense or uncertainty is ever built up - and as a result, Sakomoto becomes a much less interesting character. This would be forgiveable if the secondary characters stepped in to fill the void, but most of them are stock characters of well-established tropes, and they proceed along predictable paths. It's too bad. I got the feeling this could have really been something special, instead of something just "not bad."
the all-too-common failing of the invincible protagonist. Since it's abundantly clear that Sakamoto cannot possibly ever lose, no suspense or uncertainty is ever built up
Genre - comedy, high school, satire
Fanservice - occasional tantalizations involving the male physique (hey, girls need fanservice too)
Premise - Sakamoto is not a normal high school student. He’s smart, he’s dashing, he’s popular with girls - much to the dislike of the male population of his school, who tries every trick in the book to mess Sakamoto up. But in the end, Sakamoto comes out of every trap with style and makes himself look cooler. Does he do this for popularity? Is this just who he is? No one really knows, but haven’t you heard? He’s Sakamoto.
A nice short series, proficiently executed (and with a decent localization). While I wouldn't say it's exactly a classic or anything, it's a fun, brief watch that makes few mistakes. Few mistakes, but one big one -the all-too-common failing of the invincible protagonist. Since it's abundantly clear that Sakamoto cannot possibly ever lose, no suspense or uncertainty is ever built up - and as a result, Sakomoto becomes a much less interesting character. This would be forgiveable if the secondary characters stepped in to fill the void, but most of them are stock characters of well-established tropes, and they proceed along predictable paths. It's too bad. I got the feeling this could have really been something special, instead of something just "not bad."
Isn't this supposed to be a parody series of the whole "invincible, endlessly skilled protagonist" genre? If I remember correctly, he never does anything that isn't completely mundane, so his "inviniciblity" is completely in the minds of a couple of guys at his school. They THINK he's an invincible protagonist because they can't catch him doing anything wrong.
Isn't this supposed to be a parody series of the whole "invincible, endlessly skilled protagonist" genre? If I remember correctly, he never does anything that isn't completely mundane, so his "inviniciblity" is completely in the minds of a couple of guys at his school. They THINK he's an invincible protagonist because they can't catch him doing anything wrong.
No, everything Sakamoto does is straight up preternatural/perfect. He can dodge any attack. He is an expert on every subject. But it's all played entirely straight. There's a little bit of satire here and there, but it's definitely no One Punch Man.
Mostly, it IS pretty bland. But the second half of the series is a little bit better (but still not "really good"). Don't bother with the "special" episode 13, it's mostly a clip show/what-if.
Mostly, it IS pretty bland. But the second half of the series is a little bit better (but still not "really good"). Don't bother with the "special" episode 13, it's mostly a clip show/what-if.
Ill watch it all since i spent the money(as you always mention im the weird guy that buys my anime) Im actually watching FMA:brotherhood with a friend as I never got around to finishing it and my coworkers are watching atm too
Genre - Supernatural, Drama, Romance, Harem?
Fanservice - some, mostly tasteful
Premise - Supernatural aberrations are everywhere, and they cause problems for human beings. Nobody knows this better than Koyomi Araragi, a 3rd year high school student who was attacked over spring break by a vampire, which has led to complications that will affect the rest of his life. Even moreso, his friends (and even complete strangers upon whom he happens by chance) have a tendency to run into these aberrations, and he feels compelled to help them all - be they an unpleasant tsundere, a lost elementary school student, or the very vampire who attacked him. And, of course, being as it is his last year in school, he has to decide for himself what his future will be, and who he will spend it with...
This is a very excellent anime. It has a unique art style and an unconventional storytelling method that draws you in and keeps you invested and thinking. The characters themselves are rather stock, but the story is excellent and the dialog is marvelous. I wish there was less "quickly flashing and disappearing text" on the screen, but that's an aesthetic choice I suspect, even if it plays havoc with subtitles. I really wish there was an english dub. But even the subbed version is good enough for me to go through the trouble to track down the umpteen individual parts of the sequel serieses and watch them as well. I highly recommend this one, even if it does come pretty close to climbing up its own ass once or twice. But that's forgiveable.
Genre: Supernatural, comedy, ecchi
Fanservice: Egregious and problematic
Premise: The story of Bakemonogatari continues, this series continuing with the story arc primarily revolving around Araragi having to deal with the supernatural creatures that are troubling his two younger sisters, but also having to help his girlfriend confront someone from her past, so that she can move forward.
Uhhhh WHAT HAPPENED? Bakemonogatari was so good! This feels like someone else got ahold of the license and decided they wanted to make lolicon hentai! When I say egregious, I mean exactly that. I get the feeling there's even more here than simple cultural differences would explain. Not even the weebiest japanophile could attempt to justify some of what's gone on in this. It's not hot, it's gross. And it really detracts from the story. It felt like they took 4 episodes worth of plot and stretched it into 11 episodes by watering it down with a 55 gallon drum of pedophilia.
