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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
If you'd like to see a few panels' worth of the art, visit my blog, The Grimoire Reliquary.
ALRIGHT, I’M APPARENTLY BRANCHING OUT INTO MANGA — first time for everything. I was looking through NetGalley a few days ago, searching for something new and intriguing and what do I come across but the first Volume of a manga adaptation to something I’m familiar with? I saw the Bakemonogatari anime years ago, and was struck by how unique its visual style was — on par only with the eeriness, the sheer bloody strangeness, of its story.
THE ART IS PRAISE-WORTHY. Oh!Great’s art consists of clear lines, which was a relief since I often struggle with the visual overload so frequently present in a lot of manga art. It properly communicates the moods of characters and their intentions. The writer-artist is enormously talented with the pencil, that’s for sure, and I am looking forward to how this looks on paper as compared to digital. The few double-spreads in this first volume showcased the kind of art I’d put in a frame on the wall, and looking at them cut in half in a .pdf file felt very wrong indeed.
Onto the bad…or at least the mildly, wildly annoying bits. There’s a fair amount of fan-service here, which works great for my sixteen-year-old self but at twenty-four comes across as gratuitous and unnecessary. Pretty art, sure, but I could do without the panty-shots and several even more over-sexualized elements included inside.
It doesn’t quite capture the quirky nature of the story as presented in the anime. It doesn’t have to – they’re two different adaptations of the same core material but this operates in a different medium entirely and it’s a good way to reacquaint myself with a franchise I never got to explore in full.
THE STORY, ALAS, LACKS CLARITY. Some will find it difficult to comprehend, which is where my familiarity came in use. I had at least some knowledge about what was going on, and I’m not entirely sure the dialogue succeeded in recapturing the eery feel of the light novel as much as it was confusing. It gets clearer about midway through.
If you like manga, if you’ve heard about the Monogatari franchise but prefer this medium to anime — I’d say, GO FOR IT! The release is in October — my personal score is 3.25 stars out of 5, or a 6.5 out of 10. It lacks that extra something to give it a score of 3.5/5; as it is, the art pushes it to a level just above the utter averageness of most 3-stars.
Thanks, NetGalley, for providing me with a review copy.
ALRIGHT, I’M APPARENTLY BRANCHING OUT INTO MANGA — first time for everything. I was looking through NetGalley a few days ago, searching for something new and intriguing and what do I come across but the first Volume of a manga adaptation to something I’m familiar with? I saw the Bakemonogatari anime years ago, and was struck by how unique its visual style was — on par only with the eeriness, the sheer bloody strangeness, of its story.
THE ART IS PRAISE-WORTHY. Oh!Great’s art consists of clear lines, which was a relief since I often struggle with the visual overload so frequently present in a lot of manga art. It properly communicates the moods of characters and their intentions. The writer-artist is enormously talented with the pencil, that’s for sure, and I am looking forward to how this looks on paper as compared to digital. The few double-spreads in this first volume showcased the kind of art I’d put in a frame on the wall, and looking at them cut in half in a .pdf file felt very wrong indeed.
Onto the bad…or at least the mildly, wildly annoying bits. There’s a fair amount of fan-service here, which works great for my sixteen-year-old self but at twenty-four comes across as gratuitous and unnecessary. Pretty art, sure, but I could do without the panty-shots and several even more over-sexualized elements included inside.
It doesn’t quite capture the quirky nature of the story as presented in the anime. It doesn’t have to – they’re two different adaptations of the same core material but this operates in a different medium entirely and it’s a good way to reacquaint myself with a franchise I never got to explore in full.
THE STORY, ALAS, LACKS CLARITY. Some will find it difficult to comprehend, which is where my familiarity came in use. I had at least some knowledge about what was going on, and I’m not entirely sure the dialogue succeeded in recapturing the eery feel of the light novel as much as it was confusing. It gets clearer about midway through.
If you like manga, if you’ve heard about the Monogatari franchise but prefer this medium to anime — I’d say, GO FOR IT! The release is in October — my personal score is 3.25 stars out of 5, or a 6.5 out of 10. It lacks that extra something to give it a score of 3.5/5; as it is, the art pushes it to a level just above the utter averageness of most 3-stars.
Thanks, NetGalley, for providing me with a review copy.
The art is gorgeous, but the storytelling is more disjointed than the light novel. I have to wonder if someone discovering this story for the first time without benefit of light novel or anime could make sense of what's happening.
I have read the light novel and watched the anime series and it cannot be helped that the manga felt like an incredibly lacklustre adaptation.
On the positive side, the art is beautiful. Amazing composition with nuances that is symbolic to the characters. The artist definitely tried their best to replicate the punch that each segment have in the other medias. Some funny moments and they were similar to the original.
However, too many details were cut out. The immersion that you get when you are observing the conversation and banter between the characters were not there. It was not the same as the anime or the light novel, sadly enough. I do agree with some reviews here about how the story is confusing. This is true if you are not familiar with the original materials.
I would only recommend the manga to people who read the light novel and watched the show. You will be missing out on a lot of details if you are reading the manga first. You may come out confused and end up dnfing the series. It’s too good of a series to dnf so check out the anime and light novel before reading the manga.
On the positive side, the art is beautiful. Amazing composition with nuances that is symbolic to the characters. The artist definitely tried their best to replicate the punch that each segment have in the other medias. Some funny moments and they were similar to the original.
