kutch.davion - 2014-09-21 07:00:15

Has anyone else the desire to become a dentist when he sees this anime.
:)

ora09 - 2014-05-24 16:58:07

With the release of Bakemonogatari in 2009 Studio Shaft had created an anime that would forever change the way anime fans view the company. Bakemonogatari was very unique in both style and execution. With no other anime doing what it had done or, at least, not in the same fashion. Needless to say, it was a phenomenal success. So the announcement and release of a sequel, should be far from surprising.

Nisemonogatari picks up exactly where Bakemonogatari left off. Although, that is to say, with the main character Araragi conversing with many different characters in hilarious ways. The plot in this show is not overarching but told in many minor arcs. Allowing for most of this show to be seen out of order, although most would probably not recommend it even though it is entirely possible.

All of the characters from the previous season are present but more are added while others sacrifice screen time. The largest of these being Nadeko who only shows up for a single five minute scene in one episode. The “new” characters are Shinobu and the Araragi sisters, Karen and Tsukihi. I say “new” because while these characters were present in Bakemonogatari they were simply names with a seiyuu. They had no development, practically no lines, and absolutely no story. They were simply just there.

This is a second season though, so chances are if you enjoyed the first season you will enjoy the second season. Also the extraordinarily increased production and animation quality certainly make this a standout. However, there are a few notable differences from the previous season.

First and foremost being the plot and structure. Most of the season feels like filler content, with nothing really happening plot wise. These episodes consist of nothing but essentially pointless character interactions. While that might sound negative, it in fact is the opposite. I said in my Bakemonogatari review that the best aspects of the show are it’s characters and dialogue, while it’s plot was it’s downfall. Nisemonogatari seems to fix that for the most part.

The new characters introduced are all fun and quirky with Shinobu being the standout in my opinion. Only person more interesting and enjoyable on screen than Shinobu, is Hitagi herself.

I have to make a comment on the fan service. Nisemonogatari seemed to have more fan service in it’s first four episodes than the entirety of Bake. That’s not even including the infamous “toothbrush scene”. However, all things considered the one thing I will give credit to this series, is how unique it is. Even when it comes to the fan service it’s done in such an interesting an artistic way, you could make up an entirely different name for it. This whole series seems to be in a genre of it’s own already. Despite my complains though, it doesn’t hamper my enjoyment, but at the same time, it doesn’t enhance it either.

Overall Nisemonogatari is a fantastic addition to the Monogarai series. It was able to keep the charm of the original series while adding new elements and characters without feeling forced.

Some people disliked the change in direction, but I think it’s heading down a good path.

owolff - 2014-01-23 05:46:45

Sequels to highly popular shows are always tricky business, especially in the world of anime. Given that most anime have the capacity to sustain their story in one season, because of the relative rarity of anime sequels, most stories have to find a way to either create a new conflict, or manage to shoehorn the old one back into existence. Generally, sequels fail at this, but this isn't just any series. This is the monogatari series, which means that we have a few special rules. The first one? None of what I said has any precedence whatsoever. I'll discuss this more later, but Nisemonogatari pretty much just picks up where Bakemonogatari left off. Does that mean the series is the same. Nope. Though the two are inherently similar, a few key changes in writing and a few boosts to certain elements of the show gives Araragi a whole new slew of interesting adventures in his hunt to figure out whatever the hell he's going to do with himself. Oh well. This show was hella entertaining, and I'm sure as hell gonna have as much fun writing this review as I can. So ladies and gentlemen. Let's jump into Nisemonogatari.

