Nisemonogatari - Episode 1

Araragi Twins~

Note: This review is based off Commie's release. There is no guarantee that their script is troll-free so some things I say may be incorrect for those who watched the Crunchyroll subs.
According to 8thSin, Commie's release is slightly better than CR's.

What!? Where's my ryo x ClariS ED?
Aside from that minor disappointment, the first episode of Nisemonogatari was decent to say the least. Hitagi and Mayoi get reintroduced while Tsukihi gets her first appearance under the spotlight. It was refreshing to see the typical conversations Koyomi has with both Hitagi and Mayoi. Like in Bakemonogatari, it is likely that viewers will get lost in the midst of the witty dialogue. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable episode and fans of Bakemonogatari will definitely have lots to say about it.

Considering that this sequel supposedly focuses on the Araragi twins, their limited screentime in this episode (Karen didn't even appear) makes me wonder if that is truly the case. If they wanted to showcase the old characters again, I believe some specials/extras would do just fine. I was really looking forward to learning more about Koyomi's twin sisters seeing as they were only seen for a few seconds at the end of each episode of Bakemonogatari. From what I can tell, Tsukihi seems too dull and quiet for my liking. Although, as a casual viewer (i.e. I didn't really immerse myself into the dialogue), her conversation with Koyomi appeared to have some deeper meaning behind it which may make her an interesting character for some. Anyhow, I'll just have to wait for Karen to show up before deciding which twin is more appealing to me.

Like in Bakemonogatari, this episode also jumped all over the place. First off, Koyomi is seen imprisoned in a cram school classroom, with Hitagi satisfying her sadistic tendencies by toying with him. Then all of a sudden, he's back at his house taking with Tsukihi. Following that, he decides to go to Nadeko's house but ends up spending the whole day with Mayoi. Throughout all that, there was definitely some interesting dialogue. But on the other hand, I felt slightly disoriented. I'm not a big fan of this kind of "flow", or however you want to put it, so that may be why I didn't enjoy this episode as much as others.

As for the music, the OP is so similar (both the animation and music itself) to staple stable that I initially thought the producers didn't bother with creating a new OP. Thankfully, I was wrong; the new OP is also quite catchy. Nonetheless, I'm still raging over the lack of the ED that I wanted. Another week of waiting for me, though there's no guarantee that the next episode will have it either. I will seriously be disappointed if there ends up being a last minute change of plans for who sings the ED.