Would you say Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei made Shaft what it is today?

I haven't seen any of their stuff from before that show, but it seems to me like some of their hallmarks (the often flat, minimalist character designs, their occasional cynical viewpoints and dark humor, and their arguable love of mentally and/or socially troubled female characters) stemmed in part from SZS and Koji Kumeta. Even if you didn't know any better, wouldn't you have guessed that SZS, Monogatari, Madoka and Sasami-san were made by the same studio and director?

Definitely their signature referential humour started back in Pani Poni but that signature directing style began with Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and as for lesser infulence, Arakawa Under the Bridge is the anime to look for its plain absurd humour. All these influenced Bakemonogatari and without those components it would have been entirely different show not as popular as it could have been.

One thing I think is that Shaft especially seems to be better in making Slice of Life type of shows with good light-hearted humours and has its own uniqueness that no production has. I wish Shaft would go back to their former days, nowadays fanservice became a bolder and bolder and the script became a lot loose that I can't genuinely find anything funny in anime they make these days. Or they need to find another comic to adapt in the style of Kumeta Koji. These days, it's too abstract.

Huh? The Arakawa Under the Bridge adaptation post-dates Bakemonogatari by a year.

http://i.imgur.com/erDBbeel.jpg

click for bigger etc

Looking over that chart, there's probably no seiyu that's contributed more to SHAFT's success than Saitou Chiwa.

^ I'm not sure but I think Chiwa and Kamiya started their careers with shaft and shinbo.

Also, behold! Shaft's attempts at 3D animation!!! xD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmtjT1hlbyk

Chiwa was Lavie in Last Exile and Anita King in R.O.D TV, both major roles at least a year before Hazuki...