Under the recommendation of a few certain people, I decided to start on this SHAFT production.
Posting a proper summary would be spoiler-ific for those interested, so I’ll try to keep it as vague as possible.
Bakemonogatari centers on a high school student, Koyomi Araragi, who happens to meet with several females who “happen” to have an issue related to the supernatural. For instance, in the first arc (one arc for each girl) he catches a falling student and finds out she’s weightless.
And as expected he finds the time to help each and every one of them.
Now, the last few shows I’ve watched from SHAFT include the likes of TTGL (where the hell did I get “TTGL” from) FLCL and the Hidamari Sketch series, so immediately I was intrigued. It can’t be too bad, I thought.
I was right.
Bakemonogatari (or Ghostory as it’s called in English) applies an animation style similar to Hidamari Sketch – artistic representation. It can be a bit hard to follow for those viewing live on TV (with no rewind), but it’s a breath of fresh air from a certain recent anime I did an episodic on.
Oh, and (my) Twitter’s alive with #Bakemonogatari posts, and fellow blogger Panther has started a “Senjougahara Fascination” movement. I’d join but I has a final year project kthxbye.
And the OP and ED?
Bakemonogatari doesn’t (always) use the same opening theme. The opening theme is based on the current arc, with the exception of the first episode’s that flashes moving pictures about the protagonist’s past (and I guarantee that you won’t get it the first time round).
And then there are the other opening themes for the arcs so far, sung by the seiyuu for the female character directly involved in the current arc:
Staple Stable by Chiwa Saito
Kaerimichi (帰り道) by Emiri Katō
And the ED? It’s supercell. That supercell.
I was surprised to learn that supercell was involved in an anime ED, let alone Bakemonogatari, an anime that’s attracted a lot of attention lately this season.
I wasn’t surprised Miku wasn’t involved, since the last Miku anime ED I heard wasn’t… up to my expectations.
Instead, the song will be sung by nagi, also known as Gazelle who, according to kevinay’s wiki, is a legendary Nico Nico Douga singer. I have to admit I don’t really know who she is; you can say I’m getting too preoccupied to know this sort of thing.
Oh well.
The song, 君の知らない物語 (Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari), doesn’t fail to impress. ryo’s signature style of rock with a pinch of piano (does that even make sense) is executed beautifully here, though it also serves to complement nagi’s voice, which is simply awesome.
You can listen with the “leaked” low quality video above, or the higher quality one below (though probably not the best). I’m guessing it’s being leaked on purpose since it hasn’t been deleted on NicoNicoDouga and since then has risen to a level 3 video.
I half expected Miku to start singing in the middle of the song. LOL
There’s a much-cooler ED theme out for the song, though it didn’t debut till episode 4:
It releases today was released yesterday as well…tempted to buy it… but probably not. Gotta save up for something important first. ^.^
So, what did you feel about Bakemonogatari? I doubt many of you readers hate the show…right?
EDIT: Oh snap, there’s actually a PV for it too:
Yeah, it’s more like a drama than anything, but hey. Didn’t know about it till I saw divine’s post.
9 Responses to “So I Watched Bakemonogatari”
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Sorry that I’m ignoring most of your post, seeing as I am not watching Bakemonogatari, but I HAD to point this out.
>>Now, the last few shows I’ve watched from SHAFT include the likes of TTGL
SHAFT had nothing to do with Gurren Lagann. That show was done by studio GAINAX, creators of Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL, Gunbuster, etc. SHAFT has worked with GAINAX before on Mahoromatic, and I believe This Ugly Yet Beautiful World, but not TTGL. Other SHAFT anime include Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Maria Holic, Pani Poni Dash, ef, and as you correctly stated, Hidamari Sketch, among others.
.-= digitalboy´s last blog ..All You Need is Kill Review – Wartime Fun With the Full Metal Bitch =-.
Oh dear god, in my feverish state (yeah I wrote this while trying not to face-table) I must have mistook “FLCL” for “TTGL”
Thanks for pointing out the error, man.
I love it!
.-= davaeron´s last blog ..Senjougahara Fascination =-.
Good job man! Watch!
One of the best shows out there in both story and art.
It’s probably the only show I’ve seen that forces you to think hard about all the visual hints they throw at you one after the other.
You’d have to watch an episode at least more than once to fully understand it…and to be frank I’m too lazy for that sort of thing.
Senjoygahara 最高だ！
was released yesterday as well…tempted to buy it… but probably not. Gotta save up for something important first. ^.^
I missed the CD+DVD version, dang!
.-= Divine Fang´s last blog ..Bakemonogatari =-.
WHAT?!?!!!! THE SONG WAS BY RYO AND WAS SUNG BY GAZELLE??!!!?!?!?!!? I heard her sing Miku’s ‘Melt’ before, and she was AWESOME!!!!!!!!! Also, wasn’t Ryo the one who was famous for piano+rock works like B*RS and Melt (correct me if I’m mistaken)? Hmm….. no wonder it sounded so great O.o
You should listen to Gazelle’s Love & Roll.
That’s what awesome sounds like.
No offense, nanami