[Shikijin]

Originally Posted by Reckoner

For me that tooth brush scene would have been better served as being put in the trash can.

Then how do you explain that Araragi and Karen are suddenly getting on so well? How do you explain the rest of incest-related gags that came after that scene? What if the following books make a reference to that scene?

Anyways... While Itamura was the series director, Shinbo was still the "director" and part of the series composition. He has the final say in it and is pretty much the chief for this. When a production gets out of control I pin it on who really is in charge here.

I see no signs of production being out of control. It made its share of discutible choices (I hope there is an interview where they explain why they decided Tsukihi Phoenix had to have only 4 episodes), but let me get this straight: this series was never meant for the prude from the start. In fact, harem anime are not meant to be chaste. All the girls fell in love with the main character and there are a lot of suggestive situations, that's how a harem anime is. Nisio added his own spin and this is what makes this series stand out.

Then he did a better job there as far as I am concerned.

Whether it was good or bad, the problem is that it misled you. Nisio builds gags from past gags. By heedlessly cutting stuff, the rest makes less sense. You are victim of a misunderstanding.

I think that, for the all the good things, presenting Bake as a "high-paced series" has been misleading. It's just that the first stories were short, that's all.

That's exactly my issue. So when a scene like that gets the attention, which I just flat out disagree that it deserved so much attention, then I can only see this directing choice with disdain.

The toothbrush scene in itself was long just few minutes. It needed to be there, but frankly I don't really think it got that much attention from the anime staff. Certainly it got the attention of the audience, but as adaptation goes, that was the standard pace. The problem was only the decision of having Tsukihi Phoenix last only 4 episodes, which caused a lot of other things to be skipped, like what Araragi was thinking before kissing Tsukihi (then again, internal monologues are usually skipped anyway).

I'll say it clearly. This series is art. Post-modern art. Full of meta-jokes, witty and titillating. It has its highs and lows, and there are things Nisio can and can't do, but I'm glad I learned Japanese in order to read it. There are things you can cut to smooth the adaptation out, but please realize that what you want to do is akin to censor the series, and this is unacceptable.

Originally Posted by Master Chibi

Nise did not have the same balance of what I enjoyed from Bake

In fact I would say one of the strong points of the series is that each book got its own charm.

Then again, the adaptation in itself is a different matter. And I would say that Bake's adaptation was not really balanced, it tended more toward the serious side, though as an anime that worked well.

to me it was mostly fan service and conversation with trickles of mystery thrown in.

The so-called fan service from the novels' point of view was just gags. You can see it as stereotypical situations main characters of anime found themselves in. The amusement comes from the way Araragi reacts to it, although this has mostly been lost in the adaptation. Anyway, the series had a strong comedic component from the beginning, and the sexual tension was there. The rest was just his chara development.

Again, in my opinion the show should have been five, maybe six episodes at most.

No, you can't skip too many things or you won't understand anything that comes after that. In fact, with all the things they cut the stories barely made sense. And there would be no point in cutting all the comedy out of it.

Also all the little girl touching / pandering bothers the living fucking shit out of me. I hate it. A whole god damn lot. It was cute the first time but it became incessant and bothersome. No more of that please.

In this regard, in the novels it was made clear. There are people Araragi can touch and people he can't touch. Underage girls has just become comic reliefs for his pervertedness, on the light he is officially not interested in them. He admitted the thing bothered him too