Bakemonogatari

is a Japanese light novel series written by Japanese novelist Nisio Isin and illustrated by Taiwanese illustrator Vofan; the series is published by Kodansha under the Kodansha Box imprint. The story centers on Koyomi Araragi, a third year high school student who has recently survived a vampire attack, and finds himself mixed up with all kinds of apparitions; gods, ghosts, mythological beasts, and spirits. An anime adaptation by Shaft started airing on July 3, 2009, comprised of 15 episodes.

Plot
Bakemonogatari focuses around Koyomi Araragi, a third year high school student. During Golden week Koyomi becomes a vampire then is returned to a near human state with the help of Meme Oshino, an expert in the apparitions field. One day, a classmate named Hitagi Senjōgahara, who infamously never talks to anyone, falls down the stairs into Koyomi's arms. He discovers that Hitagi weighs next to nothing, in defiance of physics. Although Hitagi threatens Koyomi, he offers to help Hitagi and introduces her to Meme in an attempt to restore her weight.

The series introduces additional heroines, each with their own apparition. Each heroine also are in possession of items that symbolize their apparition, such as Hitagi's staplers representing the claws of the crab and Mayoi's backpack representing the shell of a snail. Each story also builds on the events of the subsequent ones and largely focuses on conversations between the characters, including the trademark word plays and meta-humor of Nisio Isin's work.