To do a quick recap of Bakemonogatari for you who may have not seen it, bakemonogatari is essentially the story of Koyomi Araragi, an ex-vampire who goes around his strange town helping people deal with the supernatural in whatever way he can. And in all honesty, his job hasn't changed. One of the things that I enjoyed a lot more about Nisemonogatari is that it essentially does away with the idea of a major central plot. Of course, there are a few conflicts that take the spotlight, as are key, but they absolutely take a backseat to Araragi's adventures in solving boredom. And my god, does the dialogue shine. It may not be anywhere near as intellectual and sophisticated as it was in Bake, but the sheer number of times I found myself laughing in this series because of how entertaining this show's conversations were. The sheer number of pop culture references that were thrown in there shot the enjoyability of the show up to 11. Hell, this show saved a few characters from being boring for me, especially Hachikuji, who got super lame after her arc finished. Alas, with every good thing comes a trade off, and a definite tradeoff here is the quality of the dialogue. While it more entertaining, the only reason that is is because they removed a lot of the intellectualism that made the first series so unique, and replaced it with a level of absurdity that, while equally interesting, just isn't as impressive as the first series. In addition, story wise, the show became much more like a harem than it ever had, with Araragi experiencing sexual tension with seemingly every person he came into contact with, including his sisters. And because segues are weird, let's head into characters! Oh, btw, story gets a 7/10

Character wise, the show adds three characters to the show: Karen and Tsukihi, and the Vampire bound to Araragi by blood, Shinobu, or as her full name is known Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade. Karen, Araragi's bigger little sister, is a tomboy incredibly passionate about justice, and making others happy. She's similar to Araragi in that she wants a lot of people to be happy, but her insane athleticism makes her a fare more credible threat than even Araragi's supernatural powers give him. Karen is quite affectionate for her brother, with that affection going into..... well let's just say rather obscene levels, leading to one of the strangest, most hysterical, and most well known anime scenes in recent decades. I won't spoil it for you, but you'll know it when you get there. You'll know. Anyways, Tsukihi is incredibly boring as a character, and is sort of the foil to Karen's brash personality. She's equally fond of her brother, but is much less motivated about justice, and sorta thinks punching is cool. I found her character to be inconsistent to say the least, and she was a huge disappointment for me. Finally, we have Shinobu, the most amazing of the group in my opinion. An immortal vampire who has been bound to Araragi's blood after being defeated by Araragi and Oshino, Shinobu is quickwitted, clever, and gives off the facade of knowing far more than she gets at. She was a serious challenge to Senjougahara for the Annual Monogatari Best Girl awards, narrowly missing out on the gold. That alone should be enough to explain just how awesome she was, and she was so different than the typical token Loli we tend to see in Anime. Which was great. Though there were some good, there was also some bad, as characters like Hanekawa that I liked became much less interesting, which was disappointing, and Senjougahara had a much less prominent place in the show, which was even more disappointing. As such, characters get a 9/10

Honestly, I shouldn't need to talk about art for this. It's even better than it was last time, which says a lot. All of that Madoka Money clearly went into Akiyuki's passion project, as the monogatari series is more artsy and cool than ever. From mountains of erotic fanfiction falling like a wave, to the gorgeous animation during one of the show's fight scenes, Monogatari continues to impress artistically more than any other show out there. Which is damn impressive still. It might be short, but little more is needed to say that art gets an easy 10/10

The music in Nisemonogatari was improved in my opinion, being much more distinctive than it was in Bake. Beautiful new tracks interspersed with remade versions of the already awesome openings made me love the music more than ever. Speaking of the openings, Nise sports the show's two best openings, in my opinion, with Platinum Disco and Marshmallow Justice being some of the most artistically and musically impressive tracks in recent years. The simple joy that comes into my heart when I hear the trumpets blare in marshmallow justice astonishes me every single time I watch it. I'm getting tired, so let's wrap this on up. Music gets a 9/10

Though this may be a spoiler, the show brings up in its later episodes an interesting philosophical argument in the value of a fake. If two items are virtually indistinguishable, than which is more valuable, the fake or the original. You could say the original, because it was the first. You could say they are equal, because they are truly identical. Or, you could say the fake, because in its attempt to be like the show, its own effort increases the value of the item itself. What does this have to do with the show? I personally think Nisemonogatari perfectly emphasizes this. A show, identical in premise and structure, yet is inherently not original. Could it conceivably be better than the original? While it may be more entertaining, the verdict is unfortunately no. I love the monogatari series, but Nise is a much weaker entry than Bake, even though I may have enjoyed it more. The explanation is simple, Bake is just a better execution of what it was trying to be than bake was. As hard as that is to say, it's simply the truth. Bake was much more new, more avant garde, and is just overall higher quality. Yet Nise has that sense about it. That in its heart of hearts, it has the power to be better. And I'll be damned if I don't acknowledge that spark just a little bit.

