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EP. REVIEW: Bakemonogatari

I feel like some people are complaining about the fanservice in the series because its the hip thing to do when you see panties, boobs or suggestive sexual situations in an anime that they simply don't like. It lets them admit they didn't like a popular series with fanservice being an out.

For me, as long as there are multiple girls who may or may not want to bone the male lead (or vice versa), that's all a show needs to be considered a harem. .

I personally feel like hating on fanservice comes across as overly prudish, especially when that's all someone comes an hate.

I see it as resgressive, too.

Though I prefer D over monogatari because Nisio Isin just comes across as a pretentious asshole in his writing sometimes (Melaka Box got especially bad in This regard towards the end).

AsuraTheDestructor wrote:

I personally feel like hating on fanservice comes across as overly prudish, especially when that's all someone comes an hate. I see it as resgressive, too. Though I prefer D over monogatari because Nisio Isin just comes across as a pretentious asshole in his writing sometimes (Melaka Box got especially bad in This regard towards the end).

Well, DX D is pretty much accepting of its position as a generic harem and Monogatari isn't...also you don't know what pretentious means if you think Medaka Box was pretentious lol.

The groping makes me more uncomfortable than is intended by the narrative, but the neutral, slapstick-oriented framing makes clear that this behavior is divorced from any actual lust. As Araragi says after they fight, “I get into these kind of brawls with my kid sisters all the time.”

My ni-en is that the Mayoi arcs are the most enjoyable of the series and Bakamonogatari as a whole is the best. If the sexual harassment was really serious, it would be creep city and very offensive. As it is, it is "off-putting" but balanced by Kyomi's heartfelt concern and resolve to help Mayoi. I just love Hachikuji's "biting" threats. You go gurl!! Let's not forget that Mayoi offers that she is the "most developed" in her class and in Second Season (I think) she mentions that she is a 20-something year old internally.

DxD isn't generic because unlike most other "harem" series, it actually has polyamory as the main point, unlike stuff like to love ru and bakemonogatari that try to go with the whole "who will the main character choose a series a final love interest" that plagues modern harem series.

The Monogatari franchise is not a good example as there is no question who he will pick. Certainly they throw some bones to fans of other girls, but there is no serious question as to who he will choose, or perhaps has chosen.

This is why I consider the Monogatari franchise (and SAO too) as merely having harem elements and not a out and out harem. What is a harem without canonically possible shipping? "Who will the main character choose as a final love interest" plagues modern harem series? Not quite, but rather that they do not choose an option, including all of the above.

The groping makes me more uncomfortable than is intended by the narrative

I mean, I can't speak to exactly how uncomfortable you are with it, but I'm not sure that that wasn't the intent - this is one of the prime examples towards my point earlier about the series using fanservice as something of an insult to its audience and (and this may well be projecting or spitballing) a way of getting them to question themselves. "Hey, look at this. Does this make you uncomfortable? It should! So maybe it's time to take another look at the shows that play this straight." To me it's (at its best, and I should emphasize that it's definitely not always at its best) another facet of the show's deconstructive aspects towards its genre(s).