Anyway, will you be doing part 2? It looks like you got to the end of Suruga Monkey with this part, right?

Having said that, ultimately a strong story is the most important aspect of any show, and I just feel I really can’t give Bakemono a pass here. It’s often just boring, which is about the worst crime a piece of entertainment can commit in my eyes. I absolutely see why it’s gained a cult appeal though, it’s very much playing to a niche.

My take on Bakemonogatari’s different, though. I agree that it doesn’t have the greatest storytelling, and personally I found the humor flat much of the time. But there is a lot of self-awareness which I found refreshing. It uses a lot of harem tropes but is also satirical of them. The story itself deals with pain and emotional burdens, and how each girl overcomes them. I liked that the process wasn’t simple or neat, and there are pretty deep implied consequences for Araragi’s intervention (take the ending of Nadeko’s arc, for example).

For me the characters and outside-the-box-ness of the show outweighed the negatives in presentation and pacing. It aired during a time where it seemed like every other show was a school romantic comedy. Bakemonogatari repurposed the genre for a different kind of story, and also cleared the way for more experimental visuals in anime. I really appreciate what it did for the scene, and it played a big part in rekindling my own interest in anime.

However, at least the English dub does have a scene where Krillin explains to Goku why he and 18 have a biological child together so it redeems itself a bit. It happens when Goku shows up for the tournament on Earth and is alarmed by 18 being there, so clearly you weren’t paying attention if you’re still confused about how 18 could have a biological child.

Well, at least you’re not claiming that 17 and 18 were made human by Shenron and other than that one part this was a pretty well-written review.