Nisemonogatari: 8.65/10

alberta71 - 2013-07-13 21:20:39

A full 3 years after the highly acclaimed Bakemonogatari concluded, Shaft rose again and gave the audience Nisemonogatari, the direct sequel to our beloved series. Nisemonogatari (hereby refered to as Nise after this) focuses on Araragi's two lovely sisters Karen and Tsukihi and their run-ins with the supernatural world. It is considered a step down by many but how much of this really affects the overall enjoyment that the show can give you the viewer? This review is for someone who has already watched Bakemonogatari prior to watching Nisemonogatari. If you need a better look at what the series may be all about, you can check out my Bakemonogatari review here:

http://hummingbird.me/anime/bakemonogatari/reviews/2909

Now let's step once more into the world of Araragi's world while at the same time making sure we don't bite our tongue.

Story

The story begins sometime after the conclusion of Bakemonogatari. It focuses on Araragi's younger sisters Karen and Tsukihi with their run ins with the supernatural. Its adaptation of the two part light novel was done extremely well as I'm someone who have read them. The story is split into two arcs, one focusing each on one of the sisters. There are no pacing problems here in terms of the story so there won't be any problems being lost. Aside from his sisters, Araragi also builds even more on what was given in Bakemonogatari so expect some character development in Nise. It's more an assurance to the viewer how these characters have grown after Araragi's run in with them in the past. The events surrounding the sisters should not be considered shallow compared to previous girls as they are given an equal amount of time to develop the characters and allow you to warm up to them. For me, I was instantly drawn into the show especially because I had just finished Bakemonogatari which quickly became one of my all time favorites. It's safer to say not to come into Nisemonogatari expecting the level of quality its predecessor had however it's a damn close match if you can come to terms with what some deem as flaws.

Animation & Sound

The animation carry the same visual flare that Bake did and continued to impress. There were not as much fighting scenes as Bake had but the fights are not what kept you coming back, now is it? Every scene is tastefully done and Shaft's visual style for this particular series pops off the screen. One key difference between Nise and Bake is the exclusion of the stills. While it was not completely, Nisemonogatari does not feature as much stills as Bakemonogatari did. It did carry over it's conversational style and camera angle tricks however the use of stills with information that Bakemonogatari was known for is not found in great magnitude here. It's safe to say that you won't be pausing as much here as you did in Bakemonogatari, if you're that kind of person that is.

Nisemonogatari ramped up one thing though, sexual fan service. Researching about this particular title and finding out various persons' impressions on it, I found that most people found the amount of fan service jarring. At the end of the series, I had to ask myself, "Where's the fan service?". I'll admit that there is a lot more fan service than before but even then the fan service didn't bother me. I was most likely distracted by the signature dialogue and tasty visuals. Even when fan service was right in front of me, I not once had to cringe or anything of the sort since in true Bakemonogatari style it was done tastefully. It's from this "cringe worthy fan service" came one of the best and weirdest moments in fan service history, the mighty tooth brushing scene. I never knew that brushing someone's teeth could have this effect on them but I was too filled with glee to find a problem in anything. I could only say this sort of thing should only bother you if fan service was the only thing going for it. I'm talking about you, Ikkitousen and Highschool DxD. I had to clear that one up so that people doesn't deter you from watching an awesome show.

The sound quality is virtually the same as Bakemonogatari and this is by no means a bad thing. The voice acting is stellar and never falters throughout the show. The new characters that appear in the series are portrayed quite well and their voice actors did a good job.

Characters

As I've always reiterated, the Monogatari series would be nothing with out it's inter-character dialogue and development. To say that this is absent here, is plainly false. Our protagonist once again is, Araragi Koyomi, former vampire and babe magnet. Since his run in with our moe vampire, Shinobu. As mentioned before, the main focus for Nisemonogatari is Araragi's sisters, Karen and Tsukihi.

