BAKEMONOGATARI (manga), volume 1 is a great intro to a very interesting world. A main protagonist with a great personality with some beautiful artwork. A few changes differences from the anime but it's still an enjoyable rea.d .

3 stars

Pros: sharp art style, dangerous/tough girl trope, a hint of vampires & other monsters

Cons: confusing narrative voice, interjections of asides which slow the pace, blase mention of possible rape (there isn't)

Video link: [will insert when I film my Jan+Feb Invisible Cities wrap up]

Invisible Cities (Jan): Japan

Bakemonogatari #1 manga is exactly what I hoped for as a fan of the anime series. It requires a particular taste in a mix in horror, drama, sci fi, and general weirdness with emotion.

The art style is nice and familiar and brings back for me some of the tension and emotion of the anime series, which is great feat. You can really tell that they took care to do this adaptation right without rushing it and by the original creator to boot.

It is an amazing step to relive the Monogatari series in manga format and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

I feel that this first volume is a good step into the Monogatari universe and will be adding it to my physical shelf soon as well.

Volume 1 of one of the manga series i hear a lot as its one of my favorite anitubers favorite novel series! I really enjoyed the start of the plot and the art style!

Ok, so a lot of people have said this is confusing, and it kind of is at first, but I felt the revelation at the end made the entire thing make sense, at least Senjogahari's portion (the main female character). I still have no idea what was going on with Araraga or the class president girl though, that was DEFINITELY confusing.

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.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

High schoolers and monsters.

I’d never come across this series before, though since I’ve seen it seemingly here there and everywhere. To give you some idea, I have been interested in anime and manga for a couple decades now. I’m not entirely sure how I missed it if this story was so very popular. The concept is intriguing. The artwork was pretty, and the concepts explored were very thought-provoking. By no means was this story light or funny. There was a definite solemn, serious tone to it. I’m not sure how the entire series plays out, and I can’t say I was really driven to find out by this odd little story. For those who have seen more of the series this may be something to pick up, or for those who like solemn supernatural dramas.

This manga follows Koyomi Araragi and Hitagi Senjougahara as they explore their recent brushes with the supernatural. Koyomi was attacked by a vampire right before school starts and Hitagi was rendered almost weightless by a crab monster. Honestly, this manga is pretty different from what is popular right now. I enjoyed this quite a bit but I like manga like this. For me the supernatural element really broke up all of the dialogue and made it more interesting. If this had just been a regular slice of life type manga, then there would have been to much dialogue for my tastes. But with all the other elements, I thought it was well balanced. Also, the artwork is gorgeous! I really enjoyed that part of this manga as well. I would recommend this manga if you are a fan of other supernatural manga such as Seraph of the End.

Uh, I honestly don't have a frame of reference for what I just read. It's kind of horror-lite? Ish? But also the dialogue doesn't quite flow in a way that makes sense, which feels ~literary~ but I'm not sure if it's intentional (or an accidental byproduct of the translation rather than something baked into the original text). The art is good but I just feel like you're not given enough information about anything (especially the main characters) to make an evaluation of the book as a whole. Stick with xxxHOLiC.

I watched the first season of the Bakemonogatari anime when it was simulcasting on Crunchyroll, but haven't revisited the series since then. The story is crazier than I remembered, but still enjoyable. The art is more risque than the anime version, and having read some of Air Gear, I'm chalking that up to Oh!Great. While I wish another artist had been chosen for the project, I'm glad there is a manga adaptation of the novels and gladder still that it was licensed in English.

This is a manga story about Japanese mythoogy, supernatural creatures, and how the main character interacts with them while still attending high school. It's a fun story with a lot of quirky comedy and light-hearted situation humor.

If you're interested in another adaptation of the light novels, then this one is done by a good artist. I haven't read the original light novels and am only really familiar with the anime adaption, but this mostly keeps the fun, quirky tone of the anime, although the pacing is a bit different.

I tried so hard to read this manga, but I felt so bored and I was only a few pages in. I believe this wasn't for me at all.

I tried to get into this book, but I just couldn't. It's just too slow of a start and I didn't feel any real attachment to the story or characters.

I don't think I fully understood the concept of this one...

Not for me. The random oversexualization, the storyline...none of it was geared towards me as a reader.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. This has no influence on the content of my review.

