Monogatari is my favourite series. I'm Japanese and female and I'm really not there for the fan service, but the exploration of the fan service clichés is definitely a thing that is really interesting to me about the series. It's supernatural in many aspects but also it's so true to life, at least for me, in how coming of age really felt. The female characters are actually so well written, and the wordplay is top-level. I love how real world Japanese and vampire mythology is incorporated into the world building. I'm also a massive fan of the weird Shaft style that's so exaggerated in the series. I'm obsessed with how different character PoVs are portrayed with different colour palettes, including art styles that complement (with both aesthetic context and historical context, e.g. the shift into Art Nouveau for Kissshot! So beautiful! So ethereal! Art Nouveau also has Japanese influences and nature themes and what perfect style for basically a foreign blonde goddess that causes natural disasters in Japan!) the story being told at that moment, all unreliable narrators giving a different interpretations to the same events, and the pop culture references.
But uhhh.... I can't introduce the show to anyone without trusting that they will listen to me giving the apologist spiel or that they know enough about Japanese culture to see past/recognise that it's a commentary of certain aspects.....