Karen Araragi is the older of the two Fire Sisters as they're known and is the more spunky, tomboyish and athletic of the two. She's even taller than her older brother and sister. Now I thought these girls were going to be very shallow and just a way of giving us more fan service but the adaptation found a way to give depth to these characters. Karen in particular seemed like she was the archetypal tomboy but showed elements that were not from this archetype at all. It was a joy seeing her on screen. Most character development was through Koyomi's interaction with the so called Fire Sisters. When you watch the show, you'll see how they would grow out of what they were at the beginning of the show.

Tsukihi was my personal favorite sister, on the exterior, she's a charming, loving little sister who happens to have a liking to yukatas and kimonos; on the interior however, she was in fact the more hot headed, borderline sadistic and teasing of the two sisters. Her arc at the end was particularly interesting as you find out more about her origins but I won't spoil this for you.

The supporting cast makes a return and all have significantly developed due to their run in with Araragi-kun. This time around Senjougahara is not seen nearly as much as in Bakemonogatari but she's still a treat to behold when she's present. Hanekawa is present as well in a major way for the two sisters. I did not find her presence out of place and her character was portrayed well, yet again. Shinobu, our loli vampire is involved in Nisemonogatari in a big way. She converses with Araragi and contributes loads of development and much needed loli fanservice for the loli lovers. I'm not saying that like it's a plus or anything but it was a treat nonetheless that pandered to my ero loving tastes.

I could not find any faults in Nisemonogatari's plot as it was very well adapted and all the characters were fleshed out significantly.

Conclusion
By now, you may notice that I'm on the side of the ones who recommend Nisemonogatari. It's just Bakemonogatari with the same engaging dialogue but with more fan service. Even then, the fan service is not so jarring that it would ruin the over all experience. I went into Nisemonogatari wary of all the flaws people pointed out to me and came out satisfied. Why should one forsake the direct continuation of a masterpiece 3 years prior? I couldn't fathom this thought, Nisemonogatari may have points taken away from it because of it's minor departure but the over all package is very much the same of it's prequel. Take my word for it and once again journey into the world of Arararagi-kun. Sorry I stuttered.

I give Nisemonogatari, a 9/10.

hschroeder - 2013-07-11 13:29:53

Nisemonogatari is the "filler" or "fanservice" portion of the monogatari series. It does have an interesting plot but it takes twice the time for each segment compared to Bake or Neko as it wastes time with comedic and ecchi antics that far surpass its predecessor and successor. I give it a perfect score but it fulfils what I want from the series, I felt like I was writing the script at times, but if you are interested in a more serious take on the monogatari series you would be wise to look at Nekomonogatari, not that you should (or can) skip Nise just that you shouldn't expect it to be more than what it is, fanservice.

anderson.mckenzie - 2013-06-28 08:18:32

This Review is out of 100. 35/100 for Story, 35/100 for Characters, 15/100 for Sound, 15/100 for Animation. Story - 23/35 - The story isn't bad, but it is noticeably worse than Bakemonogatari. Since there are only 2 stories instead of 5, there is a lot more "filler" than there was in Bakemono. Even the filler is worse. A lot of the filler is fanservice, and there is much much more in this show than the last. The only good fanservice to come out of this show was the toothbrush scene (Don't judge me). The stories themselves are just as good in my opinion, just too long. This show probably could have been 6 episodes long instead is 11, which tells you how much filler there is. I liked the ending for each arc, and how they were tied together in the end. Characters - 25/35 - Bakemonogatari was good because of it's characters. In Nisemonogatari, all those characters are there, they just take even more of a back seat. My two favorite girls, Hitagi and Kanbaru, are even less important now. Araragi is even weirder than he was before, sexually harassing both his sisters multiple times. Because of this, I found his character to be less enjoyable in this show. His sisters were very fun though, as were the villains. Sound - 12/15 - Because there is only 2 girls, there were less openings. They were still very good, but in this case less isn't more. The background music didn't sound much better than that in Bakemonogatari. Overall there really isn't much to say here. Animation 12/15 This was a big step up from Bakemonogatari. None of those stupid flashing screens with words anymore. Thank you. It would be perfect if the scenes weren't so oversexualized. Just like how the story had more fanservice than its predecessor, this show had way more sexual scenes. For example, Araragi's sister bent down to pick him up, so of course the show has to give us a close up of her ass and crotch. Things like this arent story related and I feel have more to do with the animation decisions. Overall - 72/100 - Both the story and the characters take a hit in Nisemonogatari, while the animation gets a much needed bump. The story here was the biggest letdown. While the Fire Sisters and the Villains keep the characters interesting, the sheer amount of fanservice and filler hinder the story way too much.

eleanore.herzog - 2013-06-04 20:43:38

Brief note-this is a review for all of Monogatari, so not just Nisemonogatari but Nekomonogatari and Bakemonogatari too.