However, too many details were cut out. The immersion that you get when you are observing the conversation and banter between the characters were not there. It was not the same as the anime or the light novel, sadly enough. I do agree with some reviews here about how the story is confusing. This is true if you are not familiar with the original materials.
I would only recommend the manga to people who read the light novel and watched the show. You will be missing out on a lot of details if you are reading the manga first. You may come out confused and end up dnfing the series. It’s too good of a series to dnf so check out the anime and light novel before reading the manga.
This was a book i read through a pdf i recieved in exchange of a review on Netgalley!
I. Fucking. Loved. This.
I've heared about this series and vaguely know the plot through the anime community and well.....the tiktoks and memes. Didn't know anything when going into this which definitely made me love it even more. The art style, the eccentricty, the magic sytem, everythig was amazing!
I. Fucking. Loved. This.
I've heared about this series and vaguely know the plot through the anime community and well.....the tiktoks and memes. Didn't know anything when going into this which definitely made me love it even more. The art style, the eccentricty, the magic sytem, everythig was amazing!
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
'Bakemonogatari' is a fascinating first installment in the Monogatari series. It focuses on a high school boy who meets a vampire and then encounters a girl that doesn't weigh anything. These two instances propel him into a series of strange events. In this first installment, just the smallest beginning of the story is touched on and I am sure that the following volumes will help flesh out the world. It's a bit confusing at first but the world feels unique and has a good dash of fantasy and folklore that make me intrigued to learn what will happen next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Blood
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Another adaptation of NisiOisiN's work. As a fan of the novels and anime, it's worth a read if only to see a different presentation of the story. Judging by the first volume, I don't think this is a great version for the dialogue and monologue heavy series. The artwork was clean, but I didn't get the same emotional weight conveyed.
Si tiene 4 estrellas es por la pedazo de edición de la mano de Milky Way Ediciones, que se salen con las pedazo de ediciones y detallitos que incluyen. Cuidan un montón a su público y eso se agradece un montón.
En cuanto a la historia, personalmente yo ya me he visto unas cuantas temporadas del anime de Bakemonogatari y sigo a un youtuber que la tiene como su historia y posible escritor favorito.
El youtuber, mitad japonés, ha dicho que el autor controla el idioma y los juegos de palabras como si lo hubiera inventado el mismo y que es una maravilla. Por esto yo comprendo que toda traducción o interpretación (que no tengo NINGUNA queja) será complicada y que quizás se pierdan ciertas cosas. Pero, no es sólo el idioma sino la cultura.
Todo los monstruos que aparezcan tendrán un sentido dentro del folclore japonés que, a no ser que seas a)japonés o b)alguien a quien le flipe y lea por su cuenta, algunas de las cosas te va a dejar un poco confusa, porque lo comentan como si todos los lectores conocieran estás historias que, personalmente, no es el caso. De todas maneras, como interesada en el japonés y en la cultura pues no me importa tener que indagar; para una persona que no le importe demasiado quizá entienda menos de la historia o no le llene tanto.
Por último, y la razón por la que se llevaría 3 estrellas es por el fanservice. Urg, estoy harta del maldito fanservice. No tiene sentido, no hace nada en la historia salvo el dibujar tetas y culos y comentarios innecesarios, de verdad.
Cuando me encuentre una novela ligera (de dónde sale este manga) o un manga escrito por un japonés en el que no haya nada de fanservice, me preparo unos huevos revueltos y me los como (odio el huevo), lo juro.
En cuanto a la historia, personalmente yo ya me he visto unas cuantas temporadas del anime de Bakemonogatari y sigo a un youtuber que la tiene como su historia y posible escritor favorito.
El youtuber, mitad japonés, ha dicho que el autor controla el idioma y los juegos de palabras como si lo hubiera inventado el mismo y que es una maravilla. Por esto yo comprendo que toda traducción o interpretación (que no tengo NINGUNA queja) será complicada y que quizás se pierdan ciertas cosas. Pero, no es sólo el idioma sino la cultura.
Todo los monstruos que aparezcan tendrán un sentido dentro del folclore japonés que, a no ser que seas a)japonés o b)alguien a quien le flipe y lea por su cuenta, algunas de las cosas te va a dejar un poco confusa, porque lo comentan como si todos los lectores conocieran estás historias que, personalmente, no es el caso. De todas maneras, como interesada en el japonés y en la cultura pues no me importa tener que indagar; para una persona que no le importe demasiado quizá entienda menos de la historia o no le llene tanto.
Por último, y la razón por la que se llevaría 3 estrellas es por el fanservice. Urg, estoy harta del maldito fanservice. No tiene sentido, no hace nada en la historia salvo el dibujar tetas y culos y comentarios innecesarios, de verdad.
Cuando me encuentre una novela ligera (de dónde sale este manga) o un manga escrito por un japonés en el que no haya nada de fanservice, me preparo unos huevos revueltos y me los como (odio el huevo), lo juro.
I don't get the hype over this manga. This one mixed casual day to day teens life with some fantasy elements. I did enjoy the arts that was pretty and very clear for manga standard but the story just seem to be a weird melting pot. I didn't enjoy it at all! I give two stars for the illustrations.
While I haven’t watched or read all of the Monogatari series by Nisioisin, I have gone through my fair share. I’m happy Bakemonogatari has been adapted into an anime and is available in English. However, the series in general tends to be a bit discussion and dialogue heavy. While fans of the series probably won’t have an issue with this, new readers who stick mostly to manga might have a harder time getting into this one. That said, it’s still a great story with nice art. Fans will probably get the most out of it, however.