# Monogatari (2009)

> A high school student teams up with an eccentric specialist to help girls afflicted by supernatural oddities.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/41884

## Facts

- Seasons: 5
- Episodes: 73
- Episode runtime: 24 min
- Status: Returning Series
- Genres: animation, comedy, drama, mystery
- Network: BS11, Gunma TV, TOKYO MX, tvk, Tochigi TV, ABEMA Anime
- Cast: Hiroshi Kamiya, Chiwa Saito, Maaya Sakamoto, Shin-ichiro Miki, Fumihiko Tachiki, Satsuki Yukino, Ryoko Shiraishi, Takahiro Sakurai
- TMDB rating: 8.0/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1480925/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: mild
- Tone: witty, stylized, talkative, mannered

## What critics say

Critics broadly admire the series' witty dialogue and bold stylized animation, while noting its talkative manner and fanservice can grate.

## Synopsis

Monogatari is a Japanese anime supernatural mystery series produced by SHAFT and set in contemporary Japan. High school student Koyomi Araragi constantly encounters girls afflicted by supernatural oddities, and he dedicates himself to helping them with the aid of the eccentric specialist Meme Oshino. Hitagi Senjougahara and Shinobu Oshino also feature prominently. Each arc follows a different girl's struggle and the mysterious cause behind her affliction, so the series plays out as a chain of self-contained stories threaded together by a continuing cast. Its witty dialogue, stylized animation, and nonlinear arrangement of scenes give it a talkative, mannered register, and its themes of adolescence, personal growth, and the complexities of human relationships run beneath the supernatural surface. Viewers who enjoy stylized supernatural anime in the vein of Mushishi and Ghost Hunt, or the wordy visual experiments of Bakemonogatari, will find resonance here. Its mix of playful wit and quiet melancholy makes it a distinctive, dialogue-driven experience for patient viewers.

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