Another Brief note-this was temporarily a one out of ten review, that was purely accidental. My apologies to this show and the people who have seen it.

This is, hands down, one of the best offbeat slices of life ever, Haruhi-Suzumiya like in taking a relatively tame boring genre and twisting it into something mostly unrecognizable yet amazing. However, while Haruhi tends to be upbeat and silly, this is much more serious. While it has it's funny points, they are much more often overshadowed by the constant eeriness of the show. Nothing ever feels quite normal in this show, and a relatively normal scene like two kids trying to help another find her way home can feel disturbing and wrong.

STORY

While it has no continuous story, the stories are indeed excellent. They each revolve around the main character, Araragi, helping a damsel in distress with her mystical ailment. Each one draws off of some folklore or another, and are all extremely twisted and strange. Each character he helps also becomes part of the cast, and with the creativity shown in each character this means that this show is like a good wine, improving with age.

ANIMATION

I must gush some about this, because the superb animation is one of the defining parts of this show. The artists are masters of lighting and scenery, and can transform any relatively normal locale into something that seems to have come from another universe. With a perpetually dark or twilight palette, everything feels haunted and surreal, and the few flashes of bright color can almost unnerve you more than the dark ones as they are so out of place. The animation plays a big part in making you really feel like like the world is darker and stranger than it should be, that something is always wrong, and therefore must be highly commended.

CHARACTERS

Another gush-worthy section. The characters in Monogatari are some of the most original, most entertaining, and most offbeat you will find. As there are two many to talk about individually, I'm only going to talk about two. First is Araragi, the main character. Araragi used to be a vampire, and was cured of it by a kind soul who specialized in dealing with supernatural problems. Due to his actions while so cursed, he has a desire to help anyone in need like he was, to save them from whatever their predicament may be. Whenever Araragi sees someone in need, he goes to help them, a knight in shining armor. He's also a huge perv, constantly playfully harassing or fantasizing about his lady friends. He has a guilt complex a mile long, and has makes many sacrifices for the greater good throughout the show. Not all of these are well informed, and may not always result in the best outcome for him, as he doesn't see himself as important. The next character is Senjougahara, one of my favorite characters in any anime ever. She is Araragi's first case, shall we say, and has a highly entertaining backstory and personality. She was abused as a child by her mother, and therefore fears being close to anyone. She is cold and often abusive even when people try and help her, but tries to help others frequently. While she doesn't care much about strangers, she is extremely devoted to anyone she is close to, such as her boyfriend Araragi, and will go to great lengths for them. And by great lengths, I sometimes mean mild insanity. She is dispassionately logical, and extremely intelligent, often solving problems that may puzzle Araragi. She is something of a kuudere, though despite showing a more caring side as the show goes on she always retains her razor wit and tongue, often verbally harassing people for the hell of it.

ENJOYMENT/OVERALL

This is actually a show anyone should watch. I never cease to be entertained or bored, and the large, many sided characters never cease to be fascinating. The stories are great, the animation excellent, and the overall tone of the story darkly intriguing and mysterious.

