Just a fair warning that I may be very biased in this particular review. The entire Monogatari Series franchise means more to me than I ever expected it could and as such I'm likely to exaggerate how good it is and gush about it a lot so take this with a grain of salt like you should any review really.

Within the first episode, we're already overloaded with stimuli. Slow motion walking, a gush of wind, panty shot with a timer, pan upwards with the wind and the direction Koyomi looks in, and then... a series of scenes that are all presumably a part of the Kizumonogatari storyline. This is where the show ignited its spark in me. Not only did it convey a very unique art style right off the bat, but a very interesting, fast paced directorial style. I now know I'm in for a ride. The next thing I see is a beautiful shot of Koyomi going up the stairs with beautiful sound design of echoing steps and narration as Senjougahara falls. Now I anticipate good sound design to come from this show, an added bonus. From here on out, we just have some great directorial work with the classroom scene where we get a POV shot from Koyomi playing with his pen with dialogue and reactions that immediately forecast their characters in some way. Then, the confrontation with Senjougahara outside the classroom... A tense scene with a wonderfully ambient score, hooking me even further. The strange use of images and change in art style make this scene even more uncomfortable and continues to cement it's style. The small detail of Koyomi running off without his bag then coming back to get it after this confrontation indicates a care for detail and characterization, furthering my love and investment for the show. Onwards, we get the works. Intrigue on Koyomi as his wound is healed, fantastic meta dialogue between him and Senjougahara and absurd imagery along the way. The episode book ends with revealing Senjougahara's problem and introduces a way to solve it.

This first episode alone made me put the series into my favourites and is a good indicator of things to come. Further down the line we see that the show has a further depth to it than people may have thought with Senjougahara's tragic story revealing reasoning for her character. Once this is done, we have our format to go off of. Character gets introduced, has some form of problem which manifests in the supernatural, Koyomi goes to any length to help. This formula stays consistent through Bake but never gets old or even feels formulaic as each problem and how it is solved are very unique and so are the characters. Every character is very likeable and have some amount of depth to them (except Nadeko who hasn't reached her peak yet). It just seemed like there was no end to the likeability of the show in general.

Even the romance between Senjougahara and Koyomi is so natural, nuanced and cute which is something I just did not expect. I personally don't like the romance genre but the show got me hooked to the romance on the date episode and even before that when they sprinkled in their lively and funny interactions with each other. They both make the other better over the course of the series as a whole and it's such a good way of developing their characters, especially Senjougahara considering her backstory.

This show can be tense, scary, dramatic, goofy, funny, playful, satirical and calm all in one. It balances tone like no other show I've seen. Nothing feels out of place, every decision made and my reaction to it feel deliberate and the craft just cannot be ignored. My only critique of it would be that the writing hasn't hit its stride yet since this is an introductory series to the franchise so they had to set up the world and characters more than anything else and the Hachikuji arc dragged on a bit too long in some parts though I loved it nonetheless. I will always recommend this to anyone who loves art, writing or film. It may be a bit abrasive as it just hits you in the face with its avant-garde style right off the bat but keep in mind that you'll get used to it very quickly and it becomes better as the franchise continues. I would call this a phenomenal show in my eyes though I won't rate it too highly as this is just barely scratching the surface of the best to come. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did or more and form your own opinion of it.

Thanks for reading!