Bakemonogatari

Having finished with Welcome to the NHK I found myself with a little room for a new series. And this time I decided to add another new series to my line up. Although this only makes two animes I'm watching that are currently in production, the title anime and the Haruhi renewal.

Moving along. Bakemonogatari first caught my attention by its title alone, 「化物語」; a portmanteau combining the Japanese words bakemono (化物) and monogatari　(物語) which conveniently works as a portmanteau when each part is translated to English as well; monster and story; so you'll also see this anime referred to as Ghostory and it'll be a shame if they don't use this on an official translation to North America which I'm sure is bound to happen. The series is now about halfway through their planned 15 episodes. Based on the light novel series by Nishio Ishin, none of which have I read the light novels, I'm not sure what to expect. However the anime is being presented an a chapter format, where each chapter thus far has lasted about two or three episodes. With the limited number of incidents the way the plot moves is a tad reminiscent of Clannad where Koyomi Araragi takes the place of an Tomoya Okazaki as "delinquent turned good-deed-doer." Similarly early in the plot of the story, although probably coincidentally, both find themselves helping a girl who appears much younger and both turn out to be a type of spirit.

The seiyu lineup looks pretty solid as well. Some names include Chiwa Saito (Natsumi Hinata of Keroro Gunsou, Lavie Head of Last Exile, Louise Halevy of Gundam 00), Emiri Katou (Kagami Hiiragi of Lucky Star), and even Aya Hirano in what I expect is a minor part (I don't believe she should need an introduction, am I wrong?).

Also, I cannot wait to get my hands on the soundtrack to this anime. Not using the usual scheme of using the same theme with each episode, there have been at least two opening song already. Here's a playlist I compiled of the opening and ending songs used thus far. My pick is the second opening song Kaerimichi; an opening song with a level awesomeness I've only recently seen in Lucky Star and Haruhi.

• OP 1 - Staple Stable by Chiwa Saito


• OP 2 - Kaerimichi The Trip Home by Emiri Katou


• ED 1 - Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari Your Strange Story by supercell (in Japanese)

Thus far, its an 8/10 in my book. Maybe 8.2/10.