smitham.lowell - 2013-05-17 08:22:32

Alright, this is my first review so I'm going to try and make this right. Forgive any spelling mistakes please, as I type too fast for my keyboard to register. There are very minimal spoilers in this, I will not reveal the plot though, so need not worry about that.OKAYSO:Story: 9/10The story of Nisemonogatari is unlike any other that I have ever seen. There are also many cultural differences that are incorporated into Nisemonogatari, and some of them are hard to pick up if you're a westerner such as I am. The major one being incest, this anime has an almost pornographic incestuous sense of humour. I have talked multiple times with friends who live in Japan, and they seem to find it funny while others may find it appalling. That being said, if you're highly disheartened by such themes, then this anime is not for you.There is a huge amount of fanservice involved in Nisemonogatari. Naturally if you're watching this, then 99% of you should have seen the prequel called "Bakemonogatari". If not, then completely ignore this anime until you have, otherwise you will not get the same enjoyment that I did.Nisio Isin is a storytelling genius, there are plenty of amazing dialogues and if you're a fan of witty arguments, then look no further than Nisemonogatari.Art: 10/10 This is the most beautiful anime that I have ever laid eyes on, because SHAFT once again provides us with mind-tripping scenic masterpieces to go along with the banter, and you'll find yourself getting lost within the scenes and such. The artwork also has it's little trademarks that you will notice throughout watching, such as people twisting their heads as they talk and the famous "black screen" slide that was commonly found in Bakemonogatari. Sound: 9/10 I had no quirks with the sound of this anime, the opening themes always had a nice ring to them and blended well with the artwork. The ED is addicting, though not to the point that Kimi No Shiranai was in Bakemonogatari. I think they did a great job with the sound.Character: 10/10Despite the many annoyances in various characters, there is one who makes up for them all. Senjougahara is a goddess, a truly inspiring character who cannot be compared to any other character in any other anime. I'm probably going to get a lot of negative votes for saying that, but it needed to be said. Every time she came on the screen and had one of her mindless banters with Araragi, I became so engrossed in the anime that I couldn't' blink even if I wanted to. Anyone who has watched Bakemonogatari can relate to this, surely. Treasure her moments, as there are not as many as I would have hoped.Enjoyment: 9/10This would have definitely been a 10, but I am very against incest and there were a few scenes that made me feel uncomfortable. That's my personal opinion, take it or leave it. Everything else was spot on amazing.Overall: 10/10If you can overcome the uncomfortable moments, then this anime is a masterpiece in every which way shape or form. I would highly recommend this anime to anyone who loves character development, and does not place huge value on flashy fight scenes that drone on and on. Go watch it if you haven't already!

jaycee.mann - 2013-03-18 04:21:06

You'll never brush your teeth the same way. Bakemonogatari's sequel is pretty much what you'd expect from a sequel: more story, more allegories, more fanservice, more Nadeko. While it's possible to watch this without watching Bakemonogatari, it's very recommended; in fact, if you don't like the first, you're wasting your time here. 

Nisemonogatari continues the story about Araragi Koyomi and his struggles with supernatural beings; the focus of this season, are his two 'imoutos', Karen and Tsukihi. All the while, Koyomi interacts with his other female heroines and faces an unusual and quite interesting antagonist.

SHAFT made a great job to keep the Monogatari momentum here, providing us with exquisite animation and theme songs (who would have guessed that a song named Marshmallow Justice would taste so good?). The magic lies in that Nisemonogatari has more of what made its predecessor such a wonderful anime to watch. 

Overall, the only sin Nisemonogatari had is that it was too short. But the toothbrush scene makes up for that. Also, two 'imoutos'.