Based on how good Bakemonogatari was, I'm still willing to give this the benefit of the doubt, and watch more of the series, but I hope it shapes up and gets back to what made the series good instead of trying.. whatever it is it's trying.
Genre: Supernatural, drama, romance
Fanservice: A whole lot of 17 year old girl in underwear and a little middle schooler sideboob.
Premise: A prequel flashback to Golden Week right before the events of Bakemonogatari, in which Araragi helps exorcise a malignant cat demon aberration from the class rep, while simultaneously figuring out exactly what his feelings are for her in the process.
Well, that's a little better. Only 4 episodes long, and not diluted. Also a lot less squicky than Nisemonogatari. There's still a lot of fanservice but at least it's mostly centered around an of-age love interest instead of, say, little sisters and elementary schoolers. Mostly. It fleshes out the hinted-at backstory from the original work, and is worth watching, even if it doesn't really advance the overall plot, and doesn't really give greater insight into any of the characters involved, other than further confirming what we already suspected was the unpleasant nature of Hanekawa's home life.
Genre: Supernatural, drama, Horror, romance, avante garde
Fanservice: Quite a bit, mostly female but some muscley-manflesh too.
Premise: Another prequel series (this time in the form of 3 movies, each 60-90 mins long), detailing the fateful events of Araragi's spring break, in which he met a vampire, became one himself, and the wheels were set in motion for the rest of the Bakemonogatari series.
It starts out a little rough - if ever there was an anime movie shoved WAAAY up its own ass, it's Kizumonogatari 1 - chock full of overly-drawn-out establishing shots and gratuitous, unnecessary CGI. Early on, the pace is plodding, the atmosphere jarring, the narrative borderline tedious - but once it finds its feet, it starts to get good (though it stays WAY too artsy fartsy for its own good all the way through the end). The second movie is pretty decent. The third movie is really good, despite having seen the earlier parts of the series making it no secret how it will end. The final confrontation between Araragi and the vampire is visually stunning, excellently directed, and heartbreaking.
The fanservice here feels more appropriate, even though there's a lot of it. It's the same sort of thing you'd see in most vampire fiction any way, apart from a couple bits of loli-vampire that are quickly breezed past. The dialog in one particular scene in the third movie sounds like it was straight out of a hentai flick, except for
the part where the guy, at the critical moment of no return, can't go through with it and immediately crumples into a pile of metaphorical mush.
But everything mostly manages to not feel forced or excessive, or even particularly objectionable.
Even though it's one of the more recently released entries (most of the other season 1 and 2 serieses came out between 2010 and 2013, these movies came out in 2016 and 2017), I think it'd be worth watching these as a first entry into the series, followed by Nekomonogatari (black), then Bakemonogatari. Even though that's backwards in all the lists I've seen. It's the in-universe chronological order of events, and I think it helps underscore the character development, particularly of Araragi and Hanekawa.
Well, maybe I'll revise that order further once I've watched Nekomonogatari (white). I'm wondering if it might also not be just a better idea to skip Nisemonogatari entirely - despite its incredibly giffable nature as internet fodder source material, the issues I went over two posts previous really make it the weakest link so far, and I'm not seeing a whole lot to redeem it. Again, maybe I'll feel differently once I've watched more of the series.
The disastrous life of Saiki K or as I like to think of it Whiney Mob Psycho 100 . I've always wanted to like this series for what it was, but I just wanna warp through the TV/Computer screen, grab him by his throat and yell "QUIT BITCHING ABOUT BEING A PSYCHIC SUPERMAN! "
(AKA Nekomonogatari (White), Kabukimonogatari, Otorimonogatari, Onimonogatari, and Koimonogatari)
Genre: Supernatural, Drama, Romance, Comedy, Horror (boy that narrows it down doesn't it)
Fanservice: Some at the beginning, but falls off quickly and is mostly absent for most of the series after that
Premise: The next batch of series arcs in the series, each one 4-5 episodes long. Araragi & Co. continue to have to deal with troublesome situations arising from the appearance of ghosts, monsters, vampires, and human weakness.
It's good to see the series get back on the rails after Nisemonogatari. A welcome return to form, in that the series once again becomes more character and conflict focused (and dialog heavy) instead of trying to be edgy with overwrought artistry or problematic eroticism. Some really good character arcs here, mostly for the supporting and tertiary characters. In fact, most of the arcs have alternate narrators and the stories are told from their perspective instead of Araragi's. The deeper looks at the thought processes of Hanekawa and Kaiki, the unleashing of the repressed Nadeko, and the poignant bittersweetness of the Hachikugi arc really do the series credit. It makes for a very enjoyable watch.
