Bakemonogatari

Bit of an interesting show with conflicting feelings mainly because of the confusion that was caused at the start.

The dialogue between characters is exhilarating and to some extent, I feel it better captures real human conversations than what I see in usual media. They seem to go on tangents sometimes, banter, teasing; everything that makes for a captivating experience. To that extent, I love this show. The non-stop puns and word play would no doubt be better if I actually knew Japanese but I don't so... unlucky me I guess.

I absolutely loved the show's art style. I don't think I've ever seen something that seemed so much like something I did in primary school. It was like seeing a collage of disjointed objects combined to form a scene, and in a good way.
The use of real-life images somehow shook me into a surreal acceptance of what I was witnessing, allowing me to connect with the show in a way I can't with just animation.
The bizarre ways in which transitions were done, the strange imagery, the long long journey the viewer had as they saw scenery after scenery as the characters just talked; these all served to be annoying at times, and a great device for creating deeper understanding of the characters. And the lighting, oh my, that was sexy, I don't think I've seen something used like it. I cannot commend the creative direction enough, fabulous.

While every box seems to have been ticked: the story was intriguing, the characters were well developed, the animation was brilliant.
I found it confusing to watch at the beginning, with the random panels of text that pops up. I don't really get the purpose of that and that annoys me; what is the point of showing something the viewers can't even see, especially when it appears for an attosecond. It's not like anime should be watched while you pause and play 500 times to read the quotes from the light novel. I guess I shouldn't drill too much into that but I did find it annoying.
The music was also got dry; it was great at the start when the music was fresh. But I think they repeated similar music multiple times for scenes evoking similar emotions which kind of took me out of the scene and broke the immersion for me, and that's a big no no. Lemme live in the world while I watch it thanks.
While the background music was lacking slightly, the music was really good for the openings, endings, and for each new arc. Absolute bangers.

Touching upon problems everybody faces was a highlight for me. Similar to what aikaflip said, "problems grow beyond our control when we don't tend to them." The animals each represent a different issue. The series never really forces you to look into the issues, and you can treat it as a simple supernatural animal story. But looking deeper, you can see it.
I struggled to understand the metaphors used in many situations. Just like a normal person, it's not always so clear what the problem is.
Is it a snake? Slithering around our body, tightening its grip; until finally, we have nowhere else to go? Envy is universal, and hard to see until it hurts most.
Is it a crab? Snipping away at everything that we are, painlessly removing memories, creating phantoms out of us. The weight holding us down, the burden of memories, the pain of acceptance.

"There's dark places in this world, and things that live in them. Even within my own shadow."
Knowing of dark places, and knowing your own shadow is one, gives you the power to shine light into the things that live there. This show gives us a match, it's up to us to find the striker.