This is an odd one to review. Most manga/anime is strange in one form or another, but this one definitely ups the ante on the strange factor. For the most part, I enjoyed the story and I absolutely love the art style. The main heroine's personality is extremely brash and oversexualized to the point I was actually kind of uncomfortable. There are some references to pedophilia that I don't think were necessary in the least and could seriously prove detrimental to the series and I'm hoping they turn out to be nothing more than some passing comments that came from poor judgment.

I absolutely love the hero of the book. He reminds me a bit of Bakugo from My Hero Academia. I'm hoping he'll get stronger and more self-assured as the series continues.

All in all, I enjoyed the book but at this moment, I'm unsure if I'll continue reading it. I would probably enjoy an anime much more than the manga, but we'll see :)

This book is something very different from what I've read. The story is about a girl who loses 9/10 of her weight to a crab god and a boy who gets bit by a vampire (if I'm not wrong) The story was a bit confusing and I didn't know what to make of it in the start, but eventually i got the hang of it. I don't think it is appropriate for young readers and the adult side of it took me by surprise too, I found that part of the book extremely weird. If you don't acknowledge that part, overall it was a fun and interesting read. I loved the fantasy elements and i am looking forward to where the story will take us. The illustrations were outstanding and had amazing depth to it.

I went through this manga without having previously read the light novels that kicked off the Monogatari series, nor I watched the anime adaptation, so I didn’t have a proper knowledge of what this was all about. However, a look at the gorgeous cover, the catchy synopsis, and NisiOisiN’s name—also known for his literary adaptation of the Death Note manga—made me grab this volume without hesitation. And wasn’t my instinct right?

The artwork is mesmerizing and makes the reading experience even more fascinating—Bravo, Oh!Great. The plot is odd and intriguing, perhaps confusing at the beginning, but things get a bit clearer after reaching a certain point and I started putting a few pieces of the puzzle together that show something quite dark and deep. Although there are humorous moments in it, it’s to be noted that the subject is intense, and I’m quite curious to see where it all leads. For now, my mind won’t stop quoting: “Monsters don’t come to you. They are there from the start.” I am blown away.

Strange, dark, and most certainly unique. Manga and Japanese folklore lovers, you may wanna try Bakemonogatari, you might find it weirdly captivating!

I haven't seen the anime or read any light novel of the same story, so this is my first impression of the whole series. And I loved it! The art is incredible. I love the dark blacks and shadows surrounding them of their "curses." It's incredible story with incredible art. I also really liked Oshino, he's hilarious and I want to know more about his backstory. And what's with Shinobu?! There's a lot that I want for a second part and I'm looking forward to reading it for SURE. Highly recommend!

So I came in to this manga super intrigued in how this would adapt my favorite light novel series of all time. What makes the Monogatari series so great is how wonderfully timed, humorous, and quick-witted the banter between characters seems, as well as the super interesting characters and supernatural events.

So is the manga able to maintain what makes the light novel so good? Sadly it loses a lot from this adaptation. The witter banter is scaled back significantly, even more so than the anime, which at least left in enough to not feel as empty. Don't get me wrong here, as the manga has some really good sequences, and nails jokes at a decent pace. It's just due to the structure of manga and panels, if you've delved in to this world before, you know it has sacrificed a lot. Due to said structure it has no choice, but to edit out so much of the conversations, which left it feeling not quite whole.

Thankfully the plot itself doesn't suffer in the manga, so if you prefer a more straight forward nature in this style, it does its job. The artwork is fantastic, and I really enjoyed the effort the artist put in here. Characters look, act, and feel as they should. Another nice thing the artist has done, is give their own touch to the characters. The characters of course follow the original designs, but it is done without looking like straight copies of the light novel art, or the anime.

I think in the end, this manga may please some who may not have checked out the light novels or the anime first. It's not a terrible starting point in that regard, yet even then I recommend people consume this in either of its other media forms as to not miss out on what truly makes this series amazing in the first place. As for anyone that has consumed this series in another format, there isn't any reason I can recommend needing to check this out, unless you want it for your collection.

I'd give it a 2.5 out of 5 if I could, but rounding it up to a 3 since it isn't an option.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgally for providing me with an advance copy of this work in exchange for an honest review.

Really interesting idea, love the mix of fantasy with the contemporary. The graphics were awesome and I kinda loved the characters even when they were almost killing each other.