Bakemonogataring

Ugh, some words are just not meant to be verbified. I was searching bk1 for the Bakemonogatari novels, and was surprised when DVDs and Blu-rays popped up. Now, I know this is old news, but I'm still a little shocked when I see R2 DVD prices: ￥5250 for frickin' two episodes, not to mention 6300 for the special edition, and 7350 for the Blu-ray. There's a little less rage involved for the Mayoi Maimai discs, where you get three — count 'em, three — episodes for a price bump of only 1050 yen!

Anyway, episode three of Bakemonogatari was brilliant, and got me interested in the original novels. As you may expect, there just isn't much discussion in English to be found on the internet about Nishio Ishin... I take that back, since the first Zaregoto novel has come out in English, there's a lot of stuff about that. Aside from that small slice of Zaregoto, though, the only impression I've got is that "Large chunks of Bakemonogatari consisted of dirty jokes run through a nerd filter" and "Katanagatari, shit till the bitter end" (thanks, Andrew Cunningham).

I'm heading off to make a pilgrimage to Kinokuniya today, and wondering whether I should buy the first Zaregoto book. I could buy it in English, or in Japanese, or both, assuming that Kinokuniya's online stock check is giving me accurate information. (As an aside, I don't really understand how Kinokuniya chooses to stock certain series in certain stores, and why they seem to be hopelessly behind when it comes to featuring products associated with currently-airing anime. Also, when I pick up a book and its price tag is dated something like 5/2006, I feel like I'm the only person who buys things at Kinokuniya. But that's a separate matter.) Some of the reviews have given me pause, but I'm still interested to read the author's breakout work, resplendent in its youthful exuberance.