I only have a couple gripes, and the biggest one is that the arcs are presented out of chronological order. Stories that uses disjointed chronology can be a good vehicle, but here it's just kind of annoying. It's somewhat mitigated given that each arc is mostly a self-contained story with only some connection to the other arcs, and where that's not the case (Otori- and Koimonogatari), the later thankfully comes after the earlier, though it would have been nice if Onimonogatari came immediately after Kabukimonogatari instead, so that the the two contiguous pairs of arcs would be... well, contiguous.
My other gripe is a plot resolution gripe, so, spoiler -
The ending of Koimonogatari is a total deus ex cop out, and comes dangerously close to invoking the "redemption equals death" trope for Kaiki. After all he's done and beaten, he somehow manages to get blindsided by a kid with a bat and beaten to death? Really? It leaves a lot of threads dangling, like why he was so interested in meeting Kanbaru, but I guess given Hanamonogatari comes next, maybe some light will be shed on that front.
Also I'm still irritated that we only got Ougi Oshino dangled before us for a few seconds in each arc with no real explanation, but I guess they had to have SOMETHING sooper-sekrit to build up for season 3.
I left Hanamonogatari out of this batch because, despite being included with the collection, it's really not "part" of the second season... it takes place later. So it'll probably be put in with my 3rd season post.
Dubbing is a horror and should be banned; all people who prefer dubbing over subbing should have their internet access removed since reading is apparently too hard on them.
(obviously I exaggeratre for fun - though I do think subs are the better choice in 95% of cases - but I do say this as one who's been used to having mostly subs throughout his life).
Dubbing is a horror and should be banned; all people who prefer dubbing over subbing should have their internet access removed since reading is apparently too hard on them.
(obviously I exaggeratre for fun - though I do think subs are the better choice in 95% of cases - but I do say this as one who's been used to having mostly subs throughout his life).
Well, I apparently am having a harder time tracking down season 3, so I'll just do a one-off for...
Hanamonogatari
Genre: Supernatural, Horror, High school
Fanservice: Kanbaru-chan is a friggin exhibitionist. Nakey nakey 17 year old ERRYWHERE. Strategically-placed modesty twintails do very little.
Premise: Taking place after Araragi and Senjougahara have graduated and moved on, Kanbaru Suruga is left on her own to deal with any supernatural encounters she comes up against... and she does come up against one. Supposedly, a "Sir Devil" is going around "helping" high school students with their problems. Remembering her own experiences with a literal monkey's paw situation, she sets out to make sure a supernatural aberration isn't preying on her fellow students...
Overall, this is a pretty decent entry to the series. Yeah, you'll have a hard time explaining to Gramma why there's naked jailbait on the screen when she walks in on you watching it, but it's nowhere near as squicky as Nisemonogatari. The plot aspects dealing with family, abandonment, the chasing and loss of dreams and ambitions are all interesting to watch, and it's nice to see Kanbaru do some actual thinking for herself and come to her own decisions - even if the viewer won't always agree with her decisions, but you can see the process that went into making them - instead of just being ecchi comic relief and gofer for the former-main-characters.
That said, it's far from perfect. It STILL isn't going into any detail on who this suddenly-here-but-unintroduced new character Oshino Ougi is, and can't even seem to make up its mind whether Ougi is male or female. I'm sure this is just the show building up some ridiculous long-game plot point, but it's irritating in the short run. Furthermore, (plot spoilers)
Deishuu Kaiki is back. With absolutely zero explanation as to how he survived getting his brains bashed in by a middle schooler at the end of the previous arc. Now, granted, this is monogatari, so he could actually be a ghost or other aberration, or he could have just pulled a monty-pythonesque "I got better" bit as this show takes place several months after the previous arc, I suppose, but leaving that thread dangling is exactly the sort of shit that this series loves to do that pisses me off. It cheapens his supposed death even further, as it was already pretty cheap for being a completely-out-of-left-field deus ex moment that was completely unconnected from the plot at all to begin with. At least now we know why Kaiki is so interested in Kanbaru - she's the daughter of his collegiate unrequited love.
But that aside, it was nice to see Kanbaru get an arc that provided her with the character growth she didn't get from her arc in season 1, especially given how little of her we saw in season 2. I liked how it provided her with an antagonist that meant something to her backstory in multiple ways, and she set about dealing with it in a way that is unique and suited to her character - this was not a method that Araragi or Senjougahara or Hanekawa even Shinobu would have been able to use to defeat the aberration-of-the-week... it was all very, very Kanbaru. Good on ya, girl. Now put some goddamn clothes on.
