Bakemonogatari - Episode 1

My most anticipated anime series in Summer 2009 did not disappoint and I'm pretty sure it'll still remain as a top favorite~

Pasta for brains presented pretty literally~ Haha! People had been so mindf*cked on that part. Well, it just doesn't make sense. That's SHAFT's director's weirdness . . . I love this style~ And oh, it's not just pasta! There's cake, vegetables, and a strawberry too! Brain has many parts . . . ? Heeehee~

Now about the episode:

ONE OF THE MOST CREATIVELY PRESENTED PROLOGUES I HAVE EVER SEEN:
(putting aside the fanservice at the beginning)

True to its theme: HORROR
It had also been very creative and awesome~

It's mainly about how Koyomi became a vampire and how Meme helped him. From that err . . music video. It looks like Koyomi came across the vampire woman in the subway. Then he got bitten, and there were many other vampires/monsters after him. Meme came to his rescue. Glasses girl (forgot her name . . .) seemed to have witnessed a vampire crime and almost became a victim. I'm not sure about the part with Meme and a pumping heart. Is it a vampire's weaknesses or something? But anyway, later Koyomi and the vampire woman who had bitten him had a showdown . . . and pulling off a vampire's arm and vomitting vampire blood made him human again?
Oh well, that's just my interpretation of the prologue. I hope that it had been an actual episode so that things would've been clearer. Lucky novel readers who were able to get the idea of what exactly is going on in the prologue. Ehehe . . .

Now to the actual story:

How Koyomi and Hitagi first met . . . it's kinda common in romantic series wherein a guy catches a girl falling from a high place (usually a tree), but in this one, Hitagi had been seriously much more extremely higher than a regular tree, the statement "angel that have fallen from the sky" could almost be taken literally from that scene! Haha! So romantic~

Then we shift to the scene with Koyomi and the glasses girl discussing about Golden Week events. When I was watching the raw, I thought she was tutoring him because I've heard the Koyomi sucks in every subject except for Math. But for a boy with unremarkable grades, he's a Vice Chairman of the class. That girl with him being the Chairman is no surprise. But them being the top officials in class explains why they're staying at school so late. And aside from having class positions, I think they're really close friends now because they had some adventure together (as shown in the prologue). I think the previous girl that Meme had mentioned is definitely her. She's also aquinted to Meme after all.

I really like how that scene was presented in the episode. We watch the scene mostly from Koyomi's point of view. It's not a usual style in anime episodes . . . oh I love camera position variations~

When Koyomi left the classroom to go see Meme, Hitagi corners him:

It appears that Hitagi is very paranoid when other people learn about her secret (which is her being almost weightless). Violently paranoid. She threatens Koyomi with school supplies . . . oh anything can be weapons! It's not really my first time to see a character use school supplies as weapons, but as for various school supplies, Hitagi's the first one.

Well, she makes him swear to remain silent about it. Koyomi promises, but she still harmed him. She really makes sure for others not to do anything funny~ Such a merciless girl~

I love how the anime presented the part when Koyomi was suffering form the pain then quickly heals. THOSE DIFFERENT CAMERA ANGLES!!!! Oh I love this style~

Glasses girl opens the door and sees Koyomi still outside. This had been a funny scene~

Koyomi tells her to not ever eat bananas or at least throw them on the floor while at school, or else he'll never forgive her. Hahahahaha! She doesn't get why he says something so random of course, but he's mega serious. Experience with Hitagi made him do that. Haha!

It's also so random, yet funny and cute, when he rant to Hitagi but came back because he forgot his bag. Haha! Well, he easily caught up to her:

Hitagi thought that he wanted to go against her so she declared war. (That part when she said that . . . she looks so creepy . . . I love it~). Koyomi's WTF expression is so adorable~

Koyomi clears the misunderstand and says that in fact, he wants to help her. Hitagi thought that he's just symphathizing. So Koyomi had no choice but to show his own secret:

Our leading character heals fast. After effects of when he became a vampire. But well, like most immortals, he's not exempted from the pain~

Koyomi takes her to Meme's place, in hopes that Meme will be able to help Hitagi like he had helped Koyomi.

