Bakemonogatari (2018)

[化物語]

Volume 1

Author: NisiOisiN
Artist: Oh!great
Publisher: Shounen Magazine Comics

Synopsis:
A high school student touched by the supernatural offers to help a classmate with a paranormal ailment.

Story/Characters:
The first volume covers most of the Hitagi Crab arc. The Monogatari Series has fascinated me ever since I first started exploring it. Our lead character Araragi is a curious blend of scumbag and saint, which I feel is part of a deliberate contrast as pretty much all the characters have these sharp contradictions to them. A prime example is the heroine of this arc, Hitagi Senjougahara. Senjougahara has this facade of an unapproachable ice queen prone to swift acts of violence, but this story peels back that layer and you get a glimpse of the vulnerable, traumatized girl who feels compelled to put up such formidable defenses. There are certain aspects about the series I really don't like, but the strong characterization is the one thing that's kept me solidly engaged.

One thing I really like about the series is the complex wordplay that goes into solving the mysteries, connected to various myths and folklore. There's definitely a strong intellectual core that's belied by some of the more sophomoric aspects that's either a mercenary move for mass market appeal or some sort of intentional subversion. It's definitely rewarding if you can keep pace.

Art:
Pairing Oh!great with NisiOisiN for this manga adaptation was a canny choice. Oh!great is a remarkably skilled yet rather pervy artist who blends well with the NisiOisiN's writing, which uses low-brow titillation for groundling appeal in a narrative with heavy philosophical themes and complex wordplay. While the pervy side doesn't really appeal to me, I can't deny the sheer brilliance on display here. Expert use of light and shadow, creative camera angles and framing, etc. The character art is a little less stylized than what I had previously seen from Oh!great in the couple volumes of Air Gear I'd read and the uncanny valley effect is actually a good fit for the mood of the series. There are of course cartoonish wild takes as well, but for the most part the characters' default appearance is fairly grounded, which is honestly more disturbing than a more stylized approach. The creep factor for Senjougahara is strong, but there are occasional glimpses of what's under the mask. The emotional punches are expertly delivered and we get a bit of a preview of what we have to look forward to in the action scenes to come.

Other:
At the end of the volume, we get a chronology for the series' release, a chart dividing the series into its seasons (as in which light novels comprise which season), and a timeline of the events covered so far in the manga.

Conclusion:
For a number of reasons, this series isn't for everyone, but for its deep storytelling and intriguing characters portrayed with excellent art, I would be hard-pressed not to recommend it for your collection.

Rating:
Own It