Bakemonogatari: A show that fell below its full potential due to budgetary concerns, did it not?!

I've been praising Bakemonogatari for its clever storytelling and unique presentation for a while now, but that's not what made it an excellent show for me. Actually, part of what made the presentation as peculiar as it is was the low budget it had. I'm not sure if it was like that from the start or that Studio Shaft wasted the cash, because the difference in quality between the 1st 2 episodes and the rest of the series is so clear not to point out. It's not bad to watch, and the heavy nature of the dialogues surely masks it well enough letting you forget about the lack of animation or maybe not noticing at first, but it gets painful when you start seeing it. Sure, I loved the constantly shifting captures and the clipped real-photographs presented in the show, but it was too much at times I thought it was better if I was able to enjoy reading the novel instead (I'm learning Japanese for reasons like these btw!). What made me more conscious about this shortage is the coming brief scenes in some episodes where animations suddenly go wild and you start seeing flying action everywhere in screen. I still like the end result of what they did, but part of me wishes for more of what the intro had and regrets that a cheap studio like Shaft was handed over the baton for the first novel adaptation of NisioIsin's works.

Whether we liked it or hated it, we probably all agree presentation is not the selling point of Bakemonogatari. What's more compelling about the anime is the variety of complex characters in there. Yes, we have the smarty, tsundere, loli, imouto and tomboy female-character-set, but the show itself is aware of that giving it opportunities to make fun of itself and delve deeper into the otherwise generic characterization. The surreal interactions between each of the girls and the boy protagonist Araragi Koyomi allow him to expose his personality in different ways as well, thus giving him his share of shameful, awkward, prideful, and heroic moments a man would face while dealing with the opposite sex. That given, the outcome should be an amusing mixture of hilarious laughs and intelligent twists, and I can say it certainly was thanks to the witty dialogues Bakemonogatari is abundant with.

Owning to the resourceful work of NisioIsin, there is little doubt that Studio Shaft wont bring us the same level of creativity in the planned prequel, Kizumonogatari. My only demand for them is to spend more pennies on it especially with their huge success after releasing the long-waited final volume of Bakemonogatari at last. Being greedy brings misfortune in the end, so let's hope I'm not the greedy one this time xP

related links: Kizumonogatari: I can't wait T_T