Favorite Character: Araragi Karen

Favorite Song: Naisho no Hanashi

xander.herzog - 2013-03-17 12:41:58

I am writing this review assuming that you have watched Bakemonogatari prior to this and can remember the characters and their pasts. If not please watch Bakemonogatari first before watching or thinking about watching Nisemonogatari.I’ve always had mixed feelings about Bakemonogatari, I loved it for its amazing art and its clever writing but I hated it for its... use of the female body. The fanservice in Bakemonogatari always walked a thin line between annoying and creepy and sometimes it was hard to tell which side it was leaning to. In the direct sequel, Nisemonogatari the series seems to have fallen off this line and face planted straight into the realm of creepy. In the first episode alone we get, mild incest, mild loli on two occasions, and full high schooler nudity. This ends up developing into legitimate incest, full loli nudity, and more boob shots that you can count. Koyomi, the protagonist ends up developing from a weird perverted teenager, into a terrifying, sister kissing, tooth brushing, child molesting creep. Do I hate this show, no. Could this show have been much, much better, yes.The weird thing about Nisemonogatari is that it starts off great. Koyomi is at a point where he is not too creepy to watch and we have none of the haunting incest. On top of that we have an interesting plot involving the only good female character in the show, Senjougahara. This set of episodes is wonderful as we get a lot of insight into senjougahara’s past and why she is so distrustful of others. In fact, the first episode drew me in during the very first minute in which we have Senjougahara kidnapping Koyomi, only leaving us to wonder how this incident got started. From there we get a series of quite well thought out plot elements that bring more characters into this mess and develops Koyomi’s relation with others quite well. The first seven episodes are called into motion when a mysterious, ill-omened man named Kaiki Deishu appears. Further development leads you to discover that Senjougahara had once sought this mans help in the events prior to Bakemonogatari. She did this only to discover that he was a con-man who was only after her parents money and indirectly caused her parents divorce. She decides that she must hunt down Kaiki and make him regret what he has done. It gets more complicated when Karen, Koyomi’s sister contracts a mysterious illness that was supposedly given to her by Kaiki himself. That is as much as I want to give away without providing major spoilers because these first episodes are brilliant. The writing is engaging and clever, the characters and their motives, both clear and unclear are interesting, and overall it’s just fun. The first seven episodes were a complete blast to watch. Honestly, if it had ended at the end of the first arc, then I would have loved this show. I would have placed it far above Bakemonogatari and possibly into my top ten, that is how much I liked the beginning. Sure there was fanservice, but it was all pretty mild, and it wasn’t to the point where it was creepy. But it will get creepy, very soon.Episode 8, just everything about it just makes me ask “Why?” Why does this episode need to exist. It ruined such a good streak of great and thoughtful episodes with one that can be summed up with one word, incest. In this episode we get one of the most disturbing scenes in anime. period. I will never, ever look at a toothbrush in the same way again. I’m sure if you have been following anime of any kind for long enough you would have heard of this scene, in fact I heard about it well before I watched Nisemonogatari, in fact well before I watched Bakemonogatari for that matter. It is something that those who have watched it will never be able to forget and will be prevalent in our nightmares for years, if not decades to come. This entire episode is creepy, it is not entertaining in the slightest, just creepy. I did not laugh, I was not pulled into the clever dialogue, I was simply disgusted. From there on, it does get less creepy, but it is still creepy nonetheless. The image from episode eight is still in the back of your mind and we still have the incest, oh yes the incest. Koyomi seemed to realise that he has a taste for his sisters and wants some more, and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. As such, Koyomi has passed the realm of weird and passed into the realm of creepy and disgusting. Please note that these episodes after number eight are not bad, they are just less mind blowing than what I saw before episode eight. These episodes still have an interesting plot, but it just seems less fun. Perhaps that is because they had a darker colour scheme for this section as a lot of it seems to take place after dark, but I never got that feeling of “Wow, this is really cool”. While I am on the subject of colour schemes, I guess it would be a crime not to mention the art, because let’s be honest, that is the real reason we all started watching this. This anime, is gorgeous, more so than Bakemonogatari in my opinion. This is due to one thing and one thing only, the set design. Words cannot describe how good it looks. It is a mix of surreal environments and abstract minimalism that makes you look at every scene in awe. The indoor environments are especially stunning that it sometimes causes you to stop looking at the characters and at the backgrounds instead. Whether it be Koyomi’s house which looks like a cross between a hollywood set and a medieval church, or Kaiki’s hangout which put me in a hypnotic trance just from looking at it. In fact I can safely say this is the only anime and will probably be the only one in which there can be a scene of the protagonist taking a bath with me in awe of how beautiful it is. Not only that but they use the environments to convey the messages of the characters. This can range anywhere from road signs reading out characters emotions, to a small detail in the environment relaying what happens in a scene. This pretty much forces you to pay attention and think more about the events that are unfolding. Nisemonogatari may actually be the best looking anime I have ever seen.What it all comes down to is, do I like it? Well, yes but that does not mean I love it. It could have been much better and even with the amazing visuals, the final half still creeps me out. The first half however is absolutely brilliant and holds up the entire series. Overall, this show evens out to be completely meh. It is not as good as Bakemonogatari, though it is not much worse. It serves its purpose and as such gets a 7/10.