Mushishinbougatari

(Updated 9 Sep 2009, see below.)

Bakemonogatari 9 started and I thought I’d stumbled on a lost episode of Mushishi

I walked ten thousand miles, ten thousand miles to see you...

(sometimes that’s an animated gif of the opening few seconds of the episode, if not, here’s a link to something that might work better.)

This episode (the first of the Nadeko Snake arc) was a visual feast — from the bamboo as Araragi and Suruga climb to the shrine…

And every gasp of breath I grabbed at just to find you....

I climbed up every hill to get to you, I wondered ancient lands to hold just you.

…to the bibliophile-pandering bookstore porn

Bookstore porn

Until we discover that Koyomi still has some vampire left in him, since he doesn’t cast a reflection in the glossy floor:

Oh baby, lay some literature on me.

It’s a busy time (as hinted at by the frequency of posts), but there’s always time for Bakemonogatari. Shinbou visuals plus Nisioisin’s playful otaku-fest dialogue leads to some of the best anime in quite a while.

Update (8 Sep 2009): the jury is still out about this image:

Stylized beauty or crude collage?

I think the use of color and light here is wonderful.  The composition of the image — the way the curve of the stairs and the light on the right draw your eye to the two figures (and the countless steps beyond them) is nicely done.  But the bamboo are strips of litmus paper with chalk marks!  This is okay stylishness on the left — where the bamboo ends are concealed in grass, but on the right, the bamboo just ends (though the glowing light distracted me in an artistic sleight of hand, so I didn’t notice it until it was pointed out to me).  The color composition of this image really appeals to me, but I really wish I hadn’t noticed the bottoms of the bamboo on the right.