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Originally Posted by Clarste
What does deep even mean? I don't think it's meaningful to follow that line of thought until we know we're all talking about the same thing. Bakemonogatari has well-written dialog featuring characters who are usually slight twists on common archetypes (except Nadeko who has no twists and is the least interesting character for it). Some of the characters are analyzed more than others and have an interesting consistency in their otherwise disparate actions that can be explained by reference to underlying personality traits that are not explicitly stated in the text, although usually fairly obvious in the subtext.
The story is a simple love story/love triangle thing, with some side character arcs to better develop the primary characters. I don't think it's really pretending to be more than that, but it seems to be a common misconception. This is not a story-based show, and the story is not its strong point. It's entirely about the characters and how they interact with Araragi, and he with them.
Bakemonogatari can be enjoyed by people who like it's surface prettiness and fanservice (which is relatively tasteful, usually, and when it's not is exaggerated to the point of parody), but also by people who like to analyze characters in fiction. I don't think we'll be talking about it literature classes a hundred years from now or anything like that, but it succeeds on both those fronts.
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To say that Bakemonogatari isn't deep isn't to fault it, it's just to say that there's more meaningful stuff out there. This show really is an amazing watch as you're watching it, but ultimately, you won't come away from it with very much.
The only show I've really made this comparison with is Katanagatari. While I am a bit disappointed that it doesn't reach the artistic/technical heights that Shaft can (I'll also have to admit that Shaft's style might not totally fit it though), as a story, and as emotion, I find it much more compelling.