Oh come on . . . in anime, characters who have such a scene are usually couples or soon-to-be couples. Ohohohoho~ Well, I've heard they're going to be canon anyway. They sure pretty much act like one now~ I hope the anime won't change the part of them becoming a canon pairing~

So when they've arrived in Meme's place, Koyomi says that he'll take care of Hitagi's . . .weapons! Haha! He knows how dangerous that woman is, and even if he knows Meme's strong, he doesn't want his best buddy to be in any danger.

She shows them all . . . . I really can't imagine how the heck she was able to hide all those stuff. But oh well, this is anime. And it's supernatural. And it's weird. So anything unusual shouldn't be a surprise. Haha!

This is the part where the pasta scene came from. It seriously doesn't connect to what Koyomi and Hitagi were talking about but oh well~

Hitagi wonders why Meme stays in such a place. Nah, I think it's just for him not to pay rent. But what I wonder about is how he survives. I mean, where does he get the money? I think he helps in supernatural cases for free. So I can't think of how he can have . . . money at all. Unless he's not exactly human.

Anyway, Koyomi and Meme finally meet:

Sakurai's voice . . . oh it always attracts me~ I usually hear him voice younger guys though. But him voicing older dudes isn't bad at all.
And about Meme, I like his necklace and earring. Upside-down cross. Cool~ What accessories for a guy fighting evil supernatural beings . . . Really cool~

Koyomi tries to introduce Hitagi to Meme, but she doesn't like the way he addresses her:

Hitagi: You should say "Senjogahara-sama"
Koyomi: Eerrr . . SEN-JO-GO-HA-RA-SA-MA
Hitagi: You don't need to spell it out.
Koyomi: Senjogahara-chan~

Haha! I love it when Koyomi's being pissed with her demands. He has such cute ways to show annoyance and counterattacks~

However, brutal princess is really brutal:

Lucky for Koyomi to be able to heal quickly or else he would have really gone blind. Haha!
And looks like they're really a pair. One torturing sadist and a quick-healing poor dude. Hitagi can beat him up however she wants and he'll be able to recover in a short period of time. Wahahaha!

Anyway, later Hitagi asks about the girl in the corner:

I hope there'll be some explanation on who really that girl is and why she's with Meme. She looks similar to the vampire that have bitten Koyomi though. Are there any relations? *checks spoilers* Not clear if it's the same vampire, but she really have been a vampire that had lived for a long time. Hehe. Aaaw . . . why no animated episode of Koyomi Vamp???!!! *despair*

So, Meme and Hitagi later discuss about the case.

She reports to him what had happened and he was able to explain to her the thing that did that to her.

Meme promisesto help her out, but he had also noted that only she could save herself.

It hasn't been clear on how they're actually going to bring back Hitagi's weight, so we'll have to wait for next episode. The two had been looking at the moon though, perhaps the moon had something to do with it? Hhhhmmmm . . .

Alright, that's it for episode 1. I don't think the prologue part that we saw the actual opening. I've heard there'll be different OP theme's for each heroine's story. I can't wait to see them~ I hope the OP sequences will be as awesome as the prologue~ As for the ending theme . . . even if the song is nice, I don't like ED's that only use one picture for the entire thing. It bores the hell out of me . . .

Okay, overall impressions for the first episode: Most creative and fantastic among the rest! It had been unique and stylish in terms of visuals, dialogues, moods, camera angles, narration, etc. I am very impressed! It's also the most visually stunning episode in the season so far! It's prety bizarre, but that's what made it even more appealing. Story may be crazy or nonsensical (oh come on, a crab that takes away weight . . .what?!) but it's still so good and interesting. It is indeed my favorite from this season! (This reminds me of Baccano . . . I already knew I was going to love it even before it aired, and I really did. Looks like it's going to be the same case for Bakemonogatari. Awesome!)

[ FAVORITE FEMALE: HITAGI ]

I love beautiful cruel men~

[ FAVORITE FEMALE: KOYOMI ]

I love immortal dudes~ And even though Hitagi abuses him, he's not exactly the loser type.

[ OTP: Koyomi x Hitagi ]

They have such great chemistry! They totally suit each other! Can't wait for them to finally start falling for each other. Their initial interactions have been so fun~

[ THE CUTE ]

BWAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!! AHOGE!!!!!! IN DIFFERENT POSITIONS!!! WAHAHAHAHA!!!!!